Korean Folk Horror: The Wailing & Exhuma – History, Folklore, and Spiritual Darkness
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What is Folk Horror? We themed this episode on the idea of a Folk Horror double feature. Dan chose The Wailing, a Korean Horror movie from 2016 that he had seen and knew Patrick had not, that focuses on an investigation in an isolated village of a series of murders that seems to infect the residents involved into going into a murderous rage. Patrick follows that choice up with Exhuma, another Korean Horror Movie, this time from 2024, that he had seen that Dan had not, that is about a team of geomancers and shaman who are hired by a wealthy family to attempt to break a curse by exhuming an old family members grave. They quickly realize there is more to this grave than meets the eye and attempt to use their collective skills to battle ancient evils.
Both of these movies are steeped deeply in the history of colonialism in South Korea between them and Japan tracing all of the way back to World War II. They also deal with the beliefs related to shamonism, feng shui, and spirituality as well as themes relating to loss and grief.
We end the episode on our usual News and Physical Media showcase topics followed by the release of our upcoming March Episode Schedule.
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Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:08 What is Folk Horror?
00:03:19 What are the essential elements of good folk horror?
00:07:14 Some of our Favorite Folk Horror Movies: The Witch, Midsommar, The Wicker Man, The Village, The Ritual, The Blair Witch Project, Ravenous
00:10:40 Double Feature Background
00:12:38 The Wailing Overview
00:15:38 The Cast & Acting
00:16:19 Budget, Box Office, & Reviews
00:16:42 Influences
00:21:18 Final Thoughts
00:24:53 Spoiler Section Discussing the Ending
00:33:09 Exhuma Overview
00:38:49 The Cast & Acting
00:40:39 Budget, Box Office, & Reviews
00:41:17 Influences
00:43:00 Dan’s Thoughts
00:46:26 Spoiler Section Discussing the Ending
00:51:18 Double Feature Wrap Up
00:52:17 News
00:52:20 Jon Bernthal has joined the cast of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey
00:53:53 Robert Eggers Set to Release a 13th Century Werewolf movie for Christmas of 2026 Titled Werwulf
00:56:40 Physical Media Showcase: Dan got the Smile 2 4K Steelbook, Patrick got the Se7en 4K Special Edition
01:00:55 February Episode Schedule Release
01:02:53 Wrap Up
