South Korean horror movie, The Closet reminds me of the story, Battle Royale. Where parents turn to desperate and inhuman solutions due to hardships of the economy in a sick society that has leeched all compassion and joy out of life... and the innocents who pay the price.

Korean horror movies have been here for a while and if you are aware of that, you probably know they've put out some really good movies. While I would not put this at the top of any list, I still think it is a really good one. Visually speaking but also from a story standpoint. Characters are flawed as they should be and make decisions that are wrong .. in a way.

Again sometimes it is very hard to know what to do - not to mention certain things are ok to happen or should happen so the story is more interesting. And theer is more to this than just the space of the closet ... there's something behind it (no pun intended). This can be a good/frightening time, if you dig it

Following his wife's death, a man and his daughter decide to move into a new home out in the country to try to move past the horrific events but once it becomes apparent that supernatural forces are at play within the house that pulls his daughter into their world he turns to an expert to try to get her back at all costs.

On the whole, this one was a rather enjoyable ghost effort. Like most great ghost stories, there's a lot to like here with the general build-up of the story into far greater and more dangerous threats. The element of grief present in the backstory to this one drops a great sense of atmospheric grounding that has a lot to do with what the perception of the daughters' behavior changes as she goes from the intimidated, quiet girl with an unresolved anger problem toward her father to full-on psychotic outbursts. The complete turn-around she experiences is found to be related closely to the spirits inhabiting the house signal the start of the investigation into what's happening once the psychic arrives looking for evidence of the supernatural. These sequences and the resulting explanation into the backstory of the missing child from the house that soon transforms into a much larger case involving multiple missing children in the area and the eventual need to enter their dimension to rescue his daughter. This build-up of events is quite well-handled and one of the best aspects featured here. Likewise, the film gets a lot out of its ghost action and activity. Focusing on the idea of something in the house with the scurrying footsteps, child-like laughing or strange noises off in the distance that are both inhuman and impossible to have been made by the daughter once he arrives to investigate, the gradual build-up of the haunted house they live in is quite nice. The subtle hints of something happening with the famed closet, with the inability to keep it closed, her refusal to let him near it or the strange dream of it the ghostly woman emerging and cutting her throat in front of him cause even more enjoyable supernatural work within here that leads into the second half where it brings the ghoulish ghost-children into the picture to provide far more action than expected. These scenes benefit greatly from the creepy and chilling make-up used on the ghost children which is genuinely terrifying and creepy which certainly goes a long way to helping this one feature some fantastic positives. There are some flaws with this one. The main issue to be found here is the film's reliance on Hollywood-style ghost scenes that don't do anything new to betray their influence. The sequence in the bedroom where all the ghost children emerge and attack him tackles plenty of scene setups and a general atmosphere of many J-horror films, especially with the main ghost attacking the lone victim waiting in the control room. The entire investigation evokes entire J-horror franchises with the heroes up against a clock looking for the source of the supernatural maladies affecting them. Finally, the entire trip into the other dimension to rescue his daughter is a direct and overt ripoff of select American films outright, reducing the impact of these scenes drastically. Since this is where the typical Korean penchant for overblown melodrama emerges as he tries to plead with the ghost to let go of her anger towards his family, this comes off as somewhat cheesy due to the lack of build-up being more straightforward before then. These aren't truly terrible or wholly unworthy but do have a negative aspect on the film as a whole.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Language and intense themes of children-in-jeopardy.