Exhuma - 4K Blu-ray Review

Movie
Hoooooo boy. Usually I have to do a modicum of research into Asian mythology and lore when doing a period piece drama, or a Chinese Wu Xia fantasy, but this took some WORK to really get the most out of. Now, at first glance that may seem like a bad thing, but let me tell you that Exhuma is highly rewarding if you’re of Korean ancestry (or to be more precise, have a handle on Korean lore and superstition), but if you’re just your average western viewer than Exhuma will leave you a bit stumped until you look into things like the Japanese/Korean Iron Spikes theory, or Japanese Anima’s, and spirituality.

Exhuma is almost two films in the same film, or maybe even half of the film being a red herring in a way. The film starts out introducing us to a set of ghost hunters known as “Geomancers” in South Korea led by Kim Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik), his female shaman Lee Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) and helpers Bong-gil (Lee Do-hyun) and Go Yeong-guen (Yoo Hae-jin) as they fleece rich people in order to purge the spirits that are “haunting” the families. However, things go awry when Kim runs across a rich family trying to save their young daughter from the “curse” of a 100 year old buried relative. At first glance things are OK, but then Kim notices that the grave is very weirdly in an out of the way place, hidden in a near unmarked grave. Concerned that it might house spirits more deadly than he can handle, Kim initially declines the VERY lucrative offer, only to be cajoled into it by Lee and the rest of his crew. Digging up the grave unfortunately releases a very potent spirit who embarks upon a quest to slaughter the remaining descendants who dared to leave his body in dishonor.

I’m not going to spoil it for you, but needless to say I was a little puzzled by things at around the hour mark. The film’s story seemed to be wrapping up and there was over an hour to go. The ghost was defeated, the crew had only a few scrapes, but mostly uninjured, and the wake of devastation left by the spirit was palpable. But we STILL had over an hour left. Well, this is where the film veers into a completely different direction, and almost acts as a separate film within the film. Feeling that something is very wrong, Kim decides to revisit the grave site once more and digs a bit deeper, only to find a darker, more foreboding casket buried vertically, and bound with wire and incantations. Against his better judgment, Kim excavates this coffin as well, thinking it belongs to the original family, only to unleash a horror that very well may tie into the very fabric of Korean existence.

As I said, I’m going to dance around the second half a good bit, but needless to say the entire film is VERY meaty. There’s an absolute metric TON of Korean occult and Korean history built into the unfolding of the plot, with the majority of the occult and history taking place in the 2nd half of the film. Sure, the first half deals with Korean Geomancy, and some references to some occult things with the evil spirit, but the second half will have you pausing every 5 minutes and going and pulling up ye olde internet search to figure out what certain references mean. My first watch through I was VERY confused (even though I got the basic gist), and spent almost 4 hours watching the 2 hour and 14 minute film as I kept constantly heading into my computer room and pulling up info, going back, pausing, and repeating the process over and over. The second watch when I viewed the Blu-ray went a lot better. I know the basics of the myth of the Japanese spikes, the idea of geomancy, and of course already having a wide knowledge on Japanese Anima’s didn’t hurt. The 3rd viewing of the film is really where everything clicked and I started noticing all of the film’s subtext and threading regarding Korean ancestry. And by the time I watched it a FOURTH time in the same week I started to REALLY love where this went.

Honestly, this is a tough film to get through. Not because it’s not fun, and not because it’s not good. Far from that. In fact, this is one of the best Korean films I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s just that it takes so much effort for you average westerner to get caught up on all of the little nuances of Korean mythology and their views on the occult to really get all of the puzzle pieces to fall into position easily. It’s a great film with some awesome subtext, but unless you’re familiar with the source material, it will not be nearly as rewarding (although it’s still a very fun ghost story even if you’re not familiar with all of the nuances and history bits that make this truly great).




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Presented in 1.85:1 HEVC on the 4K disc, Exhuma is sourced from a digitally shot 2K master and upconverted for the 4K release. For an upconvert I was actually surprised at how good the 4K UHD looked in comparison to the Blu-ray. Off the bat I noticed it was a good bit darker than the Blu-ray, which actually looks almost overly brightened by comparison. There’s a heavy yellow and blue color grading that is indicative of most Asian films, but I noticed just how detailed and great the Black levels are thanks to the Dolby Vision grading. Darker shots in the Blu-ray can look overly noisy and washed out due to the yellow grading, but the 4K actually handles them exquisitely, showing great shadow detail and even better detail up front. Every once in a while I felt a few darker shots were a tad crushed, and there were a few times I felt that the detail levels were a bit soft, but overall this is a fantastic looking 4K disc..









Audio:

The audio options luckily are identical across both Blu-ray and 4K UHD, so my review here will be identical on both formats. The disc gets a really impressive Atmos track in the original Korean, with a frenetic and HIGHLY active surround presence thanks to the constant use of ghosts and demonic encounters. The Atmos speakers are generally focused on the “swoosh” of a ghostly presence, but the rears and sides get some massive usage during the battle with the general near the end, as well as some really impressive bass response (which actually starts with the opening credits of the film, with a nice heavy low end pulse that starts everything out). Dialog is rendered cleanly and clearly, and I really can not find ANYTHING negative to say about the mix. Oh, there IS a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track in English, but I highly suggest keeping to the original mix, as it’s an OK dub and a good mix, but nowhere near as accurate or rich as the Atmos track.












Extras:

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I had a blast with Exhuma (all 4 viewings) and I can’t recommend the movie enough on a personal level. On a more pragmatic level, I DO have to warn audiences that there will be some work involved if you really want to fully enjoy the film in it’s fullness. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE’D Exhuma from beginning to end, but I fully understand that not everyone wants to go have a web browser up for their first viewing to get caught up on all the references. That being said, Well Go USA’s 4K UHD disc looks nearly impeccable, and carries with it a literally perfect Atmos track. Sadly this 4K releases feels like it was meant to be in a combo pack (all Well Go USA 4K discs have been in a combo pack to date) as all the extras are found on the Blu-ray, which is NOT included here (both Blu-ray and 4K discs are single disc releases), but that’s not exactly a horrible thing, as the Blu-ray extras are the typical anemic Well Go USA fare). Solid recommendation from me.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hae-jin, Park Jeong-ja, Baek Seung-chul
Directed by: Jang Jae-Hyun
Written by: Jang Jae-Hyun
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: Korean: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English, Korean DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, French
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 134
Blu-Ray Release Date: October 8th, 2024