Deacon Choi is haunted by his past, making him - as experienced possession film viewers might guess - easy prey for the mind tricks of a demon.

Kim YoonSeok inhabits him with an underlying sense of optimism and a studied energy. Father Kim is a gruff, grizzled veteran of spiritual wars and is a man appreciated by no one. The leads give earnest performances, though the characters occasionally come off as cliched. A smattering of corny moments might provide some international viewers with unintentional humor, and a few sappy moments feel decidedly out of place.

Writer/director Jang JaeHyun, who based this feature on his short film 12th Assistant Deacon, manages to weave the different elements together fairly well overall but the abrupt changes in style are evident. The Priests is loaded with tonal shifts, from conspiracy drama to horror to action, and so on. The two men strike up an uneasy alliance but Choi is soon to find out that there may be truth to what Kim believes. Also introduced is Deacon Choi (Kang DongWan), a troubled Seoul Catholic University student who eventually becomes the next in a long line of assistants to Father Kim.ĭeacon Choi is skeptical already, and then is basically told to spy on Father Kim and report all of his activities back to the clergy, who suspects Kim of possible sexual abuse with YoungShin. After that, viewers are introduced to Father Kim (Kim YoonSeok), who is chastised by fellow clergyman for performing exorcisms on high school student YoungShin (Park SoDam), who was struck by a car. This initial sequence, along with the opening credits, gives viewers a primer on the basics of demon possession by way of Catholic history (in cinema, anyway). The Priests opens with an ill-fated visit to Seoul by two Vatican priests who attempt to destroy a demon. The all-in performance by young actress Park DoSam as a possessed teenager is another reason to consider giving this film a shot.

That may be intriguing enough to attract some viewers outside of Korea who enjoy a little local color with their international horror movie offerings. South Korean horror thriller The Priests (2015) offers nothing new to fright film fans who have seen The Exorcist and at least a couple of other possession movies, but it is unique in its home country because it pretty much introduces the idea of Roman Catholic exorcisms to a nation that has a tradition of native shaman exorcism rituals. The pair attempts to exorcise a demon that has possessed a high school student (Park SoDam).

Deacon Choi (Kang DongWon) is a Seoul Catholic University student tapped to become the newest assistant to exorcist Father Kim (Kim YoonSeok).

The priests 2015 movie