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Collected English Reviews
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Whispering Corridors* | Y) `/ W3 k3 p6 x
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The literal translation of the title of this film is "Girls High School Ghost Story (Yo-go-kuei-dam)". A "kuei-dam" (ghost story) is a traditional Korean genre in which the souls of those who have died horribly are not permitted to go on to the next world. This film takes the "kuei-dam" as its basis and locates the narrative within a contemporary girls high school. This smooth juxtaposition of an ancient horror genre and the more modern anxieties of Korean high school struck a powerful chord in its young audience, turning the film into an instant box-office success.
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+ N3 a* h( g) z( M6 c4 u* G This is the first feature film by director Park Ki-Hyung, who in 1996 won several awards for his short film Great Pretenders (Best Director Award at the Gold Crown Film Festival, Best of the Best Award at the L.A. International Short Film Festival). In Whispering Corridors he adopts the editing conventions of the horror film, not only to thrill his audience but also to indirectly criticize the Korean educational system.
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* |+ a, Q( J. b# O& LIt will be impossible to understand this film without first developing an appreciation for the experience of Korean high school. The degree of pressure placed on Korean high school students is unrivalled anywhere else in the world, and competition is so fierce that students often remain at school from 6 a.m. until ten or twelve at night. Class bullying and teachers' preferential treatment of certain students remain a major problem which is much-discussed but steadily worsening. Many of my students recall their high school experiences with a shudder and express their relief to have moved on to the university.
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Whispering Corridors did not fail to cause controversy upon its release. Several conservative education groups tried to legally prevent its screening, claiming that the film "disgraced teachers and distorted the reality of education." Nonetheless, this low-budget film became the second-highest grossing domestic film of the year (7th overall). This is an exciting, well-constructed film, as remarkable for its eerie aesthetics as for its critique of society. (Darcy Paquet)! P1 k3 r8 V3 F2 s0 w! f% c" r
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2 E( m1 d: j) Z8 T% `Worth-seeing for one time, but Yeogo goedam2 is way better, 21 October 2001
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( A5 v9 Y: I2 k6 e! EAuthor: hideone from The United States6 k: [0 n% M5 T' I0 E
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& @: ^( d) N+ [) P, u2 S6 ?Alright, in fact, Yeogo goedam is fairly a well-made horror teen-flick. It has some scary moment in places, and overall, amusing to watch. When you say this is a copycat of traditional Japanese high school horror, that is certainly not true. Yeogo goedam goes deeper revealing on problems of a high school system in Korea, and presents a lack of respect between relationship of students and faculties. Most students in the movie are depressed and having difficulties of their own; those qualities are what make Yeogo goedam better than most of horror teen-flicks made in other countries. However, watch Yeogo goedam2 if you have a chance, because it is way better than this one.
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A film of friendships and social criticism, 25 February 2005! C& Y9 O B7 q/ P2 v
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Author: Brandt Sponseller from New York City! W J' p5 X$ C
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After a teacher, Mrs. Park, is found dead from apparent suicide at the Korean girls school where she works, teachers try to squelch rumors and disparaging remarks that might sully Mrs. Park's reputation. But it's long been rumored that the school has a ghost, and after a young replacement teacher, Eun-young, arrives, both rumors and strange occurrences gradually increase until more lives are threatened and a mystery is revealed.
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, z) U( p$ I* B. ]" HWhispering corridors is a typical Asian horror film in that it's relatively slow-paced much of the time and wide open to interpretation. It also features a young female ghost of sorts, which westerners are already familiar with as a classic Asian horror archetype from versions of The Ring (aka Ringu) and The Grudge (aka Ju-On). More unusually, it is set in a single, often claustrophobic and always atmospheric environment. And along with its horror, it presents intriguing social criticisms and a poetic subtext about friendship.4 B, M+ l. W+ S! I
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The bulk of the film is centered on what turns out to be the real villain--a fascistic, abusive approach to education, especially exemplified by Mr. Oh, who is also sexually predatory towards some of his students. But his strict, abusively disciplinarian approach is school policy, so we also see other teachers berating, humiliating and striking students. Combined with the usual human biases/favoritism and complex, wider cultural attitudes towards maintaining particular kinds of public appearances, we have a recipe for eventual disaster, which Whispering Corridors delivers.
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As should be expected, most of the horror material in the film is surrealistic and understated. Director Ki-Hyung Park has a knack for creating and finding creepy environments in the slightly dilapidated school--the hallway is particularly striking. Although there are a few suspenseful "attack" scenes that are more similar in tone to modern U.S. horror films, shots focused on simple visuals such as bloodstains and dripping/running blood are just as effective. The key to the film's horror is its gradually strengthening sense of unease, which is fueled by the more traditionally dramatic elements of the film as well.
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The ending has a twist somewhat akin to The Sixth Sense (1999) or The Others (2001), although note that Whispering Corridors predates both of those films. The twist is also much more purposefully ambiguous than American audiences are used to, allowing for a number of different interpretations.
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A major subtext is friendship. Students throughout the film are constantly seeking friends, building relationships, testing bonds, setting boundaries with others inside or outside of friendships, experiencing growth apart from friends with sometimes traumatic effects, and trying to strengthen various kinds of connections--there are even extremely subtle suggestions of romantic bonds between some female students. Most of the teachers are dealing with complicated relationships, as well, between each other and between themselves and students./ n% d1 W. f5 F3 W8 h/ |" _
j) s. S0 T+ p0 f3 [+ YWhispering Corridors is a complex, sometimes difficult (not negatively so) film that would surely reward multiple viewings. Although it's a horror film on some surface levels, and very rewarding at that, its heart is more of a poetically dramatic picture of its subtexts and social commentaries. Like much non-U.S. horror, it is worth viewing, but fans only used to American films will have to adjust their expectations in terms of pacing and clearly stated, linear plotting.
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; v6 T& n0 i2 G8 V, ^. j, a# ~Successfully intertwines horror and social commentary, 15 March 2005
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In the haunting opening sequence, we witness the mysterious death of a teacher at a South Korean all girls school. She is discovered by her pupils (her hanging body is a nightmarish image that will tattoo itself on your memory), and their abusive principal tells them it was a suicide. Before she died, she telephoned her young coworker and told her that "Jin-Ju is here. She's still alive!" Baffled by this, the young teacher embarks on an investigation to figure out what exactly is going on at this school. She finds that the ultra-competitive students are not what they seem on the surface.; S" U! s$ i6 [ J' U
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In its trailer, "Whispering Corridors" is credited as being the film that started the "Asian Horror Explosion." I'm not so sure about that, as Ringu is far better known and appears to have been released first. However, this truly is an excellent supernatural story that deserves as much recognition. While the movie leans heavily on drama and mystery, the frightening scenes are very effective. Those that take place in the long ominous hallways in the empty school at night, as well as in the condemned art studio, are incredibly creepy and atmospheric.7 Y _$ w* O- h, }
& U) `+ r8 j5 x6 `The performances by the entire cast, especially the young actresses, are excellent. Throughout the film, we are introduced to several of the repressed but competitive girls. There's the insecure nerdy girl who believes in magic, her best friend who is desperate to be popular and secretly wants to be an artist, the prettiest girl who is also at the top of the class, and the vicious-eyed girl who is second in rank and never utters a word. As the body count increases, the viewer is given several hints as to why each of these girls (as well as the violent and lecherous principal) could be a suspect.
