Released Date: 22 September 2005

Synopsis:


After witnessing her husband having an affair. Sun-jae moves to a new place with her little daughter, Tae-soo. One day, Sun-jae finds a pair of fatally attractive red shoes and brings them home. When Tae-soo sees the shoes, she falls for them just like her mom, and insists on wearing them. With the red shoes on, Tae-soo starts dancing superbly unlike she used as if the shoes were helping her dancing.
A few days later, Sun-jae’s friend Mi-hee visits her home, and sees the red shoes. Like the others, Mi-hee becomes obsessed with the shoes and steals them from Tae-soo. While walking on the street with the shoes on, Mi-hee feels so much dazzled. But she begins to hear the sound of footsteps following her, and later is found brutally slain.
After Mi-hee’s deaths, strange things happen to Sun-jae; Tae-soo points out to a girl who doesn’t exist and follows her; Sun-jae hears a baby cry and its footsteps in her apartment. Most strangely, the red shoes, which have been missing after Mi-see’s death, return to Sun-jae.
Sun-jae, now terrified, tries to find out what lies beneath and finds out that the shoes are worn by a ballerina in popular ad posters which are found everywhere in the city. Finally the heartbreaking story of a young girl, who was brutally murdered 50 years ago, is uncovered.

Movie Review:

In film, red isn’t just any colour. It has the power to make a film look lushly breathtaking. What immediately comes to mind are Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai’s In The Mood For Love (2000); and the late great Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Red (1994). So, by having a pair of red shoes to anchor the film’s story, the audience can expect a visually arresting experience.

With a tell-all title like that, you may find yourself asking what new things this Korean horror movie has in store. Inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale of the same name, this offering from the Land of Kimchi adds a brutal and chilling twist on the original plot. It tells the story of thirty-something Sun Jae (played by a very weary-looking Kim Hye-soo), an eye doctor and dutiful wife who has just been cheated on by her husband. She then finds a pair of abandoned shoes in the subway. Attracted by how pretty they are, she quickly takes the shoes as her own. Soon, she discovers that these seemingly harmless shoes actually possess a frightening power and a horrible secret from the past. Worse still, her daughter (played by a possessed-looking Park Yeon-ah) is also entangled in this mess.

Let’s face it. There are just not many horror movies from Asia these days with plots that make you go “wow” anymore. With filmmakers utilizing everything they can think of, ranging from television sets and mobile phones to wells and bathtubs, you just have to look past the average storyline of this movie as well.

With a good sound system in the cinema, some of the scares work well for this movie. After a while, they do get rather routine and you realize these scenes are either inconsequential shocks or dream sequences. Besides, the spirits are nothing you have never seen before. Yes, it’s those girls again, with the obligatory long frizzy hair covering their faces.

However, do not diss this movie as one of those generic Korean spook flicks. It does boast of surprisingly high impressive production values. As mentioned before, red is a very arresting colour. There are many beautifully composed frames in the movie which capture the richness of the colour. The usage of reflections in mirrors, high-contrast lighting and an overall repressive mood throughout the 103 minutes only show how creative the filmmakers are. In fact, the art direction and cinematography are the very reasons you should watch this movie on the big screen.

These aesthetic factors may make some viewers shun the movie. Those who want to give themselves non-stop scares may be disappointed too. It is only after some meandering that the pacing picks up well in the last third of the movie. There is a sequence towards the end which recounts the origins of the red shoes. Although there is no dialogue, the powerful music score and the casts’ every glance and stare bring out the intensity of that scene.

There may be no babes or hunks to ogle at, but the main cast’s performance is another commendable factor of this movie. With that vulnerable and tragic look in her eyes, Kim single-handedly plays her role of the tormented mother who is determined to uncover the truth. Playing her daughter is Park, who has some of the most disturbing scenes in the movie. These two ladies effectively carry the movie from beginning to end.

As a scary movie, this one may have nothing spectacular or new to offer. But if you are willing to look beyond that, you are in for a visual treat. Just remember, using red in film can never go wrong.

Movie Rating:

(A beautifully shot horror movie – even if it doesn’t shock you, it will awe you)

Review by John Li