Horror Stories 2: Movie Review


The one thing we couldn't get off our backs is how "Horror Stories 2" feels eerily similar to its local equivalent - a "Shake, Rattle and Roll" movie. We know how such films have been on and off (mostly off) in terms of quality and "Horror Stories 2" even coming from a different country doesn't buck that trend. Worse, instead of Philippine folklore, its ghosts and scares are particularly Korean in nature and that is one of our biggest issues with "Horror Stories 2" - it seems as though things are literally lost in translation.

"Horror Stories 2" starts with Se-young (Lee Se-young), considered to be an outcast, is tested by her manager (Park Sung-woong) of her ability to connect with the dead. They start from their office's storage room and picks three doubtful cases of insurance claims for further investigation. From these files entitled "The Cliff" where one man dies mysteriously on a mountain cliff, "The Pain of Death" where 3 friends find themselves in a car accident and "Escape" where a young man has disappeared and never found again, Se-young discovers the truth behind the mysterious deaths of those involved. As she reveals each truth to her boss, Se-young feels that something evil is working its way among them.

"Horror Stories 2" is composed of 3 main stories and 1 side story that runs the whole gamut of the film. These stories range from being plain and ordinary to just extremely weird (to be even scary). The best of the bunch would be "The Cliff". "The Cliff" edges out the others because its story is engaging and the twist in the end is something of a surprise. "The Pain of Death" was overall predictable and nothing special. The last story, "Escape" was just boggling to say the least. "Escape" in itself started well and in fact, it had the most creativity in terms of presentation with its whimsical nature and almost cartoon-like acting. But story-wise, it was the weakest. This one we literally couldn't understand and beyond our comprehension of belief (even for a paranormal film). The problem with "Horror Stories 2" is it lacks balance. Its frustrating that we already get Korean culture to try to get into and yet, whenever the film shines some brilliance on one aspect, it completely flounders on another.

Rating: 2 reels

Why you should watch it:
- "The Cliff" will surprise you with its engaging story

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the other stories are just ordinary or plain weird to be even effectively scary

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