Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘Handsome Guys’ starts off with a news report, then takes viewers to an oddly specific flashback – 6666 minutes ago, so about 2.5 days ago, when a group of friends were brutally massacred while vacationing. A remake of Eli Craig’s 2010 film ‘Tucker and Dale vs Evil’, this Korean horror-comedy is everything fans of the genre would expect it to be: silly, funny, ridiculous, with just the right amount of horror, and demonic activity.
Directed by Nam Dong-hyup, ‘Handsome Guys’ stars Lee Sung-min and Lee Hee-joon as brothers Kang Jae-pil and Park Sang-goo, who move to a mansion in the countryside in search of a “rustic life” with their dog Bonggu. However, bloody mayhem erupts when a group of vacationing friends, led by pro golfer Sung-Bin (Jang Dong-joo), mistake the siblings for serial killers. All because the brothers aren’t conventionally ‘handsome’, and do not dress like they’re about to drop a K-pop album.
The chaos only deepens when Sung-Bin and friends accidentally awaken a demonic spirit lurking within the dilapidated European mansion the brothers just bought. Adding to the chaos is a pair of bumbling cops, one of whom is convinced that Jae-pil and Sang-goo are up to no good.
‘Handsome Guys’ cleverly flips the beauty bias – the scary-looking brothers are kind to the core, while the smartly dressed group of friends chasing them, under the delusion that their friend Min-na (Gong Seung-yeon) has been abducted, reveal themselves as shallow jerks. The friends wouldn’t risk themselves to save their own, but Jae-pil and Sang-goo would gladly die before letting anything happen to their beloved dog, Bonggu.
Lee Hee-joon steals the show as the younger brother, Park Sang-goo. He looks every bit the tough guy, tall, broad, and intimidating, but the moment he starts fussing over chores or chatting away, he turns into an absolute softie you can’t help but adore. Gong Seung-yeon’s Min-na screams the first few times she sees the brothers, but instantly warms up to them when she finally gives them a chance to speak for themselves.
Packed with some gruesome deaths, hilarious misunderstandings, and a rampaging demonic entity, ‘Handsome Guys’ is an entertaining, silly film. The only problem? – It’s never scary. But at least it delivers plenty laughs.
Rating: 8 on 10. Watch ‘Handsome Guys’ on Prime Video and Viu.
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