Hello
안녕하세요
(Annyeonghaseyo)
こんにちは
(Konnichiwa)
你好
(Ni Hao)
Strangers From Hell which is also known is Hell Is Other People, is a South Korean psychological thriller TV series. The series is based on the Naver webtoon series of the same name by Kim Yong-ki. It's also the 2nd series of OCN's "Dramatic Cinema" project which combines film and drama formats.
The series was written by Jung Yi-do and directed by Lee Chang-hee.
The series ran for 10 episodes, airing from the 31st of August 2019, and concluding on the 6th of October 2019.
Main Cast:
Im Siwan as Yoon Jong Woo
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Lee Dong Wook as Seo Moon Jo
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Supporting Cast:
Lee Jung Eun as Eom Bok Soon
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Lee Hyun Wook as Yoo Gi-hyeok
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Park Jong Hwan as Byeon Deuk Jong/Byeon Deuk Soo
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Lee Joong Ok as Hong Nam Bok
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Hyun Bong Sik as Ahn Hee Joong
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Ahn Eun Jin as So Jung Hwa
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Kim Ji Eun as Min Ji Eun
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Cha Rae Hyung as Shin Jae-ho
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Kim Han Jong as Park Byeong Min
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Oh Hye Won as Son Yoo Jeong
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Park Ji-han as Go Sang-man
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The first script reading for the series took place in April 2019, in Sangnam-dong, Seoul.
The soundtrack for this drama for me was amazing, each track takes me back and I can feel the hairs standing on the back of my neck when I listen to them.
The Rose - 타인은 지옥이다 (Strangers)
MUSIC&NEW 뮤직앤뉴
The Vane - Room No. 303
Blow Off
Isaac Hong - Ruin
Strangers From Hell tells the story of a young man, Yoon Jong Woo in his 20's, who moves to Seoul after landing an internship in a company. While looking for a place to stay, he stumbles upon Eden Studio, an ominous cheap dormitory and decides to stay there as he is low on money. Though not thrilled about the quality of the place and it's abnormal residents, including his next-door neighbour Seo Moon Jo, he decides to tolerate it until he saves enough money to move out.
However, mysterious occurrences start occurring in the studio causing Jong Woo to start fearing the studio's residents.
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I was so excited for this drama as soon as I saw that Lee Dong Wook had been cast, I'm also a fan of psychological, thriller and horror genre's, so as soon as I read that this was going to be a dark drama, I knew I had to watch it. I screamed way too loud when I saw that Netflix here in the UK had got it hands on it meaning, I could finally get comfy and check it out.
I was blown away by this drama, for me everything was perfect from the cast, to the script, to the soundtrack, for me everything was spot on. In all honesty, I struggled not playing the next episode when the one I was watching finished. There was also heartbreak for me in this drama as I adore one of the actors and was devastated when we got to see what happened to him, I shed a few tears. While I was left feeling slightly confused with the ending, it was nothing a quick google search couldn't fix, it was also nice to see other people's point of views on how the story concluded.
One thing I've never really thought about until watching this drama is how some people can be groomed into becoming serial killers, we often here about young girls, boys, women and even men being groomed into submission, but I don't think I've ever heard about people being groomed into becoming evil.
Now let me get into the cast.
This is my first drama with Im Siwan and I will say it won't be my last, to say this was his first acting role since he was discharged from his military duties, it shows how he's still able to do his craft, even after having time away, he really is an amazing actor. His character always had me guessing how his story would conclude, out the outside he seems to be really timid, but on the inside there's a beast that wants to be unleashed, making him possibly an easy target for Seo Moon Jo. The little flashes into his past, as well as seeing how he truly wants to react to situations, makes the viewer also think he will eventually snap.
What can I say about Lee Dong Wook, apart from WOW! The only roles I have seen him in, have always been quite similar, he always seems to be one of the sweet good guys, so knowing he was playing a bad guy this time, not only got me excited in a new role but intrigued on how he'd pull it off. While watching the series, I did get slightly worried as I've seen actors say they really struggled getting out of character, when playing someone evil, and it seemed I was right to be worried. I read an article with him saying how he really struggled pulling away from Seo Moon Jo, and that even his friends would ask why he was staring at them the way he was, I hope now he's moved passed it and I hope he knows how he really did an amazing job, it really made me look at him in a different way as an actor. One thing that still haunts me from this drama his Seo Moon Jo's smile, it still send shivers down my spine whenever I think about it.
Next we have our sweet but not so innocent landlady played by Lee Jung Eun, I was really surprised with the characters development, I really thought she was someone that knew about what they did but turned a blind eye, never did I think her story would develop the way it did.
I was actually really surprised with Lee Hyun Wook's character as I was also shocked with his development, he seems to be Seo Moon Jo's doing, but once he comes across Yoon Jong Woo, it's like he realises that he can do better. Yoo Gi-hyeok also seems like he doesn't take instructions well and would rather be solo than groomed to be someone else based on someone else's ideals.
I need to talk about how amazing and believable Park Jong Hwan was a twin brothers, that were completely different, which meant double the hard work and double the acting. While one seems to be level headed but quick to react, the other his slow and seems to lean more towards special needs, which for me I think makes that brother a lot more scarier. If I had to pick one of the twins to be wary of, it would definitely be the second. His constant giggling often had me on edge and I think it was a good move to have a character that could be seen as sweet an innocent but have a dark desire.
I will honestly say Lee Joong Ok's character really creeped me out, to say how obsessed he is about pornography and women, would make him seem more likely to attack and rape women, which we see he already committed this crime and been caught. With those desires I wouldn't expect to see a desire to kill and torture anyone other than women, but straight away he seems to take a disliking to Yoon Jong Woo and really seems to enjoy sending him down the crazy path.
I have to say I really disliked both Kim Ji Eun's and Cha Rae Hyung's characters, he was ready to swoop in on his so called friends girlfriend, and often made Yoon Jong Woo feel bad about how living in Eden made him react to things, because as he kept pointing out he had his internship because of him. The fact that both Min Ji Eun and Shin Jae-ho practically turn their backs on him and keep making out that he's being stupid and making things up, while Eden is making him paranoid and starting to bring out the violence he wants to keep at bay inside. One thing I will say is for one of them I did say, you deserved that.
Lastly I want to talk about Noh Jonghyun, I've watched him in both He Is Psychometric and Because This Is My First Life, and I have to say that his character in Strangers From Hell is my favourite. One thing I will say is, that like Yoon Jong Woo, when we first meet Kang Seok Yoon, I had my guard up and questioned whether he was to be trusted. But I quickly let my guard down and seeing him be so scared and crying for help was heart breaking, I really had my fingers crossed for him. But in a place like Eden can someone as innocent as Kang Seok Yoon really get out of there alive.
I really wish I was able to watch this drama last year, as it would have been a part of my Top drama list for 2019. If you haven't watched it yet then I really recommend getting stuck into this drama series. I don't think they could have gotten a better cast, and I look forward to what each of them do in their next project. While I would love to see Lee Dong Wook take on another dark character, I don't think he has any interest in taking on that kind of role again, in all honesty he doesn't need to, Strangers From Hell for me has shown he's an amazing actor and can really pull of any character.
Want to see who makes it out of Eden alive? Then head over to Netflix to see how the series unfolds for each of the characters.
Have you watched Strangers From Hell?
Did you like the casting?
Were you a fan of the plot?
Let me know in the comments below.
See you soon!
안녕
(Annyeong)
さようなら
(Sayonara)
再见
(ZaiJian)
Bye
