5 out of 6 people found the following review helpful:

The family that slays together...

nostromo from reading, 20th August, 2005

Don't be put off if you've seen The Happiness of the Katakuris, Takashi Miike's unwatchable Japanese remake. This first film by Ji-woon Kim, who wrote and directed the excellent Tale of Two Sisters (which I watched for the umpteenth time the other night and it still makes my flash creep) is not at all bad. Its an other-worldly black comedy about a family-run guest house in the mountains. One guest after another checks in, passes away and gets buried in the woods by their mortified hosts. As the bodies mount up, so do their problems and they find themselves resorting to ever more sinister tactics to protect their secret. Its a nice premise, and very funny in places. But though he makes a convincing stab at the genre the situation never quite gets as farcical as I felt it should and you can see that comedy isn't really Ji-woon Kim's thing, though I daresay much is lost in the translation. The atmosphere of Two Sisters is already very much in evidence, which lots of stylish camera work and moody, washed out colours, and while it often works incredibly effectively it's a little too visually restrained and European-looking for the material. Things are boosted by the presence of a rather killer soundtrack. Korean trip hop? Who'd have thunk it? If you've enjoyed recent Korean films like Old Boy or Joint Security Area this is a good one to check out. Happy holidays!

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1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Disappointed

A Customer from Hounslow, London, 13th January, 2006

Hmmmm....another film where i had high hopes and then felt let down by the filmaker involved. In some respects though, this film may be in that category of 'which-ever-version-of-the-film-you-see-first, that's-the-one-you-prefer' syndrome as I much prefer the takashi miike remake 'happiness of the katakuris'...This film never really takes off or seems to decide what type of a film it is...in some repscts this is captured brilliantly in miike's remake which covers all bases. I really liked tale of 2 sisters (also by the director of quiet family) which hooked me in and really creeped me out...but this does not reach those heights at all. For completionists of korean cinema only I fear...

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Fantastic

Jace from , 30th July, 2007

If you were unfortunate enough to see Takashi Miike's 'Happiness of the Katakuris' then you need to see this film, Happiness is a remake of this darkly comic Korean film. This is everything that Happiness should have been and just goes to show that it's not just Hollywood that likes to churn out crappy remakes of good films, which is rather disappointing. Anyway, rent it, watch it, laugh yourself silly, it's all good.

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Fawlty Towers meets Shallow Grave

John Bye from Guildford, Surrey, 12th June, 2007

The Quiet Family is a charming and at times hilarious dark comedy about a disfunctional family that opens a guesthouse in the countryside, only for their first visitor to commit suicide in his room. Afraid of the adverse publicity the bizarre death would bring (and worried that their petty criminal son will get blamed for it), they decide to cover up the suicide by burying the body in the woods. Things quickly spiral out of control, resulting in a string of strange deaths and much burying and digging up of corpses. Unlike the insane over-the-top Japanese remake 'Happiness of the Katakuris', The Quiet Family is (as the title suggests) a quieter film, with the focus more on the family and the effects that this bizarre series of events has on them. You won't find any singing corpses or claymation craziness here. In fact, the whole thing feels almost like a stage play at times, and I mean that in a nice way. The result is (in my opinion, at least) a more engaging film, and it's hard not to grow to love the eccentric family members, even if they do spend half the film burying people in the woods... I'd recommend watching both Katakuris and Quiet Family, as they're both great films and very different experiences. But personally I prefer The Quiet Family.

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Black Comedy Of Mild Amusement

Ian Davies from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, 9th March, 2007

This is Kim Ji-woon's South Korean pitch black comedy that 'The Happiness Of The Katakuris' was based on. Family buy hotel lodge in remote spot. First guest commits suicide so family dispose of the body to avoid bad publicity. Second guests accidentally overdose so family disposes of those bodies too, then they start killing guests to keep the cover up going. The escallation of crimes is unstoppable once it begins. This is never really as funny as it should be, but it does keep you watching as the twisted plot unfolds. The always excellent Choi Min-sik appears in a supporting role.

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newer version better

A Customer from UK(NW), 3rd November, 2006

I was taken by surprise and fascinated by the humour in 'Happiness of the Katakuris' This earlier version was good but the later one made me laugh much more..

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