Hansel & Gretel (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Wahida K

  
  If you think for a second, Hansel & Gretel the Original"fairy" tale is not really friendly tale. It is creepy. A creepy version of Hansel & Gretel I thought there cannt be creepier than the tale itself. Just like I thought. Pretty well made

• Lady D

  
  A creative piece and a sisister tale, that seems all the more creepy because of it?s fairy tale connection. Having said that it?s not scary or particularly graphic in terms of gore, but the childrens performances manage to pull off an intriguing story and one that?s worth seeing.

• Justin Y

  
  <i>Hansel & Gretel</i> may be an early film on Pil-Sung Yim's directing resume, but this Korean fantasy thriller shows he is no rookie at at this.<p>First things first. This is not a retelling of a fairy tale. This is a Korean thriller with concepts of the… More
  <i>Hansel & Gretel</i> may be an early film on Pil-Sung Yim's directing resume, but this Korean fantasy thriller shows he is no rookie at at this.<p>First things first. This is not a retelling of a fairy tale. This is a Korean thriller with concepts of the <i>Hansel and Gretel</i> story throw in. Hence, this is not a movie to take the kids to see.</p><p>This film doesn't waste time at getting into the fantasy atmosphere. Just after 5 minutes, with the opening credits already in the past, the main character is in the deep forest where 99% of this picture takes place. From here on out, with the run time at just under 2 hours, the bulk of this film is spent <b>slowly</b> unraveling the mystery.</p><p>Sure, the film is a bit long. However, at the same time there are positives that are beneficial to this movie. For one, the cinematography is worthy of note. The set designs, with the dark atmosphere and moderate amount of bright colors, are also visually pleasing.</p><p>Jeong-myeong Cheon is good as the lead, however it is the 3 children that steal the show: Shim Eun-kyung, Ji-hui Jin, and Eun Won-jae.</p><p>As this review comes to a close, <i>Hansel & Gretel</i> is a Korean thriller worth checking out for fans of the genre.

• Tsubaki S

  
  Smart and well told fable, with a very dark edge. The film do seems to take too much time to tell the story, and for some reasons kind of repeats itself towards the end. Still solid, a fine example of how you should tell a story involving kids. Korean cinema is certainly not dead at… More
  Smart and well told fable, with a very dark edge. The film do seems to take too much time to tell the story, and for some reasons kind of repeats itself towards the end. Still solid, a fine example of how you should tell a story involving kids. Korean cinema is certainly not dead at all, also, people refering this as some sort of Korean "Pan's Labyrinth" are seriously missing the point of this film, and big time.

• Luke B

  
  The first word I can think of to describe this film is "Gorgeous". Every aspect of every scene. There wasn't a single shot I didn't want to pause on, and every shot would look magnificent hanging on a wall as a painting. The whole film is bathed in a soft gold… More
  The first word I can think of to describe this film is "Gorgeous". Every aspect of every scene. There wasn't a single shot I didn't want to pause on, and every shot would look magnificent hanging on a wall as a painting. The whole film is bathed in a soft gold light that really brings forth the bedtime story aspect. It is calming yet dark as many bedtime stories are. The use of colours was also amazing as greens and blues looked like pastels in a gloriously childish way. It fits perfectly with the drawings the children do themselves. Also every set is decorated so completely it was another reason to explore every shot for details. The story itself is quite a simple one. It's a grown up fantasy. Creepy rather than scary I can't wait to watch this in bed during winter with a roaring fire going. It's that kind of cozy story telling that the film does so well. Similar to my favourite ever episode of The Twilight Zone and also The Orphanage this film like no other captures an adult view of a childish world. Many films/stories have a child brought into such fantasy worlds BFG, Alice in Wonderland, Pan's Labyrinth, Chronicles of Narnia and so on. Here though we have an adult. It turns what could of been childish wonderment into fear and skepticism. The three child stars are wonderful. Betrayed by those that should have protected them, forcing them to become the things they hate. It's a wonderful story of growing up, responsibility and also having faith in people. There may be evil and hurt out there but you can't just lock yourself away.

• Lesley N

  
  Young man crashes car into forest, gets rescued by three children and their doting parents and is taken to fairytale cottage in the woods. Which he doesn't seem able to leave. Part kitsch story, part scary story, and part sad story, with suitably creepy yet sweet children and… More
  Young man crashes car into forest, gets rescued by three children and their doting parents and is taken to fairytale cottage in the woods. Which he doesn't seem able to leave. Part kitsch story, part scary story, and part sad story, with suitably creepy yet sweet children and yukky things happening to the adults that cross them. Nice one.

• Daisy M

  
  The Korean horror films seem to work because of the director's ability to put elements like horror and drama in such a way that you simply cannot give up on the characters in the story, no matter how much you dislike them. This is definitely the case with Hansel & Gretel, a… More
  The Korean horror films seem to work because of the director's ability to put elements like horror and drama in such a way that you simply cannot give up on the characters in the story, no matter how much you dislike them. This is definitely the case with Hansel & Gretel, a film which if all you know is the title and you will find something very much the opposite of your expectations when you watched the film. This is not a story about two children being taken in by a witch, but the opposite. Being despite to believe by the title that you've heard this story before and now you are going to experience a total variation from the Asian horror film. The Koreans have succeed in their need to produce something new and not fall back into recent genre trends. This film is no different. You're not entirely sure of the film, until the second plot point, you're not sure of the victims, and not if there is going to be a happy ending. There is nothing in sight. This film is like a Korean version of Pan's Labyrinth, a story about children and their strange capacity to realize their dreams through imaginations. GREAT FILM.

• Adam M

  
  Dark and disturbing fairytale modernised, Asian horror style! When a young mans' car crashes at the side of a road he stumble's across the nearest house for miles in the woods. The family that live there, what seems like a husband, wife and three kids seem happy enough to… More
  Dark and disturbing fairytale modernised, Asian horror style! When a young mans' car crashes at the side of a road he stumble's across the nearest house for miles in the woods. The family that live there, what seems like a husband, wife and three kids seem happy enough to take the man in,but a little weird. As time goes on the man realises the husband and wife aren't all they seem and the kids aren't exactly normal either and have a very disturbing upbringing. The house and initial views of the family are typical fairytaly/childrens story stuff and this makes the scenes of the kids upbringing even more disturbing. It's also well made, has a good script with good performances all round. At 2 hours its possibly a little to long but still, this is an effective, dark fairytale brought to life in a disturbing but satisfying way.

• Christopher B

  
  Great K-horror. Excellent story, interesting characters and gorgeous cinematography and set design. Watch on a double bill with Eraserhead for both sides of the ole fatherhood/responsibility dilemma us modern, video game playing, movie watching, comic book reading 30+ year old guys… More
  Great K-horror. Excellent story, interesting characters and gorgeous cinematography and set design. Watch on a double bill with Eraserhead for both sides of the ole fatherhood/responsibility dilemma us modern, video game playing, movie watching, comic book reading 30+ year old guys have. Highly recommended.

Read all 9 featured audience ratings