Title: Stranger From Hell, Strangers From Hell
Episodes: 10
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Drama, Psychological, Horror, Webtoon Adaption, Crime
Story: 7 out of 10
Characters: 7 out of 10
Cinematography: 7 out of 10
Korean Drama Strangers From Hell keeps things suspenseful till the very last minute
Being in a Halloween mood and looking for something darker to add as this week’s post, I’ve decided to review a slightly older drama (released in 2019) but which I had also recently finished. I hope you enjoy this week’s review! And happy Halloween!!
Story
When Jong Woo moves from the countryside to Seoul, to work as an intern for his college friend, he discovers that he can’t really afford the rental prices of the city. Desperate, he stumbles upon the only cheap place, Eden apartments, a hostel far away from his working place, and with questionable hygiene and broken down facilities. However, Jong Woo decides to put up with it until he gets enough money to get a better place. Unfortunately, he soon will start sensing that the rest of the residents are more than strange.
Korean Drama Strangers Fro Hell is an atmospheric drama with a character-driven story.
The plot centers around Jong Woo and his spiral downfall, while he tries hard to keep the monster inside him at bay. Unfortunately, the circumstances all work against him, and the people he lives with do the opposite of helping.
And while the suspense of the drama comes from the police officer’s attempt to solve the case, the darkness of the story mainly is produced by the chilling feeling of something not going quite right with neither character in the hostel.
However, and even though the drama ends with a bang, leaving the viewer questioning what had actually happened and twisting everything up with those final scenes, the drama felt like it lacked something, another ingredient that would have spiced up the plot and made things even darker and more suspenseful and scary even.
Sadly, some scenes were flat and the intensity of the main villain was lukewarm most of the time., when the main character was more on the crazy, creepy side than him.
Characters
Jong Woo is a young man who comes from the countryside in search of a job. He dreams of becoming a writer, but his family circumstances lead him to find a more stable income. Thus, he always feels under pressure, inferior to his friends and desperate for his girlfriend to understand him.
Im Shi Wan really shined in this role and he was delightfully crazy.
Watch Im Shi Wan in his recent drama KDrama Run On
Moon Jo is a friendly dentist who always smiles and looks warm and conversational. However, he makes Jong Woo think that there is something dark under his warm smile.
Lee Dong Wook gave a nice performance, but he needed a bit more creepiness to really nail the role.
Watch Lee Dong Wook in his other dramas KDrama Tale of the Nine-Tailed and K Drama Touch Your Heart
Jung Hwa is a police officer who always does her best to do her job, even though her coworkers think that she overdoes it. She is determined to solve the mystery behind the Eden Hostel.
Ahn Eun Jin was enjoyable to watch and her character was pretty energetic and likable.
Watch Ahn Eun Jin in her other works KDrama Hospital Playlist, KDrama My Fellow Citizens and KDrama The Witch’s Diner
Jae Ho is Jong Woo’s college friend and current boss. He appears to be arrogant and he often talks without thinking, offending Jong Woo, even though he is trying to be nice and friendly.
Cha Rae Hyung did a good job with his character.
Watch Cha Rae Hyung in his other dramas KDrama My Fellow Citizens, KDrama The Tale of Nokdu, K Drama Life on Mars and K Drama Top Management
Cinematography
The drama had the right amount of darkness and gore to be edging the limits of horror, without crossing them though.
Overall
My overall rating for the Korean Drama Strangers from Hell is 7 out of 10. The drama is dark but seemed to be lacking something.
Interested to learn a bit more about this drama? Then check out its character map
K&J Reviews 
18 Comments Add yours