The Fortune Tellers (2012)

I laughed

Never thought there'd be a day when I'd welcome an insane dose of comedy in a supposed ghost 'horror' movie. But then you got this movie lol.

I'm currently on a Lee Jehoon binge where I try to watch his past works that may sound like a fun show to watch, and Jehoon as a young shaman was really an interesting concept. And his character did turn out to be an interesting one since Sukyun wasn't just any normal shaman character but one with a doctorate and using technology to fight and exorcise ghosts.

The rest of the exorcists also turned out to be an interesting bunch and you get almost every single interpretation of what an exorcist could be, to which later on it got narrowed down to a specific five-man group plus a journalist whose father turned out to also be connected to the place where the special ghost exorcism ritual was supposed to be done.

There were moments where the plot gets serious and spooky and dark... and then there were silly and hilarious parts that you can't help being tickled about, and there were parts that can be quite emotional yet cute. Like I'm aware that Jehoon had that super adorable charm about him, but this movie is too much lol. And then when you get that unexpected reveal about the relationship between Kim Sooro's character and Jehoon's, you can't help feeling even more drawn to the characters as they tried to put a stop to the big evil spirit's schemes. Kang Yewon was also charming as journalist Chanyeong and you wouldn't have guessed that she was actually several years older than Jehoon.

This movie was a lot of fun to watch and seriously it had a very good balance between the horror and comedy genre.

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Ghost Sweepers aka Fortune Tellers was a frenetic mish-mash of half told stories and back stories labeled as a ghost comedy. Whether you find it funny will depend on how much you enjoy slapstick hammy humor and acting. It looked extremely low budget and low tech and hasn't aged well.

A wealthy woman who wants to develop a small seaside town invites 50 shamans to rid the place of a malevolent ghost who has killed 87 people over the last 50 years. Once the shamans arrive, they are attacked by a vicious spirit and most hightail it out of town. The five remaining shamans include---a scientific ghost buster, a young woman who can see the past, a small boy who can see the future, a Buddhist monk who can see the spiritual world with his mystical eye, and a shady shaman who uses his abilities to become rich. Along for the ride is a reporter in trouble with her boss whose father died in the town years ago. The local fishermen work for the ghost, a ghost who is protecting a Japanese treasure on the sea floor.

The movie started out promising by introducing the characters and their abilities. Unfortunately, the female shaman and the school age boy had little to do in the movie and they had potential. One of the five was cut down early, which was too bad, he was one of the most interesting of the characters. In their throw everything at the wall and see if it sticks mode, the story included an estranged father and son. One of the problems being that in real life the actors were only 14 years apart. A father and daughter separated by a mysterious death had a couple of side stories. None of the "emotional" backstories were delved into but took up time in a too long movie. The biggest problem I had with the movie was the female lead. Kang Ye Won overacted and the character was written as illogical, childish, and annoying. She and the shady shaman were given the lion's share of the screen time along with the ghost buster. I enjoy Lee Je Hoon's acting but his character felt underdeveloped.

No part of the movie was polished-the story, acting, or CGI. At times it almost felt like a high school play where they were making up it up as they went along. There were parts of it that were entertaining and if a competent enough hand could have brought the circus under control it could have been quite a good little ghost movie. As it was, I struggled to finish it little caring who made it out alive, which I'm sure the little boy could have foretold if he had been given enough screen time.

10/2/23

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