The Human Trap

Film: The Human Trap

Year: 2021

Director: Lee Moon-young

Writer: Lee Moon-young

Starring: Kang Byeol, Kim Dong-ho and Park Yeon-woo

Review:

This is a film that I got the chance to see via screener thanks to Ray from Cinephobia Releasing. I confirmed this was horror and then saw that it was from South Korea, so I knew that I was in. I was hoping this was a 2024 release, but this was made in 2021 and did its premiere in the US in 2023. Regardless, I tend to like movies like this from Korea so I gave it a watch.

Synopsis: a group of young friends from the city go on a camping getaway. What starts as a fun-in-the-woods adventure soon turns into a bloody nightmare as a madman and eventually his suave henchman stalk them like prey. Will they survive?

We begin this in a coffee shop. The male here is Ki-young and he is there with Ji-ae (Kang Byeol). She doesn’t want coffee and asks if they can go somewhere quiet to make out. This shocks him and he chugs his coffee. They go to his car where they get interrupted by a phone call. This is from his best friend who is Jung-ho (Park Yeon-woo). He is going to medical school and he asks if Ki-young wants to go camping. He thinks that will make them look a gay couple, but Ji-ae says she would like to go camping. To get him to agree, she offers to have sex with him while they’re there. That’s a good enough reason for him.

Ki-young also then invites Chae-rim (Kang Seung-hyun). She is his employee at the business he runs. I get the idea that he thinks she is dumb and might have already agreed to hook up with Jung-ho. He is using her to keep them occupied to get alone time with Ji-ae. They also seemed to have car trouble on their way here. They are then met by the guy they’re renting the campsite from. He’s going to take them up the mountain.

I should also point out here that Ji-ae is harboring a secret. Her mother passed away and she is avoiding paying the fees to the funeral home. They’re threating to sue her if she doesn’t. She slowly drops her phone out of the window as they head up the mountain.

There’s also something not quite right about where they’re going. There are gin traps in the woods surrounding their campsite. It makes it dangerous to try to leave. We also see an odd man who is eating food like an animal and is dirty. There’s also Dr. Ma who is hunting him. Our group hears the gunshots and they’re told it is someone hunting boar. When they get to the campsite, there is food and tents. There is a nearby bathroom that Chae-rim notices smelling heavy of bleach. Their guide then leaves them there for the night.

Even though weird things have been happening to this group, it is just starting. It turns into a nightmare as things get revealed. Members of this group are harboring secrets that could turn deadly. Like the synopsis said, who will survive the night?

That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to then start is that even though this has a premise that we’ve seen before, I don’t know if I’ve seen it done in the way that we do here. That would involve going into spoilers so I’m not going to reveal what those other movies are. What I will say is that I like the premise here of getting our characters stranded at a campsite. There are traps preventing them from leaving, especially when it gets dark. We also have odd characters who are hunting them which is creepy as well.

With those first ideas set up, let me delve more into the characters and secrets they hold. Ji-ae’s mother passed away and she is avoiding dealing with her being buried. There is more to this that I thought helped develop her character. My first thought was that she wanted to sleep with Ki-young to escape. That isn’t the case though. I love how the more we learn about her, the more unhinged we see that she is. Her true motivation is good and I like how she becomes our lead as things develop. Byeol plays this well.

I then want to bring in the rest of the group. Ki-young is a jerk and the more we learn about him, the more I hate him. This goes farther than just things he says and does in the timeframe of the movie. He has a history as well. His best friend, Jung-ho, is also interesting. He is aloof, but he’s smart. He’s in medical school. We see that he doesn’t pick up on social cues. This character also has secrets which I like as they get revealed as well. He connects with Ji-ae since his mother is sick. Jung-ho is a legit good guy, at least he appears to be. Then the final character from them is Chae-rim. She is young and naïve. She connects with Jung-ho and then thinks she is in love, to the point where she is planning on being his wife. She is sweet and this ordeal changes her for sure.

Then to look at the group that brings them here and then hunts. It feels to me like this is a variation on ‘The Most Dangerous Game’. We have this guide who is a Christian. I only bring that up because they are trying to kill the group. There is a reveal here as well. I did have a slight issue is that we see there is more to the set up that is revealed at the climax. We didn’t see things and it cut to the end of that. That felt like a bit of a misstep, but not enough to ruin this. We do see Dr. Ma hunting this man who is feral. When it was revealed that the bathroom smelt like bleach, I knew where that was going. Like I said previously, this idea isn’t new but I like what we’re doing here.

So, I’m not going to go into the acting since I don’t know all the actor’s names currently. I did think the performances were good. They are a bit quirky at times, but not enough to go full blown comedy which would hurt it for me. I’ll go to filmmaking then. I thought that the cinematography was good. This place feels isolated and cold. That was a good touch there. We get effects but limited. I thought the blood looked good when we got it. This was something I wish they did more with. It also could be they didn’t have the budget here as this feels like it wasn’t working with a lot of money. Also, the soundtrack fit what was needed.

In conclusion, this is a solid movie. We are getting a good set up and premises. The problem there is that isn’t overly original and doesn’t do a lot to set itself apart. I thought the characters and their motivations were good. The acting brings them to life. This was well-made with the cinematography leading the way there. It captures the isolated feel and how cold it is. I just wanted more from the effects though. Still think this is worth a watch if you’re into South Korean revenge films. Not the best in this subgenre from this country, but not bad by any stretch.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10