Strangers from Hell (2019)

Beautifully put together.

It took me a bit longer to finish watching this because this drama is so intense.

This was a beautifully shot psychological thriller. I have to mention that I love the soundtrack too. I truly feel the frustration while watching this drama, which brings out that helpless feeling from under pressure from society to meet certain expectations, and also from abuse of senior power, while feeling lonely, fighting the battle alone against the world. The series has done a superb job at bringing out that cramped and gritty feel and depressing mood of the main character, Jong-woo's living condition, as well as portraying his deteriorating mental condition and sanity as the drama progressed.

If you like psychological thriller, definitely give this a watch.

Rewatch value - I almost never rewatch anything, same goes with this one.

Lire davantage

Uau, que dorama incrível!!

Primeiramente já quero avisar que é um dorama BEM forte e pesado. Recomendo seguir a classificação indicativa (q é +18), n só por questão de cenas fortes, mas por q como é um suspense psicológico ele também mexe demais com a mente de quem está assistindo. Também pode ativar vários tipos de gatilhos, então tá avisado.

É um dorama excelente, com história e atuações impecáveis. Eu geralmente nunca fico assustada ou angustiada assistindo algum filme/série de terror ou suspense, mas Strangers from hell foi o primeiro a conseguir me deixar angustiada e ansiosa enquanto assistia (perdi umas 4 unhas assistindo). A série consegue te conectar junto com o protagonista e te fazer ter os mesmos sentimentos que ele. O cenário, os personagens, as falas, os efeitos sonoros, tudo, faz com que você se sinta desconfortável e assustado junto com os personagens.

O dorama aborda uma coreia bem "fria", amarga e egoísta. Inclusive eu acho que não teve uma cena em que o protagonista tava feliz (tadinho kkkk).

Bom n tenho muito o q falar sem dar spoiler, mas pra finalizar, é um dorama de suspense psicológico impecável, com uma história super bem feita (q pelo q sei é adaptação de um webtoon) q te prende do começo ao fim. Recomendo demais!

Ps: fui ficando doida junto com o Jongwoo.

Lire davantage

I finished this drama two days ago and I'm still thinking about it.

Everything from the sound design to the acting conveys a truly fascinating story that tells what the human mind is capable of when there is the perfect storm of environment, life situations, and the question of what makes a person human.

I'm someone who really values excellent story telling and execution as well as acting ability, and this drama has fulfilled both wonderfully.

The plot was exactly what you would expect in any Psychological Thriller. The building tension, the unexpected twists, and relationships that are more than what they seem. It was very carefully crafted and laid out, and the pacing was perfect amount of rising action and falling action. Besides these things, I always find it fascinating when shows explore the depths of human's sanity and what that means when we let the darkness win (or what happens when we fight it). This show, in particular, had a special way of making it feel like a thriller but also a commentary on what extent our minds try to cope with our environments.

It felt like everything in this drama was intentional and genuine, and added more layers to this very rich story. Starting with quick cuts of our main character trying to find the perfect housing, we see his growing desperation until he lands at the Eden residence where he is quickly greeted by a smiling building owner who is quick to provide a quick drink and cheap rent. From there we have longer shots where the camera pans over the structure of this building and the audience gets a clearer view of what exactly our main character will truly be living in. This attention to detail in camera work extends to its sound design utilizing clear monotone sounds to convey the weight of a single moment, the background noise that clutters the main characters' mind, and the use of well timed OST created an atmosphere that remained unmatched from most dramas I've watched.

An actor I have to highlight here is Lee Dong-wook. I have seen him previously in dramas like Goblin and Touch Your Heart and currently in Tale of the Nine-Tails. My view of him is the perfect male lead who has a heart of gold and a smile you could die for. His visuals are perfect for the classic, dreamy male lead in romantic comedy dramas. So seeing him in the role of the villain made me truly believe in his acting ability. Lee Dong-wook's acting style of conveying the most subtle emotions with his eyes truly shone in this drama as he played this mysterious, yet insidious character. One moment he seems like a polite neighbor who wants to make our protagonist feel at home, and in the switch of a moment there is a darkness lurking that can be barely restrained. The subtle choices with his facial expressions were key in different moments of this drama and he truly delivered. This enhanced performance further highlighted Yoon Jong-woo's equally brilliant portrayal of our main character. While the tension of this drama is centered on two of the leads, each side character of this drama is vitally important and the actors who played them knew that.

It can be easy, sometimes, to rely on actors to deliver the exact message you want to tell the audience, but with this drama it has an easy balance between directing, sound mixing, and excellent acting.

Lire davantage

Always listen to your gut

This drama was amazing! I am not a fan of gore and bloody scenes, but I was hooked on this drama and I wanted to finish it. It was so worth it! The series takes us on Jung Woo's journey to insanity and teaches us that, well, hell is indeed in other people and even in ourselves.
To be honest, if Jong Woo decided to trust himself a little, he wouldn't have stayed at the studio and maybe he wouldn't have gone mad. Sadly, his friend and girlfriend didn't trust him either, so that made him feel even more lonely and had to deal with all of that himself. The only characters that were supportive of him were his mother and smol bean Seok-yoon. Maybe if he got there earlier, things would have been different.
I understood that his girlfriend had her own struggles, but she was quite frustrating. She never listened to him or thought he was overreacting.
Some scenes were questionable (I mean, the sudden addition of his old friend from the army, I liked him, but I don't know why he had to be present), but it was an amazing drama with beautiful acting and got me thinking a little. I would skip the bloody parts but I'd watch it again!

