Hey what's up guys. Today I'll show you a psychological thriller film: "The Doll Master"!
Spoiler ahead, watch out and take care! The movie begins with the doll master
dedicating his love for a woman in a kimono, by creating a life-size doll in her image. However,
he's unaware that his doll obtains a soul, who loves him dearly. One unfortunate day, the woman
in a kimono is found hanged in her own home. Four men suspect the doll master as the murderer,
but without strong evidence. The four men capture, beat him to death, and bury him without a coffin
in the forest. As the doll master meets his end, his doll is the last thing he sees.
60 years pass; and sculptor Park travels to a secluded art museum in the mountains.
On route, her mother calls her, checking up on her status; but as she ventures deep
into the woods, she loses a signal. Amidst her trip, she encounters a man
looking for a ride to the museum. So she invites him and learns the man is a model.
Eventually, they reach the museum. There's a woman carrying a doll sitting on a bench. Suddenly,
the photographer, Hong, surprisingly captures a photo of Park. His polaroid camera prints a photo,
and gives it to Park. Park happily looks at her photo, only to find a woman in a
red dress behind her in the photo. She looks around for the woman, but there's no one!
From the porch, sophomore student, Lee, cheerfully invites everyone to meet the curator.
So everyone gathers at the curator's office, and introduces themselves to break the unfamiliarity.
The woman carrying a doll is a writer named Jong; and the uninvited man prefers to be
called Supermodel, who joins the photoshoot despite knowing the museum isn't hiring a
professional model. Either way, the curator still allows Supermodel to meet the artist, Jay.
the curator tours the guests in the main hall,
to see the displayed dolls. The guests mesmerizingly gaze at Jay's doll creations.
They take photos and examine them up close. the curator elaborates their purpose is to
pose for the next batch of dolls to be created. While watching the guests from the second-floor
terrace, Jay beckons the curator to tell Supermodel he can be a model for the dolls.
Afterward, the curator brings everyone to their rooms for the night.
Park excitedly enters her room, and admires the detailed doll mirror stand.
She then looks at the window, and sees a woman in a red dress, who quickly hides behind a
tree when Park sees her. She then retries the phone service, but it's still unserviceable.
Later, Park invites Jong from the other room to explore the museum; but Jong declines her
invitation. However, Park enters her room out of curiosity, and sees a doll holding ceiling lights.
So Park captures a photo of the lights, and then sits beside Jong, who swiftly grabs her doll
Damian, to prevent Park from sitting on it. Park asks who named the doll, and Jong replies that
Damian told her its name. Evidently, Jong treats Damian like a child and not a toy; and Park goes
along with her, despite finding it peculiar. Now alone, Park takes pictures of the exhibits.
Suddenly, the doll she took a photo of, pops red eyes; but when
she checks her camera, nothing's different. A sudden small whispering emerges in the hall,
and Parks follows it into the cellar, where she finds the curator with a bottle of wine.
the curator asks her purpose in the cellar; and she explains she only followed the strange noise.
It's lunch, and everyone eats together in the dining room. During the meal, Lee
and Hong ridicule Jong's attachment to an old doll. Then Hong advises Jong that keeping an
old doll can cause it to obtain a soul. He elaborates to everyone that if inanimate
objects kept in houses are loved enough by people, they can have souls like humans.
Jay agrees with what Hong commented. She explains that attached inanimate objects with souls,
get sad too when separated from its owner; so what they should
do is return them to their rightful owner. It's afternoon, and everyone's participating
in the photoshoot at the hall. Hong starts off great with Lee in the shoot, admiring her figure
and even invites her to be his model for a teen magazine. But when it's Jong's turn, the shoot
becomes boring because of her unexpressive poses. Suddenly, Jong uncontrollably darts her eyes,
and tells the voices she solely hears to stop. She cries and tells everyone that the dolls are
talking to her. She begs Damian on her lap to speak to her; but she gets nothing. The
voice overwhelms her, causing Jong to collapse. But when they approach her, she only screams at
them. So everyone coordinates to carry her into a couch, and gives her medicine to calm down.
Then Jay silently sketches behind the crowd a photo of Jong, hanging in a noose.
