One of the most successful Korean horror films, A Public Cemetary under the Moon attracted more than 50,000 viewers in Seoul when it was released, and became the touchstone for Korean horror films’ popularity.
 Set in the 1930s when Korea was under the Japanese occupation, the film centers around two women. One of the women, Myung-soon, has held various social positions, such as a student and hostess, whose husband, Han-su is from the upper class. She seeks revenge against a wicked and cruel housemaid, who has plotted to kill and take her position as the wife of the family and finally faces her own death. Behind the women’s strife is the theme of nationalism represented through the characters of Myung-soon and Han-su: Myung-soon becomes a hostess so she can support her brother and Han-su who ended up in jail for their involvement in the independence movement. Han-su turns his back on the independence movement and attains wealth through his involvement in the Japanese colonizers. Meanwhile, the film also depicts the gloomy fate of a colonized bourgeois family that has to suffer the nightmarish catastrophe in the tradition of ‘Shinpa’ that often portrays the tragic courses of life of a hostess.
 The film sees Do Kum-bong rendering the role of a charismatic and energetic femme fatale more powerful and threatening than the role of the lead woman character(played by Kang Mi-ae), the center of the tragedy and the horrifying other. (Joo You-shin)