Exhuma (2024)

CinemaSerf March 20, 2024

★ 7/10

"Kim" (Choi Min-sik) is what they call a geomancer. He advises people on the best places for them to bury their loved ones. It's all about feng shui. Woebetide anyone who gets it wrong for a disgruntled ancestor can come back and visit retribution on anyone who mucks that process up - just ask the grandchild who though he would retain grandma's false teeth as as souvenir! Anyway, the wealthy "Park" (Kim Jae-cheol) and his family appear to have a secret that he and the more spiritual pairing of "Hwarim" (Kim Go-eun) and "Bong Gil" (Lee Do-hyun) might be able to help with. Even as far away as in the United States, his family are being tormented by a spirit. They are all led to a remote grave atop a hill that is marked simply by a plain gravestone with no name, just some seemingly random numbers. The buried man was of some importance so the fact that his grave was not ideally placed (only 6…

Chris Sawin April 6, 2024

★ 6/10

Bloody memorable sequences aside, _Exhuma_ is worth the watch but would have benefitted from more efficient pacing and a little less emphasis on being so hungry after dealing with the dead for a living. **Full review:** https://bit.ly/GraveRot

MovieGuys May 7, 2024

★ 7/10

Exhuma has a predictably Eastern horror flavour, as might be expected from a South Korean production. That said, many of the horror elements expanded upon in this film, cross cultural boundaries, resulting in an, at times, chillingly ghoulish experience. Scenes of the dead resurrected, as evil spirits and ghouls, are not to be underestimated in their scare potential. They are well done, with a strong sense of realism, creating an atmosphere of creeping dread. Where this film might be a difficult one for Western audiences, is in some of the Eastern, if not Korean, cultural and religious/supernatural nuances of the film. I for one, found it a a challenge at times, to gain a cohesive understanding, of the overall story, for this reason. In summary, a great deal of scare potential on offer, with what is a familiar but at the same time, uniquely Eastern tale, of evil, from beyo…

Agustttt January 19, 2025

They really can't help but dig up every darn grave they come across in this film! The film quality is really good, the sfx are great when present as well. I enjoyed it quite a bit, though it is a long film at 2 hours and 14 minutes. Most of the focus is on ghosts and the human element of the supernatural. This is based off of eastern mythology and spiritualism, if you're not familiar with that in general you'll be scratching your head quite a bit.

FolknHell August 25, 2026

★ 7/10

*Exhuma* is a film about digging up something you really should have left alone, then discovering that what you dug up was merely sitting on top of something else you should have left alone. As critical structures go, we rather admire the commitment. It begins almost like an occult procedural. A wealthy Korean-American family hires a shamanic team to deal with an ancestral curse, and what initially looks suspiciously like four very polished people charging serious money for supernatural pest control gradually becomes something much more convincing. The film treats geomancy, burial practice and ritual not as exotic spectacle but as professional expertise. Watching ancient belief discussed in expensive hotels and modern offices is particularly effective. Tradition has not survived outside modern Korea. It is sitting quite comfortably inside it. Then comes the grave. The first exhu…