MovieChat Forums > Akasia (2003) Discussion > Severely underrated

Severely underrated

posted 18 years ago by Delbert-Grady
12 replies | jump to latest

I compare Korean movies against A Tale Of Two Sisters, wich i think was excellent and it set my standard as far as Korean movies go.

So compared to that movie, i thought this movie was quite good, against what all the reviews say about it. The camera work was very nice, the story was simple but effective, the acting above average, and the ending was satisfying enough for me. For a low budget film, the special effects were nice, and the picture definetly has a look, and feel.

Acacia will stay in my head for a while, cause it gave me quite some scares, and chills. The hospital/birth scene is one of those things that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

It's hard to write this, and not spoil anything, so i'll just leave it at the fact that i quite enjoyed it, and am not sorry to have watched it all. On the contrary! Once again, it shows that asian kids, are nothing but trouble.

On the back of the DVD case, is a small summary of a review from eCritic.com, wich says: "Understated creeper of a ghost story."
I couldn't agree more.

~~~~~~~~
Alessa: "But now is the end of days, and I am the reaper."

[–] KiLDoG 18 years ago

I agree. Very sad movie. I saw some bad reviews and was wondering if I made the right choice. I had heard it was similar to A Tale of Two Sisters and Dark Water according to Snowblood Apple (http://mandiapple.com/snowblood/index.html) and decided to buy it on faith, and I am glad I did.

[–] Blairwitch63 17 years ago

I totally agree! Acacia was very haunting and has stayed with me ever since I first saw it over a year ago. I agree about the birth scene too. I'd forgotten other details but I'll probably never forget that! Did you notice how the baby and then the mother looked like Jin-seung's paintings come to life? Brrrr.

[–] Percele 17 years ago

103 minutes of tree huggin...attacking ants...killer flowers...2$ "special effects" ...yeah, a true masterpiece.

[–] Delbert-Grady 16 years ago

I didn't say it was a masterpiece. I said i enjoyed it. And i still do.

[–] Angellebabie 17 years ago

I totally agree the whole spiral downward of the movie had me enthralled. I wanted to react with the characters and tell them what they were doing wrong. Their pride and such. How they all failed one another as a family seemed to be a curse upon them.

Awesome movie.

[–] fedestevens 17 years ago

This movies goes deep inside into the mind of every single member of the family, it goes far beyond horror, and it's a disturbing fine piece of art. Sometimes it's a little bit oppresive, but its slow pace is a great element for the movie to work the way it does.
All the elements plus the acting help the film to develop itself into a horryfing drama with supernatural stuff goin' round.
Great movie, but saddly not for everyone.

[–] The_Man_in_the_Planet 16 years ago

Yeah, apparently it got panned by the critics, but I liked it a lot. It has stayed with me since I watched it several days ago, and it gave me strange dreams. Very sad story with wonderful visuals.

Next time you see me, it won't be me

[–] Eighty_One_Satanic_Markings 16 years ago

Even though in my opinion it was very predictable (especially the plot twist) I did enjoy this movie. I loved how this movie showed each character becoming withdrawn each day because of the "incident" and how they keep changing for the worst. (Don't want to spoil it for those who didn't watch it.)

Some people count sheep. Doesn't work with AlwaysCool, just gets him excited.

[–] katalist420 16 years ago

I also enjoyed this movie

[–] Onyx_Hades 15 years ago

Thank you to the OP for this post! I loved this movie! I lost my mother at an early age, and this movie really got to me.

I know everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I honestly don't understand why so many people dislike this movie.

[–] seren-star042 15 years ago

Most people don't like it because it's more about human nature and behavior than it is about bodies crawling down the stairs or bloody hands snatching out from the shadows. (It was intellectual instead of BANGBANGLOOKSOMETHINGSHAPPENING.)

[–] jackluminous1965 10 years ago

Yeah this had something a bit different though the creepy kid (well it even managed to have 2!) and *beep* type of ending are cliches

I thought the acting was good especially the female lead who was excellent - all slow burning everything barely kept under the surface

Overall a good watchable horror but not brilliant...the ant scene is equivalent to the cat scene in Let The Right One In