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The film culminates with a sappy sequence that will likely cause you to eyeroll through it is duration, but it is easy to forgive this melodrama after seeing the chilling final shot of the film. The chronology may be confusing for some (though it is much easier to follow than many Asian supernatural horrors!), but all the sideplots are nicely tied together in the final sequences. What makes "Whispering Corridors" especially interesting is its strong underlying message of solidarity above competition in young women. Not only was I surprised to find social commentary of this type successfully incorporated into a horror movie, but I was doubly astounded to find it in one from South Korea. Yet, the messages here are especially potent because they are universal. I wish this unique horror film could find a larger audience because it deserves to be seen by more people.
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My Rating: 8/10
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Whispering Corridors is a classic Asian Horror Film, 15 April 2005
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) G0 H+ K3 r4 t0 ~0 }* yAuthor: racecaraddict2400 from United States& R d. i+ u, s, Y5 a& F" d
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Whispering Corridors is a totally scary, and entertaining horror flick from Korea. It's easy to see why this was the first of an explosion of Asian Horror films like the Ring and the Grudge, because the director, Park Ki-Hyung is definitely well versed in American horror and uses his understanding of the genre to make the movie really appealing to any American horror fan. Whispering Corridors is the first in a trilogy of films. The first death in the movie and all of the rest are really reminiscent of the slashers like Friday the 13th and other late 70's early 80's American horror which are the staples of the genre. If you like horror films and have seen the best ones, you'll immediately see why this one fits right in to that group. What's really cool about it, is that there's no CG (computer generated effects). All of the blood and deaths etc. are all done with real actors, and it's almost more believable than the over-the-top current American horror genre. There's something so tangible about the blood in the film. It's bright red, and creeps the viewer out in a way that CG children running around (like in the Grudge) could never fully achieve.! i3 c9 G% q) t/ r; L
! h* d( j( }. L4 x& wThe whole film takes place around an all girls school-- and with girls in uniforms and mysterious murders, you've got the makings of a great horror narrative. The first 20 minutes really suck you into the story as Ki-Hyung moves the camera much like 70's DePalma or Hitchcock--It's seductive. The school building becomes horrifying in and of itself. The way Ki-Hyung presents the school makes it like an evil edifice similar to the Overlook Hotel in Kubrick's The Shining.1 [9 l0 L* a( O( i$ u) I
6 D0 U( ]3 B8 s8 F* xThe tone is similar to Rosemary's Baby in that the girls are consistently trying to figure out what the problem is-they want to get to the bottom of it, but the forces out of their control, i.e. the school teachers, get in their way, and they get in trouble. The grainy look of the film and the way the sound design/score are used is totally an homage to the classic horror films of the 70's. In the movie, the Korean school system is depicted as an evil force that represses the girls, abuses them, and ultimately is the motivating force that makes the one girl commit suicide and become the ghost who murders her enemies throughout the film. The performances by the girls are great. And the colors of the film are so dreary, that you can't help but feel like you're there. The end of the movie has a really amazing image of the two main girls alone in the classroom with blood pouring out of the walls and the ceiling. Overall, this film is really entertaining, and psychologically interesting, and will scare the crap out of you. The Tartan DVD release is pretty awesome. It has trailers for a lot of Asia Extreme films, 5.1 surround sound, photos, and English/Spanish subtitles. 0 M+ c/ I5 @0 M; a/ ]
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A MajinVegeta Review, 11 January 2005) M( B( t6 I) ]" a
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Author: Angelus101 from UK S$ _& ~0 |/ a' @% |
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8 V! m- ~9 A6 G w, y*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
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Directed by - Park Ki-hyung. Year - 1998. Running Time - 105 min. Starring - Choi Se-yeon - Kim Gyu-ri - Kim Yu-seok - Lee Mi-yeon0 K$ }8 d2 f% W4 ]* W8 R( N5 ?4 w
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A Majin Vegeta Review
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* a' v U$ j7 G2 tTo start off let me say this film is to be best watched when you are alone, well its alright if your with friends and the lights are off, you get some shocks, but alone, with the lights off, in darkness, in your room, thats when your in for a real treat. Whispering Corridors is your typical ghost thriller/drama, and real blood thirsty, for some of the sicker members of society you'll enjoy the ear scene, you'll see.8 N6 J8 ^# G5 l
/ ~5 ]* \6 _/ ^" lAnyways on with the plot, the film opens on a dark, rainy night in an all girls boarding school, a figure is seen standing in the rain, take a guess at who it could be, anyways the scene cuts to Mrs Park, AKA Old Fox, who also has a bad reputation amongst the school girls, shes speaking on the phone to Hur, Eun-Young, a new colleague and former student at the school, also Jin-Ju's best friend,/ m- P0 ~7 |! }2 }6 i6 P& y
; V3 y8 ?2 P5 S G& sShe starts by saying "…Jin-ju is definitely dead… but she's still attending school!"
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5 E% m1 ~- H6 {Yet before she can explain what she means, she is attacked and killed, left hung in the school.9 }3 S6 s8 |+ v+ |, }& T! `
8 J2 s1 K, k- q6 rThe next day, two girls, a quiet, shy girl by the names of Youn, Jae-yi (Choi, Se-yeon) and a talented artist Lim, Ji-oh (Kim, Gyu-ri), attending their senior year and the new class monitors who have to be in early and make sure everything is clean before school starts, on their routine they meet Kim, Jung-sook (Yun, Ji-hye), a strange girl who is rumored to be possessed by the spirit of Jin-Ju, and the prime suspect for the murder, being the first one in the whole school.
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After discovering Mrs Park, the girls are told to keep the cause of death quiet, so inspectors and press don't bother the school, Ji-oh however is really disturbed by this and feels the need to paint a picture of Mrs Parks death, to get the image out of her head, but the painting is seen and she becomes banned from the art block.
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0 i- h5 ]- A; J7 `& y! q: v8 TRumors begin around the school that during the course of Jin-Ju's like she was abused and beaten by Mrs Park, and therefore her ghost had returned to get revenge on her, Mrs Park had been abusing her, on account of Jin-Ju's mother being a Psychic and a Shamen.
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In every school their a few who like to play around with oui-ji boards and a girl by the name of Park, So-young (Park, Jin-hie), persuades Ji-oh to hold a séance, to find out if Jin-ju is still around.( b, \: \# |# z) P
+ I' J X, b* R" _3 z7 p5 ?The séance is broken up by a teacher, Mr Oh (Park, Young-Soo) who has the nickname, 'Mad Dog', as he is abusive, both physically and sexually, towards the female students, and no, their is no scenes of sex in the movie in case that put you off.
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Meanwhile, Jae-yi and Ji-oh have become good friends, and Jae-yi offers to help Ji-oh's painting skills grow, but as Ji-oh is banned form the art block, she suggests using the old shutdown art block of the school to paint, which are supposedly haunted,5 b" |$ s" Y' T: G! B4 G
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Wil Jin-Ju's spirit take revenge on the abusive 'Mad Dog', and why is Eun-young having visions of her old best friend Jin-Ju? and whats with the sound of bells ringing around the school?, will these 3 be able to solve the mystery before Jin-Ju strikes again?
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! y; T! f4 R4 ?Though if your looking for a film that has "s**t yourself silly" moments around every corner like 'Ju-On - The Grudge' or 'Ringu', then you wont find it here, although the scenes with Jin-Ju are very affective, theirs just not enough of this young ghost to keep you scared for very long.
