bcheng93 i have to say, the koreans know how to make a good movie. i think that for every 10 i watch maybe only 2 are bad and the rest are all very good. this particular movie was no exception. it was a very well made movie with a very good cast. the girl that plays the missing little sister is probably one of the hottest acting commodities in Korea right now. she is a great actress already at such a young age. there's at least 2 other movies that she was the main lead that i can recall and both were even better than this( sunny and hansel&gretel ). she could have won awards for either one of those movies.hmmm..., what genre to put this movie in? it has got elements of religious fanaticism, supernatural elements, eastern Asian mysticism, a decent detective and mystery story...oh well, who cares...it is just a good movie that is all. the movie was paced fairly well and the story was not too convoluted. it wasn't too scary or creepy to me like some reviewers have said, although i think it will scare some people.i personally enjoy these types of movies with east-Asian mysticism, Christian fanatics and supernatural elements and it was a fairly entertaining movie and i always wanted to find out what was going to happen next.

dbborroughs I saw this film at the Tribeca film festival and it really knocked my socks off. Its a slowly building film that messes with your head, isn't gory and manages to through in notions of religious faith. It made me and the audience I saw it with jump several times (even when we saw it coming). Its a masterpiece of its kind. And the best of the 8 films I've seen so far at the Tribeca Film Festival.The plot has a college girl go home because something has happened to her sister. When she gets home she finds her sister missing and her mother possessed by an even stronger Christian belief. As she pleads with the police to help find her sister people in her apartment complex begin dying, all are some how connected to her sister.I know this film isn't going to please people who need blood and guts and ooze to be scared. There are no axe wielding maniacs or typical things one associates with modern horror. Instead we have a film that shows a world askew and builds menace from that. Sure there are shocks and death, but at the same time they are subtly done, look away and you'll miss an eye that moves exactly the way eyes can't, or a mouth that's a little too wide.I love that this film has ideas in its head beyond just being scary. This is a film that is very much rooted in the worlds of Christianity, atheism and shamanism. It's a film that relies on the struggles of the three points of view to create a very tense atmosphere. Ultimately the film is not so much a horror film as a meditation on the nature of faith.For one of the few times since Silence of the Lambs I saw a horror movie with an audience that was wound up tight as a drum. Only one time, after a very strange passage was there any sort of "unintentional laughter" which seemed from what I could hear to come from unease at what some people were experiencing. I don't know when was the last time that I jumped as many times as I did here. to be certain I could see the jumps coming but I still leapt out of my seat.If there are any flaws its that toward the end there a couple of small moments where things happen that aren't explained, why is the time of death questioned? (I'm guessing an autopsy report but its not spelled out). The very end of the film also doesn't have an ending that is completely satisfying, the tension isn't released but rather dissipates (on the other hand if you see the film as not just a horror film it makes more sense.) Still this film knocked my socks off. I stared at the screen wanting to know what was coming and dreading the possibilities.This is a must see film for those who don't need the blood and the body parts.

ebossert The previous reviewer is one of those guys that I disagree with most of the time. "Faithless Hell" (aka "Possessed", aka "Living Death") (2009) is a shining example, because it's difficult to comprehend how someone could bash this as being a "bad" horror movie.First of all, the acting and camera-work are both top notch, which automatically raises "Faithless Hell" to a respectable level that should disqualify any assertions that it is somehow poorly made. The performance of the lead actress is no less than fantastic, and is most definitely deserving of a "2009 Best Actress In Horror" nomination (if there was one) alongside OK-bin Kim who gave us a blistering performance in "Thirst" (2009). Sang-Mi Nam plays the concerned elder sister in the kind of professional, restrained manner that is sorely lacking in genre films from the west. The supporting cast also does an admirable job. You really can't ask for much more than this in terms of acting quality. It's first rate.I find that those who dislike South Korean horror tend to go in with the same expectations as when they watch modern Hollywood or European horror movies, which is a major problem considering the massive chasm of differences between the industries. For example, Hollywood horror will frequently resort to jump scares and loud noises in overly repetitive ways, but you're not going to get this kind of talentless hackery in "Faithless Hell." I can remember only one jump scare in the entire film (near the beginning). Consequently, viewers who come out of this aggravated that "Not once did I jump in my seat" really have no idea what to look for in a slow-burning horror film such as this. "Faithless Hell" does an exquisite job at building an interesting, occultish mystery surrounding the disappearance of a young girl while peppering in some cool nightmarish visions along the way.And that brings us to another issue, the alleged "confusing" nature of this film. Let me tell you this: "Faithless Hell" is a very straight-forward movie because the narrative is shown (and at times even explained) clearly to the viewer with little in terms of ambiguity. BRIEF SPOILER The crane bite, the leg-scratching scene, and the potato sack scene were all nightmarish visions brought about by the Crane Spirit as it attempts to make its transition from the dead girl to her older sister. There are also a number of appearances by crane footprints (talismans, foggy windows, etc.) for emphasis, and the very end where the detective's child becomes miraculously healthy acts as confirmation that the possession is complete. END BRIEF SPOILER Much of this is explained by one the characters at the police station, so there shouldn't be much confusion here at all. Sure, the visions themselves are kinda freaky and incomprehensible, but they only occupy a few minutes of running time and serve a purpose outside of narrative drive – they provide the visuals that communicate the effects of the Crane Spirit on the lead protagonist.With regards to the relationships between the protagonists, it's underscored and subtly expressed through day-to-day interaction. It's obvious that the friction between the lead protagonist and her mother is due to the mother's fanaticism, and it's obvious that the lead protagonist is open to non-fanatical forms of religion. There's nothing confusing about this relationship, and "Faithless Hell" is under no obligation to offer a "protest against religious fanaticism" or "speak in favor of faith." In fact, I personally find it much more interesting and realistic when such themes are explored but not fully answered or pushed by the filmmakers.As I've mentioned before in my IMDb comments – especially the one for Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Retribution" (2006) – audiences really need to start using their brain cells while watching Asian horror movies. Almost none of them are as confusing as reviewers make them out to be. If you want a confusing Asian horror film, watch "Spider Forest" (2004) or "Marebito" (2004). I'll give you those, but "Faithless Hell" is not even remotely close to being confusing.In terms of industry trends, South Korean horror has been solid from 2008-2010. "Missing" (2009) and "Blood Pledge" (2009) were both mediocre, "G.P. 506" (2008) was dreadfully boring, and "Death Bell" (2008) was frankly incompetent. Fortunately, we have "I Saw the Devil" (2010), "Faithless Hell" (2009), "Thirst" (2009), "Midnight F.M." (2010), "Yoga Institute" (2009), "Chaw" (2009), "Bedevilled" (2010), and "Loner" (2008) to enjoy.

