U.S. DVD Release
According to Korean folklore, Arang was the chaste, beautiful daughter of a magistrate during the time of the Joseon Dynasty in the region of Miryang. Poor Arang was most desirable and ended up being set up by her nanny and left to be raped by an unscrupulous servant in the Governor’s employ. Determined not to lose her purity, Arang chose death and the angered servant drove a knife deep into her chest.
Believing his daughter had dishonored him; Arang’s father resigned his commission as magistrate and left the region. His position remained open for quite some time though as none of the locals dared accept the position for fear of death. Apparently, anytime the magistrate position was filled, that magistrate would die of fear.
One day a brave soul was visited by Arang though and instead of being scared to death he questioned her about her killer. Instead of answering him she waved a red flag and vanished. Swearing to find Arang and avenge her death, the man accepts the job as magistrate and begins tracking down leads. One particular servant stands out as his name translates to…red flag. Forced to confess, the evil servant leads the authorities to Arang’s body hidden deep within a bamboo forest. The knife, still piercing her chest, is withdrawn and Arang’s body is finally able to decay and be at rest.
This “Legend of Arang” is the basis for Sang-hoon Ahn’s Arang and surprisingly enough he does a commendable job of adapting the legend for the big screen even if he does occasionally fall back on tired J-Horror clichés once or twice.
Detective So-young and her temp, rookie partner Hyun-ki are on the trail of someone, or something, killing a group of men for their participation in a years old rape case. Local officials, at the time, smoothed things over by pinning the entire altercation on one of the men. His punishment for the crime was incarceration in a mental hospital.
So-young and her partner become curious how a minimum wage worker recently released from a mental hospital was able to purchase such an incredibly expensive home. All signs begin to point to blackmail and secret payoffs but it’s becoming increasingly harder to pin the murders on the remaining (living) friends as the forensics in the case simply doesn’t make sense. How can these men be dying of a poisonous gas from within their bodies? Not only are these men being gassed but their also being strangled!
Further investigation reveals the young woman raped by the four friends went missing nine years ago. Could the disgraced young woman be committing these crimes in retaliation for the violent assault that left her pregnant? Detective’s So-young and Hyun-ki discover a web of secrecy and cover-up stretching all the way into a local police department. Is the poor raped young woman even alive any longer and if not where has her body been hidden?
Arang was a decent little crime thriller with supernatural overtones that worked surprisingly well considering the fact that we get the same old “long-haired ghost girl” schtick we’ve seen so many times before. There were some instances, I believe, the story could have been a bit clearer and, in my opinion, there were a few too many characters introduced but it held its own for the most part. I think the film worked so well for me because the easygoing relationship between So-young and Hyun-ki was believable and their characters were likable.
Now, I would like to point out that Arang isn’t quite “CSI meets The Grudge” as one of the blurbs on the box art indicates so try not to go into this film hoping to see wild cinematography, hard-boiled detective ass kicking or amazing CG zooms into dead bodies because Arang contains none of that. Fact is this is fairly lightweight when it comes to police procedurals; “Zero Calorie, Sugar Free, Diet Se7en” or “No Carb Fincher” if you will.
I must admit though Arang did throw me for a loop with a crazy red herring concerning Det. So-young’s quest to find her rapist, a man bearing a scar on his hand, and kill him. Every freakin’ dude that wandered into the frame became a suspect and eventually, as I believe was director Ahn’s intent, I began to focus my suspicions on Det. Hyun-ki. I won’t tell you whether or not my suspicions pan out but I will say this, Arang will definitely keep you guessing and occasionally scare the shit out of you. Recycled J-Horror clichés or not, some of the “long-haired ghost girl” sequences made me jump.
Tartan has once again delivered an entertaining (though flawed) frightfest and packed the DVD to overflowing with special features including audio commentary by director and cast, a “making of” featurette, a behind the scenes featurette, interviews with the cast and music director and deleted scenes as well as the original theatrical trailer. Not bad at all!
As with many Asian horror films these days, I can’t recommend purchasing this sight unseen but I would definitely recommend giving it a rental. It’s not going to tax the gelatinous mass in your skull or bring tears to your eyes nor will it be spoken of in hushed, reverential tones twenty years from now but entertainment is entertainment and at the very least its watchable.