Lire davantage

As expected from OCN, it is one of the best adaptation, from my opinion.

Let's start with the story. It is very disturbing, creepy and scary (at least for me because I'm not used to this kind of story even if I like thriller drama) which makes this drama particular. The ending is even more disturbing, I felt very uncomfortable watching it but it is worth it. I mean, it is part of the story, and makes sense. I felt so sad for the main character and also for others but I do not want to spoil it so I will not give every details. The twist at the end was a very disturbing twist yet it was a good one. I also like the fact it portrays the loopholes of the system : the social loopholes which do not facilitates things for the poor class and shows the vicious circle that happens in general, the loopholes of the law enforcement; etc. One of the best point is that there was romance but there was no cringy/embarassing romance which I truly appreciate !

For the cast, I am so impressed about their profesionnalism and their quality. To be clear, each one of them did a perfect job, even the police woman, all of the residents of the appartment, and of the course the main actors. All of them did a great job, the roles were really not easy to do, but they did so well. Of course, Lee dong woo and Him Si wan were just so good, it is impossible to complain.

The osts were just so good, like, really. There again, it is impossible to complain about the osts.

I truly recommend this drama as it is a very good adaptation of the webtoon of the same name ! You just got to be prepared of the creepy side of the drama lol

Lire davantage

I love it

*SPOILERS*
This series is a must watch for anyone that loves thriller, horror and psychological dramas. It's one of my all time favorite dramas and I think it deserves wayyy more hype. May be slow paced in the start but it builds up to a breaking point later in the drama where you get all the action and good stuff. Absolutely love the acting in this, especially by Im Siwan and Lee Dong Wook. They're amazing at acting like psychopaths lol. I really love how Siwan acts with his eyes and his facial expressions are always really good. His character goes through this slow paced mental breakdown where he just gets more and more paranoid and afraid, which then turns into anger and frustration. He's on edge, nobody belives him and you really get to feel that frustration with him. All in all I think Im Siwan nailed that role and no one could've replaced him on that.

Another thing i love is the suspense and the way everything builds up perfectly. Every character has a certain presence so it doesn't feel like everything revolves around the main characters. The acting felt really natural and real like we're just watching into someone's daily life. The only character I think could've been better was Yoo Ki-Hyeok . I feel like he wasn't a character that was memorable. They could've had him and Jungwoo fight over who gets to stay or something like that so he at least added something to the drama other than messing with the 'leader' role. And his creepy psychopath smile felt fake compared to Wook's. On another note, I loved the chemistry between Moonjo and Jungwoo where it felt like it could've been a BL. Like when he's calling him honey and all that. And i love all the annoying side characters that isn't like in your face annoying (except that one dude), but they're kind of subtle and throughout the series making the main character have this pent up anger and when he finally snaps at the end it's such a satisfying moment. I've also seen this in 'Extracurricular', where one of the main characters is supeeeer annoying but it makes it just so much better for some reason and gets me invested.

Okay but since it's only one season,, I have this theory of what a second season could look like. So if we imagine kind of that 'Flower of Evil' type of situation where Jong-Woo has to suppress his psychopath urges to function in society and stay low. And he again gets annoyed by the people in his workplace, etc and maybe he has a few incidents where he's aggressive or cold. And then Moonjo could come back to meet him and try to join forces, bringing out the psychopath in him again. And then some conflict with him and that police officer. Idk but i just think it was built perfectly up for a second season. Maybe even a third but not necessary. They could at least kept going for another season. Another sad thing is, this series have kind of an open ending/cliff hanger AND it's not on netflix anymore so it's hard to watch anywhere with good quality :( But i'm never forgetting this series and i hope i get to see Im Siwan and Lee Dong Wook being psychopaths in the future.

Lire davantage

At first i thought ok lets start.then i don't know what is going on there.i mean i understand that plot,but at the same time the story is something else.if you watch this you won't be regret, if you like this kind of genre.and the casting team did a really really great job.
At first i started this drama for Lee dong wook,then i fall for Im shi won❤.both of the lead character made this drama more and more thrilling,mysterious,excellent
HATS OFF TO YOU GUYS (all the member of this drama) you made a masterpiece.
SOTRY,CAST,OST all is excellent work.
I hope you will understand tjis review ????????

Lire davantage

Definitely Horrifying!

The ending had me puzzled, so much so that I had to search it up. Although I'm happy the story followed with a consistent storyline with every episode slowly building up to the end. But one of the characters, Kang Seok Yoon I didn't really see what happened to him so I'd say it wasn't perfectly wrapped up but it's okay because once you watch you'll probably assume what happened to him. I like it but it actually was quite disturbing and I can't say much about rewatch value because I haven't actually rewatched a drama. Moral of the story, don't bottle up your anger and be careful who you trust.

Lire davantage