Holy Night: Demon Hunters opens in theaters on May 2 from Capelight Pictures International.
Actor and producer Don Lee has risen his profile amazingly in the last ten years. He’s Korea’s answer to the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, something to keep in mind with hits like the Roundup franchise coming into fruition with four films to its slate (and hopefully another four to come if past headlines and blurbs are any hint). At any rate, it’s the kind of momentum you can imagine director Lim Dae-hee is enjoying as well, particularly in light of his latest collab with the Badland Hunters star for the new supernatural action adventure, Holy Night: Demon Hunters, which opens in theaters in the U.S. this Friday from Capelight Pictures.
The title itself is the name of the fictional agency the police turn to for incidents beyond their investigative purview. Such cases are largely ado with the occult, involving hordes of zealots who’ve pledged their loyalty to Satan and his minions. In Holy Night: Demon Hunters, particularly, there’s pockets of them all around Korea with an increase of sacrificial casualties in their wake. Alas, it’s a job that only Bau (Don Lee), Sharon (Seohyun) and Kim-kun (David Lee) can handle as they raid prayer circles one-by-one in an effort to save as many lives as they can. For Bau, however, and for neuropsychiatrist, Jeong-won (Kyung Soo-jin), desperate to save her young sister, Eun-seo (Jung Ji-so) from a recent spell of mysterious ailments, it will also mean making one of the hardest decisions he’s ever had to make.
That choice lays the groundwork for a layered, suspenseful dichotomy between both Bau, and Sharon, whose bread and butter implies an intense understanding and practice of exorcisms, something that also alludes to an inner-conflict of her own. The two also share a past with Kim-kun who applies himself with consultation, while his main job is to capture the exorcisms on video as much as possible – that is if he can do so safely amid the onslaught of bodies Bau sends flying with his fists. Much to our delight, that’s precisely the kind of spectacle that Lim goes for his directing debut, and it’s a total seller here for Lee in the role of Bau, basically knocking dudes into the next region. Wired-assisted stuntwork comes handy here with Lee joined once more by action and stunt coordinator, Heo Myung-haeng.
The first half sprawls between several locations leading up to a climatic sequence at a psychiatric clinic, while the second half of the film lays bare its finale setup within Jeong-won’s home. That’s where Holy Night: Demon Hunters really starts getting into the layers of the mystery at hand. Lim and Lee craft a narrative that explores the occult and its various concepts through terminology and study to couple with the spectacle, in addition to the energizing performances by its cast.
Lee, Seohyun, and Lee make a terrific trio on screen assembling the kind of team you’d love to see back together for another adventure, while Jung takes on the ardent task of contributing one of the film’s more physically and vocally demanding key roles as a host possessed by one of hell’s minions. It’s enough to wonder if a whole series drama could have been crafted for this, and I’m thinking it could, while I can safely say that Holy Night: Demon Hunters does the trick of treating its fans to a spooky, brutal and energizing thriller that signs off in the best, most climactic way you would expect a Don Lee joint to; I’ll put it to you this way: Jason Statham fought a shark in The Meg, so, at the very least, you can expect Lee to set the bar just a tad higher.
