I had never heard about this 2022 South Korean horror mystery titled "Ogsuyeog Gwisin" (aka "The Ghost Station") prior to getting the chance to sit down and watch it here in 2023. And with my love of both the Asian cinema and horror cinema, of course it was a given that I had to watch this movie from director Yong-Ki Jeong.
However, my expectations and thrills for a possibly interesting horror movie were shot down not far into the movie. Writers Yong-ki Jeong and Soyoung Lee managed to put together a rather confusing heap of a dumpsterfire disguised as a horror movie. Yeah, the movie made very little sense and it was quite a struggle to sit through it. In fact, I gave up on the ordeal with just 30 minutes left to watch. But I have to admit that by then I was ready to claw my eyes out.
"Ogsuyeog Gwisin" was a swing and a miss, and for a South Korean horror movie it was sort of a farce. I assume because it was based on some Japanese material from Kôji Shiraishi and Hiroshi Takahashi, and the translation between the two cultures didn't really pan out all that well.
I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "Ogsuyeog Gwisin", but I have to admit that my interest in the narrative was so vague and gradually dissipating more and more with each passing minute the narrative trotted on. So I wasn't really impressed with what I saw, but I suppose that the acting performances were adequate, because none of them stood out as being amateurish or bad actually.
There were a couple of attempts at cheap jumpscares throughout the course of the 80 minutes that the ordeal lasted for. Not successful jumpscared, mind you, but at least director Yong-Ki Jeong tried.
If you enjoy South Korean horror movies, you might want to consider giving "Ogsuyeog Gwisin" a wide berth. Trust me, it is not worth the time, money or effort.
My rating of "Ogsuyeog Gwisin" lands on a generous three out of ten stars, and that is mostly because of the production value of the movie and the cinematography.