Think Law & Order: Very Special Victims Unit.
In this Korean horror film, a detective just recovered from a sexual assault is paired with the proverbial green rookie (in the opening sequence after the titles, he is trying to photograph a crime scene with no film in the camera). Together, they investigate a series of deaths: some force is killing off a group of young men of the same age. Could it have something to do with a missing girl and a crime committed in a salt-storage shed long ago? Could long-haired ladies, technological manipulation by supernatural forces, and black goo be involved?
Is there a Korean idiom for "Duh!"?
I realize I'm giving a false impression that I didn't like Arang, but in fact I liked it for the same reason I like Law & Order*: there's a point in each when stylized conventions transcend cliché to become classical. I enjoyed the police-procedural aspect of this revenge drama and its little twists—the oaf with the camera plays a much bigger role than first assumed—and the salthouse is a nicely eerie set-piece around which to base your haunt. The movie is very basic in its conventions, however, and talking about it without dwelling on what viewers would already expect (dead girls, photographic shenanigans) is very difficult. If you like these things, definitely give it a try.
*No, Sam Waterston is the other reason.
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