Hansel And Gretel isn’t a movie to bring your little siblings to, even if the title seems to imply that it’s a remake of the famous Brothers Grimm fairytale story we knew as kids.

Remake is too strong a word for something that’s only loosely based on the tale of the 2 siblings who find a house made entirely of confectionery in the middle of the forest.

Synopsis

The Korean, not German, horror film kicks off with Eun-Soo (Chun Jeong-myoung) waking up from a coma in a dark forest. He meets a young girl, Young Hee (Shim Eun-kyoung), who brings him to her unreal edible house in the middle of the forest.

In the house, he meets the other 2 siblings of the young girl, Man Bok (Eun Won-jae) and Jung Soon (Jin Ji-hee). Subsequently, creepy events begin to occur following the disappearance of the children’s parents.

One Scary Happening After The Other

Despite having good sound effects to go with the creepy happenings, there is no gore whatsoever and the tried and tested scare tactics such as the drifting shadows in the night, creaking doors and the unknown footsteps are unoriginal and overly used. The story of Hansel And Gretel tends to drag on in the beginning.

Hair-raising events created by the sleepwalking Young Hee and the psychic Man Bok, which employ the use of unoriginal scare tactics, happen frequently throughout the first part of the movie, without any real story development or rationale. Because the creepy events are not that scary to the extent that you’d cover your eyes, Hansel And Gretel can be strenuous to watch especially when you’ve seen scarier movies.

If you can wait for an hour, the second part, however, is when the movie really starts. The reasons for the creepy occurrences are explained through flashbacks and emotional scenes, so the movie becomes much clearer.

Typical of most Korean films and dramas, the film ends with a long series of tearful and emotional scenes, where the actors’ acting abilities are put to test.

Even though the child actors have little experience in acting, having starred in a few never-aired-in-Singapore Korean TV series such as The Legend, Yellow Handkerchief and Fashion 70s, they handled the emotional scenes like pros. Not only is their acting natural and believable, they ably show a good range of sad emotions in their body language, tone of voice and facial expressions, which goes to show that they do more than just cry to express their sadness. Sad emotions aside, the children contrast this somber mood well through their cheerful and playful personalities at the beginning of the movie with their believable laughter and smiles, Hansel And Gretel is a perfect movie to showcase their versatility as actors, specifically their ability to take on vastly different set of personalities, acting out sad, scary and jovial emotions.

Impressive Cinematography

Good acting aside, Hansel And Gretel looks good to watch, boasting great set design, creating fantasy-like visuals that go hand in hand with the impressive cinematography. This is no surprise as Production Designer, Ryu Seong-hee, is responsible for overall visuals for violent action movies, A Bittersweet Life, and thriller, Old Boy, which is based on a Japanese Manga series of the same name.

Even though the 3-storey fairytale-like house is not made from candy like the original tale, it lives up to its description with beautiful antique furniture and ornaments, with hundreds and hundreds of broken toys strewn all over the house, that is also not part of the original Hansel And Gretel story. The old fashioned and broken toys give an impression that the children living in the house have been neglected.

The children’s costumes match the set design perfectly and are reminiscent of the Japanese Lolita subculture. The intricate patterns and Victorian-inspired dresses that the children wear, give a childlike yet surreal feel about their characters.

The contrast of soft light and a dark background in many scenes accurately conveys the fantasy-like but eerie tone in the film. The colours in the shots stand out as soft and luminous – almost like a watercolour painting.

However, the hand-held cam shots tend to be slightly bumpy. Even though they emphasise tension in the scenes, they can be dizzy to watch.

The Verdict

Following in the footsteps of other K-horror (Korean horror films) films such as Cinderella about plastic surgery obsessed girls, and A Tale Of Two Sisters about 2 mentally-ill girls and their possessed mother, Hansel And Gretel is simply another addition to this popular genre in Korean films.

If you are a big fan of K-horror films, you could miss the first hour of the movie because of the cliche and over-the-top horror scenes. Just figure on waking up/returning the restroom for the second part.

The cinematography, set design and costumes are definitely elements to look out for in Hansel And Gretel. And you won’t be covering your eyes during the horror scenes, this UrbanWire reporter assures you.

UrbanWire gives Hansel and Gretel 1 out of 5 stars for horror.

UrbanWire gives Hansel and Gretel 2 out of 5 stars overall.

Movie Details

Opens: Apr 27

Movie Rating: PG

Running Time: 117 mins

Language: Korean with English and Chinese subtitles

Cast: Chun Jeong-myoung, Eun Won-jae, Shim Eun-kyoung, Jin Ji-hee

Director: Yim Phil-sung