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Hellbound - Trailer - Netflix Series - November 19

Fbh

Member
Concept seems interesting though as with most of these shows it could go either way depending on the story .
 

FunkMiller

Member
There is only one Hellbound.

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Fbh

Member
Watched the first 2 episodes and enjoyed it. It's fun if not quite great so far.
The concept is interesting and the characters are good, the acting is also pretty good and not as over the top as Squid game.

My main issue is that the big event that kicks off the show is too public for people to still be this skeptical. Shit happens in the middle of the day in a busy area of a big city with hundreds of eye witnesses and half the characters are still like "nah, seems fake" while the government is like "let's assign some detectives from the local police precinct to this case of supernatural 13 feet tall monsters killing people in broad daylight". I guess it might be a budget thing and the had to keep it relatively low scale.

But overall still fun.
 

Romulus

Member
I'm not really feeling the "hell knights" or whatever those cgi brutes are. Looks interesting though
 
Somebody needs to fire whoever threw together that trailer. Like many people here I was expecting some Hellraiser information as there's an upcoming movie on digital platforms.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
I'm curious about what is happening in Korea to drive this type of show. Are we just getting the darkest of the dark shows because they tend to be the most violent or are all Korean shows headed this way as a precursor to general misanthropic tendencies?
 

Atrus

Gold Member
It’s really a season in 2 acts. A long, boring first act to set up the scene for the more interesting second act.

Some Death Note-esque themes but I find it hard to relate due to the heavy religious leanings and obsessive devotion.

Unique premise though and I still don’t know what the mystical reasons are for the “God” and his Grey Hulks.
 

Rickyiez

Member
It would be great if they actually design the creatures inspired from Hellraiser instead of Grey or Ape Hulks :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 

Fbh

Member
Damn episode 3 was dark.
Watching the old lady getting beat up was hard

I'm curious about what is happening in Korea to drive this type of show. Are we just getting the darkest of the dark shows because they tend to be the most violent or are all Korean shows headed this way as a precursor to general misanthropic tendencies?

They have other type of content too, it's just that the dark stuff seems to resonate more with western audiences. And after the success of Squid Games you can bet western streaming services will have more demand for darker Korean shows
 
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GymWolf

Member
Damn episode 3 was dark.
Watching the old lady getting beat up was hard



They have other type of content too, it's just that the dark stuff seems to resonate more with western audiences. And after the success of Squid Games you can bet western streaming services will have more demand for darker Korean shows
Yeah but the actors were clearly holding down, it didn't looked very realistic tbh.

I mean fuck give them a bat with a softer material if they can't even swing full force to sell the scene.

And this happen multiple times.
 
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Dr_Salt

Banned
I'm curious about what is happening in Korea to drive this type of show. Are we just getting the darkest of the dark shows because they tend to be the most violent or are all Korean shows headed this way as a precursor to general misanthropic tendencies?
Is this and squid game your first exposure to Korean media? Shit has been dark since OldBoy.
 

sol_bad

Member
The stupid looing CGI smoke monsters running through the street made me not interested. But my wife is so we'll probably check it out some time soon.
 
I'm curious about what is happening in Korea to drive this type of show. Are we just getting the darkest of the dark shows because they tend to be the most violent or are all Korean shows headed this way as a precursor to general misanthropic tendencies?
The majority of Korean media output is generic samey romcoms. You can guess why those wouldn't exactly have a big potential audience overseas. So yes, we are getting the most extreme shit.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
I can't get into this. One episode in and the plot just doesn't make any sense.

I can get behind the fantasy elements, but why are the police investigating this and not the government? Why do they want to "bring them in" for arrest when they've clearly acknowledged this things are 9ft monsters with super human strength. Do they think they're going to come in with handcuffs on and talk about their "crimes".
 

ParaSeoul

Member
Ok I get the Korean entertainment industry has put some really great stuff over the last 2 decades and got put into the mainstream with the excellent Parasite and the in my opinion middling but insanely popular Squid Game but it feels like Netflix is literally just greenlighting shitty Korean shows on the off chance they have another big hit.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
I can't get into this. One episode in and the plot just doesn't make any sense.

I can get behind the fantasy elements, but why are the police investigating this and not the government? Why do they want to "bring them in" for arrest when they've clearly acknowledged this things are 9ft monsters with super human strength. Do they think they're going to come in with handcuffs on and talk about their "crimes".
Like a lot of shows that have a supernatural/sci-fi premise but really just want to focus on the human condition, this one is the same. There are no scientists trying to figure it out, no national or global response, not really even much focus on trying to outwit or outfight them. Instead it is about dealing with grief, guilt, corrupting nature of religion and social media, mob rule, and standing up for your principles or abandoning them. This one isnt nearly as bad of a bait and switch as some and the human drama stuff is excellent.
 

