Haunters

Haunters
South Korean poster
Hangul	초능력자
Revised Romanization	Choneungryeokja
McCune–Reischauer	Ch‘onŭngnyŏkcha
Directed by	Kim Min-seok
Produced by	Lee Yu-jin
Screenplay by	Kim Min-seok
Starring	Kang Dong-won Go Soo
Music by	Lee Jae-jin
Cinematography	Hong Kyung-pyo
Edited by	Kim Sang-bum Kim Jae-bum
Production company	Zip Cinema
Distributed by	Next Entertainment World
Release dates	November 10, 2010
Running time	114 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean
Box office	US$13,346,235[1]

Haunters (Hangul: 초능력자; RR: Choneungryeokja; lit. "Psychic") is a 2010 South Korean film written and directed by Kim Min-seok. It depicts the struggle between a psychic named Cho-in (Kang Dong-won) who can control people with his mind and a man named Kyu-nam (Go Soo) who is immune to the psychic's supernatural power.^[2][3]

Plot

Kyu-nam works at a run-down pawnshop. When Cho-in walks into the shop one day and tries to use his powers to rob the store, he soon discovers that his special talent doesn't work on Kyu-nam. Upset by the fact that there is a person whom he cannot control, Cho-in chases Kyu-nam, accidentally killing someone in the process. This begins a confrontation that will push both men to the brink.^[4]

Cast

• Kang Dong-won as Cho-in: A robber who eschews humanity in itself after his parents attempted to kill him and wears a prosthetics leg on his left. He lives his life robbing others by using his mind control abilities on people to do the job for him. Upon learning that he can't control Kyu-nam because of his similar supernatural abilities, Cho-in pursues him in frustration to the point of putting everyone's lives at risk.^[5][6]
• Go Soo as Im Kyu-nam: A worker at a pawn shop who was fired from a previous job. He displays similar supernatural abilities to Cho-in, resulting in being immune to his mind control abilities. Realizing what at stake, Kyu-nam must protect his friends from Cho-in.^[7][8]
• Jung Eun-chae as Yeong-sook: Jung-sik's biracial daughter who is studying to become a flight attendant. She is Kyu-nam's love interest and he has to protect her from Cho-in.^[9]
• Yoon Da-kyeong as Hyo-sook: Cho-in's mother who attempted to keep his eyes blindfolded so no one can learn about his mind controlling abilities and they can believe he's blind. After leaving her abusive ex-husband(and Cho-in's father), Hyo-sook promised to take good care of him as long as he never removes his blindfold. Upon learning he had gone against her wishes by removing his blindfold resulting in his father's death, Hyo-sook attempted to murder Cho-in in despair, but he escaped and she suffers a mental breakdown.
• Choi Deok-moon as Abby
• Abu Dod as Bubba: One of Kyu-nam's close friends who tries to help him catch Cho-in. He is hanged to death alongside Ali.
• Enes Kaya as Ali: Another of Kyu-nam's close friends that also tries to help him catch Cho-in. Like Bubba, he is also hanged to death.
• Byun Hee-bong as Jung-sik: The owner of a pawn shop and Yeong-sook's father. A kindly man who hires Kyu-nam and is accidentally killed by Cho-in during his robbery attempt.
• Yang Kyeong-mo as young Cho-in

Box office

Prior to its release, Haunters recorded the highest advance ticket sales for a Korean film in 2010 at 83.47 percent according to Max Movie; it was the first time in four years, after The Host, for bookings to pass the 80 percent mark. It also posted high reservation rates on other ticketing and cinema websites: over 75 percent according to the official Korean Box Office Information System (KOBIS), 82.53 percent on InterPark, 42 percent on Yes24, 71.4 percent on Nate Movies, 56.25 percent on Ticket Link, 84.2 percent at Cinus, 53 percent at Lotte Cinema and 44.2 percent at CGV.^[10]

The film opened number one at the South Korean box office collecting 685,670 admissions on its opening November 12–14 weekend.^[11] The movie took the #1 spot for ticket sales for 2 weeks straight,^[12] before it fell down to #3 spot during the 3rd week since opening. The film sold 2,017,485 tickets during the three-week span, eventually selling a total of 2,152,577 tickets nationwide.^[13]

At the Asian Film Market held during the 2010 Busan International Film Festival, distribution rights were sold to several countries, including Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.^[14]

Soundtrack

Haunters Original Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Lee Jae-jin
Released	November 18, 2010
Recorded	2010
Genre	Soundtrack

1. "Year 1991"
2. "Encounter"
3. "Haunters"
4. "Solitude"
5. "Brothers"
6. "Montage"
7. "Looking for Us"
8. "Turn Off"
9. "Revenge"
10. "Stop"
11. "Hero"
12. "Go, Super Damas"
13. "My Samantha"
14. "The Beginning (Title) – Space cowboy"

Remake

A Japanese language remake titled Monsterz directed by Hideo Nakata was released in 2014. It stars Tatsuya Fujiwara (in Kang's role) and Takayuki Yamada (in Go's role).^[15][16]

References

1. "Choneungryukja (a.k.a. Haunters / Psychics / Supernatural Powers) (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
2. Hong, Lucia (16 March 2010). "Gang Dong-won, Ko Soo cast in new action thriller". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
3. Hong, Lucia (12 October 2010). "Official movie poster and trailer revealed for Haunters". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
4. Lee, Ji-hye (9 November 2010). "PREVIEW: Film Haunters". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
5. Lucia Hong (18 October 2010). "Gang Dong-won says "wants the power to teleport"". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
6. Sung, So-young; Lee, Jung-hee. "Pretty-boy actor takes his turn as a villain". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
7. Wee, Geun-woo (4 November 2010). "INTERVIEW: Actor Ko Soo - Part 1". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
8. Wee, Geun-woo (4 November 2010). "INTERVIEW: Actor Ko Soo - Part 2". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
9. Wee, Geun-woo (16 November 2010). "My Name Is: Jung Eun-chae". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
10. Kim, Heidi (11 November 2010). "Haunters sees highest advance tickets sales for 2010". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
11. Kim, Heidi (15 November 2010). "Haunters tops weekend box office chart". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
12. Kim, Heidi (23 November 2010). "Haunters tops box office for 2nd week". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
13. "Theatrical Releases in 2010: Box-Office Admission Results". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
14. Kim, Heidi (19 November 2010). "Korean pic Haunters sold to 7 countries". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
15. Cremin, Stephen (1 July 2013). "Nakata Hideo to remake Haunters". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
16. Kang, Jung-yeon (1 July 2013). "Gang Dong-won, Ko Soo Film Getting Remake in Japan". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-01.

External links

• Official website (Korean)
• Haunters at Naver (Korean)
• Haunters on Twitter (Korean)
• Haunters at the Korean Movie Database
• Haunters at the Internet Movie Database
• Haunters at HanCinema