Haunters

The “Psychic” referred to in the original Korean title of this film is a disturbed, unnamed young man (Gang Dong-won) with the ability to rob other human beings of their free will and then manipulate them like so many puppets. Disabled and traumatized by memories of a hellish childhood, however, he is content to use his power to steal bits of money from pawnshops or bank branches, or to spend lonely nights in luxurious hotels. Sure, he does impulsively kill people on occasions, but overall his impact on the society at large is negligible. At least, so he believes… until one day, robbing a pawnshop incongruously named Utopia, he encounters Byuk-nam (Go Soo), just hired there as a clerk, who is not only immune to his psychic power, but also can instantly heal himself even from totally destructive wounds, a la the Bruce Willis character in Unbreakable.

Haunters, a debut feature from director Kim Min-seok, whose short film Memories of Oldboy (2004) was a slick, youth-gang take on Poe’s William Wilson, begins promisingly, as the horrendous early life of the Psychic is illustrated with equal parts horror and compassion. This intro makes us think that the movie will tell the story of how this alienated youth rediscovers his humanity.

What director Kim has in mind, however, is darker and more convoluted. The scenes in which the Psychic marshals his power against hapless civilians and those involving confrontations between the protagonists are rather impressive. Some of Kim’s tricks — such as the Psychic’s preternaturally glowing eyes — are rather obvious but no less effective for that. And he stages some of the key action scenes with the fine sense of a ballet choreographer as well as the gusto of a rock performer.

Unfortunately, the characterization of Byuk-nam begins to strain somewhat in the film’s second half. Although Kim has set up an intriguing premise and introduced an interesting villain/anti-hero, the thriller plot is mostly driven forward by siphoning off all common sense out of Byuk-nam. Fully knowing the extent (and limits) of the Psychic’s ability, Byuk-nam has no inkling about how to approach and contain him. Viewers might wonder why he couldn’t have prepared a more adequate tool, like a sniper’s rifle, for instance, or at least thrown a rock at the back of his nemesis’s head?

Nonetheless, Haunters is not bad at all for a debut feature and possesses many praiseworthy traits. Although not quite successful as a satisfying character study, it is quite ambitious for a Korean SF/fantasy thriller, and director Kim Min-seok has earned the right to have our eyes fixed upon him for his next project.

Casting-wise, Gang Dong-won is fine as the emotionally damaged Psychic, essentially a broken child with a capacity for getting back at the cruel adults, even though his dialogue/narration becomes somewhat jejune as the movie progresses. Go Soo thankfully does not oversell Byuk-nam’s aw-shucks “straight guy” quality. Byun Hee-bong is as usual brilliant as Utopia’s owner, equal parts scurrilous and benevolent.

But the film’s real discoveries are Abu Dodd and Enes Kaya, playing Byuk-nam’s migrant worker buddies, who steal every single scene they are in. Not only is their command of the Korean language frankly better than those of some Korean entertainers, they are good actors to boot, not only providing requisite comic relief but transmitting genuine pathos when called for. We definitely want to see them in more movies, Korean or otherwise.