The Housemaid (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #26 extract: The Housemaid (1960)

The Housemaid should end after about 70 minutes with a mutilated and decapitated housemaid - and so is, in many ways, the complete reverse of certain contemporary South Korean films such as the infamous Oldboy - but this narrative sustains its confined dramatic horror tropes into satirical oblivion. This leaves this film a slightly confounding one that, on one level, critiques men, on another, depicts an utterly failed family, and on another, is a frothing tirade about conflicts between classes and cultures (western and Asian). I cannot say that I derived anything substantial from this film's critique, instead was infuriated by the impossibly evil antagonist and over-civilised family (which says both good and bad things about this film's script). This is nonetheless an intriguing look into South Korean film history as this is considered one of the best film's ever produced from the nation. 

All in all, The Housemaid is an incredibly well-designed movie that shocks and manipulates the emotions more than it communicates.