Synopsis
The film begins with a very old and strange story. Once upon a time, a man loved a woman with all his heart and made a doll that exactly resembled the woman. One day, the woman was brutally murdered and the man was arrested and accused of the murder. Until his ultimate death the man is seen protecting the doll. Sharing the same spatial background, five people are invited to isolated art gallery inside a forest. Yu-mi is a sculptor, Sun-young a high school girl, Jung-ki a photographer, professional model Tae-seung and spherical joint doll fanatic Young-ha. They have been invited to pose as doll models. Fascinated by strange adornments and dolls in the gallery and feeling excited about having created in their appearance, but start feeling that something is amiss inside this fairytale like place. The gallery curator Choi is holding back something from the group, the wheel chair confined doll maker Jae-won and mysterious girl Mi-na who claims to have known Yu-mi for a long time. Then one day, they learn the truth of the legend of the curse that each doll possesses. Starting with a beheading, one by one they start suffering gruesome deaths. Director Jeong Yong-ki uses the beauty of the spherical joint dolls and the captivating fear inside as the motif for the film. Im Eun-kyung’s more ‘doll like than the dolls’ grotesque performance of the character Mi-na is a highlight of the film. Doll Master is not a mindless slaughter spree but a lyrical Korean horror film. Moreover, the horror is underlined with a sadness strategically underlining the film. (Creta D. KIM)