▲ Gonjiam poster

On March 28th, 2018, the Korean horror movie, Gonjiam : Haunted Asylum was released, and it has been doing so well with the total attendance over one million. Its genre is horror and mystery, so the horror mania within the country' is gathered. It is expected for them because it was directed by Jun Bum Shik who is the main authority of the internal horror movies.

▲ movie still cut 1

Gonjiam started with the people, who operates the YouTube for money decided to go to experience horror and make money. They prepared for the live broadcast, and they started to observe weird and scary phenomenon like Changing positions of the literature and doll and getting the injury from something. The director used the specific camera for the actress and take the scene directly. Moreover, that way has made people feel horror while looking at the YouTube live broadcast. Also, the director also made the working place remake in a closed school so similar with Gonjiam.

▲ movie still cut 2

However, this movie is in the middle of the controversy. Gonjiam was selected as "A hideous place in the world" with a lot of rumors, patient's mass suicide and director's disappearance. After that, many people had visited that hospital, and the residents around it got injured because of people's irritating actions, and the price of the houses went down. As a result, Gonjiam was closed because of the director's immigration, but it was just a rumor. So, the residents around it request a ban on showing provisional contents in that movie. However, it was dismissed.

▲ movie still cut 3

On the other hand, some people said that the movie made Gonjiam a sightseeing place like other cities such as Gokseong-eup. It used the movie to gather people, and it actually increased up to 35 thousand. Moreover, other people think that it is important to differentiate virtual world from reality after watching it. The settings in the GOnjiam are fiction, and we have to know about it. Like this, the debate about Gonjiam has continued since it was released.

April,14th,2018 By Kim Seo Hyeon