Actor Kim Hyeyoon and Lee Jong-won delivered passionate performances in the film "Salmokji," which made audiences anticipate the birth of an unprecedentedly terrifying horror film that leaves no time to breathe.
On the 24th in the afternoon at CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, a press screening for "Salmokji" (director Lee Sang-min, presented/distributed by SHOWBOX, produced by The Lamp) was held. In attendance were director Lee Sang-min, who directed the work, and actors Kim Hyeyoon, Lee Jong-won, Kim Jun Han, Kim Young-sung, Oh Dong-min, Yoon Jae-chan, and Jang Da-a, who gathered to talk about the film.
"Salmokji" is a horror film in which an unidentified figure appears on a road view, and the crew, heading to a reservoir to reshoot, encounter something in the black, deep water, triggering terrifying events. It is director Lee Sang-min's debut commercial feature film, who gained attention with short films such as "Dollimchong" and "Hamjinabi."
To that end, Kim Hyeyoon, who distinguished herself in the drama "SKY Castle" and has been recognized for numerous works, plays the protagonist Su-in, and Lee Jong-won plays Gi-tae, who went from being Su-in's former lover to being worse than a stranger. In particular, Kim Jun Han adds tension by playing Gyo-sik, who went to Salmokji and then disappeared without a trace. Also, Kim Young-sung and Oh Dong-min play brothers Kyung-tae and Kyung-jun, who fearlessly take on the mysterious filming location, and Yoon Jae-chan and Jang Da-a appear as an MZ couple attempting to escape Salmokji.
In particular, "Salmokji" aims for immersive horror that can be enjoyed in SCREENX and 4DX auditoriums. Regarding this, director Lee Sang-min said, "I wanted to offer the audience an experiential horror that feels like being possessed by a water ghost. To capture that feeling, I directed scenes, including road view shots and character shots, to express the sensation of being possessed."
He continued, "Since the subject is water ghosts, I wanted to show images unique to water ghosts, such as reflections on the surface and newly presented grotesque visuals. Seeing these in SCREENX, especially the road view filming, the sense of distortion comes alive, making it feel very vivid. I was surprised at how much I liked the car scenes. With screens moving on both sides like seeing it in real life, it really felt like an experience."
On the film's planning background, director Lee Sang-min said, "I originally really liked horror films. Wanting to make a horror film, I was preparing movies. Before that, I shot horror short films and sold out. While preparing like that, I found the 'Salmokji' idea. I thought the space of Salmokji could give a sense of horror, and I could show an original depiction of water ghosts, so I focused on 'Salmokji' and made the film."
Were there any scary moments for the actors during filming? Kim Hyeyoon said, "When we were filming at the reservoir, in the scene where Gi-tae and Su-in leave on a boat, the water at night looked truly black. Branches were rising up from beneath, and seeing that up close felt grotesque, giving a strong eerie and chilling feeling. Seeing the reservoir at night was very frightening."
Lee Jong-won said, "Going to a reservoir at a dark hour would be scary for anyone. The branches and mud that appear in the film were portrayed that way, but in reality, when you step on them it gives you goosebumps, and they looked like bizarre sculptures placed deliberately. When we filmed, every moment, every second was creepy."
Kim Jun Han said, "We mentioned it in several places, but during filming, staff commonly witnessed a scene where a small child who might have been a ghost passed by. When we returned to our lodging, the sensor light kept turning off and on. Maybe we wanted to believe it so much, but when we shouted 'Stop it!' the sensor light turned off. We had a unique experience. Still, we thought maybe it was for the movie's success and took it as a positive thing. We had some strange experiences."
Kim Young-sung said, "For the record, I don't believe in ghosts. But when I arrived at the set and was on the phone with a friend, the call suddenly dropped. From then on, I remembered the place as tense, and seeing this place again through the film surprised me the most. It reminded me of that time."
Oh Dong-min said, "The walk to the restroom was really scary. I was used to living in well-lit, modern civilized cities, so experiencing an overnight shoot isolated at a dawn reservoir for the first time made even a 10-minute walk to the restroom feel like getting lost and being dragged toward the reservoir. The large temperature difference between day and night gave off a lot of bleak energy. I think the film captured a lot of that."
Yoon Jae-chan added, "When we enter our filming location, data and communication stop from somewhere in the middle. But there were places where you could only go toward the water. That was a bit eerie and scary."
Jang Da-a said, "Because of the nature of our film, we did a lot of shooting in a confined space, so the setting was important. Watching the film, the impact coming from the space itself seemed very large. While filming, the air cooled at night, so I felt a lot of fear, and strangely, even during the daytime when the sun was up, the bare branches, ambiguous colors, and unclear boundary between land and water created a basic bleakness that helped set the mood for all the scenes and enabled immersion."
True to director Lee Sang-min's familiarity with the horror genre, he actively uses jump scares where objects suddenly pop out. Director Lee Sang-min said, "I tend to enjoy watching horror films. I have my own important standards. While surprises are fun, there's a timing battle in how long you hold the moment before the scare. I also enjoy the idea battle over how to surprise people. I think that's one of the great pleasures of watching horror films, so I actively included them. I hope you see it as the built-up tension bursting and the stress being released at that point."
He added, "I thought hard about jump scares by actively using the space. From the pre-production stage I decided how this body should be revealed the moment a corpse is discovered and insisted it had to be in this space, using space extensively to bring out the eeriness and the ambiguous boundary between land and water."
