Gawi

The reviews I read for this movie were pretty decent so I decided to check it out. BAD IDEA! This is another movie about a ghost out for revenge against a group friends. The story is stupid, mix two parts Ringu with one part Prom Night, a sprinkle of I Know what you did Last Summer, and add a tiny dash of Single White Female - now blend until completely nonsensical. There is nothing new to this plot, and revisiting the clichés I've grown so fond of wasn't even entertaining this time. This movie jumps to and from the past too much, and once I made sense of it all I realized it still didn't make much sense. Characters go from sane to psycho killer in the blink of an eye. Speaking of characters, they are all your stereotypical favorites - the greedy selfish lawyer, the egocentric actress, the has-been baseball star, the video voyeur, the bitter girl, the spooky quiet chick, the 'nicer-than-nice' nice girl, a freakin' black cat... and I didn't care about any of them. Perhaps a better writer could have made the movie work, there were some decent scenes in it, but overall this movie was a mess. I should also mention a certain 'video tape' that would have been IMPOSSIBLE to shoot.

This movie isn't the worst Asian horror has to offer by far, but it is still pretty bad. If you just want to see some creepy images in the dark, or just want to laugh out loud at some over the top acting, or just want to yell "you're stupid!" at a movie screen, or just want to have another Asian horror flick up your sleeve when someone asks you how many you've seen - this movie is for you.

Those seeking a decent plot look elsewhere.

"Gawi" (aka Nightmare/Scissors/Horror Game Movie) was Byeong-Ki Ahn's first horror film. It's a decent, if unoriginal attempt at horror, and is somewhat effective. Then again, this movie is chock-full of flaws.

First is the lack of coherent continuity. The movie confusingly switches from the past and present without warning, and has quite a few badly-placed flashback sequences. The next thing is the complete lack of originality. There is not one but TWO long-haired vengeful female ghosts, gory deaths reminiscent of every other slasher in the world, an ending clearly jacked from every other sequel-promising slasher. The last thing is how ineffective it is: yes, it is effective to a degree, but not as scary as it could have been. Having said all that, "Gawi" does have a few good twists along the way, and I must say, a fairly gripping mystery story going for it.

If you like slashers, or liked the director's later movie "Phone", this is recommended.

My rating: 6/10

When Sun-ae (Jeong-yun Choi) returns from the United States of America to Seul after two years of absence, her friend Hye-jin (Gyu-ri Kim) welcomes her at home. Sun-ae is disturbed and tells Hye-jin that the ghost of their deceased friend Kyung-ah (Ji-won Ha) is haunting and chasing her. Hye-jin recalls when she introduced her new friend Eun-ju to their former close college friends: She-hoon (Jun Jeong), who used to tape every moments with his camera; Hyun-joon (Ji-tae Yu), who was a promising baseball player before damaging his knee; Jung-wook (Jun-Sang Yu), who has become a prominent lawyer; and Jung Mi-ryoung (Hye-yeong Jo), who works in advertisement on television. The jealous and envious Sun-ae revealed a secret from the past of Eun-ju causing a tragedy in the group. When She-hoon, Hyun-joon and Mi-young are killed, Hye-jin finds a videotape hiding a dark covenant of her friends about the death of Kyung-ah.

This ambiguous horror movie is another great example of the high-quality of South-Korea (and Asia in general) in this genre. Director Byeong-ki Ahn uses a remarkable cinematography and angles of camera to disclose a plot where the viewer is never sure whether a revengeful fiend or an insane character is killing Hye-jin's friend, and if Sun-ae has guilty complex or is really being chased by the ghost of Kyung-ah until the very last scene. The cast has great performances, the actresses are extremely gorgeous and Ji-won Ha is one of the most beautiful actresses I have ever seen. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

The film starts off with a morgue attendant sewing the eyes of a recent corpse shut, when he leaves the copses eyes pop back open. Flash forward two years and Sun-ae returns to South Korea after being abroad in America for two years appearing to be afraid of a ghost, Kyung-ah whom committed suicide, that she believes is following her around and the spirit wants revenge on something that wronged her. Now someone is murdering her friends. The movie alternates between flashbacks and modern day to create quite a good deal of tension throughout. The acting is good and although I pretty much knew where the plot was going fairly often on, I still enjoyed it. Now I'm looking forward to the directors next film, "Phone" which I heard nothing but good things about.

My Grade: B-

Media Blasters DVD Extras: Making of; Nightmare on Television Promo; Theatrical Trailer; and trailers for "Attack the Gas Station", "Terror Taxi", "Choking Hazard", "Rojo Sangre", "Hiruko the Goblin", "One Missed Call", & "Samurai Resurrection"

Notes: Comes with a holographic slip cover

The story premise isn't new: three years after a group of college friends drive a girl with Sadako-like powers to kill herself, they all start dying violent deaths. What's unclear until the final act is whether the spirit of the deceased girl has come back to wreak her revenge, or whether one of the group has cracked up and is committing the murders themselves.

Fans of Korean cinema may remember lead actress Gyu-ri Kim as the Jessica Alba lookalike in "Whispering Corridors" (aka Yeogo Goedam) and she turns in another fantastic performance here. All of the cast members do, in fact - with Ji-won Ha as the Sadako-like girl mentioned above particularly impressive in the flashback scenes. Director/Writer Byeong-ki Ahn, who went on to direct "Phone" in 2002, shows a competent hand at direction with a few excellent set pieces and some genuinely spine-tingling suspense. If you manage to avoid jumping at least three times during this film, you're a braver soul than I!

NIGHTMARE's shortcomings come in the plot department, with a few plot holes and convoluted story strands making it hard to follow at times. You're also not sure whether it's a slasher pic or a ghost story - but that's intentional, I suppose! Watch out for the final twist at the very end - it completely turns the rest of the film on its head - which, although out of the blue, at least leaves the viewer in no doubt as to what's happened.

Had this been a little easier to follow throughout, NIGHTMARE would be getting my highest recommendation of 5 stars. As it is, though, fans of Asian horror shouldn't be disappointed and - although it's no RINGU or THE EYE - there's plenty to keep the average horror fan entertained. ***.5 / *****