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+ G3 _" w: ], vYet this film manages to hold its own and was one of Koreas biggest box office hits of '98', with chills, not so much around every corner, but enough to keep you interested and lots of blood, this film IMO is one of the better Asian films to delight my eyes. Oh and the "kick in the crotch" twist at the end that just makes you want to cry is very well effective, i didn't see it coming at all. Entertainment - 10/10 Scares - 8/10 Ghostly Girls - 1, but a very scary one at that Bordem - 2/100 ~( W5 h% ^$ }# |. r) e$ X
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Dark Slade Rating - 10/10) c* W3 T" Z- p' I ?. E9 v
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As i was watching this i was gripped throughout and i actually cried a little at the end. It is without a doubt one of my favorite Korean movies and for those who have watched/seen this movie, i hope you will agree with me.
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The beginning of this year saw a development welcomed by aficionados of Asian horror with the January 2005 launch of Tartan Film’s Asia Extreme label. Even more welcome is the brisk pace at which the UK-based company is delivering creepfests from Asia’s horror renaissance to fans in the United States.
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One of its recent releases is the 1998 Korean flick Whispering Corridors (Yeogo goedam). Directed and co-written by Ki-Hyung Park, this early entry in the recent proliferation of Asian horror films was released the same year as the influential Japanese hit Ringu. Tartan released the film on Region 1 DVD and VHS Feb. 22, 2005.
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+ E0 E& T9 i. |Whispering Corridors has much in common with some later entries in the Asian horror boom. The film is long on atmosphere and relatively light on gore, but still manages to deliver a fair amount of chills by creating sympathetic, well-sketched characters and placing them in the midst of a perilous mystery." b5 \" q4 A* m) j) {! `
- g" N& B: a+ c eAnd unlike many American horror films, it’s arguably aimed at a young, female audience. The film’s ghost story is set in an all-girl’s high school in an obvious nod to a popular Japanese theme. (As the superb Asian film site Snowblood Apple points out, the Korean film compares most favorably with the dull 2001 Japanese flick A Frightful School Horror/Kyoufu Gakuen.) The few male characters are either loathsome martinets or vaguely polite nonentities. Rather, the main characters are young women, most of them seniors in high school.( l' ?; b) y/ Z2 t% n% S+ C
3 G7 A; K' n& q, b/ RThe film opens with a female teacher staying late after school, frantically searching through class rosters and yearbooks. She picks up the phone and tells the person on the other end that Jin-ju is in the school – she’s dead, but she’s still there. Suddenly, the line goes dead. The teacher turns, and a girl’s uniform is briefly reflected in her glasses before she’s strangled and hung with a rope.
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8 F" T2 c) x( `+ d1 D4 }: gThe killer drags the woman’s corpse down an empty hallway, leaving a trail of blood (an image reminiscent of one in the recent Tartan release A Tale of Two Sisters). The camera settles on a wooden desk on which is carved the initials JJ (yes, in Roman letters), and a drop of blood falls on the desktop.
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. ]$ a: N7 s2 dThe next morning – the first day of classes – two girls meet in front of the school building: The self-conscious Jae-yi and the confident Ji-oh, who strolls up listening to loud Korean punk music through earphones. As the class representatives, it’s their duty to clean the classroom in the morning, but they’re surprised to discover a silent, somewhat creepy girl, Jung-sook, already at her desk studying.2 L0 W% d" u1 m e7 a
2 N1 `' \# J; oVenturing outside to fetch water, Ji-oh sees the teacher’s bloodied corpse hanging from a catwalk. She immediately turns Jae-yi around and covers her eyes, but other students have already witnessed the grisly sight, including Jung-sook, who watches expressionlessly from the upstairs window./ x/ I2 |( l, l7 r( u' v2 z
; Z" ]4 w4 R% [ G4 Z* ~) QCut to a male teacher, Mr Oh (who looks a little like a Korean Walter Koenig), lectures the class about the evils of spreading rumors. Although the other girls have their eyes downcast submissively, Jung-sook stares straight ahead during the harangue. The viewer soon learns that nobody – neither students nor faculty – heeds this admonition, and the staff considers the death a suicide, albeit a bizarre one. In a quick shot, Ji-oh is seen sketching what she saw when she discovered the body.
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Against this backdrop of deadly mystery, a new, young and pretty teacher, Miss Hul, arrives. A former student at the school, she was the one who the dead woman – once her own homeroom teacher – called. A flashback also reveals that while at school, Miss Hul was friends with the Jin-Ju she mentioned. Jin-ju was teased because of her “shaman mother.”( e2 P. W% \5 C( D# y5 C/ t7 z# f. H
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Ji-oh also has a reputation for psychic ability, and one of her classmates asks her to call the spirit of the dead teacher. The two girls attempt to contact the spirit world through automatic writing, but the autocratic Mr. Oh arrives and breaks it up, berating Ji-oh for her poor grades for good measure. He then announces that he’s the new homeroom teacher, and the girls will be working too hard to have any social life this senior year.
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Later, Ji-oh paints a picture of the teacher’s hanging body. She covers it when Jae-yi enters the studio, but reluctantly lets her see it, explaining that school can be a traumatic experience for both students and teachers. Although Ji-oh disparages her own work, to her surprise, Jae-yi praises its artistic quality. Ji-oh asks Jae-Yi, who says she studied art years ago, to teach her how to paint.
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Unfortunately, Mr. Oh is less than impressed with the picture. He smashes it in front of Ji-oh and calls her a degenerate and a psycho in front of the class. He also dishes out a powerful slap that sends the girl reeling. (Just to confirm Mr. Oh’s status as a Grade-A creep, he also hits on one of the other students in the teacher’s lounge – in Miss Hul’s presence, yet.)$ L8 A$ B5 W. n% W
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But Ji-oh’s art teacher – who has a habit of sketching the creepily expressionless faces from the school’s yearbooks – urges Ji-oh not to quit. Jae-yi mentions that the school’s storehouse, a former art room, is pretty much deserted. From Mr. Oh, the viewer knows it’s because Jin-ju died there, and to this day her ghost is said to haunt the school.& c) j3 z" Y/ R2 _/ Y9 Y
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Soon vaguely creepy events – such as a growing bloodstain on the classroom ceiling that only the psychic Ji-oh seems to notice – escalate to a series of deadly encounters. But is it a ghost, one of the students, a case of possession, or something else? U6 }6 a) B" a# I7 L& u
/ m1 t; C# ?* U" x7 S5 `( _' O5 aWhispering Corridors is an impressively atmospheric horror film that relies on mood, acting and camera angles to convey its sense of terror. It doesn’t attempt hyperkinetic action, nor does it offer up an unstoppable slasher that carves its way through the student body (indeed, the body count is fairly low).
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But the film is full of quiet tension and creepy moments, such as when Ms. Hul enters a classroom only to be surprised by the presence of Jung-sook (who gives a disquieting, virtually silent performance). As tension builds, Ms. Hul approaches the sullen student, who suddenly turns around to face her. Brief moments like that one do little to advance the plot, but serve well to ratchet up the tension.- j: B' @/ M5 W6 |
) R) K( I% e- AAnd true to the tradition of schoolgirl horror, peril confronts a group of ordinary young women who must rely on their own inner strength to survive. The climax is much more emotional catharsis than explosive action. The film also doesn’t fail to provide a really cool penultimate image and a tantalizingly ambiguous ending that doesn’t feel obligatory or tacked on.0 {) a5 n( S$ x+ s# ], m0 ?
