0.0 MHz Deserves More Fanfare!
Shudder releases numerous originals and exclusives each month and I always find it interesting how some seem to be incredibly hyped with social media campaigns and watch parties while others just kinda release without much fanfare. It’s puzzling because Shudder is a phenomenal service with excellent curators and I for one trust their judgment on whatever they release. I just assume it's going to be amazing and I get excited for each and every new release. A recent original that dropped without much fanfare is the 2019 Korean paranormal horror film 0.0 MHz which is a unique take on ghosts, possession and the use of technology for ghost hunting.
I went into this thing blind, how blind? I didn't even know it was in Korean. Imagine my shock when the film opens with some strange exorcism set to tribal music in the Korean back-country and no one is speaking English. I’ll be honest, I am not a fan of subtitles. This mostly comes from my love ‘70s Kung Fu movies and ‘80s Italian horror movies. To me, if they can find the money and voice talent to dub Eagle Claw vs Butterfly Palm which judging by film quality appears to have been filmed on a Motorola Razor then certainly they can find some from whatever random import makes its way across the pond. Half of the subtitles bias for me is American pride, I know for a fact that American made movies are translated when they export, Vin Diesel for example recorded “I am Groot” in 15 different languages, I am just asking to return the favor. The other half of me knows that keeping the subtitles is an artistic choice, and I fully blame Mel Gibson for this nonsense when he made The Passion of the Christ in Aramaic. But, as I am known to do, I digress.
0.0 MHz starts with a group of college kids who are paranormal hunters like the kids you see on YouTube. Their next adventure is to go to the cabin in the woods where the singing, drum beat exorcism happened at the beginning of the movie. The group participates in some weird ritual with two dolls, one representing a ghost of a woman who hung herself and was never found so her body decomposes to the point of the rope severing her head. When she was found months later, there was only a terrifying head hanging from the ceiling. One of the joys of international horror is that you don't get the same old boring ghost story. In America it's typically some jilted lover who was slowly poisoned by her husband or some incarnation of the Christian Satan and/or his demons. When we travel abroad in horror we abandon the overused tropes and replace them with new fresh lore and hair demons. Yes, hair demons.
Where 0.0 MHz stands on its own is that it also borrows a bit from classic American horror films. After the group of friends perform the strange ghost summoning exercise they surround the cutest girl in the group in a circle of salt and strap some weird technology on her head. Apparently the device measures brainwave activity, when the frequency reaches 0.0 Mhz this is the frequency of the dead and leaves the mind open to infiltration from spirits from beyond. As one would expect, the cute girl gets possessed by an evil entity but also, so does the other girl in the group. It reminded me a lot of Flatliners where the young students test hypotheses regarding the realm of the dead with dire consequences.
Other than Flatliners, this film throughout its multiple twists and turns gives off vibes from various other classic horror films. For instance, once the girl’s brain drops to 0.0 MHz and gets possessed they leave the cabin in the woods and the film starts giving off some serious Jennifer’s Body vibes. The film takes a second drastic twist about halfway through the film which gave me some serious Ju-On meets I Know What You Did Last Summer vibes, which then shifts back to its original formula of scary folklore ghost in the woods. Apparently all the actors in the film are K-Pop singers but their acting is so good that you wouldn’t know unless I told you about it. The film does have a weird, very polished look to it. It’s clearly shot completely on digital but it has a distinctly soap opera/made for TV look to it which might be off putting to those with more refined palates. The CGI ‘aint the best, but seriously, the beheaded bride turned into demonic hair monster is terrifying, regardless if it looks like it was created using the same technology as used in Virtuosity.
Overall, this is an absolutely fantastic film! Scary when it needs to be, compelling characters that you will care about and an interesting concept that borrows from classics that you love. Although subtitled, the film focuses on its visuals which for those picky about subtitles like me is a good thing because your attention is stuck on the terror on screen and not so much the words at the bottom of the screen. Honestly I don't think I recall them mentioning most of the characters names and even the science about 0.0 MHz is implied from what they show you, not what they tell you.
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