Strangers from Hell (2019)

fckin incredible drama, but should have been a full 16 episode!

my goodness. what a journey. truly incredible, more so because of the leads acting especially Im Shi Wan and Lee Dong Wook, bravo...!!!

despite so, this being an OCN dramatic cinema style drama, i have to judge it precisely based on that. i definitely think there are multiple plot holes in the drama that could have been resolved if the number of episodes were increased to at least 12, or better if it was a full 16 episode kdrama. they could have tied up the loose ends a lot better if this was written like Memorist (2020) where they introduce the villains/culprits one by one, and try to foreshadow and confuse us about the real one. that i believe would have made the quality and thrill of each episodes much more consistent because some of the episodes in the middle seem to have been filled with filler scenes that do not contribute much to the tension or the story.

some plot holes that i could think of:

1. the first guy who was introduced as Seo Moon Jo's "chagiya" (honey), he was killed too fast literally in ep. 2. and it was also the same episode that they revealed to us the true identity of Seo Moon Jo (the dentist). would have been nice if he had a bigger role and more screen time since he had the look and physicality of someone creepy/dangerous as well, rather than just a lackey of the dentist like the others.

2. Yoon Joong Wo's PTSD at the military service was quite unclear to me. we get throwbacks that he had huge anger management issues but i feel it would have been better if he had some sociopathic tendencies like the male lead's character in Flower of Evil (2020) instead of PTSD. i don't think people with PTSD are the ones to actively hurt others, but in the flashbacks, we saw that he was the one who joined brutally in the beating of his fellow soldier.

3. the manipulation of Seo Moon Jo into Yeon Joon Wo's brain that the latter is as capable of murdering people just like him, i think was not fleshed out enough. again, a problem of the lack of a number of episodes. in the rather limited screentime that Seo Moon Jo had in the drama, he was more of a 'psychotic sweet-talker' guy to Joon Wo rather than someone who truly comes across as a highly manipulative narcissist who's also physically intimidating/terrifying. Moon Jo for the most parts before his self-revelations, comes across as more shady than outwardly frightening. would have been nice if we get to see more of how Moon Jo directly tries to terrorize Joon Wo mentally and psychologically. also, Joon Wo's stay at the Eden Studio has not been that long at all and it did feel they made such a huge leap in the story just to portray him as someone who was suddenly going insane from all those crazies.

4. i also think the story could have been made more complex if there were stronger motives to the whole tenants and owner of Eden Studio conspiring in serial murder cases. the crime case mention in the final episode about a whole family who was brutally murdered in a vacation house was literally brushed over, and would have been so interesting if that plot was integrated more centrally to add mysterious/suspense elements to the story. also, Joon Wo and the new tenant Seok Yeon had speculation of sort that those tenants were involved in some kind of organ trafficking deals or something, but this potential plot point was never pursued, which would have added an interesting motive to the killings rather than just for the sake of creating 'dental arts/souvenirs'.

5. more importantly a full background story of how the long-term tenants of Eden Studio got entangled with one another through their upbringing in Spring Orphanage was never fully given to the audience. We also don't know very clearly what triggered Moon Jo's character to become a serial killer eventually at that point. He definitely should have had more screen time than what was given to him.

also, i found this very helpful comment on the last episode:

"Okay but... if Jongwoo really did kill those 3 (in a very messy matter), why is it that the detectives never found evidence that would point him as the killer? His fingerprints would've been on the wrench, knife, and the landlady's wrist. Plus, they knew that the vacations house killer was meticulous. Sure they got testimonies to cover him but isn't it also part of the investigation to look for concrete evidence?? Technically they only had Jongwoo's statement to tell them that Moon Jo was the murderer. The thug and Ji Eun's statements also proved that Moon Jo was the leader of the group but they had no idea who actually killed the 3 members. And during the Eun Jin's statement, she said that she heard the pervert getting killed by the landlady. If that's the case, she should've heard Jongwoo's voice instead of the landlady's. Lastly, forensics would've found evidence of Moon Jo's teeth collection, and detectives probably already knew that the vacation house victims and other victims of the Eden Studio had missing teeth. Why didn't they question Jongwoo's teeth bracelet??"