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Despite the relatively mild, if occasionally bloody, violence and the low body count, Whispering Corridors was subject to an attempt to ban it. But the complaint was apparently not shocking violence or horror, but rather for its extremely unflattering depiction of the teachers.
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The school’s teaching staff, the brutal Mr. Oh in particular, is generally portrayed as sadistic martinets. One student’s hand is slapped with a ruler – by the edge, leaving a bloody gash. Other teachers don’t just slap unruly students; they wallop them and send them flying back into desks. Students are told to hush up violent incidents, and openly threatened if they don’t comply. Even when they aren’t overtly violent, the teachers deliberately set the students into academic competition, and an atmosphere of gossip and petty bullying results. And Mr. Oh obviously feels no compunction about hitting on his charges, even in the presence of a female faculty member.2 R, |5 }3 y3 V" ?6 J
& r0 W6 V( @5 G2 _! [0 ~# A(No doubt, Korean censors would have totally freaked out over a film like Battle Royale, in which the authorities trap a high school class in a murderous game, with the authority figures only too happy to participate. Kinji Fukusaku’s film makes largely the same point as Whispering Corridors – that authoritarian teachers create a stifling, if not deadly, atmosphere in Asian schools – but in a less subtle fashion.) & j# W2 ?5 i# }1 U/ r+ W
8 i0 _- X, t3 S5 a+ vThe school itself contributes greatly to the film’s atmosphere of claustrophobia, paranoia and dread. The seemingly modern school building feels cold and impersonal, especially given the many shots of deserted hallways and empty classrooms.
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There’s also a slightly unreal quality in the fact that students are present at the school at all times of the day. When one of the ghost’s victims is hauled away at night, there’s a sizeable crowd. Yet there are scenes of students arriving in the morning and leaving in the evening, so it isn’t likely to be a boarding school.4 H% @5 n% Y# B% B: u* z$ _
: t: Y0 W5 }- R4 LIn addition, the existence of a world beyond the school is barely implied. Everything happens there, day or night, and a location away from the school is never shown. This focus on the haunted school creates an atmosphere of claustrophobia and isolation, even though the school is likely set in a major urban area.
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Of course, restricting the film to a single location saves on production costs, enabling the filmmakers to devote resources instead to a good cast and excellent production values. It’s a tribute to the clever photography that, although the film provides frequent shots down the school’s long, stark corridors, the film remains visually interesting throughout, without seeming repetitive.6 e6 b) \( G4 G0 {' ^8 C+ f2 q/ h
( X5 m4 \, K: Y4 ]" t% SAnd the cast is good indeed. In particular, the film boasts superb performances by the young principal actresses, many of whom – including the young women who played Ji-oh and Jae-yi – made their debut in this film./ `# n2 e" l1 D$ }2 U2 ]* [
) Q9 J# f# r- @/ b: ~" WTartan Video’s presentation of the DVD is decent. It offers the film in letterboxed format with a choice of two Korean language tracks and optional English and Spanish subtitles. Extras include a gallery of production stills from the film (including a shot of an unidentified dude in sunglasses who is presumably the film’s director, Ki-Hyung Park) and trailers for several Tartan releases, including the Korean flicks Whispering Corridors, A Tale of Two Sisters, and Old Boy; the Hong Kong horror film Koma, and A Snake in June, by Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto (Iron Man Tetsuo).
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Whispering Corridors represents an auspicious early effort in Asia’s horror film renaissance. Although its moody, atmospheric style may seem a trifle slow to fans of hyperkinetic Western cinema, it more than compensates with its engaging characters, taut direction and professional cinematography. Whispering Corridors is sure to appeal to fans of Asian horror and well-crafted horror in general.
5 E% W: W5 g# }5 @2 |http://www.destroy-all-monsters.com/whisperingcorridors.shtml
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9 W, f, [: u$ D9 G9 O5 \9 d zCorridors that Whisper Dark Secrets: An Interview with Director Park Ki-Hyung
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0 S% Q7 W% h. V% I% n" LDonato Totaro , donato@offscreen.com
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* M- `0 G! w ~Peter Rist , peterist@alcor.concordia.ca
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2001, March 06
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1 n9 d* l* q9 [: Y, ^! @Whispering Corridors (1998) by director Park Ki-Hyung is at the forefront of a recent surge in popular genre-based cinema in the Republic of Korea. Precipitated by the box-office fantasy-horror hit of 1997 The Gingko Bed/Eunhang Namoo Chimdae (Kang, Je-Kyu), Whispering Corridors was the 7th highest grossing film at the 1998 Korean box-office (third Korean film behind The Letter/Pyun-Ji and A Promise). This recent explosion of popular genre films in Korea is largely a by-product of the transition from a series of military governments to the first elected civilian government in 1993. The consequent deregulation of the Korean film industry (loosening of censorship, changes in the quota system, etc.) resulted in a cultural climate of liberalisation that allowed for a range of films that includes the popular along with the arthouse. Whispering Corridors is one of the first of such popular films that manages to entertain while engaging in strong social commentary. Director Park Ki-Hyung uses a stylish, atmospheric ghost story set in a girls high school to deal with the reality of the Korean education system. The visually elegant film takes place at the fictitious Jookran Girls High School, where discipline and conformity are the rules of the day. Ostensibly a supernatural narrative about a ghost from the school's haunted past that possesses students to kill, Whispering Corridors touches on teen suicide, the suppression of individual creativity, and authoritarianism. The film opens with an apparent suicide by hanging of a teacher nicknamed 'Old Fox.' As the narrative unfolds (through flashbacks) we learn that the death of Old Fox (and others) has been caused by the ghost of a former student named Jin-Ju, who fell prey to the pressures of school life and committed suicide some ten years earlier. In effect, Park Ki-Hyung uses the mechanics of the horror film to represent the terror of the Korean high school experience (the social pressures to succeed, peer pressure, rigorous discipline, teacher's physical abuse, etc.). With a 2-month shooting schedule and a $500,00 US budget, Whispering Corridors has demonstrated that domestic products can hold their own against foreign films in the Korean marketplace. The success of Whispering Corridors (it has been seen by 620,000 spectators) has been followed by a slew of popular Korean genre hits that include the action film Swiri (1998, Kang Je-Kyu) the black comedies The Quiet Family/Joyonghan Gajok (Kim Ji-Woon, 1998), Attack the Gas Station/Juyuso Seup Gyeok Sageon (Kim Sang-Jin, 1999), Barking Dogs Never Bite/ Peulrandaseu-ui Gae (Bong Joon-Hu, 2000), and The Foul King (Kim Ji-Woon, 2000), and the horror film The Ring Virus/Vaireoseu 'Ring' (Kim Dong-Bin, 1999). Park Ki-Hyung was invited as a guest to present Whispering Corridors at Montreal's Fantasia 1999 Film Festival (July 23-August 15). The authors thank the Fantasia Film Festival (president Pierre Corbeil and programmers Julien Fonfr?e, Martin Sauvageau, Mitch Davis, and Karim Hussain), Mi-Jeong Lee, and interpreter Jenny Ahn for making this interview possible." K( J+ c5 j2 j6 Z
1 s! A. D5 K; x- P% bDT: Since there is not a strong tradition of horror films in Korea, what made you choose the horror genre for your first film. Did you perhaps find it easier to tell the strong social message through the horror film? % `6 J/ f* S, N4 |! B( M) ~0 T# R
8 ~2 L- ~. l CPK: I think there are two types of films: those where you start with a bright view and end on a bright view; and those where you start on the dark side and move toward the bright side. I think the horror film is the second type. By including the social criticism and pointing out the social problems in the educational institution, I thought the impact would be stronger and involve the audience more if I took the second approach, that is start out with a dark view and move toward a clearer viewer of the problems and issues.5 u1 Y# X; ?& ^- F
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PR: With the Great Pretenders (1996, 36 min.) you were experimenting with suspense and mystery, and then at the end of the film with more horror imagery. Did you use that film as practice to work with similar stylistic devices in the feature film? And a second question. There is not much graphic violence in Whispering Corridors. Did you deliberately avoid showing graphic horror, and are you more interested in suggesting horror or fantasy rather than showing it directly?& L- Z1 {) f( W, f
- q: a2 W) J, F/ n; V# QPK: For the first part of the question, yes, I did use the Great Pretenders as a primer to explore creating mood and using special effects. I think the way I am using the horror movie is not as a goal but as a means of getting the message to the audience, and because of that the editing became more important in showing us glimpses or giving us the impression of violence. 2 D% [9 v1 }9 o/ J8 F
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DT: The murder of the "Mad Dog" teacher character was filmed in a more traditional horror film style, with the slow build-up to the only really graphic depiction of violence, with the stabbing in the stomach and bleeding. Were you influenced at all by other horror directors? For instance, that scene made me think of Dario Argento? Was that an influence or was it purely coincidental?
