PHOTO PROVIDED Pictured are the main cast members on their way to GonJiam Asylum.

If you know me, you know I love a good horror/thriller.

Recently I watched a 2018 South Korean found footage supernatural horror film titled “GonJiam: Haunted Asylum” based on a real-life psychiatric hospital.

The former Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province has, according to numerous publications, earned a reputation as one of Korea’s most haunted locations.

Most of the scenes in the film were filmed in the National Maritime High School in Busan, but the production team tried to replicate the floor plan of the hospital as closely as possible.

The movie, directed by Jung Bum-shik, starred Wi Ha-joon — best known for his role as Hwang Jun-ho in Squid Game.

It also featured Park Ji-hyun, Oh Ah-yeon, Moon Ye-won, Park Sung-hoon, Yoo Je-yoon and Lee Seung-wook in the lead roles.

Wi is actually the reason I watched this movie — I am an avid “Squid Games” viewer and I particularly loved his acting in the first season. Typically when a specific actor stands out, I browse their IMDb to see what other films they appear in. This one caught my eye immediately.

I’ve always been a huge fan of found footage films, but they’re so hard to get right. When I was younger, “The Blair Witch Project” was one of my favorite films to have on. But it didn’t scare me like I wanted it to. The concepts were there and super creepy, but it didn’t make my brain feel like it was in danger.

This movie absolutely did.

“GonJiam: Haunted Asylum” starts out with two teenagers who are live-streaming them breaking into an abandoned Psychiatric hospital. They attempt to break into Room 402 (which is an intensive care unit that has never been opened) but they hear a ping-pong ball. Their livestream glitches out and ends, catching a glimpse of a ghost in one of the rooms. The teens go missing after that without a trace.

Ha-joon, a YouTuber who runs the “Horror Times” channel, sets up a plan to investigate the disappearance with the help of 6 additional people.

Ha-joon scripts all of his scary videos. The men of the group have the scares pre-scripted, but the women have no idea — they think the experience is authentic, which brings in views.

Strange things start happening while they’re exploring the hospital. I won’t spoil too much — not knowing what’s going to happen is part of the spooky factor, after all. Giving too many of the scares away would reveal the ending too, which I think is worth waiting for.

It genuinely felt like it was recorded by a bunch of young adults who were doing something they shouldn’t be.

The gimmick of the main character being a YouTuber investigating these creepy found footage videos was fantastic. It gave them an excuse to go through the history of the haunted space without gumming down the actual story.

The whole movie felt like something a Vlog channel put together — in the best way.

Clocking in at only an hour and 34 minutes, this movie is a relatively quick scary experience that will catch your attention from the start –especially if you like watching YouTubers who discuss true crime or do haunted investigations.

If you were even remotely creeped out by “The Blair Witch Project,” I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of this.

The acting was silly sometimes, but felt authentic in how real YouTube vlogs are — it was over the top and cheesy, but it contrasted nicely with the horror elements.

One disclaimer is that this movie is fully in Korean with English subtitles. I prefer it this way, but I know many don’t.

I tried to find an English version just in case anyone was interested and didn’t like subtitles and was unsuccessful. It might exist, but I couldn’t find it on any streaming platform. Keep that in mind when watching.

The subtitles also seem off — at least on Tubi where I watched this. I can’t understand Korean, but sometimes the actors will speak and the subtitles have a delay or don’t appear at all. It takes away from the experience a little, but doesn’t make it any less creepy.

If you decide to give this movie a shot, I highly recommend that you get comfy, grab some popcorn, shut off all the lights and get ready to watch a truly unique experience.

“GonJiam: Haunted Asylum” can be viewed for free on Amazon Prime, Peacock and Tubi.

— — — —

Breanna Hanley is a reporter for The Express.