As everyone is attentive to Jong's sudden outburst, Supermodel enters the curator's office,
searches the drawers, and finds all the guests' files. the curator unexpectedly returns to his
office, and sits behind his desk. On the other hand, Supermodel hides quietly in the closet, when
suddenly the doll beside him moves its hand onto his shoulder. He suppresses his gasp and fear;
but the curator opens the closet and sees him. the curator asks for his purpose in the office;
and Supermodel reasons he only wants to call his girlfriend. But when the curator offers the
telephone, Supermodel only stands, and explains he doesn't want trouble. So the curator accepts his
reason, warns him to keep a low-profile, and lets him go. But before he leaves,
Supermodel shares with him the moving doll in the closet; but the curator doubts it.
Afterward, the curator enters the cellar, pulls a lever, and reveals a man chained in the room.
He smokes and blows a puff onto the man's face. He pins Supermodel's photograph along with the
guests' portraits, and then leaves. The woman in a red dress enters,
who photobombs Park's picture, and touches Park's photo. The chained man addresses her as "Mina",
and asks if she has met Park already. Meanwhile, Park and Lee are still taking
care of Jong in the main hall. Lee notices Park's scar on her right arm; and Parks explains she got
the scar from an incident during her childhood; but she can't remember the details anymore.
Lee then leaves to change her clothes, while Park approaches Damian on the ground.
Upon touching Damian, she feels a sharp sting and drops the doll. She carries it again; but nothing
happens this time, so she then places Damian on a couch near Jong, and exits the building.
Upon leaving, Damian's now lying on top of Jong. Park stretches under the sun and outside.
She finally meets and talks with Mina. Supermodel is outside too;
and Park beckons him to introduce Mina, who quickly disappears while he's approaching.
Supermodel then asks if it's Park's first encounter with the curator and Jay;
and she replies yes, since it's her first visit to the museum.
Suddenly, the curator appears and tells Park to see Jay in her workshop.
Jay invites Park to the workshop, since she knows Park is a sculptor with an interest in dolls.
Park explores the workshop, and sees a doll version of Mina. Jay asks if Park
met Mina already; and when she answers yes, Jay comments it must be quite a reunion.
However, Park's completely clueless, and explains it's her first encounter with Mina.
Jay finds the situation strange, Because Mina told her that if she mentions her name to Park,
Park will remember her because they have known each other for a long time.
However, Park insists it's the first time. After the weird conversation, Jay invites
Park to the workshop again after dinner. The moment Park leaves, Mina enters the
room from the elevator and cries; and Jay only stares at her, then continues her painting.
Park is about to enter her room; but Jong pulls her hair, and drags her into her room. Supermodel
grabs and constrains Jong on the bed; and Hong protects Park from Jong. Jong angrily accuses
Park of killing Damian, where its severed head with blank eye sockets sits on the bed. When Park
denies destroying Damian, Jong points at Lee, who tells her that it's Park who last held Damian.
Hong then asks why Park's belongings are in Jong's room, while holding Park's album.
Due to this, Jong's anger reinforces more, causing her to suspect Park even more. Park then visits
her room, followed by Lee and Hong; and they see Park's items scattered across the room.
Meanwhile, Jay and the curator visit the man in the cellar. The purpose of them chaining
up the man, is because he refuses to build something that's still unknown. Jay gives the
man three hours to decide, or else he'll die! It's dinnertime, and after being rejected by
Jong to eat dinner, Lee joins the curator and the guests. Then Park looks for Jay;
but the curator explains that Jay doesn't want to eat. She then asks if Mina's joining them too;
but the curator says he's not sure. Meanwhile, Hong finds Damian's death
a blessing. He then explains to kill a doll with a soul, is to remove its eyes and behead it, for
eyes are the portals of a soul. Since they talk about dolls, Hong remembers a tale about a doll
that took vengeance on a village, just above the mountains from the museum, that's now abandoned.
Lee asks where Hong learned the story; and he says that their place now is his ancestor's hometown.
It's an odd turn of events, when suddenly Lee and Park admit the place is their hometown too. the
curator comments on how coincidental they gather now; but Hong believes their meeting is fate.