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0 m5 T3 \' n+ `PK: I do not see myself as being influenced by any specific Italian horror directors. It is more a question of that being a horror film convention used by many directors, slowly building tension until the end of a scene.
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PR: I know Japanese films have been banned in Korea. But I understand that Korean directors have seen Japanese films. And there is an unfortunate tendency in Japanese films for girls in school uniforms to be exploited in a sexually explicit way. I was very pleased in this film that the girls were not exploited this way. I remember even the film, Birth of the Wizard (1996), directed by a Japanese woman (Shimako Sato), but which was still very exploitative. Was that a deliberate choice, to avoid exploiting girls? And is this part of the reason why the film was so successful with young female audiences in Korea?
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. |! _* Y. N8 X, J0 q0 FPK: Yes it was a conscious decision to avoid those types of scenes, due to other specific reasons, but I thought it would also harm the commercial potential as well. Although we avoid those scenes I do not think it lessens the horror or the message.
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DT: In terms of the plot, it may be a silly point, but we noticed that many of the girls wore their hair in a pony tail and some straight, and the ghost also changes her hair. Does that relate to what year a student is in school or does it have any other relevancy?
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6 N# n$ \( b- z) U+ h9 \( CPK: No. It is just a question of appearing neat, which is how the teachers want them to look. These girls have two choices in how they wear their hair: cut it really short or long but in a ponytail to keep it neat. It is the only freedom they have!
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PR: On the question of violence in school, with teachers beating students. Again this is something that requires a longer discussion, but I will try to keep it simple. Do you think this violence comes from the tradition of Japanese colonialism, and that there is an understanding of this in Korea? So is there a political element to the physical violence and drawing attention to it? . z: e) Y) }0 z/ W) u4 R S+ `8 c
; k9 S9 @- p3 I# bDT: To add to that. I imagine this acceptance of physical abuse in school does not just start in the school system, but goes back farther. The family is also, in a sense, complicit. And then you have to ask, just how far back does this problem go, of accepting physical abuse?
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8 `( [2 }" T2 h: L4 MPK: I do not see a direct link to Japan's colonialism. I personally think that a teacher-student relationship is a power game, with one a victim and one a master. So the master has the power to do anything, and the victim has no choice but to be subservient, to follow. I do not have a positive outlook on the Korean educational system. Which is why I did not like school!) u& L7 @) n4 M2 _/ j ]
3 Q8 X; A2 z9 a, K. ?PR: Colonialism is something I have studied and have seen in other contexts, and one of the very bad effects of colonialism is this abuse of power. I think, in my experience, it is worse in countries that have been colonized than in others. I was raised in England, working class, and growing up in England I was beaten by teachers in school. So in England it is involved with the class system. And what I understand is that the colonial system works within England as well as in its colonies. But this is a long discussion. Which is why I am interested in it, and I thought to tell you.4 O& E1 }& S$ R3 o3 u! {
7 m8 `3 ]8 q- F5 I/ `DT: This is more a comment than a question. What I found very interesting and perhaps progressive in terms of your film's politics, if you compare it to American horror films, is the sense that it is the system that is being attacked. For example, you have the character of the teacher who was a former student, Eun-Young. But once a teacher the students try to kill her. Whereas in an American film the context would be that the system is good and the individual is corrupt. Eliminate the individual and the system is fine. But here you have a character who appears to be a good person, she tries to be a good teacher, but she still becomes a victim because once part of that system you will inevitably become bad or corrupted. I thought that was a very strong political statement the film was making. Now a question. I know the film has caused a lot of controversy and debates on the Korean education system. How much has that helped the box-office?
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PK: It is hard to say. There have been about 2 million viewers in Korea for this film so far. I would say maybe half, or 1 million, saw it because they were curious, they may have seen the advertising and the news concerning the issues. Among the 2 million, students make up about 30%. 0 K- L4 r% K! Q' k X
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Park Ki-Hyung introduces Whispering Corridors to the Imperial crowd
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0 B5 G8 N% ]. j5 i7 p8 s/ MPR: I was wondering, was the co-screenwriter of the film a woman?
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/ S4 v# ^3 h, PPK: Yes
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PR: I am obviously not a woman, but it seemed to me that the film had a really strong feminine sensibility. In part, did that come from the collaboration?& e1 Z. e- w1 s# [$ P
6 ?3 c$ f, X0 `" bPK: In fact, she really did not have that much impact on the script. But I had students read the script and they gave me advice and suggestions regarding the details of student life.
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DT: In terms of the film's style, the representation of the ghost is quite realistic. Was there ever the possibility of making the appearance of the ghost more traditional, that is supernatural, or non-human? Or was it a budgetary consideration?
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: g6 _# ?1 j8 x4 U+ S$ LPK: It was not for any budgetary considerations. It was more in the belief that keeping the ghost more realistic made it more frightening, and would bring out a stronger human, emotional response." z6 v' P. P: q) U, u
5 H; F" o8 }1 m8 G* E5 jDT: In terms of the emotions, I felt that the final two scenes signaled a shift in tone, especially the scene where the teacher attempts to convince the ghost to change her ways. It becomes more didactic in terms of its social criticism. Is that a tradition perhaps in Korean storytelling, to have that type of conclusion?5 X9 q) g* Z4 B; K! E
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PK: No, I do not see it as belonging to any Korean tradition. It was more a question of shifting out of the horror film mode to give an explanation for the causes of why the ghost is killing. That may be a difference, I think, between the Western and Asian style horror movie. It is not a question of making the ghost evil or diabolical, but that she had real, concrete and emotional reasons for her actions.
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PR: Do you feel that your work is influenced at all by other Korean film directors?
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PK: I like the films of Kim Ki-Young. The Korean horror genre dates back to around the 1960's and Kim Ki-Young is the one who made most of the horror films in that period. In the 1970's and 1980's because of commercial reasons, horror films were abandoned. Because the horror genre was seen as non-profitable, directors would not even think about making them. In the 1990's the genre made a comeback with many new directors.
