Horror movies are frequently overlooked by the mainstream media, especially those of the international kind. So, it is often down to internet fan communities to help horror films get the attention and love they deserve. And right now, the internet is raving about a horror film that you can currently watch for free.
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum is a South Korean found footage horror film released in 2018. The movie was directed by Jung Bum-shik. The film was inspired by a real-world asylum that has several paranormal legends surrounding it. The film was so convincing the owner of the building actually sued to prevent the film’s release. The owner argued that the film would make it hard to sell the building. Thankfully, however, the judge overruled this, and the film was released without issue.
When two young boys go missing while filming their exploration of the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, Ha-Joon, the owner of a YouTube paranormal channel, decides to gather a group of people to investigate the supposedly haunted location during a live broadcast. However, things quickly go wrong, and the horrors that dwell in the hospital make their presence known.
The film did well when it was initially released. It quickly became the third most-watched horror film in South Korea. It also got an American theatrical release, leading to it earning $20.3 million at the box office. However, the initial hype quickly died down, and the film became an often overlooked cult classic. However, the film is now available on the horror streaming service Shudder. Or for those who want some cheap scares, on Tubi, where it can be watched for free.
On Reddit’s /r/horror subreddit, user /u/rhoades2rocky43 posted a thread praising the film and implored others to watch it, saying that the movie utterly terrified them. Other users quickly jumped into the thread to heap praise on the picture, saying how the film’s slow build was perfectly done, causing you to let your guard down before it hits you with some wonderfully chilling scares.
In a testament to how memorable and scary the film is, one of the most upvoted comments in the whole thread is simply someone typing out a noise that will send a shiver down the spine of anyone who watched the film, even in onomatopeic form.
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum is an excellent found footage film and a fantastic horror film. It really isn’t hard to see why the film did so well when it was first released, as it uses the found footage format to deliver a series of unforgettable scares.