After 1982, Korea spawned a countless number of erotic movies, a genre that plagued the silver screen for over a decade. But since the government installed his “SSS” policy back in the early 80’s, it was only a matter of time before the cinema industry was flooded with sexy and steamy productions. The most famous series of them all is perhaps “Aema Buin”. It all started back in 1982 and went on through the late 90’s, the “Aema” series has now 12 official sequels and many unofficial ones as well as rip-offs.
Any films that bare the “Aema” title is always a curiosity, that’s why director Suk Do-won (Aema Buin 4,5,6,7,8 and 10) decided to make a move toward the horror and fantasy genre. He quite succeeded in mixing the exoticism of Korean beauty O No-a (Aema Buin 10) with the western lustful-horror myth of Dracula, which is actually portrayed by regular Aema Buin actor, Won Seok.
The story is about Hyun-woo, a computer geek who while working at night on a video project is suddenly thrown into a world of dreams and illusions (with the help of a CD he found on the beach) where he meets with the beautiful Aema (a new servant of Dracula himself). She then tells to Hyun-woo about her past where we discover she was savagely beaten by her boss and later gang-raped in a car by some delinquent rich kids. Through a series of spiritual illusions, Hyun-woo witnesses the beautiful Aema tracking down those who abused and killed her. Will Aema take her revenge and finally erase all those bad memories that are encrypted on that CD-Rom?
Dracula Aema provides enough suspense for its erotic counterpart but lack in the horror department. Of course we expect to see the fangs and the dripping blood but instead director Suk Do-won decided to stay faithful to the erotic guideline of the Aema Buin series. However, he definitely did a great job mastering the suspense. All those strange encounters that Hyun-woo has, leaves the viewer with something to think about, the dreamy aspect of those scenes are quite captivating and let’s not forget that the story takes place again on the beautiful Korean island of Jeju.
Some elements almost remind me of Hisayasu Sato's work, such as the use of some audio/video technology (here a computer and CD Rom). Visually, Dracula Aema is similar to the rest of the series with a good sense of framing and playful use of light, for example the evil presence is always manifested by a neon green aura, which makes the whole scene sexier. It is also, refreshing to see Won Soek again in an Aema movie but this time portraying the enigmatic and lustful Dracula. This is perhaps the best Korean-style personification of the western myth.
ORIGINAL TITLE
Deulakyula Aema
DIRECTOR
Suk Do-won
Deulakyula Aema
DIRECTOR
Suk Do-won
CAST
O No-a
Go Hyeong-jun
Won Seok
Go Hyeong-jun
Won Seok
RELEASE DATE
1994
1994
Director Gang Beom-gu has an impressive background of dramas, action, crime, war movies and even anti-communist features. But he’s perhaps more famous for having co-directed the unofficial sequel of Game of Death, also called Tower of Death 2 with the legendary Hwang Jang Lee and choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping. So right after that big co-production, Gang Beom-gu directed this little unique gem of Korean horror cinema: Goesi (A Monstruous Corpse), with little financial help. The result is a rather interesting approach to the zombie genre but at the same time, suffers from being too much similar with the 1974 classic, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie.
Veteran actor Park Am (Mandala, Hunting for Idiots, Iodo and Martyrs to name a few) can be seen as the police chief and gives his usual strong and convincing performance. That said, Goesi has all the elements of the typical horror film made at time in Europe, which is characterized by low key lighting with vivid colors, moody soundtrack and a terrified female protagonist who just can’t run away from the zombies who try to attack her. Speaking of zombies, this was Korea’s very first attempt at the genre.
The story revolves around 2 young people who met each other on a countryside road. Kang Myung was hitchhiking and was picked up by Su-ji on her way to see her brother-in-law. But when she arrives at her destination they find Su-ji’s brother-in-law dead. Soon the police start to suspect Kang Myung. Shocked and skeptical about the events, the dynamic duo decides to search the surrounding area. Kang Myung discovers that scientists are working at a lab with a supersonic transmitter. Soon, more strange things start to happen in the nearby forest. After looking around all day, Kang Myung and Su-ji decide to do further investigation in an old abandoned house where they are suddenly attacked by a horde of undead. 
Fans of gore elements easily found in Italian or other European productions will no doubt be slightly let down, but if you're in it for more than striking visuals, there's lots of enjoyment to be found here. Of course, Korean cinema is perhaps one of the fastest changing cinema industry I’ve ever seen, which is a direct reflection of their society. You can compare for example, monster movies such as The Flying monster (Bicheongoesu) with the Host and there is only 20 years between the 2, but visually and technically it looks more like 40! That’s what Korean cinema is all about, once you dig in the past you might find some movies that didn’t seem much interesting but in their social and political context they take a whole new dimension and therefore, are really enjoyable and fascinating. 
Here’s Aema Buin’s synopsis: Oh Su-bi's husband, Shin Hyun-wu, is in jail for involuntary homicide. For the past two years, Su-bi has visited her husband every week. Though she is anguished by Hyun-wu's affairs, Su-bi is unable to divorce him even though everyone thinks she should. While visiting her husband, Su-bi meets Kim Dong-yub, a student of art, and feels his sincerity. One day, Su-bi runs into an old boyfriend, Kim Mun-ho, who lives in the same apartment complex. They engage in an affair. However, Su-bi is unable to bear the perverted sexual preferences of Mun-ho. 
She goes to Dong-yub and engages in a pure love. Hyun-wu asks for a divorce. When Su-bi is in the country, Dong-yub comes to her and promises to take her to France. However, the day they are supposed to leave for France, Hyun-wu is released from jail on a special pardon. Though she was on her way to Dong-yub, Su-bi finds herself greeting Hyun-wu, unable to free herself from the shackles of marriage.
On another level, Aema buin also have a strong amoral point of view for the time. For instance,Oh Su-bi have an extra-marital relationship while her husband is in prison and later, she also flirt with a woman (in a scene where they almost kiss each other). She is even sexually abused by some neighbor, but takes pleasure in it. So, a few taboos are explored and well developed here. Sadly, on the sexual side we stay on our appetite for more flesh, especially if you compare with other productions at the time. 
Hong-Kong was producing some wild and sexy exploitation films and Japan already had a foot in the AV field. However, a strong point is that the main character played by the beautiful Ahn So-young is steaming with passion. She’s always perfectly framed with just a right amount of shadows, making her one of the cutest and sexiest actress of the 80’s. She was also featured in other great erotic productions of the time such as Kim Ki-young’s “Free Maiden (Jayucheonyeo)” (1982) and in Nam Gi-nam’s “Sexual Compatibility (Habgung)” (1988). Nevertheless, Aema Buin remains a pleasant and well crafted piece of erotica which brought no less than 12 sequels and countless rip-offs (which I will eventually review).