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7 Q9 F1 q- Q6 o: ~7 b6 ~3 UDT: Since it is such a popular film, have there been any repercussions, have there been other films made similar to Whispering Corridors? Or other directors trying to capitalize by making horror films with social criticism? And what are your next projects? Do you want to continue working in the genre?$ A) T# c& T' D. E
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PK: After the success of Whispering Corridors many producers have changed their mind concerning horror films. As I said, it was not seen by producers as a commercially viable genre in the 1970's and 1980's. And there are many new directors making or about to make horror films, which is why I do not want to make another one! My next project is more of a love story.[ed. Park Ki-Hyung's latest film, entitled Secret Tears is presently dointhe festival circuit.]
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, V- N+ M3 N! S- i, ?DT/PR: Well, thank you very much and continued success in your future filmmaking projects.
, Y$ F/ E8 g' m; ~$ vhttp://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/Ki-Hyung.html
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* ]6 ^2 N7 d0 H0 U8 G7 fWhispering Corridors | 09-10-2004 02:00
* [9 H/ T* `/ u1 p8 A( H# {3 C& yThe Jookran High school for girls is about to start its new term. On the night before, Mrs. Park (a.k.a. Old Fox) sits in her office looking at old school records. Upon making a discovery concerning the death of pupil, Jin-ju that happened nine years ago she promptly calls and tries to speak to a fellow colleague - Hur Eun-young (Lee Mi-yeon). As she tries to explain about her new found discovery and its apparent connection to a series of school hauntings, she is murdered and left hanging in the school court yard.
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& N6 e( `1 I/ q7 ?8 {# X) L% c M1 fThe next day, three girls make the chilling discovery. The new class monitors, Youn Jae-yi (Choi Se-yeon) - a shy withdrawn pupil, Lim Ji-oh (Kim Gyu-ri) - a talented, outgoing artist and Kim Jung-sook (Jun Ji-hye) – the unpopular one, are first to notice Mrs. Park's body. This then affects each girl differently. As rumours fly about Old Fox and her cruelty toward students, things shake up even more. Ji-oh happens to have a psychic ability and is coaxed into contacting the spirit world. She is soon stopped by Mr. Oh (a.k.a. Mad Dog) who is a tough and cruel teacher with a penchant for young girls. " z6 v8 }5 h/ x3 X0 b8 _/ U
" e9 ?& z8 t& e6 ?- R/ l* ]The arrival of new teacher, Eun-young sparks a personal investigation as she tries to find out more about these unexplained killings, the surrounding hauntings and if her old best friend, Jin-ju can be blamed. Eun-young's visions of her past become stronger and she soon sees some of Jin-ju's traits in other students. Revenge is on the cards but why?
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A9 ~' E' m% a6 fThe High school horror film isn't a particularly new concept but Korea seems to have embraced it at a time when Japan and Hong Kong appear to have calmed on the subject. Granted, 1998's Whispering Corridors was made when this genre was all the more popular around Asia and perhaps that is why this is one of the better efforts, before the idea of milking a concept became too much to bear. This film spawned two follow up features that were not so much sequels but re-workings of a particular theme. Sadly there wasn't much of a direction in which they could be taken and Whispering Corridors remains the best of the three.
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: ]8 y& r" |' j+ v+ J) b$ \What this film succeeds in doing is to put forth, first and foremost the issues of Korea's educational system, a subject which has been tackled several times before and is clearly a cultural sore point. What followed on from this was an outcry from Korean schools, saying that the film was unjust in its depictions of a harsh system. However, the cries did not stop its theatrical run and subsequent success. It also escaped further scolding by having these themes placed underneath the surface of what was to be a tale of horror and suspense. ^% ]/ G7 y3 L7 i' G( h+ i' @ w2 ~
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Obviously important in a horror film, this aspect works well enough though I can't say the result ever truly horrifies the viewer. Much of the film is slowly paced, set around character conversations until a moment when something bad is going to happen - at which point it's rather tame. Very much a dark film Whispering Corridors is blessed with decent production values and if anything its atmosphere tends to work better for it than the occasional spoonful of gore.... 0 d4 [$ @. m2 P$ `" Y4 K3 L: x; O
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.... Which is where the viewer either takes to the film or doesn't. The most hardened horror fans would see this as nothing special but to dismiss a film on its lack of horrific value would be unfair. Torn between its psychological leanings and a need to shock, the balance of horror is just right in my opinion because any more would have been unnecessary, not that it leaves much to the imagination as it is. In terms of execution there is a distinct lack of originality, with a ‘seen it all before’ feeling sinking through the viewer as the ghost is easily amused with the simplest of killing techniques. 8 i$ P' q( I# @5 a$ A$ T
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In the end I find this to be a film that I'm indifferent to. By no means is it the worst of its genre, it was successful enough to spawn two sequels but this isn't exactly an achievement to be proud of. This was the first and best of the High school trilogy (at least I hope it stays at just three) so it's perhaps the best one to check out. I'm pretty sure the days of being shocked out of your wits have long since passed, it's a rarity anyway. Still, it's a night in. , M j, t! m2 f1 d
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, @/ C$ H3 b3 r/ R( _' w3 c4 TThe DVD
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This film is only available on DVD with English subtitles courtesy of a Thai DVD from Manpong. There is no worse way to see this film than here.
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Picture
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It took a very long time before we even saw this film make it to DVD with English subtitles and when it finally arrived the result was disappointing. So here, instead of the original widescreen aspect ratio we are presented with a full frame transfer that offers dark and murky colours, while the source material is poor with plenty of dirt and scratches visible throughout. The material used to create this transfer simply cannot have been sourced from the film’s actual distributor, as the overall result is no better than a poor VCD.
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; F1 O; R/ x# \. w' F UThe only good aspect of the picture is the optional English subtitles which are of a decent standard.
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$ w% m: e D, PComplimenting the full frame transfer is a tinny 2.0 Korean language track. I've heard many decent 2.0 tracks but this one is very poor. There is also a 2.0 Thai dub. # t4 P: l! T+ e. w% n; A% b
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There is nothing here. Chapter selections and sound options are about as special as it gets.
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Overall
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Taking inspiration from so many yet failing to leave any impression of its own, Whispering Corridors is a good film and nothing more. $ n u. R5 F* \# [# e+ W! `& f
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) L. x! }; t; CReview © Mandi Apple, 2002.1 `& ]9 Z( i, | Z# a
( x7 T+ y* E4 Q: xDirected by Park Ki-hyung, 1998, 105 min. starring Choi Se-yeon, Kim Gyu-ri, Kim Yu-seok, Lee Mi-yeon, Lee Yong-nyeo, Park Jin-hie, Park Young-Soo and Yun Ji-hye.* e9 ^; m. P7 V" Q& ?* G. F
1 f* w0 k/ K: j: z+ d0 L( o1 D9 PEnglish transcript available here.3 @: I3 P, B# P/ h. M
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+ L8 O6 ]4 M* x/ @4 \+ ?& DThis year, we here at Snowblood Apple have had the interesting experience of watching the very best and the very worst of two very similar films from the fairly limited school ghost genre – Whispering Corridors, from South Korea, and A Frightful School Horror, from Japan – and awarding the honours for once to the Korean movie, which poops all over the pitiful Japanese attempt from a great height.
