People are voting emotionally.

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A nice surprise, a stellar suspenseful Korean thriller which to me felt a bit American in it's tone, parts reminded me of THE CALLER, PHONE BOOTH and PANIC ROOM...But then I have been seriously slacking when it comes to Asian cinema and have only started getting in to it these past 2 years.If I was to compare it with another Asian movie it would be THE TERROR LIVE (2013) aka DEU TAE-RO RA-I-BEU in it's native tongue, which also was very good, if you like that I'm sure you'll like this and vice versa.Visually very nice and rich colors and more or less perfect angle-shots, and stellar acting all around.Kept me glued to the screen for almost the whole duration despite being forced to keep the volume rather low, so yeah well worth seeing.

Korean movies are constantly gaining popularity among the cinema lovers in recent times especially if you talk about brutal crime thrillers. Korean thrillers have their popularity for being weird, gruesome, violent but astonishingly natural at the same time. Midnight FM is another addition in that genre. I have watched so many Korean thrillers in recent times which are filled with extreme graphic violence and bloods, but Midnight FM seemed to be an exception. O course, bloods and killings are still there, but you will never feel disturbed or stomach cramp while watching this one, rather pure suspense will keep your neck high all the time.Apart from some other awesome Korean thrillers like The Chaser, I saw the Devil or The Yellow Sea, I can compare this one with the recent release Children…(2011) for relying on pure suspense instead of extreme violence or blood. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, even though I didn't have that much expectation. A must see for all Korean thriller lovers.

The momentum for Korean Thrillers is picking up slowly but surely, with recent films like The Chaser and Man From Nowhere getting critical acclaim and scoring at their home box office with their very edgy treatment and storytelling, putting the audience at the edge of their seats with aplomb. The next such film to hit the screens here is Midnight FM, and director Kim Sang-Man had proved that this film belongs to the same echelons as the films mentioned, where a celebrity DJ has to deal with a violent, psychotic stalker.Soo-Ae of Once in a Summer fame plays Ko Sun-Young, a highly popular DJ whose shift in the graveyard hours is coming to an end soon. On her final day, she finds herself being blackmailed by an unknown person who had gained an upper hand at being inside her home and holding her loved one hostage, before demonstrating that he's a huge deranged fan of hers, posing questions based on her show's past to play a sick game where every wrong answer would mean that something violent and gruesome got to be inflicted on the hostages.In some ways this film seemed to have two separate phases, with the first phase taking place in very confined spaces, such as the DJ's booth and console, and that of Sun-Young's house where you have children and her teenage sister having to hide from a home invader. It's almost like David Fincher's Panic Room with a cat and mouse game of hide and seek gets played out in a swanky apartment, which makes for some nice touches of suspense and thrills, given the claustrophobic space in which to play a deadly quiz. It's like a ping pong game of desperately trying to gain and regain the upper hand from each side, knowing that with that comes bargaining power.Then there's the utilization of space, as the narrative takes place outside of the confined spaces, shaking you out of your comfort zone just as you thought everything will shuttle back and forth between the locations, and becoming a full fledged action film complete with car chases to boot. A number of support characters got introduced here, from bland, ineffective cops to fellow co-workers now into the scheme of things to assist Sun-Young, although their presence do not distract you from the main players, offering only slight support to fulfill their one role function before disappearing into the background again. More obnoxious characters enter the scene such as various levels of bureaucracy at the radio station to come disrupt proceedings since Sun-Yong had veered really off course in her programme, which adds another layer of complexity for Sun-Young to battle against.Soo-Ae cuts a confident figure on the top of her game as Sun-Young, before the threat turned her into quite the nervous wreck hell bent on rescuing her daughter at any expense. Like a chameleon, Soo-Ae handles both sides to her character with skill, making you root for her along the way even though she mercilessly rejects the advances and help of yet another stalker who decides to stake out at her office since it's after all, her final day there. As the antagonist, Yoo Ji-Tae is the man you'd love to hate, personifying pure evil in his dastardly plan that comes with layers and enough Plan Bs to keep him off the law enforcement radar and long arm of the law. His Han Dong-Su is the ultimate stalker complete with shrine and audio recordings at his hideout, and Ji-Tae's creepy portrayal makes the character someone not to be messed with for his penchant for violence. A nice little backstory to link up seemingly disparate events to debunk the myth of randomness was a nice touch, but could be done without.With the bulk of the film taking place within two hours of Sun-Young's final shift at work, Midnight FM is by and large one of the better thrillers out there this year, being intense and edgy from the time the antagonist enters the picture to begin his deadly game. Kim Sang- Man crafted a film that is paced expertly, knowing when to speed things up with high octane action, and slowing things down yet keeping a pulse on the frenzied state of mind of its characters, making this film way above average thrillers and is well worth experiencing on the big screen. Highly recommended!

There have been a handful of South Korean thrillers that have earned a bit of hype over the past few years: "The Chaser" (2008) and "I Saw the Devil" (2010) being the two obvious choices, though "Mother" (2009) could also be considered if one classifies it as a dramatic thriller. I recently posted a user comment on "No Mercy" (2010), which I personally enjoyed more than the aforementioned films in terms of pure entertainment value. However, "Midnight F.M." (2010) has now ascended to my top spot.Here's a reworded plot summary from AsianMediaWiki: Popular TV anchorwoman & late night radio host Sun-Young (Soo Ae: "Sunny" 2008, "Once in a Summer" 2006) prepares to work her final radio program, after which she will prepare to take her daughter to America the following morning. During the radio show Sun-Young receives a startling text message from a man named Dong-Su (Yoo Ji-Tae: "Oldboy" 2003, "One Fine Spring Day" 2001), who has broken into her apartment and taken hostages. Dong-Su then sends the text message to Sun-Young instructing her to follow his directions and not to tell anyone.Oh man, this is non-stop suspense from start to finish, with efficiently constructed tension and very good performances by everyone. The conventional premise is outshined by its sheer execution and avoidance of any and all dull filler material. At first the protagonist is forced to retrieve specific information from her previous shows and duplicate those moments on the air, but the storyline branches out in a variety of ways and eventually introduces themes of vigilantism and media responsibility. Soo Ae gives an inspired, energetic performance. This thriller is extremely exciting and a lot of fun to watch, relying more on pure suspense instead of graphic violence. A must see for everyone.