7pts

Monstrous

(괴이) 2022 TVING

A tight quick (6 short episodes) horror/thriller. Ambitious regional governor wants to promote tourism by displaying the newly-discovered giant ancient Buddhist head sculpture. They uncovered it in the forest, and the figure was blindfolded with a massive cloth inscribed in Tibetan. They took that off. Oops! The statue is cursed, and they just removed their protection. Bad things happen, with lots of blood and cloudy white eyeballs. Kinda like a zombie movie, but where the zombie infection is the gaze of a evil Buddhist statue.

Jung Ki-Hoon (Koo Gyo-Hwan) is a super-bright Tibetan scholar and occultist/conspiracy theorist. His ex-wife Lee Soo-Jin (Shin Hyun-Bin), also an academic, gets involved too. The local police chief Han Seok-Hee (Kim Ji-Young) and her son Han Do-Kyung (Nam Da-Reum) are working out some family issues, and the insane, murderous bullying of Kwak Yong-Joo (Kwak Dong-Yeon).

K-Drama Bingo Score

Using the Modern K-Drama set

Running commentary

A quick day-or-two binge, with 30 minute episodes. Easy to digeset. No romantic subplots at all!

They had me at "haunted Buddhist statue." Pretty gratuitously gory stuff, mostly of the stabby stabby variety. The plot is just stable enough to support the six episodes, but the epilogue speaks to a potential new season with new mysteries to solve. So it's the The Librarians, but with no levity, and for Korean Buddhists.

Surprisingly high score for a simple horror thriller. Proof that K-dramas are still the best at being K-dramas.

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(Dis)possession
(2 pt)
Notes
Ghosts, spirits inhabiting bodies, or body- or identity-swapping

S01
The whole shebang. Just about everybody gets possessed by the evil spirit.
Vehicular tragedy
(2 pt)
Notes
Someone is/was hit by a car, truck, bus, or motorcycle
S01E05
Lee Soo-Jin's daughter is catapulted by a delivery truck.
Bullying
(1 pt)
Notes
Be Best, Korea
S01E01
Han Do-Kyung is relentlessly pursued by his former best friend.
Finger hearts
(1 pt)
Notes
Any use of finger hearts by a character
S01E01
Fingers hearts to "Like and subscribe" to Jung Ki-Hoon's YouTube channel
Shamans & Talismans
(1 pt)
Notes
Yellow paper talismans, written in calligraphic red ink; visits to a shaman for fortune-telling or body transfers

S01E04
The entire episode is entitled "Talisman," and involves some makeshift Buddhist talismans to ward off the evil spirit.

Unmatched Bingo Spaces

Childhood friends forgotten
Characters knew, or at least encountered, each other in childhood, but somehow forgot
Cartoony FX
Animal or cartoon visual and sound effects to reinforce behavior or mood
Chicken & Beer
치맥, anyone?
Cramped quarters
Sleeping in a repurposed closet, or on a balcony, or in insane tiny student housing
Crushing Debt
Characters are motivated by their debt (or a family member's), including the threat of foreclosure
Korean Standoff
Two principal characters have a serious, sometimes emotionally confrontational, conversation while standing at least 1m apart
Memorial service
Funerals and memorial services
Middle-of-the-Road Soliliquy
Verbal musings on deep existential questions and/or tragicomic situations while in the middle of the street
Piggyback
Someone gives someone else a piggyback ride
Pinky swear
Two characters doing a pinky swear

Touching thumbs at the end is not a thing in America (based on my terrible polling), so that gets an easy bonus point for any wannabe K-drama.
Rumble tummy
Audible stomach rumbling to indicate hunger
Son Hyeung Min
Mentions of Son Hyeung Min, or staying up to watch Tottenham Hotspur play
The Playground
Any scene taking place in a neighborhood playground
Thumbs up
Two thumbs up for "Good job!"
Wrist grab
Dramatically grabbing someone by the wrist as they walk away
강한나 (Kang Han-Na)
The presence of Kang Han-Na makes everything at least 1 point better
내 친구 ("My friend…")
A character tells a story about "My friend" that is actually about themselves
한국어학교 (Language lessons)
Specifically linguistic wordplay, discussions about spelling, pronunciation, or Chinese root words