Korean Mythology Meets Horror In "Exhuma" - Movie Review

Don't watch "Exhuma" alone!!! was going to be the title for this review but I figured I might be over exaggerating the horror aspect of the movie. I've never been a fan of horror movies and the only times I decided to see the few ones that I've seen, it had to be in group or with friends around.

Tell you what?! This movie never crossed my mind that it would be possibly be an horror movie and I should take precaution by having someone around before I saw it. I just started to see it all by myself on a cool evening, a few hours to night. I still wish I didn't even though nothing happened.

It turns out, I found myself seeing one of Korean forktales but this time with a good touch of horror and lots of chills. The Korean mythical films I've seen are those with Gumiho, goblins and guardians, they were more fun and lovely than horrific so this one was totally unexpected.

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I know you might say the movie poster already gave off the horror vibe but do not mind me for focusing on those two young characters and choosing to see the movie just because of them. "Exhuma" is the first short movie I've seen "Lee Do-hyun" star in and the second for "Kim Go-eun".

"Exhuma" is a 2 hour movie released in the year 2024 starring veteran actors, Choi Min-sik and Yoo Hae-jin, young and growing actors, Lee Do-Hyun and Kim Go-eun. The movie is directed by Jang Jae-hyun, the same director for the movie "The Priests". He's good at writing horror movies.

The movie takes us in on one of the dark mythologies in the Korean traditions, one about the deceased and consequences of grave mistakes. Lee Do-Hyun and Kim Go-eun receives a large sum of money to exhume a grave in order save a little baby's life that's about to be taken.

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While they were able to save the baby, it didn't end with just exhuming the grave, moving the casket to incinerate and covering it back up. There was more to the story that the family of the deceased didn't share and it got more horrific for me. Choi Min-sik was fast enough to find out.

I got my first chill when the casket was opened out of greed for treasures, the ghost in it came out and went after his own family members to take their lives. The baby scene hit differently and thankfully, the witch (Kim Go-eun) and her fellows were fast to capture the ghost before anything.

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Where the chill got colder was the scene they discovered a bigger sized casket under the same ground of the first exhumed casket, this time the casket was standing and not lying in the normal way. It was just a movie but I feared for them moving it from it's position just to find what's in it.

From that scene till the end, it was all tension and the question of "Whats going to happen now?" Even though they tried to explain every little thing about what they are doing, it was so clear until it played out. But I must say the team work shown among the four was the reason they survived.

The fact that they unveil a mytical tradition that is possible in Korea was quite fascinating, and it was decades old tradition but I'm not sure if they still do it till now over there. A kinda guarding agreement between two countries, interesting!