Cinderella

To start, I want to mention something: I have a list of "Top Ten Scariest Asian Movies". This may have been the weakest in my original list (though the 'weakest' still made the list for almost a year as a Top Ten scary-as-Hell Asian horror flick). Since I created the list, I saw the blood-curdling, cleverly-scripted 'Coming Soon' and decided it had earned a place over 'Cinderella'. I removed it, but that doesn't mean I don't want to give this creepy Korean thriller its props here.

First of all, if you love K-Horror, this deserves a look. Yes, it has one or two elements that appear in other Asian horror. I should point out that except in some extreme cases, I actually like the formula and the common images (black hair covering a face, usually with one ghostly dead eye peeking out, and the horrifying, creepy reveals of what is almost always referred to in the movie's promo materials/synopsis as 'the Dark Secret behind it all'. Usually in the last act, the 'horrifying buried past' is usually so brutal and disturbing you have sympathy for the 'Onyro' (lf you're familiar with Asian horror enough to have done a little research, you know the meaning--if not, this is a great time you to look it up) along with the fear. When handled right, the true back-story is so horrible that you kinda decide the ghost/Onryo out for revenge has every reason to come back and try to cause serious damage.

I gave Cinderella seven stars rather than the 9-10 I give to perfect, close-to-soiling- yourself in utter terror Asian horror such as Shutter and Ju-on. I took three stars off based mainly on my opinion that some parts, especially the first act, are slower than I thought they needed to be, dragging down the film and viewer a bit. The movie could have stand to lose 10-15 minutes for a tighter edit. HOWEVER… get ready for the last act of Cinderella--it pounces right at you out of the dark.

This is one of those last acts, and with a back story that stuck with me. There's a couple hints, but it turns out to be way uglier (no pun intended-if you've seen the movie you'll get the pun) than anyone imagined. I also actually started talking back to the flat screen TV a couple times (if I'd seen it in a theater and said the same things at that volume, I would have been asked by an usher to calm down) and at least once hearing myself urgently and loudly giving a character advice ("oh no, no, NO, don't, DO NOT go in there, Oh God, RUN!"). I do that frequently during really addictive, well-made, fun TV shows (True Blood, Breaking Bad, and Spartacus for example), but it's rare when I watch a movie. Yet another movie on this list where a movie-watching exception was made. Funny thing, it's usually Korean chillers like "Cinderella" or Korean crime-revenge "I Saw the Devil" and "Memories of Murder" that get me so hooked in that (more than once) almost blew off a deadline because I HAD to know what happened.

I saw that many reviewers cited the movie for being 'too melodramatic' and 'more like some soap opera'. I can see a base argument for 'melodramatic' ; fair enough,I suppose (though I personally don't agree). However, a SOAP? Jesus, really? If so, I'd like to ask what the hell kind of fu(ked-up soaps have YOU been watching? The only thing on TV right now that is a 'horror-drama' and would even come close to this claim is American Horror Story. Note: if you're a big fan of the show AHS --like I am--you'll probably enjoy this movie.

Yeah, Cinderella is no Shutter or Two Sisters (then again, nothing put on film is) but if you're looking for some Oynro-genre scares and a twist or two you didn't see coming, watch it now. There's much worse ways (and MUCH worse Asian horror movies to watch, trust me) to spend 100 minutes. As long as you weren't really planning on sleeping that night anyway….

I wouldn't go expecting anything to do with the original fairytale. I was expecting a Korean horror twist on it like that fantastic, "Hansel & Gretel". I was expecting a vicious stepmother keeping her daughter captive and so on. Actually Cinderella has very loose references to the infamous tale. In fact, I would've scrapped the title altogether and called it something referring to vanity, because that's the theme that is most emphasised in the film.

Cinderella is 2/3's of a good film. I found the first 40 minutes or so incredibly difficult to follow thanks to most of the characters looking the same and having very little development. The first 40 minutes don't work with what occurs for the remainder of the film when it finally finds it footing. It's quite tedious and confusing to see these friends getting killed off by a ghost after having plastic surgery for no apparent reason. The whole ghost-killer idea doesn't even really work that effectively until it's loosely developed in the finale. Even characters with no earlier development get killed off and were left wondering why and if we really care!

However, the overall feel of the film changed at the first flashback where a pretty huge twist is revealed. It's highly engaging and then allows us to focus on the characters who really care about, the mother and her daughter. In its final moments the film almost becomes dream-like with the past merging with the present, but it remains utterly absorbing, even though it's incredibly difficult to work out what the hell is going on! The ending left me feeling completely bemused and I'd completely lost the plot. However, I did find it incredibly emotional and heart felt, allowing us to feel a great deal of sympathy for the characters, especially the mother.

