Horror? Hardly.

The movie “Barking Dogs Never Bite” was more of a comedy than a horror. Even during the most suspenseful moments, there were elements that made me laugh rather than cringe in fear. For one example, after the janitor finished telling his story of the boiler repair man who kept saying “spinning,” Yun-Ju comes out and he hears a growl. Although the growl was unexpected, it was very amusing to me. The “scariest” part of the movie was when the bum first makes an appearance and emerges from the darkness under a pile of clothes. At that moment, the skeptical story somewhat seemed like it might’ve been true. Any logic and laws of nature were broken as that shadowy figure popped up, but then it was just a bum.

In this movie we can see many elements of horror from great minds of the past. The basement, for example, had an overall feel of darkness and mysteriousness about it which can relate to childhood fears that Freud spoke of. In accordance with Well’s ideas, many people would be caring to animals and be horrified at the sight of animal abuse/murder. That’s why many people would be shocked when they see Yun-Ju trying to hang the dog or see the janitor eat a dog. However, eating dogs is a common practice in many countries. In fact, my grandmother told me that she once ate a dog back in China and it didn’t really bother me. During the movie there were three scenes that applied to Carroll’s ideas. When Hyun-nam rescues the dog from the bum, the audience is compelled with curiosity to see if she would rescue the dog in time. Also, it is interesting to see whether the dog might actually get eaten or stabbed through with a metal rod. There were also two chase scenes where Hyun-nam was the chaser and the one being chased after. Those two chases brought excitement and again some curiosity of whether someone would get caught.

Again, this movie was mostly a comedy. There were many great moments that were suspenseful but nothing mind blowing happened. Overall it is an okay movie.