The Horrifying Found Footage Movie You Can Stream On Amazon Video
Found footage movies tend to get a bad rap. A lot of people may say how it's only used as a gimmick and a way to cut back on the budget, but when done well, it can be an incredibly effective tool to illicit some scares as the ranks of Creep and The Bay prove. Anyone wanting another example of how this subgenre can stay viable needs to check out a South Korean horror film called Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, which is now available for viewing on Amazon Prime.
South Korea has been responsible for some of the best horror flicks in recent memory, and if you're tired of the standard fare coming out of the United States, then you have a lot of movies to add to your watch list. Many horror aficionados consider Train to Busan to be one of the greatest zombie films ever made, while future Oscar-winner Bong Joon-ho got his start in the genre directing 2006's The Host. For something more recent, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum should be more than enough to freak you out.
The plot kicks off when a web series crew decides to film a live broadcast in an abandoned asylum. As what tends to happen any time a group of people go inside a spooky building, things start going off the rails as the cast and crew soon discover they're not alone. Suffice to say, the less you know, the better, going into this movie.
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum offers ample scares that make good use of the found footage technique
There are plenty of hidden gems to be found on Amazon Prime Video, and if you're willing to look closely enough, you can stumble upon your new favorite movie. That seems to be the case, as numerous Redditors have discovered Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum and have proceeded to offer their opinions on the ensuing creepfest. You have u/10voltsam kicking things off by saying, "Continuing my journey with South Korean horror movie I saw Gonjiam tonight and it's easily the scariest South Korean movie I've seen yet." Considering that some of the other viewers say things like, "That clicking gave me weeks of [goosebumps]," and, "There was one scene that gave me full body chills," it's safe to say this is one film that knows how to burrow deep within your psyche.
As you go further down the Reddit thread, you get a good sense of how this movie should be watched. A lot of people mention how there was one funny scene in the film that doesn't quite make sense with everything else, but u/ProfessorHeronarty explains, "It's common Korean style to use humor to give the viewer false security." It's good to know this going in so that when something that seems funny happens, you know not to let your guard down fully.
It's not just people on Reddit who think you should watch this film. The movie earned a lot of positive reviews when it first came out, including from James Marsh of the South China Morning Post, who wrote, "Gonjiam is almost completely devoid of violence or gore, earning its chills from impressively creepy locations and convincing performances of a largely unknown cast." Leave the lights on and check out Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum next ... if you dare.