In the midst of abuse – parental and pedophile alike – three young kids are given a way out: via the gift of imagination that actually alters their reality, but poses great danger to the adults who come into their midst. Instead of a pair of siblings stumbling onto the home of a witch, who then captures them for her supper, we have the three kids (marvelously performed, especially the youngest one who really invested a lot of personal emotion into her role – or at least had it prompted out of her at the right moments) who lure lost adults into their home in the woods and make them stay in an attempt to gain loving parents. The protagonist is a soon-to-be father who crashes his car in the woods and is “rescued” by one of the kids; only to find he can never leave and that the other adults who come into the kids’ midst encounter devastating ends.

The story progresses smoothly and interestingly, enhanced by a beautifully evocative score by Lee Byeong-Woo (THE HOST), and runs a satisfactory line between dark fantasy and horror linked by the characterization and plight of the children. The protagonist must manage to survive, keep from getting the kids angry at him (or risk being turned into a doll or an oak tree), and escape back to his reality while at the same time developing a sympathetic bond with the kids (oh, and save the kids from a serial killer preacher who stumbles on the cottage).

The story is multi-layered and develops a good bit of sympathy towards its characters and storyline. Beautifully filmed , performed, and scored, this is a unique little thriller with a lot of heart and creativity.

This is definitely the case with "Hansel And Gretel", a film which if all you know about the film is the title you will find something very much the opposite of your expectations.

No this isn't really a story about two children being taken in by a witch. Quite the opposite, in fact. And despite being led to believe by the title that you've heard this story before and are now only going to experience a slight variation, you're in for something very different from the typical Asian horror horror film. None of that "Ringu" long-haired ghost nonsense here.

Where the Koreans have recently excelled is in their need to produce something new and not fall back into recent genre trends. This film is no different. You're not entirely certain who to root for until the second major plot point--you're not sure of the victims, nor the victimizers. More so, you're not sure how you might arrive at a happy ending or a simple solution. There is none in sight.

When all is said and done, the story of a man, surviving a car accident and happening upon a house and an eccentric family in the deep woods (don't worry, they're not gonna pull a "Sixth Sense" on you) makes you realize you experienced the Korean equivalent of "Pan's Labyrinth", a story about children and their strange capacity to realize real evil through the filter of their imaginations (don't worry they're not gonna pull a "Bridge to Terabithia" on you either).