Review of Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum by Misshapen_Steed

Okay, it's October, so I have to watch some horror films, right? They ARE my favorite. But this is a "found footage" movie, and while I like (love) something like Lake Mungo which could possibly qualify, I almost always hate these types of movies, e.g., Paranormal Activity, Hell House LLC, and this year's Incantation are among my least favorite movies ever. I find them to be incredibly lazy, unimaginative, and simply not very scary. So, I wasn't expecting much here, I just wanted something quick to watch.

And yes, this has its dumb moments that had me rolling my eyes. However, the last act of this film was some of the most intense, scariest shit I've seen in a long time. The manipulation of editing, lighting, camera agency, sound, space and time was really creative, and horribly unnerving at times. I was caught off guard by how intense of a reaction I got from this movie, since I generally don't feel like these sorts of supernatural, jump scare movies do anything for me anymore. But Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum did it for me — it actually scared me. It's tropey and conventional, but it also plays so much with its filmic elements in a way that a lazy POS film like Hell House LLC never would. It also actually justifies its "found footage" medium for the most part, and goes on to play with the idea to a creepy effect.

TL;DR - A genuinely, unexpectedly frightening movie.