Review: Face (C-)

Face (2004)
Directed by Sang-Gon Yoo
Starring Yun-ah Song, Hyeon-jun Shin and Seung-wook Kim
MPAA: R
Grade: C-

Review by Bobby Nashville

When it comes to horror, the worst thing a film can be is boring. Go ahead: be gross, be disturbed, be clever, be whatever you want - but whatever you do, do NOT be boring. Face refuses to be clever, gross or disturbed so.. you guessed it - it's totally boring. A slow, muddled mess that can't figure out if its a psychological thriller or a horror film, Face is not going to become a cult classic.

Face tells the story of Hyun-min, a facial reconstruction expert that has simply had it with his job. His daughter gets a heart transplant and he immediately starts seeing hallucinations. His daughter's heart is not doing well, and Hyun-min fears that the heart came from a faulty donor. He is assigned a pretty assistant as he works on a police case where the victim's faces have been burned away by acid. Gee, I wonder if romance will blossom between Hyun-min and his assistant?

Face is about as formulaic as it gets. The acting is rather flat and by the time Face was over, I felt like I had been watching it for days. I've seen a lot worse, but that's about as much praise as I can muster.