Movie Review and Horror Theory

Write a 200-word movie review of Barking Dogs Never Bite, in which you examine specific examples from the movie that apply to the horror theories discussed in class. Please contact me if you need access to the film on Netflix.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Biting Dog never barks

The movie “Barking Dogs Never Bite” reveals a true society from a unique angle. Yun-Ju’s story actually shows a big group of people who live under average income--how do they survive in an unfair society.
In this movie, three dogs represent three dar-horror stories among several people, meanwhile they connect the stories together. There are several horror points in the movie. The first horror part comes from how does Yun-Ju treat the little girl’s dog and also when he throws the old granny’s dog from the roof. As what Zillman and Paulus’s theories state that it is hard for people to see the innocent are abused because that against what we learned from moral and justice. Abusing animals is morally wrong in the public; therefore seeing Yun-Ju lock the dog in the closet and throw the dog out of the building terrifies audience. Especially the dog’s death directly causes granny’s death.
In a way, the Yun-Jo can be seen as a "dog killer". However, Yun-Ju himself is a victim of the collapse society, his wife devotes her last salary to helping him achieve the dream of being a professor which Yun-ju had no idea about it till the time he was told. Yun-Ju feels badly. When the movie comes to this point, we cannot really accuse Yun-Ju as a “dog killer”, instead we concentrate more on what will happen to the dog. And the threatening environment leans to the dog eater. We concern on whether the girl can escape or not., so by the end, audience is nervous about the dog Soon-ja's result. The horror comes from our curiosity how the story ends just as what Carroll says.
Generally, the movie is enjoyable because three little stories are combined well and work for the theme all together. By the end, instead of being threatened by particular scene, I am more aware of the society, where the justice is and how the group who are mistreated by the society survive. The society is like a biting dog, you can get hurt from it without any warning.

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