SWEET HOME is a new Netflix horror series from South Korea. It is full of monsters, blood, and – of course – great characters. Extremely entertaining! With 10 episodes in the season, a strong pilot sets the scene and is followed by brutal horror. Read our Sweet Home season 1 review here!

SWEET HOME is a new Netflix horror series with a huge variety of monsters. As always, with productions from South Korea, the great advantage is a focus on interesting characters. Both those that are likable and those that are decidedly not.

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Our Sweet Home Season 2 review >

After a strong pilot sets the scene, the real horror becomes obvious with new characters being added – and others suffering an awful fate. There are also moments of humor that you might be familiar with if you’ve watched genre movies such as The Host.

Based on a very popular webtoon (more on that later), this new South Korean Netflix series is extremely entertaining!

Continue reading our Sweet Home season 1 review below and find all 10 episodes on Netflix now.

So much blood…

If you’re a bit iffy when it comes to blood, then consider this a fair warning: There is a lot of blood in this Netflix horror series. Brutal nosebleeds, in particular, since a suddenly bleeding nose is a symptom of infection. Yes, we’re dealing with an infection of sorts, but this is no regular pandemic.

Well, okay, maybe with a touch of the “contagion” we see in The Strain or even I Am Legend. In fact, the very first monster we see in Sweet Home is very reminiscent of those in The Strain. However, no two monsters in this new horror series are alike. And they come in all shapes and sizes. As well as with different abilities and various physical “weapons”.

What I also loved about this series was (as always) the characters. They all have fascinating backstories that come across as the season progresses. Also, there are elements of humor, which is another thing South Korean genre productions have always been excellent at incorporating.

Just remember that humor is often used to disarm you before the next big scare!

Sweet Home: Season 1 – Netflix Review

Brilliant and extremely varied monsters!

The CGI used in Sweet Home is clearly inspired by video games, which means it’s over-the-top in most ways. Both when looking at the surroundings and when it comes to the monsters. Speaking of the monsters, they are extremely diverse. You never know what kind of monster an infected person will turn into.

Personally, I found myself being reminded of the first time I played Silent Hill. There’s this constant eerie feeling that some new monster will soon appear around the corner. And it’s a feeling you should listen to because something usually is waiting for you in the dark or around the next corner.

Some monsters will look like classic vampires of sorts while others will have a more gentle big-eyed look (you’ll see!). However, they are all dangerous. Actually, they all speak of hunger and needing “protein”, so they don’t just want to kill you. They need to devour human beings to feed themselves.

Watch season 1 of Sweet Home on Netflix now!

This new Netflix series is director Lee Eung-Bok’s (Descendants of the Sun) live-action adaptation of a popular webtoon. The original webtoon was created by Kim Kan-bi and Hwang Young-chan.

10 episodes that each have a runtime around the 50-minute mark make up season 1. In other words, there is plenty of entertainment waiting for you, which is perfect since we’re all being urged to stay at home due to our own kind of virus. Obviously, we’re all trying to stay home for very different reasons than the characters in this Netflix series.

That’s exactly why it’s the perfect escape; Allow yourself to keep both yourself and everyone else safe but staying at home and escaping to this different world, where the dangers are quite easy to spot. Even if the monsters in Sweet Home take on very different shapes!

Sweet Home Season 1 is out on Netflix from December 18, 2020.

Details

Director: Lee Eung-Bok
Writers: Kim Kan-Bi (webcomic), Hwang Young-Chan (webcomic), Heung So-Ri, Kim Hyung-Min, Park So-Ri
Stars: Song Kang, Lee Jin-wook, Lee Si-young, Lee Do-Hyun, Kim Nam-Hee, Go Min-Si, Park Gyu-Young, Ko Yoon-Jung, Kim Kap-Soo, Kim Sang-Ho, Woo Jung-Kook

Plot

As humans turn into savage monsters and wreak terror, one troubled teen and his apartment neighbors fight to survive — and to hold on to their humanity.

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
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