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2012｜114 MIN | Crime, Drama

DIRECTOR YOO Ha

CAST SONG Kang-ho, LEE Na-young, SIN Jeong-geun, LEE Sung-min

RELEASE DATE February 16, 2012

CONTACT CJ Entertainment

Tel  +82-2-371-5500

Fax  +82-2-371-6340

Email filmsales@cj.net

Going into 2012, one of the most highly anticipated Korean films on the horizon was HOWLING (2012), a project bringing together the beloved SONG Kang-ho and A Dirty Carnival (2006) director YOO Ha for the first time. The simple pitch hinted at an investigation focusing on deaths by spontaneous combination and the possible involvement of a werewolf. The film, based on the 1996 novel ‘The Hunter’ by Japanese writer NONAMI Asa, turned out to be far more conventional than that, yet while critics and audiences largely shunned it at the time, the result was a very well put together Korean thriller that highlights many of the strengths of the genre.

Sitting in his car in a parking lot, a man is seen suddenly bursting into flames, which kicks off a new police investigation. Veteran cop Sang-gil is assigned to the case, which is first assumed to be a suicide, while at the same time given a new partner in the form Eun-yeong, who is the only women in their unit and endures an unending amount of sexual harassment. When dog bites are also found on the body and more clues emerge, Sang-gil’s instinct is to keep the developments secret from his superiors and work the case quietly, but when a fresh body emerges, the case becomes too big to contain.

With plenty of time devoted to a machismo-fuelled bullpen, the early parts of the film call to mind many Korean procedurals and while the inclusion of a determined female officer changes things somewhat, it isn’t until the film gets through a few suspects that the mystery becomes very intriguing. By then the frosty relationship between Sang-gil and Eun-young has thawed, adding a welcome dose of charisma to the investigation. Much like he achieved in A Dirty Carnival or Spirit Of Jeet Keun Do - Once Upon A Time In High School (2004), director YOO slowly builds his narrative and its characters relationship before launching into memorably set pieces, which generally build tension through several linked and well-cut scenes.

Since BONG Joon-ho’s The Host (2006) became the most successful Korean film of all time when it was released in 2006, superstar SONG Kang-ho has seldom set a foot wrong at the box office. His last six films have all gone over six million admissions, a feat no other actor in Korea has ever achieved, yet this was a streak that began straight after HOWLING, which was the last time he didn’t connect with viewers. As an alcoholic detective who appears abusive to his son, not to mention cruelly callous to his new female partner, the trademark charm, and humor that audiences love him for doesn’t appear until later in the narrative, by which time it may have been too late for some. 

Meanwhile, LEE Na-young, known for more fragile characters in Someone Special (2004) or Maundy Thursday (2006), impresses as a consummate professional who will do anything to get the job done.