Horror movies tend to err on the shorter side when it comes to running times, with the vast majority of entries into the genre coming in at under two hours. It makes sense when there’s only so many jump scares, frights, and scenes of wanton carnage that audiences are willing to take, but 2016’s incredible The Wailing flew in the face of convention to luxuriate in its epic length.
Self-indulgence and excess are two of the key concerns whenever horror veers into butt-numbing territory, with Andy Muschietti’s 169-minute It Chapter Two perhaps one of the most notably egregious examples of the modern era. On the other side of the coin, writer and director Na Hong-jin’s instant modern classic fully earned and deserved each one of its 156 minutes, a rarity for a form of cinema that’s often the equivalent of a sugar rush.
Backed by a near-perfect Certified Fresh score of 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the consensus offers that The Wailing‘s dread-inducing terror “more than justifies its imposing length”. That’s something Netflix subscribers are in full agreement with, as the hardiest of hardcores have opted to take the plunge and sink two and a half hours of their time into the awards-laden epic.
Per FlixPatrol, The Wailing has landed a spot on the streamer’s worldwide watch-list, and there’s a distinct chance it’ll rise even higher now that Halloween is only a week away. The plot finds a police officer investigating a string of unusual murders reputed to have been caused by an unexplainable affliction, with rumors making the rounds that a stranger from out of town is really an evil spirit made flesh.
Naturally, the risk in diving further into the mystery does not bring rewards, and The Wailing is well worth checking out if you’ve got plenty of time to spare.