Black House

Rating NR Formats DVD Genre horror Starring Hwang Jung-min, Yu Sun Directed by Shin Tae-ra Publisher Genius Products External Links Official Genius Products Website

Who could have imagined the life of an insurance agent was so terrifying? That after a long day of pencil pushing under the unnatural neon glow of the tube hanging above their cubicle, they would have to contend with harassment, stalking, and threats on their own lives by the same people are paid to help. Now, this may not describe the existence of your average nine to fiver at one of these agencies, but lucky for us it does apply to that of Jun-oh.

Jun-oh is the recent hire of a South Korean insurance agency. He is almost overly compassionate, which ends up getting him into trouble when he finds himself empathizing with a client who seems to be contemplating suicide. In his attempt to discourage this from happening, he mistakenly shares a personal experience from his past along with his name, even though the handy insurance agent guidebook he keeps nearby explicitly states: “No Personal Information!”

Soon after, a current client’s account is transferred to his workload after they had complained of being treated rudely by their original agent. Jun-oh visits this family’s house to talk to the husband, the primary insurance holder, only to uncover a frightening scene. The holder’s son has hung himself. When it is found the client had the son cremated without an autopsy and that he is pushing to receive their life insurance payout, Jun-oh takes it upon himself to investigate this possible fraud. However, he gets more than he bargained for as his life is made a living hell and soon anyone related to this investigation is in danger as the body count starts to rise.

After a slow start with the filmmakers holding your hand initially, Black House ramps up the tension tenfold. Although not a true slasher flick, it does contain several “don’t go that way” moments that have the viewer thinking “oh no!” or yelling at the screen in suspense. The killer is played delightfully void of emotion, perfectly portraying the psychopathic nature of the character. The title of Black House is obviously taken from the client’s home and location of the majority of the film’s gruesome mutilations. As an out of left field cross-media reference, think of Johnny’s house from Jhonen Vasquez’s indy comic Johnny The Homicidal Maniac and you’ll pretty much know the layout. Despite this focal point in the plot, the location gets very little screen time.

Also surprising is that there is not a whole lot of gore or violence in Black House, with the director having chosen to focus more on the characters emotions or lack their of in the case of the film's antagonist. This is obviously a good move, as it opens the movie to a wider range of audience. But don’t get me wrong, there is blood and a bunch of it, although definitely nowhere as much as your average slasher flicks.

Black House is a fun, suspenseful look into the life of a psychopath and his vacant emotionless psyche. There are times when the lines seem a bit forced and the main character a little too naive for his position, but these could have been something that was lost in the translation and do not hurt the mood or overall feel of the movie much. Special features include two featurettes and deleted scenes.