There’s no denying that Strangers From Hell is possibly one of the few and most disturbing psychological dramas that South-Korea has ever produced to date with actual investment and creativity over scenes and lighting, as well as quite bloodthirsty scenes in later episodes.

Based upon the eponymous webtoon, Strangers From Hell’s title and concept is taken from a very famous play, No Exit ( 1944)by a French existentialist called Jean Paul Sartre. The play focuses upon three people who are trapped in “ Hell” which exits as a single room, and as they grow gradually sickened by the torment of one another’s company, one of the individuals realises on stage that “ Hell is other people”.

Yet Strangers From Hell isn’t a drama about three individuals stuck in one room. Instead, it is rather a focus upon our main lead Yoon Jong- Woo ( Im Siwan)’s gradual descent into madness after moving into the mysterious Eden Complex in Seoul; a cheap apartment with creepy residents and in particular, falling into the mysterious trap of the charismatic psychopath Seo Moon- Jo ( Lee Dong Wook) . Whilst not unexpected due to Im Siwan’s previous roles , it was certainty a surprising shift since his renowned role in the slice of life and business drama Misaeng, to see Im Siwan tackle a darker and more disturbing role in a psychological horror drama. Undeniably Im Siwan was brilliant within portraying the very slow mental decay of his character by the show exposing dark revelations of Jong- Woo’s past. This role was parallel to the surprising choice of typically typecast romance drama actor Dong Wook , who undeniably went beyond expectations within portraying the sheer complexity and charisma of his psychopathic role as Moon- Jo.

On the other hand, it can’t be sugarcoated that Strangers From Hell’s pacing could have been quicker or the episode lengths reduced. This isn’t to say that the show should have been constantly bloodthirsty or violent as it was part of the suspense to feel unease at what would happen next to our tragic lead, however, by the midway point ( before the ending), the drama often felt a little dragging upon focusing on one element of the story at a time. There’s obviously nothing wrong with doing this, but thus did mean there were a couple of really nuanced plot inconsistencies which were left out ( such as security cameras, suspensions and criminal records) which would have added more realism to some of the tackled scenarios.

Yet despite this, the one element of the show which must be given full praise for ( in addition to the fairly good OST, with The Rose track Strangers adding to the eeriness of the drama) , was the creativity behind the scenes and lighting. There was nothing glamourised nor glossy about the image of the apartment complex or even Jong- Woo’s workplace. It was eerily drab; adding to a later epiphany for viewers that Jong- Woo’s true hell began even before moving into the apartment complex in his hellish everyday life . ( E.g. his “ busy” girlfriend who dismisses his ridiculous claims about the residents and is nearly always at work, his arrogant old friend and boss who constantly undermines him as being worthless, his haughty colleagues as well as his fellow cadets during his time in the army ).

The finale of Strangers From Hell was certainly a surprisingly one, yet nonetheless fitting for its genre and deeper intrinsic philosophical questions of our main lead’s Hellish experiences. Whilst the drama was flawed by certain aspects of pacing and plot inconsistencies, the cast helped to realistically flesh out the characters on screen through their performances, the story was certainly intriguing and disturbing of a man just pushed too far by his experiences and it was overall a very good Psychological - Horror. It is easy to see why this show has earned its status as a cult-classic , and certainly worth a watch.