2 Season
17 Episode
Gyeongseong Creature
Behold, the powers of destiny. Beware, the powers of karma.
Gyeongseong, 1945. In Seoul's grim era under colonial rule, an entrepreneur and a sleuth fight for survival and face a monster born out of human greed.
- Year: 2024
- Country: South Korea
- Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery, Action & Adventure, Drama
- Studio: Netflix
- Keyword: monster, survival, hospital, 1940s, japanese occupation of korea, cliché
- Director: Kang Eun-kyung
- Cast: Park Seo-jun, Han So-hee
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GyeongSeong Creature is a horror series that taps into a dark aspect of history, not so well known in the West. That is, the Empire of Japans experimentation on human beings. Shockingly a lot of what is referenced in this series, really happened. This bleak platform is used as starting point to craft a Korean horror series, that's reminiscent of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein and any Lovecraftian tale, you care to name. A story that not only exposes the horrors of forced medical experimentation, on human beings but also other dark aspects, of imperialism. Whilst the over riding tale is compelling, I felt the monster/creature effects just didn't come across as all that real, robbing the series of a portion of its impact. Characterisations felt uneven too, with supposedly intelligent, often calculating people, doing inexplicably stupid things. That said, this series remains a generally worthwhile horror watch, for those with a stomach for it. In summary, a reasonable but by no means exceptional series from South Korea, that blends dark aspects of the past with fantasy/horror elements. There is also a dash of social commentary on the price imperialism exacts, from those it oppresses. Worth a look.