[HanCinema's News] "The Nightmare" Finally Sees Domestic South Korean Release

On March 12th "The Nightmare" was released in South Korean theaters. The horror movie from producer turned director Song Jeong-woo-I features a film director played by Oh Ji-ho who has to continue making his own movie under tragic circumstances. The tension of the movie derives from the mystery of whether Oh Ji-ho's character is dealing with supernatural influences or has simply gone crazy.

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"The Nightmare" appeared on the international festival circuit in 2018, appearing at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, the Catalonia International Fantastic Film Festival, and the Fantasporto International Film Festival. Its offbeat genre subject matter has made the film a hard sell for distribution in the South Korean film market, and was expected to achieve revenues mainly in Video On Demand services.

However, with major studios pushing back their releases thanks to COVID-19, "The Nightmare" has received unexpectedly strong distribution in major theater chains, many of which have resorted to running older foreign films due to a lack of new content. While the movie isn't currently charting on reservation sites it is nonetheless a likely beneficiary of weak competition. "Lucky Chan-sil" has similarly done well, racking up over ten thousand admissions despite its independent introspective tone.

Written by William Schwartz

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"The Nightmare" is directed by Song Jeong-woo-I, and features Oh Ji-ho, Cha Ji-hun, Ji Sung-won, Shin Rin-ah, Han Jung-soo, Oh Gwang-rok. Release date in Korea: 2020/03/12.