Meanwhile, Jong is asleep beside destroyed Damian in her room; but the creaking noise startles her
from sleep. So she checks the door and window, but finds nothing. Damian's head rolls off the ground;
and she grabs it and cries again. Behind her, an emerging long hair appears, and the lights
blink nonstop. She closes her eyes, as the doll in the ceiling suddenly lunges near her face.
Back in the dining room, Park is about to bring food for Jong until
the curator recalls her meeting with Jay. So Lee volunteers to deliver the food instead.
Park then sees Mina crying in front of the museum; so she meets her and asks her reason for crying.
Mina admits to Park her sadness, because Park doesn't recognize her. Park holds Mina's hands;
but it's bloody. Mina cries even louder and runs away, when she sees Jay watching them on the
balcony. Park chases after Mina in the woods; but she misses a step, rolls on the ground,
and hits her head on a tree root. Mina then returns and sees Park unconscious on the dirt.
At the museum, Lee is knocking on Jong's door, who eventually gets frustrated because Jong is
not answering. so she opens the door, and sees Jong hanging dead in the ceiling. She drops the
food, and screams at the sight of a corpse. So everyone gathers in the curator's office,
and Lee is still crying and shouting that she wants to go home. Then Supermodel asks
where's Park; and the curator comments that Supermodel is being inquisitive lately;
but Supermodel's only concern is their safety. Suddenly, Lee says she needs to go to the
bathroom; and so, Hong accompanies her. Inside, they find each stall with dolls sitting on the
toilet. Since she needs to go, Lee uses the middle stall and disregards the doll. Hong outside spooks
Lee by shaking the door; but eventually stops. Lee finishes her business, and is about to leave,
when the doll behind her unexpectedly moves and covers her mouth. Hong outside uses his camera
to take a photo of Lee inside the stall, while unaware of the occurring murder. Lee stomps her
feet, trying to break free; while Hong jokes about not being a pervert, while waiting for the photo
to finish printing. Hong notices Lee's noise, and asks if she's okay. but the noise eventually dies
down, and blood drips to the ground; so he opens the stall, and finds Lee dead with a broken leg.
Hong falls to the ground, and loudly shouts upon seeing the printed photo.
He rushes outside, where Supermodel from the office spots him, and drives away in his car.
Supermodel follows Hong, who's driving deeper into the dark forest. Suddenly, a doll appears behind
Hong, causing his car to crash, and he bumps his head on the steering wheel. He eventually
regains consciousness; but a doll handholds and strangles him to death. Supermodel arrives
at the crash site, and sees Hong already dead. Meanwhile, Park wakes up after dreaming about the
doll she threw away during her childhood. She then enters the curator's office, and calls her mother
to look for her photograph when she was a child. She freezes upon hearing from her mother that Mina
is also the name of her doll when she was a kid. She ends the call, and behind her is a real Mina,
asking if she recognizes her now. However, Park only avoids her more, exits the office,
and runs to her room to pack her clothes. Supermodel returns to the museum,
and finds Lee dead in the bathroom. He then picks up the photo left by Hong, and horror
flashes on his face upon seeing the murderer. Park wants to escape, but trips and falls to
the floor, causing her car keys to slide in a door gap. She's about to grab it;
but a severed doll head spooks her. Still, she toughens up, inserts her hand,
moves away the doll head, and reaches for the keys. After successfully obtaining the keys,
Supermodel grabs her, and suspects her of murder. So Supermodel cuffs Park in the dining room,
and reveals he's a cop to capture murderers like her. Park is confused until Supermodel
presents her with the photo from the bathroom, showing Park killing Lee in the stall.
Park then looks for Jong and Hong; and Supermodel says they're dead because of her.
but Park denies the accusations, and explains she's escaping from her old doll with a soul.
However, Supermodel only calls her nonsensical. Suddenly, Jay arrive; and Supermodel reports
that she caught Park, who murdered the two guests; and Hong died from an incident. Oddly,
Jay muses and says, "it's almost finished." Jay asks what brought Supermodel to the museum.
He replies that a worker from the museum was found dead in the mountains two days ago.
