body parts
Directors: Won-kyung Choi, Byeong-deock Jeon, Jisam, Jang-mi Kim, Gwang-Jin Lee, Wally Seo
Starring: Kwon Ah-Reum, Kim Ahyeon, Kang Han-Saem, So Hee-jung
A horror anthology from Korea. In the wraparound story, an investigative journalist discovers a strange cult, she infiltrates it posing as a member during a prayer ceremony, while her obnoxious boss barks orders from outside. Each of the other members have brought a gift for "Father", which links to each tale…
In REEK, a young woman obtains a strange bottle of perfume which intoxicates her but also makes everyone around her smell unbearably bad…
In THE BOY WHO SEES GHOSTS, a young man is bullied by his co-workers for saying that he can see ghosts all around the building, and offers to show them…
In EXORCISM.NET, a group of highschool girls try to help their possessed friend by performing an exorcism and broadcasting it over the internet…
In A PREVIOUS RESIDENT, a young woman moves into her new apartment, only to find it's haunted…
In STRING, a young man awakens to find he is tethered around the neck to a woman in the next apartment, and a mysterious timer is counting down…
It is very rare to find a horror anthology which is consistent in both the tone and quality of its various stories. BODY PARTS could be the most consistent I've come across in a long time.
The wraparound story is very well done, for a start, although it takes a while to fully understand what is going on. Si-Kyung, an investigative journalist, along with five members of the cult, sit and offer prayers to "Father", while "Mother" oversees proceedings. Between each of the stories, the other cultists start to notice her behaviour is out of step and tensions rise, while her boss gives her instructions from his car outside. Eventually we discover what its all been in aid of and delivers a satisfying finish.
REEK is a decent bit of body horror, and had me squirming a lot. It starts ominously with the suicide of a neighbour, then we meet Da-hee and her friends; Da-hee lives in the same building and obtains a bureau belonging to the deceased. She then discovers that it still contains the woman's belongings, including a bottle of perfume. She tries it and instantly likes the scent, but doesn't realise it has an odd side effect. Everything around her starts to smell rotten and decaying. This isolates her as she is afraid to leave her apartment, coating herself more and more in the perfume. especially when Da-hee is using a metal scouring pad to scrape her arms in order to "be clean", but that turns out to be mild compared to what happens next.
Bullying is a major theme in a lot of Korean dramas and its no surprise to see it in the midst of a horror anthology. In THE BOY WHO SEES GHOSTS, Jun-ho has been telling his office colleagues that there are ghosts walking the corridors of their office building and one night they gang up on him, led by Do-jin, and force him to show them a ghost. This is a perfect example of "fuck around and find out", as they get their wish. This is definitely the highlight of the anthology, with some excellent scary moments and different designs for the ghostly figures.
EXORCISM.NET is another strong story, utilising typical exorcism movie tropes but delivering them through a live camer feed being broadcast on an internet channel. Three girls try to help their friend who has seemingly been possessed following the death of her mother and sister. The idea is for the Church to see their footage and send a professional exorcist, but in the meantime, the girls discover they are dealing with something much more dangerous and they may be ill equipped to deal with it. The fact that we are watching the footage from the camera, rather than being in the room with the possessed girl, adds a kind of realism to proceedings. Meanwhile the demon's powers can be felt in the observation room, also captured on camera.
A FORMER RESIDENT sees Ji-Soo take up residence in her new home, only to soon feel there is a presence inside. Her landlady is very strict and the previous tenant seems anxious to visit inside. Although more conventional than the others, this ghost story still really works with some very scary moments. There is also an element of The Wailing in that you do not know who, if anyone, Ji-Soo should trust in providing advice about the haunting.
The final story, STRING, is probably the weakest and most ambivalent story, although it does have a couple of neat moments. When a young man (I don’t' think we learn his name) wakes up, a metal cable has been looped around his neck and fed through a hole in the wall of his bedroom. He soon realises that his neighbour is in a similar predicament on the other side of the wall and they are tethered to each other. Whilst there is some tension built in a countdown clock and the need to collaborate with each other, there is no clue as to why this is happening to either of them, and the ending doubles down on this, leaving the viewer scratching their heads in confusion.
It's left to the wraparound story to end on a high note, which it does, bringing a sense of understanding to what the cult is about, and delivering a satisfying - if inevitable - conclusion.
What helps the consistency is that, rather than throwing together a series of short films, BODY PARTS was built from the ground up as an anthology. Whilst each story has a separate writer/director, each benefits from the same production crew and composer Jawan Koo gives each tale a suitably atmospheric score.
THE VERDICT
Anthologies tend to be very hit and miss, with some stories landing hard while others are just filler. The weakest episode here is STRING, but even that delivers some visceral thrills and tense moments before the bizarre finale. At the other end is the excellent Boy Who See's Ghosts and Exorcism.Net. As a whole, then, Body Parts certainly delivers.