Fbh

Member
Ok I get the Korean entertainment industry has put some really great stuff over the last 2 decades and got put into the mainstream with the excellent Parasite and the in my opinion middling but insanely popular Squid Game but it feels like Netflix is literally just greenlighting shitty Korean shows on the off chance they have another big hit.

This one isn't shitty though? Most people on this thread are enjoying it. It's not top tier TV but it's definitely above average for Netflix quality.
And unless you tell me they cast, planned, shot and edited this show in 2 months it's highly probable this was approved way before Squid game became a hit

I can't get into this. One episode in and the plot just doesn't make any sense.

I can get behind the fantasy elements, but why are the police investigating this and not the government? Why do they want to "bring them in" for arrest when they've clearly acknowledged this things are 9ft monsters with super human strength. Do they think they're going to come in with handcuffs on and talk about their "crimes".

Yeah that is my main issue with it.
Should have made it so the first appearance of the monsters in Korea was lower profile, maybe with 1 witness and some shaky cam footage. So it would have made sense for everyone to be skeptical. But when it's in the middle of the city with hundreds or thousands of eyewitnesses (a lot of the recording on their phones) it doesn't make too much sense.

The show itself is still fun though, and without spoiling much in chapter 3 the state of things sort of gets to the point I was expecting them to be on chapter 1.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Like a lot of shows that have a supernatural/sci-fi premise but really just want to focus on the human condition, this one is the same. There are no scientists trying to figure it out, no national or global response, not really even much focus on trying to outwit or outfight them. Instead it is about dealing with grief, guilt, corrupting nature of religion and social media, mob rule, and standing up for your principles or abandoning them. This one isnt nearly as bad of a bait and switch as some and the human drama stuff is excellent.

The human drama isn't the problem. That's all fine and handled well. I just scoffed when the police chief wanted to find the monsters and "bring them in". It sounds so petty, but with all the evidence they have, they really think they're going to arrest 9ft shadow demons and bring them to justice. Lol. Pure nonsense.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
The human drama isn't the problem. That's all fine and handled well. I just scoffed when the police chief wanted to find the monsters and "bring them in". It sounds so petty, but with all the evidence they have, they really think they're going to arrest 9ft shadow demons and bring them to justice. Lol. Pure nonsense.
There is a more significant police response in one situation, and it doesn't go well and that is about the end of it in term of government intervention. Again, I think the show writers aren't interested in "humans versus the hulks" conflict so much as "humans versus humans because of the hulks". This isn't an action show or really even a supernatural/sci-fi show so you gotta give it a pass on that one and enjoy what it does offer.

It reminds me a lot of the swedish(icelandic?) show KATLA on netflix where dead or not so dead folks reemerge from volcanic ash. You'd think the government would enact whatever CDC-like agency they have just to get a lot of scientists in a room to crack the issue, but since show writers are uniformly science ignorant (or at least think TV VIEWERS can't handle technojargon exposition) there is never much intellectual debate.

It'd kinda be like if covid happened, the gov't just said "wear a mask, socially distance, sacrifice your first born on All Hallow's Eve, and never EVER look behind you when the moon is in the sky!" and then all research stopped, everyone just accepted those rules for dealing with the pandemic, and the show was about people with pre-existing problems dealing with how to manage the seemingly arbitrary rules.
 

ParaSeoul

Member
This one isn't shitty though? Most people on this thread are enjoying it. It's not top tier TV but it's definitely above average for Netflix quality.
And unless you tell me they cast, planned, shot and edited this show in 2 months it's highly probable this was approved way before Squid game became a hit
Been spoiled by Midnight Mass,can't put up with just above average for Netflix after that.
 

Labolas

Member
Yeah, pretty good. I really wished that they didn't put horror as one of the tags to this, there isn't much of a horror element to this. Want a second season to see where this is going.
 
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I love the concept and the debate on religion. But I probably wouldn't recommend watching unless you find the concept interesting and you're ok with a fairly slow plot and somewhat thin characters. Guess I'll still watch the second season because the cliffhanger raises some interesting question, though I doubt they will be answered in a satisfying manner. 6/10
 
this show sucks

the comparisons to squid game are stupid

watched it after reading all the glowing reviews in this thread

stuck with it for 4 episodes, doesn’t get better

I’m done
 

Fbh

Member
Finished it
Overall it was nothing special but still fun. The concept is interesting and I liked the dark tone, though I feel it and its impact on the world could have been explored further.
The ending was pretty unexpected and has me looking forward to what they do in S2 (if we get one).

And on the nitpick side the show is kinda ugly. The CG is distractingly bad and everything has this grey look to it.
 
Just saw to ep 3 and holy shit it’s dark af! I almost can’t handle the beat downs of certain people like that. Curious about the ending. Hate the neon Rasta streamer
 

NahaNago

Member
I didn't like the switch between characters half way through this series or season. I did enjoy it but I thought it was weird. The monsters remind me of the movie Along with the Gods.
 
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