Jay then asks Supermodel's basis for accusing Park of Jong's murderer;
and he reasons that Park disappeared during the time of the crime, making her a strong suspect.
Jay then commands him to look at the printed photo again, revealing Mina as Lee's murderer.
This time, Jay unveils the truth from 60 years ago. After the doll master died from murder,
the doll he left behind guarded his grave, waiting for a time to avenge him. Years passed;
Jay and her husband happened to find the doll and brought it home.
However, the doll taken home possessed Jay soon, making its vengeance a reality.
It turns out, the man chained in the basement is actually Jay's husband.
He's chained up there because he refused to build a doll replica of the doll master. Eventually, the
doll finally found the four men, who originally beat the doll master to death, and those four
men's descendants: Hong, Jong, Lee, and Park. And two weeks ago, the doll made difficult sorcery,
because she had to kill a person, which was the corpse used as bait to summon the real murderer:
Supermodel's grandfather. It turns out, Supermodel's grandfather murdered the woman in
a kimono and got away from punishment, causing the doll master to be beaten to death by the four men.
This explains why the doll wants to avenge the doll master, because he was wrongly
accused of a murder he never committed. Jay declares death on Supermodel and Park,
and leaves Mina to do her work. Park then asks for Supermodel to uncuff her; but the key's gone;
so he runs to his room to find extra keys. Suddenly, Park screams, for Mina suddenly
appears before her, who's calmly assuring her that she's spared; but Park shoots Mina's forehead.
Supermodel from his room hears the gunshot, and immediately runs for the door. but it is locked
by itself. Park drops the gun, because Mina's wound heals quickly. Mina goes quiet and softly
tells her to stay, before leaving Park alone. Supermodel breaks open the door, and grabs the key
on the ground; but a string catches his neck that pulls him into the ceiling, allowing him to dangle
in the air. Meanwhile, Park uses soap to remove the cuff, despite the bloody painful process.
After freeing herself, Park goes to the main hall, and is shocked to see Mina pulling a
string to hang Supermodel. Park knows what to do; so she runs to Jay's workshop, grabs an ax,
removes the clutter, and places Mina's doll atop. Mina realizes where Park has gone. so she drops
off Supermodel, grabs her doll-self, and cries at Park for abandoning her. However, Park feels no
remorse, but only hatred towards Mina. So Park leaves the room, causing Mina to get angry.
Meanwhile in the cellar, the curator tells Jay's husband to decide whether he's going
to build a life-size doll, in the image of the doll master from sixty years ago,
so the vengeful doll can reunite with its master again and find its peace. Upon hearing this,
the husband thinks the curator is delusional for thinking that a vengeful doll will easily
give up the possessed body of his wife, Jay. but he pretends to obey the curator's bullshit; and
suddenly, he grabs the curator and chains his ass up. Afterward, he grabs an ax and goes upstairs.
Meanwhile, Park escapes with Supermodel; but Mina, in her devious form,
kills Supermodel. So Park runs into Jong's room, but only to see her dead body in the ceiling.
She then rushes outside; but Mina catches her this time and strangles her. However,
Park even insults Mina more, calling her nothing; so Mina pierces her nails onto Park's chest.
However, upon seeing Park's scar on her right arm, Mina recalls when young Park
saved her from a motorcycle, which caused the wound. It was the time Mina obtained her soul.
Mina's innocent image returns as she cries; but Jay plans other things, removes Mina's
doll-self's eyes, and throws her head on the ground. Mina dies and disappears completely.
Jay then stands and strangles Park again. but the husband arrives and shoots Jay's back. However,
the curator arrives too and sees Jay dying; so he wrestles against Jay's husband.
The movie ends with Park successfully killing the possessed Jay, and the curator losing a
fight with Jay's husband. The husband meets his wife, telling her that they shouldn't have
brought the evil doll home; and Jay herself is free from the doll's grasp before dying.
It's already dawn; Park and Jay's husband burn all the dolls and corpses in front of the museum,
including Mina's doll head. Lastly, a flashback shows a young Park throwing
away Mina outside her window, which landed on a flowery bush.
This's Daniel CC movie channel! Stay safe and enjoy your day!