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* G" ^2 E$ I5 k& B: L$ lDirected by Park Ki-hyung, Whispering Corridors (aka Girls’ High School Ghost Story, or in its original Korean form, Yeogo Goedam) was released in Korea to a wave of controversy and attempts at censorship. Indeed, the film portrays an all-female school filled with such brutality, sexual abuse and violence directed by teachers at pupils, the national school board tried to ban the film’s release outright. Thankfully, they failed, and so the movie went on to become one of Korea’s biggest box office successes, spawning a later sequel, Memento Mori (aka Whispering Corridors 2, or Yeogo Goedam 2: Memento Mori), an equally brave and controversial film dealing with many of the same themes as the original movie, but also with homosexuality in single-sex schools.- @) h7 p- i& S# W ^
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This film shines through the usual glut of glib teenage screamers partly because it works on so many levels: socio-political commentary, an understanding of the natural hierarchical order within schools (all-girls’ schools, in particular), urban legend and even a philosophical look at the nature of friendship. It also works on a purely entertaining level, with a tight script, great quality acting and directing, atmospheric cinematography and, most importantly, a fascinating psychological ghost-mystery-whodunnit-thriller-suspense story, crammed with red herrings and false leads, and also with a sad, moving, and terribly bleak undertone.$ P" R& _- X$ t" {6 r3 [- ]
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& r% P* o: O# n3 j. B. R/ l2 N& eSynopsis9 e& u X l$ F0 p# @$ `
( K* B. v7 Y! d+ O: d$ A: z‘School can be horrible and stupid for both teachers and children: you can have such bad memories, almost like witnessing a tragic death…’
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1 e( W' `$ r X& g9 c2 tWhispering Corridors is set in a fairly typical all-female school in Korea, called Jookran High School For Girls, and the story begins on the night before the first day of the new school year. A female teacher called Mrs Park (better known by her unaffectionate nickname ‘Old Fox’ on account of her nasty behaviour and treatment of the students), has discovered something mysterious and weird concerning a late pupil of the school called Jin-ju. Jin-ju had committed suicide in the school’s art rooms nine years previously, and her ghost was said to haunt the art rooms which had been closed up after the incident.
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; H6 n5 n7 \" V1 U* oShe tries to call her new colleague, Hur Eun-young (played admirably by Lee Mi-yeon), who is a former student of the school, and Jin-ju’s best friend, and tell her what she has found out, saying “…Jin-ju is definitely dead… but she’s still attending school!” However, before she can explain about her discovery, she is attacked and murdered, and left hanging in the schoolyard." \% b7 m. z$ G- p% b2 O
7 {1 p: y0 M' z d7 k6 B1 TThe first people to make this gruesome discovery the next day are three girls just beginning their senior year; a timid outsider called Youn Jae-yi (Choi Se-yeon) and a confident, talented young artist, Lim Ji-oh (Kim Gyu-ri), who are the new class monitors and therefore obliged to carry out early-morning classroom cleaning before school; and a weird, sullen, deeply unpopular girl, Kim Jung-sook (a chilling and sad performance by Yun Ji-hye), who the other girls believe has been possessed by the fabled spirit of Jin-ju. 9 v/ {5 i, a* y' Y: _) `
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All the girls are of course shocked and upset to make this horrible discovery; it upsets Ji-oh so much that she feels the need to paint a portrait of Mrs Park’s death, to try and get the disturbing image out of her head cathartically through her art. However, the girls are told to hush up the incident as much as possible so that the press and school inspectors don’t begin to research the school’s affairs – especially since violence and psychological/physical abuse are pretty commonplace in this particular school.9 T6 N5 ~5 H3 E/ R1 X
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The rumours begin flying that Jin-ju, who was bullied during her school life by Mrs Park, has come back to exact her revenge on the teachers who made her life such a misery; Mrs Park had been victimising Jin-ju on account of the fact that her mother was a psychic and a shaman, traditionally thought to be a kind of jinx and carry bad luck and death wherever they go. Obviously, since the gossips already think that Jung-sook is possessed by Jin-ju’s ghost, she is the prime suspect for the killing, particularly as she was the first person to enter the school that morning, even before the class monitors.
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Sadly, Jung-sook is not the only suspect at the mercy of the school gossips; Ji-oh is also well-known among the girls as a ‘psychic’ who can summon spirits in séances (as pretty much everyone knows, there are always a few kids in every school, who attempt to perform levitations or ouija board readings, and who are viewed with the same kind of fascination and suspicion as Ji-oh). One of the more popular kids, a bright and pretty girl named Park So-young (Park Jin-hie), persuades Ji-oh to hold a séance to find out if the spirit of Jin-ju really is the culprit.5 v# O4 j. p n$ X( Q2 w
% e% m1 P2 ^ `0 DThe séance is however broken up by a teacher, Mr Oh (played really revoltingly by Park Young-Soo) whose nickname, ‘Mad Dog’, reveals his truly evil nature – well known among the students for dishing out beatings to those he doesn’t like, and sleazing on those he does like. He informs the stunned class that he will be their new form master; and a few days later, after discovering Ji-oh’s painting of Mrs Park, he beats her and smashes up her painting in front of the class to humiliate her and ‘make an example’ of her, and also bans her from the art department completely. 6 p2 m2 V0 \8 U9 Q2 E) E7 w, H
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In the meanwhile, Jae-yi and Ji-oh have become good friends, united by their love of art. Jae-yi had previously offered to coach Ji-oh’s skills; but since Ji-oh is banned from painting in school, they decide to use the old, abandoned art rooms which are forbidden to students… but why does the psychically sensitive Ji-oh suggest hanging out in the legendarily haunted art rooms? Will Jin-ju’s spirit return to take revenge on Mr Oh for beating Ji-oh? Why does Eun-young keep having visions of her old, dead best friend, and hearing the sound of bells across the school? And who really is the murderer, and how can they stop her from taking her bloody revenge?5 Z1 U0 @, |/ e& z8 ~" x }/ g
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Ultimately, if you’re looking for gore and guts, you won’t find them here. Sure, there are lots of bloody scenes, but they seem to be there in order to set the general atmosphere. Even the ghost story isn’t particularly frightening. What is horrifying, though, is the portrayal of real evils within the Korean school system; from our standpoint in the UK, if a teacher so much as touches a student, they are fired and never again allowed to teach. However, in the film, there are several instances of teachers physically beating young girls for extremely minor misdemeanours, sexually harassing them, and even making them carry out janitorial duties (as seen near the beginning, the class monitors have to fill kettles with hot water and scrub the floors and walls), and no-one (maybe except the new teacher Hur Eun-young) seems to bat an eyelash. According to Park Ki-hyung, this kind of event is pretty much standard in South Korean schools.
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6 P6 a( v* |/ Z4 iAnd that’s where the true horror is in Whispering Corridors: this film asks a lot of hard questions, to which the school board could only find an answer in attempting to have the film banned. It’s a slow-paced, moody film with many resonant images and an eerie atmosphere, so if you’re also looking for a fast fix of horror, you’ve come to the wrong place. But it’s probably the most essential film that has ever come out of Korea, so if you feel frustrated by the slowness of the action and give up on it, you’re really missing out on a gem. Anyone who’s ever looked back on their own school days with horror, revulsion or sadness will not fail to be touched and reminded of their own difficult past experiences by this film.
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NB: apparently Whispering Corridors is very hard to find with English subtitles, in any format. We here at Snowblood Apple were lucky enough to catch the film with subs when it was shown on UK satellite channel FilmFour Extreme in the early part of 2002. We've finally finished our transcript of the subtitled FilmFour version, which you can read here.
