Ryeong

A good Korean horror with a number of surprising twists and turns. Unlike some of the corny ghost movies you may have seen before, this one takes "ghosts" up a step. I don't want to spoil the movie for you because it's worth watching but I'll briefly explain it. Its about a girl called Ji-Won who for some reason has suffered from amnesia (you will find out why later in the film.) She finds out three people she somehow knows are being killed off by an unforgiving ghost. But you will have to carefully watch any flashbacks that are shown during the movieto fully understand it. Expect to have to watch it twice. An unraveling ghost story involving sadness, jealousy and revenge. If you liked The Ring and The Grudge then you will probably like this.

I received this Corean film for free when I purchased a bunch of other titles from YesAsia.com. I didn't really want it, but every time I deleted a free title, this one would pop up. Eventually, I consented to receive this one for free.

This is a horror film, as you can tell from the title, and is not related to the U.S. film bearing the same name. The setup is this: There's an amnesiac woman who starts seeing funny things. People who she used to know start to wind up dead. Spooky goings on, I say. Spooky.

Personally, I wasn't terribly frightened during the course of the film, although the jump-scares were sometimes effective, but at other times failed to startle me. The central conceit of the film (the amnesia) is a little silly, but I suppose that's what you deal with in horror films. In this one, it allows the film to be a mystery as well, as the young woman tries to recollect the past. The end conceits are a little forced and a bit hard to buy, personally, but it does help the film to be a little bit more than a total genre knockoff.

Unfortunately, the film still ends up being less than impressive. The acting isn't terrible and the overall direction is easy to take in. It's just that the story is ho-hum. I suppose you could do a lot worse; this is mildly entertaining stuff. 6/10.

A college student suffering from amnesia tries to figure out how she lost her memory, and what it is she can't remember. She tries in vain to get help from her friends, even though they seem to know something. The closer she gets to the truth, the more it appears that her past could be more devastating than she could ever imagine.

THE GHOST (aka: DEAD FRIEND) is a ghoulish, supernatural mystery from South Korea. Although it does venture into Japanese horror territory -vengeful, long, black-haired specter- there's enough originality and good storytelling to outweigh any overly familiar images. The final revelation is definitely satisfying...

DEAD FRIEND is yet another Asian ghost story featuring the now clichéd long-black-haired-dead-girl-out-for-revenge. There is absolutely nothing new here in terms of plot or even character; if you've seen THE RING, TOMIE, PHONE or any of the other countless Asian imports than you've already seen DEAD FRIEND and plot breakdown would be as redundant as this film itself.

While the movie's plot and structure lack in originality, DEAD FRIEND betters many of its' contemporaries by showcasing some solid acting and beautiful cinematography.

If you're addicted to these ghost/revenge films as most of us are to the equally uninspiring slasher genre than DEAD FRIEND is worth a viewing strictly to add another notch in your belt.

A young female college student Ji-won who has recovered from a serious accident,which led her to have amnesia.As she attempts to put her past together and get her current life straightened out,she slowly comes to realize that those she associated with in high school are now turning up dead and all are keyed to water.As fragments of her memories and the people she knew come together,she experiences weird visions of a girl drowning and what she thinks is a ghost following her around.Could there be a connection?"Dead Friend" is obviously inspired by Hideo Nakata's "Ringu" and "Dark Water",but it certainly offers some genuine scares.The most terrifying moments in "Dead Friend" come from the appearance of a ghostly girl with drenched hair and one evil eye looking out from the mass of hair.The climax is extremely creepy and surprising,so I was pleased.The cinematography is gorgeous with a lovely green look and the sound effects are awesome.Watch "Dead Friend" alone in the dark and it will creep you out.8 out of 10.