The Korean Horror Film THE WAILING- The Devil Made Me Do It

Dir/screenwriter Na Hong-jin (b. S Korean 1974) uncompromising horoor film defies one genre labeling. Instead, this provocative film embodies multiple forms & a cavern of categories: crime thriller, family drama, theology & mundane (until now) small village lifestyle.  It casts dark shadows over the Exorcist and nods its head to The Walking Dead.  The cinematography casts a spell of its own mixing natural beauty with ghastly mayhem.  Once you start watching this spellbinding film, you will be drawn into its distinctive & disturbing picture for its 2 1/2 hr relentless running time.  (The film is in Korean with English sub-titles.)   This bleak flick had me ill at ease & thoroughly transfixed.  A police officer is called in to investigate the grisly killing of family members by the husband who becomes transformed into a catatonic state.  Similar scenarios occur more frequently plaguing this once benign village.  Fingers get pointed at a newcomer; an elderly Japanese man.  He moved into a shack in a secluded wooded area.  Once the beloved, sweet daughter (a tour-de-force performance) of the officer transforms to a vicious, foul mouthed hellion, skeptism turns to alarm.  First, help is sought from the Church though none given and then from a Shaman whose services are interrupted.  Finally, the father gathers a vigilante posse to kill the old man who seems not only guilty but elusive and omnipotent.  The film has conflicting enigmas that leave the viewer bewitched & bewildered but never bored.   If you experience this film you won't be able to exorcise it from your brain.   Be willing to watch THE WAILING.