...which kinda points to how crime thriller dramas that focus on the complex psychology of human characters would always downplay the precision of forensic science. i get that they probably wouldn't have ended the drama any other way, but addressing this issue (or at least foreshadowing a lot more clearly that Moon Jo has now indeed has become a twisted psychopath with an unbroken thirst to kill other people who knew he had to somewhat clear his traces from the murder scenes) would have made the ending scene more neat and crisp.

overall, i must comment about the finale episode, which was utterly remarkable! the fighting scene between Joon Wo and Moon Jo was very deliberate and so well done, and it was quite a shock for me to see how they went all out with the killing rampage in that final episode, almost the same feeling as when i watched Parasite LOL. that's literally the scene where we could see Moon Jo using his towering height and strength over Joon Wo who's much smaller than him. just based on their fighting scene alone, i was able to imagine that their roles could also have been played by Park Hae Jin (Moon Jo) and Lee Joon (Joon Wo) respectively based on their body size differences. the casting really worked extremely well in this drama and the actors who played them also did such a marvelous job!

all in all, this is not exactly a drama anyone would want to rewatch, but someone who became a fan of Im Shi Wan and Lee Dong Wook through this drama might wanna rewatch it to relish/remind themselves of the phenomenal actors they both really are.

Lire davantage

Heavy psychologically, creepy and dark.

There is something uneasy that makes me put this note. I really liked the psychological approach to the drama. I personally understood what was happening with the character on the second part (episode 7 or 8 approximately) but ANYWAY. The environment, the settings, the music are the perfect combination that makes you feel bad. Add to that the play of all the actors and it works ! I wouldn't put a 10 because I think it's a series that needs to be seen in a good frame of mind. I'm not a sensitive person, but I released it ten minutes ago and I feel like I need to see something less dark, with butterflies and flowers ^^. despite everything its a must-watch (at least once !)

Lire davantage

So unpredictable, yet enjoyable

This drama really has got some plot to it. The watcher never knew what to expect, believe it or not, for me this drama was the best I've watched yet.
When I started it, I was so sure, Jong Woo would just die and that'd be the end of the story, or he would kill Moon Jo before the police arrived. So as one would expect, I was quite confused, as to why, Moon Jo called him his masterpiece, when he'd managed to get himself killed.. why would he call him that, when he had basically "failed"...but after finding out how crazy Jong Woo actually was all along, I had alot more things to question, than just this part of the story in the drama.
We have seen a perspective of the story that really made this drama so good. One that showed Jong Woo as the good guy, that we never expected to be this mentally unstable.
This may have actually got me to buy and read the Book Metamorphosis. It now has piqued my interests. They both liked this book alot, and so I want to know what made it so special to them that it was mentioned more than once over the entire drama.
I can only recommend this drama to anyone who is into this psychological type of plot.
Lee Dong Wook can't keep his hands off of good dramas!!

Lire davantage

SO FUCKING GOOD

this is probably one of the best korean series i have ever watched.

the plot, acting, ost, and story was so good like it was just perfect. i definitely think that siwan did an excellent job with this series. all the actors fit perfectly and made the story much more interesting.

dongwook was also very good and portrayed his character very well. siwan made me laugh a lot. there’s a reason why there’s so many memes about this show now lolllll.

anyways this show is definitely rewatchable. it has everything from horror, comedy, mystery and.. romance (jkjk 😉)

Lire davantage

Bloody but brilliant

Bloody, dark and very grose but really well written and executed psycolagickal drama.

The editing between bloody murder and takboki are beautifully done. As I'm more in to the story then the blood I had to forward the bloodsplatter.

The caracters are really well written, you will probably end upp hating everyone around him (with a few exceptions), and feel the erge to protect the protagonist from all the people around him or want to see them strangeld.

The psychological stuff kept me guessing and I foundmy self efforletlessly trying to make sence of what was going on thruout the series. The casting and acting where spot on. Lee Dong Wook is the ultimate psykopath, Siwan is soo sweet that you just want to hug him and the side caracters each have their role and do it well. "I only killed one cat".

I'm still not shure what actually happened, so I may have to digest this a bit longer. Yes this is completely insane so get ready for a ride.

Lire davantage

It was a great experience watching it I think it'll be weird to watch other kdramas with the same actor in it because he protraited his role so good and it was really scary because it felt so real i hope that there will be a season two would love to watch it y'all are about to be real mad at me but it must be said the story was a little confusing and the end to because idk if it was this or this ending




























































































i guess i have to read the webcomic

Lire davantage

Creepy AF, but Worth It

I watched the first episode and then proceeded to watch something else, it was boring, but. BUT. Give it a chance. Once you get to about half way through episode 2 or even episode 3, you will be hooked. It's a bit slow to begin with, but totally worth it.

I was in the mood to watch something with psychopaths and murderers, this DID NOT disappoint. Half the time, I could not tell if it was reality or Jong-Woo's secret fantasies. I so badly wanted him to break free and become a true psycho.

Lastly, let me just say, I have never really thought that Lee Dong-Wook was my type, BUT I ain't never seen any other a man look so sexy while murdering people. *chefs kiss*

Lire davantage

Well, that was wild to say the least...