sitenoise I kept thinking of MOTHER by Bong Joon-ho as I watched this movie. Not because the stories are the same, although one could conjure up a few loose similarities, but because of the mature tone of the direction, how masterfully well executed it is. I feel vindicated in my feeling as I have since discovered that the first time director of this film, Lee Yong-Ju, started working in the industry as assistant director for Bong, on the 2003 masterpiece MEMORIES OF MURDER. Certainly some of Bong's genius and attention to detail rubbed off on Lee.POSSESSED is more thriller than horror. It's got some scares and a few jolts here and there, but it's really more eerie than frightening. The story concerns a girl who returns home from college when she learns her younger sister has gone missing. She discovers her mother has become a religious fanatic who believes only prayer will bring her sister back. But back from where becomes the big question. People all around her commit suicide. There's a cult, a Shaman, and a handful of freaky people who engage in weird ceremonies with a hope for salvation or cure from disease. It's not a pedantic essay on religious belief but that is the main theme of the film and it serves to give the proceedings some depth. It also situates the film on a terrain of the supernatural which, when you make a film, gives you license to bend realities and play visual tricks from time to time. But nothing is cheap here. The intended audience isn't the summer of fear kids. It's more serious than that and it never gets close to outrageous.The film has gone through an almost endless number of titles. It started off as Scream but as the religious elements became more important and obvious it ended up with the international English title, POSSESSED. My favorite was DISBELIEF HELL, which is the closest literal translation of the Korean Bool-sin-ji-OK ... 불신지옥 (不信地獄), "hell of the non-believers."POSSESSED is very well cast. I have the feeling that director Lee was intent on reigning in the two young girls from any tendency to play cute or mug scary for the camera. Again, nothing cheap here. Shim Eun-Kyung, a young Korean phenom known for her playful and cute roles on TV, plays the Possessed little girl and could have phoned in her performance but instead, in a role that doesn't offer a lot of screen time, is remarkably restrained. Nam Sang-Mi, a young starlet in her own right, plays her older sister and the film belongs to her. She's the character in the film who returns to her hometown to investigate all the weirdness going on and she moves through the film like it's all unfolding in front of her just like it is for the audience. She's beautiful to look at and there's a realism to her performance that is truly engaging. There is a scene, which demonstrates the abilities of both Nam and director Lee, where someone clobbers her over the head with a blunt instrument. After she's hit, we see her react, look back and make eye contact with her assailant as if she wasn't told she was going to get hit in the scene and really wants to say "what the hell was that? What are you ..." Clobber again! Her eyes project a real, confused fear, and the director's capturing them make for an awesome moment.Although I single out the two youngsters for praise here the rest of the cast, all veterans you'd expect good performances from, deliver at equally high levels. Everything about this film is good: the acting, the thoughtful script, the cool cinematography, the eerie score, the skilled direction. I can't recommend Possessed enough, but don't go in hoping for a return to the innocent glory days of RINGU or JU-ON. This is Asian Horror 2.0. Lee Yong-Ju has taken it to another level. It's more mature in his accomplished hands and if you like Asian horror, or, better yet, if you've become bored with Asian horror, see this movie. It will renew your faith.