DRAMA REVIEWS Strangers from Hell

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” and “Hell is other people” is written all over this psychological series in red ink. The consistent spine curling aura and atmosphere experienced from watching “Strangers from Hell” really puts other attempts of psychotic K-Dramas to shame.

In regards to plot, it is quite simplistic. Revolving around Jong-Woo (played by Im Siwan) an aspiring crime author who becomes an apprentice in Seoul. However, due to low cash, he has to move into a cheap apartment with a shared kitchen and washroom. His living space consists of a suffocating and claustrophobic box room, with just enough space for a small single bed and a desk. If that isn’t bad enough, his neighbours certainly make his life in Seoul less bearable and the paper thin walls separating each ‘prison cell’ even allow each tenant to hear each other’s breathing. However despite this, Jong-Woo made an attempt to make it work.

Owned by a cheery landlady with a happy-go-lucky persona (played by Lee Jeong-Un), the remaining apartments in the “Eden Residence” were only supposed to be a temporary living space for the tenants and were subject to renovation. The dire conditions really do explain the low rent and the place seems inhabitable. As a viewer, you can really feel and experience this with the lack of natural light in each room and the eerie never ending corridor, adding to this sense of danger and fright.

The Tenants: Jong-Woo really got more than what he bargained for, without a doubt! As if the conditions weren’t bad enough, the strange and certainly psychotic neighbours make the Eden Residence a breeding ground for paranoia. From the very first episode, all the characters seemed like they had the desire to kill, judged by their inhuman characteristics and behaviour.

The Twins: Byun Deuk-Jeong (played by Park Jeong-Hwan), is one of the first tenants that Jong-Woo is introduced to and his consistent strange laughter and behaviour really reveals to Jong-Woo what sort of people he will be living with. It is soon to be discovered that he has a twin brother Byun Deuk-Soo, who forces his brother to take the bullet for his crimes – one of them being the killing of countless cats. It is typical for murderer’s first victims to be smaller animals before they progress to humans, suggesting to us that there is a definite thirst for blood.

Hong Nam-Bok: Played by Lee Joong-Ok, Nam-Bok is a convicted sexual offender who wears a tracking anklet. He fits the predator stereotype and collects pictures of women that he prints off or cuts out of inappropriate magazines, sticking them all over his wall. Although he does not have a lot of dialogue, his disturbing personality is projected through stalking Jong-Woo in the corridors and sneaking into his room while he is at work. Sometimes he stands in the doorway and watches him from afar, wearing the same stained white tank top and never changing from the creepy expression printed on his face. Without a doubt, he is the biggest contributor to the disturbing atmosphere experienced by us as viewers.

Seo Moon-Joo: From the outside, Moon-Joo (played by Lee Dong-Wook) appears to be an ally, his calm and charismatic appearance gives us reassurance that not all the residents in the Eden residence are odd. However, what strikes as unusual is the fact he is a private dentist but lives in a small room inside the residence. It is certain that Jong-Woo’s greatest mistake was to trust Moon-Joo, as over the course of the ten episodes, MoonJoo encouraged Jong-Woo’s murderous tendencies and desires to surface. In a way, it shows that killers are nurtured and taught and are not born with the desire to kill.

From a fan of the series’ perspective, he is hard not to favourite due to his drop dead gorgeous appearance, soothing voice and pretty smile. Although Dong-Wook played the hidden psycho character well, his appearance really diverts you away from the fact he is the villain of the series… Especially since he enjoys collecting the teeth from his victims, even making a charm bracelet with them. Somehow fans excuse this due to his pretty-boy face.

Ahn Hee-Joong and Kang Seok-Yoon: Both characters were temporary residents of the Eden Residence, as they were more aware to their surroundings and were deemed to be the outliers of the psycho residency; it is easy to predict that their downfall would be imminent. They did not possess the same killer instinct as the others and therefore had to be removed. Ahn Hee-Joong (played by Hyun Bong-Shik) is depicted to be the ex-mafia looking character and certainly not one that could be trodden on. He always established his own dominance whenever he was confronted by another resident and made it clear that he is a threat. However after his eventual capture, he is slowly broken and his macho attitude is reduced.

Kang Seok-Yoon (played by Noh Jong-Hyun) appeared as a more prominent and important character in comparison to Ahn Hee-Joong due to the friendship he develops with Jong-woo. Jong-Woo is finally able to see some sense of normality when Hee-Joong moves in. The aspiring rapper moves in with the same reasoning as JongWoo, a lack of money and his naïve character was the reason for his downfall. Although he never doubted the others were strange, his lack of care for his surroundings definitely contributed to the reason for his death. Like Jong-Woo, instead of moving, he decides to stay and risk his life. One element of the drama that somewhat dampened it, was the clear incompetence of the police force. Within K-Dramas, it is sometimes typical for the police to be incompetent and oblivious, so the storyline can continue longer. There wouldn’t be any substance or much of a story if it ended too soon due to it being stopped by the police. But clear dismissal by the police isn’t just annoying, but it also makes the series seem unrealistic. The main officer Seo Jung-Hwa (played by Ahn Eun-Jin) is the most suspicious of the Eden Residence and always questions Jong-Woo about the strange occurrences, knowing something is going on there. However, despite her suspicions, she decides to tackle the issues herself and not involve other officers, often approaching Jong-Woo but never willing to take any suitable action. Even after the disappearance of a detective after going to inspect the Eden Residence, all the force seems to turn a blind eye. If Jung-Hwa had been smarter with her approach to the situation, involving other officers, requesting for warrants, then lives could have been saved.

It could be noted that the ‘blind eye’ attitude was intentional, as a way to show that those who are lower down in society aren’t considered as important. At the beginning of the drama, there weren’t even any security cameras in that street, showing those in poorer regions aren’t treated as much of a priority.

Witnessing the breakdown of Jong-Woo was slow but apparent. Due to his unbearable co-workers who all look down on him due to him only being an apprentice and the psychotic neighbours who make him sleep with one eye open, his murderous tendencies become enhanced. As stated before, it was also Moon-Joo’s influence that pushed him to be the true villain of the series, really proving that murderers are crafted and he became what he tried to keep fictitious in his novels. Within the final episode, we see Jong-Woo’s final form, a handcrafted killer who was under the wing of Moon-Joo. He even called Jong-Woo his “Greatest creation” in his final moments after being attacked by the once sane aspiring author. Despite the drama showing us Moon-Joo killing all the residents, we soon discover that it was actually Jong-Woo really emphasising Jong-Woo’s loss of sanity and perception.

When it comes to psychological thrillers, “Strangers from Hell” is an absolute must watch! Wrapped up nicely in ten episodes and the eventual cliff-hanger at the end of the series may suggest a series two in the future!

All ten episodes can be watched on Netflix.