(2004)
aka: RYEONG, THE GHOST
REVIEWED BY-STEVE GENIER DIRECTED BY-JEONG YONG-GI CAST-KIM HA NEUL, RYU JIN, NAM SANG-MI. SOURCE-BEAR/CJ ENTERTAINMENT REG 3 NTSC DVD
Ji-Won (KIM HA NEUL) is a college student who has amnesia and has no memories of her past, she is only haunted by nightmares and images that are only vague to her. As time goes by, she starts to recall snippets of something that happened during highschool. The pieces of the puzzle become more clearer as a couple of her former highschool friends mysteriously die of drowning. She begins to search out for the answers to her past, but those with the answer resent her for some odd reason. The race begins as she tries to find the clues to the answer before she might become the next victim in the mysterious string of deaths. As she begins to see ghosts everywhere she turns to and no one believes her, for she is alone in her battle to make all the wrongs in her former life right again.
It is a given fact that Hideo Nakata’s 1998 hit RINGU still haunts many horror films made both in Japan and in South Korea and DEAD FRIEND is yet another example of this. Yes, that is the downside to this film, but all is not lost as it does have some redeeming values hidden within it’s celluloid. There have been many films that have failed trying to copycat the RINGU formula, but that is only because they were too in bed with the film idea completely. There are also hints of another classic Korean horror franchise at play here as well, Ki-Hyung Park's spooky 1998 film WHISPERING CORRIDORS, which spawned a few sequels. Director Jeong Yong-Gi does steer away from that and incorporates a great storyline to the film's scares. Though you get the general RINGU feel with many of the haunting moments, but you are rescued by a somewhat strong enough story. What can you do though, RINGU basically set the standard when it comes to truly haunting situations on film.
So it is very hard now to try and stray away from something that does work when done right. There are several areas in the DEAD FRIEND that conjure up some great chills, of course of them are pretty much predictable, there is still some great haunts none the less. Much of the chills come via the films gothic atmosphere, dark set pieces and the great lighting. All of which work really well in stirring up just the right emotions to make those goose bumps stand on end. Some scenes really stand out as well, especially during some of the under water sequences which really turn out quite stunning.
Acting is pretty much standard for this type of film coming out of South Korea, some translation does get lost with the English subtitling making it somewhat confusing in some areas of the storyline, especially during the film’s plot twist near the end. Though it all works out in the end, there’s that slight knot in the story. It’s amazing just how some of these actors such as the lead KIM HA NEUL. Are able to contort their facial expressions to a certain extend making things all that more believable, and let me tell you it isn’t special effects either. They can certainly put on some scary faces.
The Bear/CJ Entertainment DVD is pretty much your standard example of what usually comes out of South Korea. They really take their time in dazzling up the packaging on many of their disc, this one is no exceptions. This is a two disc special edition where the film comes on the first disc and all the extras on the second. The film is presented in Korean 5.1 Dolby Digital with both Korean and English subtitles and of course is in wide screen format. On the second disc there are plenty of extras to gock out, but sadly all of which are only presented in Korean with no subtitles. Still they are fun to watch as they go behind the scenes, the making of and several interviews to boot. This disc is certainly a must have for those who really enjoy Korean horror right now, for it’s very unlikely that this will ever get a North American release and even so this would probably out duel that anyhow.
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