Howling (2012)

Strong and Moving!

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Howling takes a somewhat unbelievable plot and runs like a wolf with it. The two detective protagonists do an exemplary job carrying the film... but the real hero of the film is the avenging wolf-dog. I must admit I was never bored during the shots of the beast running or staring out with piercing eyes. If this were an American film I'm sure Hollywood would have made a mess of the sexism subplot and turned the whole thing into some clumsy "message" movie. In this context the other detectives came off as jerks and one couldn't help but root for Eun-yeong & Sang-gil to solve the case before their colleagues. Once it was determined that the deceased were all "bad guys" it seemed a little odd that revenge wasn't even considered as a motive until later. The scene with final kill was sad and expertly done. That sealed the deal for me. Unless you dislike avenging wolf-dogs, you can't really go wrong with Howling.

So, this film plot is dumb. Just really dumb. It kept me engaged for the first hour , I will admit. I can't tell you why. Maybe because I didn't know yet that the "killer" was a dog. I ended up turning it off right before the big ( I assume) ending. I knew the dog killed everyone and why, but there was one more victim, that they had not found yet. I turned it off because it wasn't worth investing anymore. First of all, this movie has the most annoying characters I've ever met in my life. Not being Korean, or from Korea, I deduced that this was an inside peak at some very culturally revealing scenes and dynamics ( realism) the misogyny was disturbing. The woman drove me up a wall. She was such a wimp, and just let herself be abused by these ugly jerks in the police department. I couldn't stand that aspect of the film. I think I watched it for so long because I was waiting for this woman to get her revenge , somehow. It never came. She just kept getting slapped by her co workers, insulted and blamed for everything that wasn't her fault. Over again. At the point when she packed up her stuff, and left her desk, I said bye bye. Your plot was stupid. Your entire cast except for her and two criminals hard to look at, I hated all of the characters except for her, you suck. Korea. You suck. I did manage to get some gratitude going on for being American , which rarely happens now a days. I can't believe that Korea was OK with the release of this film. It makes them look so bad. They are almost as bad as the Islamic nations , as far as women are concerned. Well, at least you don't get gang raped if you leave your house alone. Ya. Skip this one. It's a dud. Stupid, far fetched plot. No climax, too long, and just doesn't deliver ; anywhere. It would have been cool if the woman, who was a better detective than any of the men in the department, would have gotten some sort of acknowledgment or revenge- like kick the living crap out of half those guys. Esp the jerk that got the promotion. Korea, if you're reading this, I have a huge resentment against you. Time for some changes, buddy.

This is not a horror or a supernatural movie that the title or poster may imply.This movie is actually a cop thriller that many of us like to see with some intense scenes and it stars in my opinion one of Korea's best actors "Song Kang-Ho" (Memories of Murder) who plays the role of the not so straight cop with family issues.Detective Sang-Gil played by Song Kang-Ho is being assigned to solve what appears to be a small suicide case and to train the new unwelcomed lady recruit Eun-Young (Lee Na-Young) to which he refuses. Being bitter because he was passed over for a promotion to another colleague, the detective reluctantly agrees, while his new colleague is being treated differently by her very sexist colleagues.During the course of the movie the new partners discover that a string of murders could be connected and they wonder if the murders are justified and intentional or not, while trying to overcome work and family problems.The lead star gives a good believable performance along with decent performances from supporting actors. The film has a good original story on hand that may have fell a bit short due to a mix of directing, writing and probably length of the movie? Otherwise this is a good movie that could have been a powerful thriller.

Flying below the radar this summer season here between Hollywood tentpole releases is Korean cop thriller The Killer Wolf or Howling, whose rather cheesy title betrays the storytelling quality associated with a genre that the Koreans have become rather expects at delivering. What more, there's one of my favourite Korean actors Song Kang Ho in the lead role, playing what else but a cop who's not exactly squeaky clean, frustrated for being passed on for a promotion he so desires. And add to that, he, and his homicide department, are quite the sexist lot, giving rookie female detective Eun Young (Lee Na Young) one of the worst welcome anyone can provide for new colleagues.The team gets busy with what could have been a straightforward open and shut case of suicide involving self-immolation, but soon the clues start to pile and point to homicide, and then with more bodies turning up with fatal wounds seemingly caused by a wolf going for the jugular, before investigations reveal a loose link between all the victims, and a drug and underaged prostitution ring. Based on the novel by Asa Nogami, The Killer Wolf has plenty of red herrings thrown around, typical of any detective stories to keep you engaged, interested, and hooking you in to contribute your own thoughts about what's true, what's not and who's guilty, but in essence this investigative development turned out to be rather secondary.Written and directed by Yu Ha, whose last film was 2008's A Frozen Flower, The Killer Wolf is very much about the leading characters, and both Song Kang Ho and Lee Na Young excelled in their partnership as unlikely cop comrades who have to transcend their personal prejudices and baggage in order to work together toward their respective goals. For Sang-Gil (Song), he needs a big case all by himself to provide just cause for a promotion, and in Eun Young's case, something to justify her transfer from the traffic police department and to make it as a homicide detective. Emotional baggage comes in the form of Sang-Gil's delinquent son, and in Eun Young's broken marriage no thanks to her late nights as a cop, but these are as fleeting as introduction goes in an attempt to provide a little more depth to the cops.What made this a compelling watch isn't really how the duo went about their investigations, but like what's been seen in other Korean crime thrillers, how sometimes cops can effectively be inept, hampered by their lack of coordination and cooperation amongst themselves, and strangely enough, the sexism here is very much pronounced. Eun Young gets verbally abused countless of times, and what took the cake was that tight slap delivered by a fellow colleague, to which her response was to stand in silence. And all that stemming from listening to her partner and not calling their investigations in for backup purposes for personal and professional selfish reasons.But what doesn't break you only makes you stronger, and the narrative for the most parts deals with Eun Young's determination to make it in her career and posting of choice despite having many first time jitters, and her dogged (pardon the pun) nature puts her very much in the driver's seat as far as investigations into the killings go. Song Kang Ho would fade off into the background from the mid way point, but Lee Na Young more than makes up for his absence with strong charismatic screen presence, who balanced her demure demeanour (some may even claim that it's submissive to her male colleagues) with some action sequences when called upon to become more physical.The suggestion of a wolf-dog hybrid is also intriguing for tossing up plenty of questions, creating an entire arc and characters involving motivation to do what got done, together with bringing on plenty of sleaze factors amongst the guilty. Some may cry foul over how convenient this actually was in coming up with scenes and characters to link everything together, but as already highlighted, the story's really secondary to the strength of characters on display, and has the director keeping every development on a very tight leash, paced well and delivered where it mattered most. Recommended!