The Silenced (2015)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I didn't quite know what to expect when I watched this film. I tried to find out about it without revealing keep key plot points and had the feeling it was something along horror baseline but nothing supernatural, so I decided to give it a go. It was on Netflix but it did not advise until I looked on here that it was in Japanese with English subtitles but I'm happy to give that a go as long as the film is good. Within 5–10 minutes of the film starting, I'd forgotten I was watching it with subtitles so please don't let that rubbish you from watching this film.The story line was good, the acting was good and it had me gripped right up until the last 20 minutes or so. At that point I realized where the story was going I was a little disappointed with the ending as I thought it was going to be something different. It felt a bit like they weren't quite sure where they were going with the story and it felt like a lot of things weren't cleared up which for me, is something I like in a film. I like a definite ending without the ambiguity that leaves you wondering what went on and leaves you scouring Google to work out what happened. So for me the ending of this film wasn't great.That being said everything up until the last 20 minutes was really good and very captivating, I really enjoyed structure, the scenery, the setting and backdrop of the film and the skill of the actors. It's just a shame that towards the end, all of the suspense and story they had built in the film seemed to be crammed into messy, unbelievable ending that crescendoed as quickly as it started.I would say it's worth a go but maybe go into this with an open mind about the ending because to me, it's not the sort of ending I would look for in a well structured horror film.

It was perhaps a good film, but its style was a bit confusing. Individual scenes were suddenly cut off for no apparent reason, with the missing part shown much later in flash-back.And unless you have a lot of friends or acquaintances that are oriental you might have trouble keeping track of the characters. (The old "they all look alike" cliché.)For an OWM (old white male) like me, it especially didn't help that not only did most of the characters look very similar, they all wore identical clothing. The scenes that were fast paced didn't give me enough time to figure out who is who.Just to make it worse, each character had two different names (their real name and their school name), and to top it off, one of the names was used for two different characters.Being able to recognize the difference between Korean and Japanese might help too.I suspect I'd like it better if I watched it a second time.

The purpose of my review is to explain this movie to those who don't understand it, so, yes, there are definitely spoilers in my review. This movie comes across as a mystery, thriller, horror, etc, depending on what point of the movie you're at. It even has what appears to be supernatural elements. They are not supernatural. This takes place in the 1930's during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The boarding school is one of several boarding schools that are near a Japanese military base. They are basically science labs with active experiments. The girls at the schools are the experiments. The goal of the Japanese empire is to create a drug or set of drugs that can create super- soldiers. It is never truly said where the girls in the boarding schools came from, only the stories that they all believe. Every time a girl disappears, they are either doing additional experiments or she has died. If she hasn't died, they brainwash her and erase her memory and return her to the school as a new student. The remaining girls are either knocked out to "end the semester" or they are told that the girl's family came in the night and took her home. They are all given drugs that are called vitamins before every meal and before bed. They are convinced that the girl coming to the school is a new girl, even if she looks familiar. If they were knocked out, they awaken with no memory of anything that happened.each semester is a separate experiment and is labeled as a test group. If girls survive that semester, they continue on into the next semester, or test group. Later in the movie, Ju-ran (Shizuko) and Yeon-deok (Kazue) discover the science notes and film. They watch movies of themselves and Yuka and see film of how they have been in the other groups and have no memory. Kenji tells the headmistress that two have gotten out of her sight. Those two were Eguchi and Yuka. Eguchi has apparently escaped from horrific experiment and cannot find her way out of the school due to injury or whatever, but she is trying to get help or show the girls what is happening. That's why Shizuko saw her under the bed and later Kihira and Shizuko saw her under the stairwell. Apparently, Kihira's reactions to the drugs seem to be instability and what could be triggered programming to kill herself if she sees certain things. Yuka throws herself out of a tree and the headmistress says if she survives a little longer, they will break a record. The girls have been desensitized to pain, so Yuka is left broken to see how long she survives. Shizuko, Yuka and Kazue were in the original test group and kept surviving. They were friends from the beginning, so even though they have been brainwashed, some deep unconscious memories cause them to gravitate to each other, especially Shizuko and Kazue. Eventually, they both start to experience flashes of memory triggered by events happening around them. Shikuzo even has dreams. She thinks she is hallucinating due to her injections. After the whole movie has passed, the last scene is of Shizuko and Kazue in the basement. If you look closely, you'll see that they are much younger and the basement is not decayed. The record player even works. That is when they actually, really met each other for the first time. This scene shows us that the girls have been in the experiment for many years. Likely, all of the girls have disappeared at some point and been returned as "new" arrivals. Only when one dies is she truly replaced with a new girl. Shizuko doesn't exhibit supernatural strength. She is the result of years of drugs and experimentation to create super-soldiers. She has super-human strength and speed.

Usually the South Korean Cinema makes very great movies and quite often memorable horror movies. However, it would be impossible to keep making such movies. And "The Silenced" (aka "Gyeongseonghakyoo: Sarajin Sonyeodeul") was a deviant from the usual impressive line of horror movies to make it out of South Korea.I hadn't heard about "The Silenced" before I stumbled upon it while browsing the horror selection on Netflix. Being a fan of the horror genre and being particular fond of Asian movies, then of course I would give "The Silenced" a go. However, it turned out to be a less than mediocre experience.The story is about a girl who is sent to a remote boarding school where things seem quite out of place. And in order to survive, the new student must uncover the secrets stored within the walls of the school."The Silenced" wasn't scary at all, it was not even a thriller; it was, a best a mystery laced with supernatural elements. As such, then it was a major disappointment, because I had expected it to be more within the typical horror genre; a genre that South Korean Cinema does so well.It should be said that the acting in the movie was quite good, and that is what kept me sticking with the movie to the very end. Even after that preposterous turn of events after the reveal of what was actually going on.The story in "The Silenced" just wasn't particularly riveting, nor was it particularly memorable. I have seen the movie to the end, but I am sure that the movie will soon fade from memory, because it just didn't manage to find any foothold."The Silenced" was a disappointing movie to me, and as such I am rating it a mere 4 out of 10 stars. If you enjoy a good South Korean horror movie, then there are far better choices available.