If I remember correctly, back when this first aired, I started watching this drama, but I didn't, or should I say couldn't get through even the first episode. I'm not sure if another drama interested me more, or if this creeped me out too much because I'm a scaredy cat. Well whatever it is, here I was watching it, now finally finished it because a lot of people in my twitter timeline kept talking about the drama (or should I say, the characters Seo Moonjo and Yoon Jongwoo in particular?) And me being me, even though I was a scaredy cat, I'm also pretty curious. A pretty bad combination of personalities.

And honestly, I don't think I have much to say about this. Not as in, this is boring, or this is bad. But as in, I just really don't know how or what to talk about this. I started off finding Jongwoo relatable. He seemed shy and timid. The way his surroundings stressed him out, from his creepy neighbors to his rude workmate. How his girlfriend and his senior treated him, alienated him, didn't bother listening him out. How his mind plays out what would have happened if he doesn't keep his cool and blew up all his feelings. You don't know how glad and happy I was when he had the new neighbor who got along with him, and his old friend from the military who listened to him and even went with him to help out (Though we all know how that ended...)

I finished it only a few minutes ago (or an hour?) as I'm writing this. And therefore, I'm still pretty much processing the ending. I didn't really know how to feel. I feel like I understand, but on the other hand, I feel like I don't understand it yet, as I don't know what to say about it. But.. I feel like if I had just continued watching this when it first aired, it would feel a lot more thrilling, a lot more stressful. I like marathoning series just fine, but watching series on going, as each episode airs every week, it always feels so much nicer, more thrilling, and probably would make me more interested, and more attached. So, that was probably the only little disappointing thing about this and it's not at all their fault that I watched this late. But at least I got to find out what this was about and that's enough.

Lire davantage

Not unexpected at all; the ending was totally spelled out

1. Story

a. Characters
I hate everyone. They all had such awful personalities or were completely stupid. The mc himself was completely stupid. If you're that creeped out of the residents, move out. idc how inexpensive that place is. Safety>>. Plus, the place was going to be redeveloped in 6 mos anyway so he was bound to move out and his pay just isn't enough.

On the otherhand, I hated his girlfriend too. Not once did she listen to him or even entertained his worries. I get it she's stressed too, but she said he should learn to defend himself so people wouldn't step on him, but she's the exact same—she always just let her boss bully her. Aside from that she can just rant about her life to him too? What is the effing point of being in a relationship when you cannot even rely on each other. L girlfriend. I hated her more than her boss and the MC's nerdy co-worker and boss.

Speaking of which, I was just waiting for them to die. Too bad it was just the ceo. Well at least the nerd got what was coming to him. I'm not an advocate for violence but don't bully people if you cannot handle the consequences.

b. Plot
As I said it made no sense for him to stay. If you feel that unsafe that it was making you crazy, leave. It wasn't like he absolutely did not have money. I'd so go back home if I can't stay at Seoul. There's no point in trying to make a living if I'm dead. It's just so stupid.

And I'm just not convinced by the scarriness of the antagonists nor their capacity to drive him to insanity. They weren't scary nor really good at their jobs really. They're sloppy. We're just told through the narrative or through camera work how scary they are. Like he killed them all so easily at the end even when they were so cocky.

2. Acting
It was solid. They were believeable except for their scarriness and all.

3. Overall
Expected ending and tbh boring. They could have expanded it more, could have shown us how deadly, capable, brutal and without empathy the antagonists really are but no.

I don't get whose minds were being blown at the ending. Unless you're a five year-old who has never seen a movie then it was pretty much spelled out that he would go insane and murder someone at least. He wasn't going to go out sane in any situation. Idc how that's rare in kdrama. There were literally no other options with how they set it up so no it was not u expected, not mindblowing and certainly not a masterpiece. They could have done more with the promise and could have actually made it terrifying and actually made the viewers question morality and sanity of humans.

Lire davantage

Make me want to be a psychopath too

This story especially the ending really surprise me, in the beginning, i'm a little bored, but that's still make me want to watch the next episode. I have never thought that all scenes in the beginning that make me bored is closely related to the storyline. If you are pay attention to details, that's really creepy and make curious. We will be brought into the truth by flowing like water, the one is very scary is when My mentality is also drained like Jongwoo's role here, I get carried away and even affect the real world. Its cool. and i've never thought the ending. the one that makes me hurt so much is when "they're" will kill Seok Yun, It hurt my heart when he begging Jeongwoo please. you have to watch this, you won't regret it. the scene is certainly gruesome, but it's very cool. Once I once even supported the main leader, the handsome dentist. don't forget to watch its only 10 ep, I finished it only one day

Lire davantage