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5 D6 A9 A2 h" U( N# T) eHowever, if you fancy doing your own subbed copy, you can pick up two timed sets of English subtitle files for the movie at http://kloofy.vze.com/ - there's also now uploaded there a version of our transcript, which was timed (with huge personal effort) by MomoNyo and hence is now available for use with any unsubtitled copy.4 F3 ?* G' W$ ]' C" \
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Snowblood Apple Rating for this film:
: c0 [8 j& w# h1 ~+ D' b9 QEntertainment value: 8/10: R# g( x5 d* j7 `0 l6 ]; ^% @
Sleaze: 11/10 - Mr Oh's ear pinching scenes are particuarly stomach-turning: S/ s2 h, |* B% @4 ]$ Y; [5 W1 ?9 g
Violence: 8/10
! s; V0 _9 I! b: x7 B2 E( N, cRed Herrings: countless& L' |; }* t4 t3 m0 i
Shock Factor: 5/107 `3 J' d" C9 X; x% Y. q
Knife-wielding schoolgirls: 1) I: ]6 R$ C: g j o. _4 u# U* k
Litres of Tomato Ketchup: during the last scenes, the entire output of the Korean tomato farming industry
& @% C/ Q2 ?3 `8 J3 Y***Highly Recommended***
# f" n" i, N9 U$ f1 c9 Whttp://www.mandiapple.com/snowblood/whisperingcorridors.htm
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8 g# o# E& _9 N xReview Summary About the Author " @1 n' B+ }# L2 Q; k
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Another Asian Ghost Story: Whispering Corridors
) N" }) \% n2 O/ uMar 02 '05 (Updated Mar 02 '05)
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* [4 v) q& T" S rAuthor's Product Rating
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Suspense: & L$ j- E* W6 z _+ p0 I: ~
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Pros
3 _8 j( [1 w" \* sNice atmosphere at a few points.
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Cons2 y. t$ m# X# z j9 z
The story isn't anything special./ _+ f$ \# j% T" x; }7 R6 m# Q t
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Worth a look for its historical value--this is one of the earliest girl ghost films.
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Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie''s plot.+ M; s/ {& [1 T! z1 X
If viewing Whispering Corridors taught me anything, it's that going to school in South Korea is scarier than pretty much everything the average horror flick can throw at you. When you're not stressing out over your grades (which is something these girls do almost as often as the Japanese), you have to elude the sexual advances of your teachers, or worse yet, be able to take a good verbal tongue-lashing or old fashioned beatdown from them. Because of all this, a killer girl-ghost haunting the grounds in search of vengeance seems almost quaint. I'd rather take my chances with her.
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After seeing the film, it's really no surprise that South Korean censors tried to stop this movie from being released. It doesn't paint a nice picture of the Korean school system when a murdering ghost is the least of your worries in your daily studies. However, the censors failed and audiences worldwide can now see director Ki-Hyung Park's twisted tale of revenge, supernatural horror, and teenaged angst—all set in a girls' school. Settle down, pervs—despite the girl's school setting (and all the inherent chances for quality sleaze that come with it), this isn't a film that's going to titillate anyone. Instead, it's more like a Korean After School Special with a few innuendos and a murderer thrown into the mix. 9 w* ?7 g6 f1 O3 i; B. v5 n
- X% U6 a, U1 C. q9 D1 NBasically, the plot of the film can be broken down like this: Jin-ju was a student at the school several years earlier. Unluckily for her, she was a bit of an outcast who suffered a fair amount of abuse at the hands of her homeroom teacher. Despondent, she commits suicide—but like any Asian ghost film, she's unable to pass onto the afterlife because she's got unfinished business at the school. Said business takes the form of killing those who wronged her, starting with the homeroom teacher who caused her to commit suicide to begin with. ) Z% L) _; e2 `* U
" W$ ]$ A+ A4 g8 B" b6 PMeanwhile, two students (Ji-oh and Jae-yi) get caught up in the events—albeit in very different ways. When more strange events start happening, Ji-oh teams up with teacher Eun-young—who just happened to be Jin-ju's best friend and played a part in her decision to commit suicide—to get to the bottom of the events. When not dodging the attacks of teachers or the cattiness of classmates, the two manage to finally uncover just what's going on and attempt to put a stop to it. This, of course, leads to a big twist in the final act and a vague resolution. One might assume we'll get more answers in the two sequels, both of which are slated for a domestic DVD release in the near future. ) t6 U+ S6 L2 s) J$ i& z! q
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Perhaps my biggest complaint with Whispering Corridors is that it never manages to become as good as it could have been. Featuring an opening murder sequence that's surprisingly graphic for the new wave of Asian ghost stories and a "haunted school" that just oozes atmosphere throughout its long, empty halls, I went into the film expecting something on par with the brilliant Eko Eko Azarak: Wizard of Darkness--the first of the Japanese Misa Kuroi films. That title (made in 1995—three years prior to Whispering Corridors) was also set in the closed environment of a school, but never skimped on the gore, sleaze, and supernatural overtones. Park's film could have been a Korean variant on the same themes, but instead seems more content to play up the teenage melodrama over the spooky goings on. Unfortunately, if I wanted to watch that sort of thing, I could just seek out re-runs of Beverly Hills, 90210.
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This is not to say that Whispering Corridors is a failure—just that it often finds itself at a point where it can go one of two ways: play it safe and stick with the formula or do something daring and original. It's disappointing that the film always takes the safe and easy way out of these situations. There are some genuinely creepy moments here (wherein the camera prowls the halls while a moody score accompanies it) and a few good scares. It's just hard to shake the feeling that this film could have been so much more.
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9 s0 \4 n' R6 s; n) pTartan DVD has released Whispering Corridors as part of their ever-growing Asia Extreme line. It seems that not a week goes by without something appearing from this series, and it's all been good stuff. The film is presented in 1.78:1 Anamorphic widescreen. This is a nice change from the old pan-and-scan import that had been floating around out there as viewers can finally see director Park's scene compositions as he intended. What isn't so impressive is the print quality. There's some edge enhancement, some grain, and the print itself features more than a few blemishes. This is probably to be expected since this is an Asian film that's already seven years old, though—short of an extensive remastering (which this film isn't really popular enough to warrant) this is about as good as it's going to get. Audio is well represented by a Dolby 5.1 track and a DTS Digital Surround option as well. The DTS track sounded better to me, but not majorly so. As far as extras go, this is the skimpiest set of supplemental material I've seen on an Asia Extreme disc to date. There's no commentary track, no director interview, nothing save a few trailers. It's definitely less than we've come to expect from Tartan's releases.
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9 @7 J- `- ^% N: zDespite the problems, Whispering Corridors is still worthy of a look from anyone interested in the burgeoning Asian horror scene. I'm the first to admit I'm completely jaded to the ever-popular girl ghost films after having sat through what seems like a million of them in the past few years. However, fans who're less familiar with the tropes of this particular subgenre will definitely find a few good chills littered amongst all the teenage melodrama.
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' D/ [0 J, u6 y( t" D0 R+ yhttp://www.epinions.com/content_175275478660/show_~allcom
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8 T/ Y- d9 l4 _3 y2 K+ s8 |/ T[ Last edited by 阿韩 on 2005-6-18 at 03:08 PM ] |
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发表于 2005-6-16 23:05
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发表于 2005-6-19 19:52