Suddenly in Dark NightDirected by: Ko Young-nam (고영남)
Starring: Kim Young-ae (김영애), Yun Il-bong (윤일봉), Lee Ki-seon
The Film: Psychological and Supernatural drama/horror. Wife is suspecting husband’s infidelity since arrival of their young housekeeper who carries a mysterious wooden doll with herself. – (IMDB)
Publisher: DVD Prime / WeET Collection
Purchase: Kimchi DVD
DVD Prime, the largest online DVD and Blu-ray community in Korea, will release Suddenly in Dark Night (1981) as their 22nd entry in their DP Series. Korea does not have a rich film history of midnight or “cult” cinema, so Suddenly in Dark Night is a very interesting selection and comes as a surprise to many.
Having come out at a time when Koreans did not particularly have an appetite for horror, possibly reflecting the sociopolitical situation at that time, the film was largely unknown until when more recently selected by Bong Joon-ho as one of the original defining Korean films that showed cult movie characteristics. With this release we now get a chance to look back on the film with a fresh perspective and can appreciate it for not only its unique part of Korean film history, but also for the direction of Ko Young-nam who is apparently the most prolific filmmaker in Korea with 105 films.
Essay about the film (in Korean with spoilers) by Jung Sung-il (Film Critic)