The actual Salmokji, which serves as the film's setting, gained fame after being featured on "Midnight Ghost Stories". Did using the real place name have any effect? Director Lee Sang-min said, "I focused on the shamanic meaning of the place name Salmok. The space of Salmok itself gives a shamanic sense of land with dead trees, and it felt like a place where dark, gloomy energy gathers, like there are spots of land with positive energy, so I approached it from that direction. I knew about it but focused more on the meaningful aspects when planning the film."
Given the genre, the performances of the actors who act as 'horror queens' cannot be overlooked. On this, Kim Hyeyoon said, "I usually really like horror films. During filming I felt very excited. Above all, the script was very interesting. From a character perspective, I wanted to try playing it. I think it will remain a good career move for me," expressing her thoughts on taking on the 'horror queen' challenge.
Jang Da-a, who is also challenging her first commercial film, said, "I was grateful to be given a role very different from characters I had played before, so I read the script with gratitude. The content was interesting, so I thought I should appear without hesitation. What I found most meaningful while filming a horror film was that I acted through many moments I would not experience in normal situations, so each time it became the first opportunity to perform dramatic changes in front of the camera, which I think will be a major experience for my future acting."
He continued, "When I first dreamed of acting and started, I had a personal dream and fantasy that I would buy a ticket with my own money and watch my film on a big theater screen, and I was grateful to be able to do this valuable work with such attractive scripts and great senior actors sooner than I thought. Watching it in a theater, I was still quick to find my shortcomings and regrets, but I want to fully enjoy the film after watching it two or three times."
Although the imagery is fresh, the story leans heavily on déjà vu. What considerations were there for this? Director Lee Sang-min said, "When I first started this film, 'experience' was the biggest goal. I wanted to make the incredible and horrifying events happening at Salmokji simple and allow audiences to enjoy the fear as much as possible. At the same time, because the protagonist Su-in carries the emotions, I kept writing and directing the script centered on Su-in's emotions."
Given the nature of horror, actors' startled reactions are also important. Jang Da-a said, "Because it's a horror film, there were many scenes requiring dramatic reactions. During filming, I don't think we had to forcefully maximize those emotions; the expressions and tone of the lines from the actors I matched breaths with naturally brought out the necessary expressions. Of course, the director gave feedback via the monitor to guide us to a better direction, so I was satisfied working on it."
Yoon Jae-chan said, "I'm usually easily scared, so being in that place made me react naturally, and there were many objects that created a sense of fear, so I could immerse myself without much difficulty. With such wonderful senior actors, the director, and Da-a present, I was able to immerse myself."
Oh Dong-min added, "The director specializes in genre filmmaking, and I decided to focus on Kyung-jun's surprise at seeing a ghost after initially not believing in them. I trusted the director to handle the rest. He caught the detailed moments each time, so I believed his directing and trusted the visuals."
Kim Young-sung also emphasized, "On set, communication among props, actors, and characters was good. So reactions came out naturally. In startling scenes, the grotesque appearance naturally produced the proper expressions."
Meanwhile, Kim Jun Han said, "I thought there needed to be a role that draws the audience in with a sense of mystery. The director and I kept discussing how much to show and how far to carry it. We talked a lot on set and during pre-production. Even through post-production. That was the key, and the director gave appropriate direction and edited it well."
He added, "What surprised me while watching was that since the actors fully believed in that world, if a horror genre's world view isn't believable, immersion can be difficult. But because the actors seriously and gradually believed in the world and reacted accordingly, the world became believable. Everyone worked so hard."
Lee Jong-won said, "I always kept the 'degree' in mind. There's the variation of being startled by seeing a person and being startled by seeing an unidentified something. Even just carrying those two variations made a clear difference. Because you rarely actually see an unidentified something, preparing reactions with just those two differences allowed us to use many elements."
Kim Hyeyoon said, "I'm honored to participate in a horror film rather than aiming for the nickname 'horror queen.' I think Su-in is a character who holds tightly to the thread of reason compared to other characters. So I tried to convey fear more through facial expressions and eye contact."
'Salmokji' drives from start to finish with intense fear that breaks through déjà vu. It contrasts with the tempo control often attributed to the Korean horror classic 'Gonjiam,' known for giving 'ramen time.' Director Lee Sang-min said, "I also like horror films and 'Gonjiam,' but I wanted to show many things that I enjoy. I find these things so fun, and I hope the audience keeps enjoying them too."
He continued, "There were many things I wanted to do. Wanting to enjoy all those things, I made it very 'strong-strong-strong-strong.' I was somewhat envious and regretful of the 'ramen scene' in 'Gonjiam.' Perhaps scenes that let characters unwind a bit were needed, but I think the story unfolds at a pace that fits my standard."
Actors who watched the film also screamed in surprise. Lee Jong-won, who made headlines for shouting during the footage screening, said, "You probably heard a surprised noise from the back today, but I was startled silently today. The person who screamed was Kim Young-sung," drawing laughter. Kim Young-sung admitted, "I was really scared," and Lee Jong-won added, "I held it in. Afraid I'd shout," emphasizing the film's fear that even actors found frightening.
"Salmokji" opens in theaters on Apr. 8.
[Photo] OSEN reporter Min Kyung-hoon.
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