|
SYNOPSIS:
In
1979, Dr Park receives an old photo album containing photos
taken when he was in his twenties. It brought back memories
of the mysterious events that befell him and his colleagues
during those times.
Park an intern then was forced by his parents to marry a girl
whom he has never met. But he fell in love with a beautiful
but dead woman who turns out to be his bride-to-be in the
arranged marriage. Meanwhile, a little girl the only survivor
of a car accident was haunted by her loved ones who died in
the same accident. Two doctors (married couple) return from
Tokyo to work in the hospital. Strangely, a series of muder
starts to occur...
MOVIE REVIEW:
Truth be told, I wouldn’t even think of watching
this movie on my own accord if my esteemed webmaster hadn’t
passed me this DVD for review. I mean, just take a look at
the run of the mill “been there done that” DVD
cover. Trying to spook me out with a tacky tagline like “Secrets
That Lie Within A Haunted Hospital. Discover The Truth…
If You Dare.” Come on, the copywriters can do better
than that? But to my pleasant surprise, there is actually
some good stuff in this movie which left a lasting impression
after the end credits came to an end at the horror flick’s
102nd minute.
Directed
by Jeong Beom-sik and Jeong Sik, this movie consists of three
intertwined tales of love, hate, guilt, affection and jealousy.
Viewers are brought onto a roller coaster ride as corpses,
morgues, accident survivors, autopsies; and even more strangely,
snow globes, photographs and snails come together in the most
mesmerizing manner.
This
is definitely not the type of movie which you can see predictable
plot turns coming your way. Each story is mysteriously linked
to the other in a strangely enchanting way. Though the more
cynical reviewer may refer to this style of screen writing
as contrived, I’d choose to think that the mystifying
stories are intricately strung together.
But
that is not the highlight of this horror picture. What left
me, a horror-weary viewer, totally spellbound were the hauntingly
beautiful images that are aplenty in this movie. The abovementioned
items of the pretty snow globe, the creepy snail and the faded
photograph are captivatingly captured on the camera’s
lenses. Each object has a lyrically tragic quality to it and
adds to the atmosphere of the movie very aptly. The flicker
of fire on a candle stick never looked so enthralling on screen.
And don’t you just love the extreme close ups?
The
drama may not be as straightforward as other horror pictures,
but these tales has some heart in them and may just leave
you teary-eyed. There are some fine scares too (not the loud
and “in your face” kinds), as well as some truly
disturbing images which earned it its NC16 rating from our
friends at the censorship board.
There
may be no big stars to headline this beautiful movie, but
the effective and to a certain extent, affective story telling
may just leave you awestruck – that is, if you decide
to give this Korean production (amongst the tons out there)
a chance. You know what they say, don’t judge a book
(in this case, a DVD) by its cover.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains only a Main Trailer, a Teaser
Trailer and three TV Spots of different durations for the
movie.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The disc’s visual transfer is fine enough to make the
film hauntingly beautiful, while there is an option of the
audio in its original Korean or dubbed Mandarin tracks.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
|
