Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum — Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum( Blu Ray)
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum is a South Korean found footage film from the late 2010’s, regarding a group of internet ghost-hunters who hope to get lots of views/ hits from visiting said asylum, but get much more than they bargained for. Over the years there have been more than a few haunted asylum/ hospital films released- and I’d say this stands as one of the better additions to the genre- with a likeable/ believable enough cast, a neat location, subtle touches of humour, and some general chilling/ terror-inducing moments in the films last quarter. Here from Second Sight Films is a new reissue of the film- either in a Ltd edition with a seventy-page book & six art cards, or a standard Blu-Ray edition.
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum( aka Gon-ji-am) is from the year 2018. It was directed/co-written by Jung Bum-shik. He has five features to his name thus far, and these are fairly genre-varied- going from the 1940s set drama-horror Epitaph (2007), drama Hot Desire ( 2013), romantic comedy Casa Amor: Exclusive for Ladies which regards two friends becoming involved with an adult toy business (2015), and comedy thriller New Normal (2022).
The film kicks off with footage of two teens breaking into Gonjiam- a long-abandoned mental hospital- we’re told they were never seen again when they tried to break into room 402, which is said to be the most haunted room in Gonjiam. Then we meet the rather slick/ very sure of himself Ha-Joon (Wi Ha-joon) who we later find out is the mind behind the up 'n' coming YouTube channel Horror Times- who gives as a little background about the hospital, and apparently the female/ ping-pong loving director killed all the patients.
So Ha-Joon decides to gather together a team of six ghost hunters- most of them have little or no experience with the boastful & rather annoying Charlotte(Mun Ye-won) being the only one who has been to other notorious haunted sites around the world.
The group of seven make their way to the Asylum- walking through the rapidly darkening woods to the site- setting up an HQ tent nearby where Ha-Joon takes control of things. As the group make their way in it’s clear that it’s all of a set-up, with placed items & sudden small bells ringing- with some of the ghost hunters knowing it’s fake, and others not.
Meanwhile, Ha-Joon is running the show from his HQ- telling people where to go in set up/ scenes & situations. As the film progresses unexpected things start to happen- like weird glitches, wheelchairs moving on their own, etc. With some slight atmosphere/ edge from time to time.
It’s not until the quarter of the film when things start to turn decidedly chilling/ creepy, and I’d say these scenes are some of the most effective/ alarming I’ve seen in a haunted asylum film with sudden banging doors, figures with solid black eyes, people trapped inside coffin spaces, and a room with water on both it’s floor & ceiling.
All of the cast sell the whole thing's believability well enough. I’d say the only real issue here is it does take a bit too long to get to the real creepy/terror-filled moments, and there’s not much backstory-building done.
This recent Blu-Ray release features two new extras on the disc. First is a commentary with Mary Beth McAndrews and Terry Mesnard of the Scarred For Life Podcast- this is an ok chatty affair I guess- though I didn’t gain/ learn much from it. They start by saying it’s one of their favourite found footage- which had them shaking in their boots. They briefly touch on how in this film/ other films in the genre often find male characters trying to be tough/ show off. We find out that was a real asylum that shut down in May 2018- though of course, the film's backstory is all fictional. They talk about how many of the actors in the film are first-time actors, and this sells the initial introduction to the characters. They discuss how capitalism plays a part in the film's make-up, and this is fairly rare for the genre. They mention the drone footage- though wish there had been more, and talk about the influence of the Grave Encounters series on the film. They praise the films editing- this was done by director Jung Bum-shik, who got an award for his work. Later on, they talk about how the film uses found-footage tropes- but does it so very well. They point out moments where reality starts to shift/ alter around the characters, and more.
The other new extra is Fear the Unknown: Zoë Rose Smith on Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum( 22.32) which is a video essay, and again I’m afraid to say I didn’t really learn/ get anything much from this. It largely just seemed to rehashing things I’d heard before.
On the archive side of things, we get a good selection which takes in interviews with the director & few others involved in the film. The Beginning of the Rumours(4.57) • The New Faces(6.13) • The Sanctum of Horror(10.58) • The Truth of the Ghostlore (7.30) • The Live Recording (12.58) • The Press Conference(15.05), and a trailer.
Though I’m a fairly big fan of the found footage genre I wasn't aware of Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum- so I’m most grateful for this new release from Second Sight. So if you have a penchant for either location-based found footage films, or reality ghost-hunting shows in general- this is something you’ll be wanting to pick up.