I’ve watched this movie way too many times, especially around the spooky season. My very first time watching it, my friends had me over to hang out. We enjoyed scaring ourselves shitless watching this while eating the spiciest ramen in their cabinet. Seeing this movie with them opened my eyes to a whole new category of horror, one that would actually scare me, and had me browsing for more.
Warning: spoilers ahead.
“Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum” (2018) is another one of those first-person found footage type of movies where the entire film is caught through various points of view using equipment such as camcorders, GoPros and static security cams.
I wouldn’t go as far as to compare it to “The Blair Witch Project” (1999) and its sequel “Blair Witch” (2016) since they only use footage captured through personal cameras, whereas Gonjiam takes a more operational approach; the captain constructs and executes scares for the crew to experience and capture on camera as they go deeper into the asylum.
This film starts off with the slice-of-life trope before you see any scares. It kind of hits you like BAM in the middle of the movie. The first half mostly establishes why the crew has decided to record themselves exploring the abandoned area. They celebrate their decision with food and drinks before leaving. On the road, their fun continues as they play games in the car and stop at a lake to enjoy themselves before arriving at the site.
The reason they do this is centered around making money. They wanted to imitate a channel whose livestreamed content accumulated over 200,000 viewers and made a $100,000 profit, just from ad revenue. The captain’s goal for viewership is 1,000,000, which they never reach. This felt like karma because the spirits had tricked him into thinking the livestream was becoming a success. This is important for later.
Each scare in “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum” relies less on flashy jump scares and more on atmosphere, tension and psychological unease. The film uses its found-footage style to immerse viewers directly into the haunted setting, making every flicker of a flashlight and every creak of a door feel real. With camcorders and GoPros to capture their reactions and get up close with the beings that toy with the emotions of the characters, it shows how impactful the style really is.
The film gradually creates fear through eerie noises, odd shadows and the characters’ developing fear rather than revealing its supernatural elements right away, which is something I appreciate.
The slow buildup makes the scares—doors slamming, invisible forces attacking or characters going missing—hit harder. The decaying surroundings of the asylum and the characters’ own anxiety, which feeds into the hysteria, give the horror a raw and cramped feeling.
The time they spent in the asylum was meant for rigging the entire place with premeditated scares and scenes so they could execute them. But in the midst of all the commotion they caused, they ended up suffering the consequences of tainting a haunted area. To me, it felt like whatever was haunting the asylum took this as an insult, resulting in death.
In short terms, it goes from a simple ghost story to a disturbing experience.
My conclusion?
The entirety of the plot could have been avoided if the two young men at the beginning of the movie hadn’t messed with that damned door. You took a screwdriver and a hammer, placed them on the edge of the door to the most haunted room and immediately tried to “playfully” bash it open? Are we seriously this stupid? Honestly, your disappearance was deserved.
But, if it wasn’t for their disappearance making the news, the captain of the horror web show wouldn’t have had the idea to venture over towards the asylum.
Even if that weren’t true, the ultimate downfall was the greed that plagued the captain. His attempt to exploit the crew for his financial benefit was what caused everyone, including himself, to die.
The spirits of the asylum had changed the viewer count on the page, tricking him into thinking the whole operation was successful. This not only led him to want to break the goal he set for the stream, but it also made him become more money hungry, which led him to set foot in the building so the broadcast could go on. He was lured to his demise.
The captain fucked around and found out.