Aside for a few creepy moments, I wouldn't call Cinderella a full-blown horror film. It's more of a dream-like dark drama, thanks to the ghost idea being under-used and under-developed. The frustrating thing about the film is that it's full of fantastic twists and ideas, but explores them in ways which are needlessly confusing! The plot is also messy and is in need of character development, or character reduction.

However, Cinderella is worth a watch. It's an engaging and emotional experience and has a heart, which is greatly lacking in modern American horror films. It also has a wonderful score and surprising twists to ensure that you're never bored. It's just a shame that the writing department was as ill conceived as it was. But, perhaps you're a highly intelligent person and can differentiate fantasy from reality and past from present. I for one can not!

First off,Cinderella isn't about a pair of glass slippers, a Kindly Prince, or a Fairy God-Mother. What Cinderella is about, is Women's obsessions with their appearance and the terrifying lengths some women will go to keep their appearance beautiful.

Cinderella tells the story of Hyunsu, a typical 17-year old girl, whose mother just happens to be a plastic surgeon. Hyunsu's friends frequently go to her mother for plastic surgeries, but then after wards the friends become obsessed with their faces, and eventually end up dead.

I'm torn on this movie. While I do think it was a well-done piece of social commentary about women and their conceptions of beauty, the horror element wasn't really scary, the plot is jumbled, the editing needs some serious work, and the ending is all over the place.

That being said, there are things I did like about this movie. The Score was great! It features a lot of great classical music, specifically, one of my favorite composers, Antonio Vivaldi. The cinematography was well-done, and I thought the characters were well-drawn out and the acting was good. Another thing that I liked, is that the film does a good job of pacing (I don't think I looked at my watch once!).

The film itself, while failing to be a true horror movie, turns into more of a melodramatic film with supernatural overtones (kind of like Memento Mori). However, this may be the fault of overly ambitious packaging than what the director intended the film to be. The only thing that's really scary about this film is the motivations of the characters in their pursuit of beauty. And if you watch this film with that in mind, you probably won't feel as let down as I was.

Also, if one of the reasons why you watch watch Asian Horror is for the gore/shock factor, than you probably won't like Cinderella. The packaging suggests a lot of gory face-slashing scenes, and while the film does have a few of these scenes, they are rather tame compared with what is typical of the genre. Cinderella's focus is not shocking scenes of facial mutilation, but melodrama centering on a Mother-Daughter relationship, and women's self-destructive pursuit of beauty.

This 2006 South Korean horror movie is more than just your average Asian ghost movie. It also offers a nice jab at the shallow and self-indulgent phenomena of beauty ideals and plastic surgery. I enjoyed this jab at the hollow plastic surgery culture that we live in today, because it is so pathetic that people undergo plastic surgery in a vague attempt to live up to the beauty ideals set by an equally hollow fashion industry fueled by the almighty dollar.

"Cinderella" (aka "Sin-de-rel-la") is not a scary movie, not by a long shot, and definitely not by South Korean standards - if you compare it to other South Korean horror movies. But what it lacks in scares it sort of make up for in the story, and definitely do so in the acting.

If you enjoy the traditional Asian style ghost and horror genre, then "Cinderella" might be a bit out of your liking. It is not a traditional genre movie. But if you like to see something that breaks out of the pattern and brings something new to the genre, by all means spend about an hour and a half on watching "Cinderella".

Director Man-Dae Bong managed to put together an interesting movie. And although it is slow paced, it does build up the story quite nicely. "Cinderella" is a horror movie driven by a proper storyline and not by scares, ghosts and special effects.

I found "Cinderella" to be a good alternative in the South Korean horror cinema, where many other movies tend to follow a step by step instruction manual of how to piece together a horror movie.

This movie gets to be underrated because it is a different kind of horror. Asian horror films have a unique way of making a film out of every fear the human mind could comprehend. This of course makes it the best, and worst, type of horror film. With this particular movie, one must step outside their usual routine and look at the situation presented to them. After you are out of your box you have to step into this film's twisted mind and distorted reality. This movie is really a mindf$#@ but it is certainly worth the ride. As for some of the underlying tones, they are also what makes Asian horror films so unique. This film is no exception, however it definitely is not the most underlying Asian film I have seen. Try Marebito. Excellent film. Sorry for speaking so vague and talking about Asian films in general, but I think it is necessary because this film deserves to be watched.