3 out of 5

Directed by: Jung Bum-shik

Though often cited – in the found footage community – as a bit of a copy-and-paste of Grave Encounters, there was nothing inherently new about that film’s “we’re a show that debunks supernatural stuff” premise for pointing skeptical camera-wielders towards supernatural stuff, and then actual supernatural stuff happens. Yes: both movies take place at abandoned (and purportedly haunted) hospitals, but again – that can hardly be considered a brand new setting for horror, in general.

We can allow, though, that there are certain similarities: with a dogged host – here represented by YouTube channel “Horror Times” captain Ha-joon (Wi Ha-joon) – ultimately getting his crew In Too Deep with their chosen hospital’s specters; the way that hospital’s spooks end up extending into the metaphysical, beyond simply things jumping out and saying boo; and the overall slowburn of the film ramping up to an all-out final burst – but beyond these broad strokes (the last of which is pretty much every found footage flick), Gonjiam is very much its own film. Ha-joon is much more of strictly an entrepreneur than Grave’s host, determined to get the view count of this exploration of the famous (and very real!) Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital above a million; and their approach is modernized for a YouTube audience, with everyone sporting nifty GoPro rigs that are designed to capture reactions and POVs, eliminating need to do the who’s-got-the-camera / why-are-we-filming game. The interaction between those who Ha-joon, acting as kind of field ops and live editor, sends into the building, are also a lot less directly hostile than the bickerings in Grave; again, we get the benefit of web streaming being more of a thing, and so everyone plays a purposeful part instead of just yelling at each other.

Director Jung Bum-shik, alongside DP Yoon Byung-ho, do benefit from having Grave (and plenty of other FF films) to reflect on, though: scares are pretty excellently cropped, shaky cam is employed precisely, the sound design is smartly applied, and we get enough light to show us what we need to see, and keep shaded what makes a shot more scary. Bum-shik (and the actors) do a great job of milking scares as events in the hospital ramp up over the course of the night.

But: we’re reminded (or I was) that what helped make the classics like Blair Witch and [REC] so effective was the way the story kind of ticked up in interest alongside the escalating scares. There are things you wanted to understand, and the jumps and frights were experienced on your way to doing so. While deep lore isn’t always required in these things, I would maintain that something beyond “the director of this hospital may have done some bad things” helps a lot; Gonjiam is incredibly thin in the story department, and though it’s never boring, you’re also just waiting for the scares to happen.

An effective and professionally made flick; if you’re just in for the bumps in the night that get bumpier, then it’s a great FF entry. But if you agree that something a little more in the story (or character) department helps things along, you’ll be entertained, but not moved to add this to any top spots in your FF lists.