Howling (2012)

The plot was a little too far-fetched and the sexism ruined the film for me. The way the female detective was treated in this film was pretty vile. You can tell it was written and directed by men. The story had promise, but once it unfolded it was a little too unbelievable. I wanted to see the female at some point take charge and not sit back and allow herself to be physically and mentally abused by her male counterparts. It was obvious that she was more intelligent than the guys around her, yet she continued to allow them to ridicule her and treat her poorly. Perhaps this film needs to be remade with a strong female lead.

I was fooled by the cover and the title. Not only that, it was filed here under horror, had to do better research before buying because this had nothing to do with horror, it's just a straight thriller.But not a bad one I must admit. The killer here is a wolf. And it never becomes cheesy or hilarious because what happened throughout this flick could really happen. Only the girl working together with the police is a bit funny because you could see it coming that she will become the hero. Still, it's watchable and not bad after all but doesn't contain much red stuff although the wolf do attack. If you are looking for an original story then this is your stuff but to say that it is suspenseful that's exaggerated.Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

This is not a horror or a supernatural movie that the title or poster may imply.This movie is actually a cop thriller that many of us like to see with some intense scenes and it stars in my opinion one of Korea's best actors "Song Kang-Ho" (Memories of Murder) who plays the role of the not so straight cop with family issues.Detective Sang-Gil played by Song Kang-Ho is being assigned to solve what appears to be a small suicide case and to train the new unwelcomed lady recruit Eun-Young (Lee Na-Young) to which he refuses. Being bitter because he was passed over for a promotion to another colleague, the detective reluctantly agrees, while his new colleague is being treated differently by her very sexist colleagues.During the course of the movie the new partners discover that a string of murders could be connected and they wonder if the murders are justified and intentional or not, while trying to overcome work and family problems.The lead star gives a good believable performance along with decent performances from supporting actors. The film has a good original story on hand that may have fell a bit short due to a mix of directing, writing and probably length of the movie? Otherwise this is a good movie that could have been a powerful thriller.

The opening credit sequence gives away the heart of the story away, but does not of course, gives away the structure or the journey of the story.You got to admire how far the S.Korea movie industry (in fact everything form electronics, cars, TV drama, to movies ..etc) has come within last 5-10 years. They had a good base of directors and technicians, and keeps on turning out more.You see the way most of the dialogue between the 2 main leads is carried out in a different way. Facing the camera, like they are talking to you. It mixes me up. At times you are looking in their eyes reacting to the moment. At times, it is kind of distracting, taking you out of the movie.Yet the plot, progression and character built up is the ride of this movie. Piece by piece, clue by clue, the journey builds. Even though it's a basic copy buddy movie, it's not a pair you see. A male and a female pair in an Korean setting. And yet this is a smoke screen. The main lead is the female, as she gets stronger, tougher, more determined, even though she is out numbered most of the time, even when she is with her team. She is the smarter one, the more intuitive one, an surprisingly, the more gutsy one.** spoiler *** The identification with the wolf is what makes this different or fantastical almost. In a lone, loyal, sentimental animal you see the feelings, tragedy behind the case. And it's heartbreaking to force the hand at the end. It is the with repressed emotion that leads the traffic cop is able to solve the case, and it is with full release of this that she needs to end the case. But she can not. What a heart breaking ending. But she forever remembers the night she ran with the wolf.