Hwa-i-teu: Jeo-woo-eui mel-lo-di

Well I will say that I been getting more into Asian horror over the past few years. This film is by far different that most Asian Horror Films that I seen, Different in terms of the main focus of the film, which they focus around a struggling Korean Pop Band who steals a song that happens to be cursed and they become popular. You would think an idea like that would fail for a horror film right? Wrong.......... the plot for this film is well paced and horror in the film just builds up as the film goes on.

The things I really enjoyed about this film were the actresses. The Cast for this film is really attractive and good looking and fit the appearance of a K-Pop band. Plus this is probably one of the few films I saw where things weren't predictable in the plot in the horror. Also I loved the horror scenes they were really terrifying and scary, non of that cheesy Jump Scare stuff. If you jump in this film your most likely jumping out of your cloths into a shell.

Overall this film was great and of course with the main focus of the horror being a Asian Ghost Girl with long hair looking for revenge is what knocks this rating down. This movie is very recent and came out last year so I'd say give it time before it becomes more popular and perhaps gathers a "Cult" following.

"White" or "White: The Melody of Curse" has a fairly familiar premise: a failing pop idol group finds an old, uncredited song, and use it to rise to the top. However this tale of fame and fortune becomes mixed in with the paranormal: the song is cursed, fueled by the wrath of a vengeful ghost.

The comparisons with Ringu/The Ring are obvious, from the ghost itself down to the fact the song is discovered on a videotape. The movie does give a respectable effort in ratcheting up suspense, and to be fair there are a couple of effective scares.

However the real strength of this film lies in two areas. First, the story is pretty well done. While the paranormal stuff is prominent, there's also a strong focus on the characters, who are as much affected by their shifting fortunes as they are any bumps in the night. You would think once the ghostly stuff showed up, it would take center stage. Instead it runs parallel to the sudden pressures, ego trips, and bouts of jealousy of their new found fame, meshing together very well and creating a greater emotional and psychological depth than one might expect from such a premise. The film is even fairly touching and somewhat sad at points, aided by pretty good performances.

The second main area is the visuals. There is a certain flare here. It's not Argento or Fulci by any stretch, but the film does look really good. Whether it's a dark room/hallway or the flashiness of the dance stage, the cinematography and imagery are strong. Even without caring for the plot and characters, one could sit back and appreciate the look.

Is the movie a masterpiece? No, I wouldn't go that far, but it is very enjoyable, and if you're a horror movie fan with nothing to do on some afternoon, you could do a lot worse than this.

I happened to stumble upon the 2011 South Korean horror movie "White: The Melody of the Curse" (aka "Hwa-i-teu: Jeo-woo-eui mel-lo-di"), and being an avid horror fan and a fan of the Asian cinema, of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch this movie from writers and directors Gok Kim and Sun Kim.

I will say that the movie is nicely produced and definitely has a good presentation to it. However, for a horror movie it fell short of being particularly outstanding or memorable. While the movie definitely is watchable, it was hardly a gem in the South Korean horror genre. In fact, the storyline was so mundane that I doubt that I will ever be returning to watching it a second time.

The acting in the movie was good, despite the actresses had next to very little to work with in terms of a proper script and storyline, and also having to struggle with characters that weren't fully written or given much of any discernible personalities or traits.

The movie was quite generic in terms of how it was build up and executed, so you shouldn't go expecting any grand surprises or plot twists here, you will just end up sorely disappointed.

There were aspects to the movie that definitely showed potential, but it just felt underplayed as if the writers and directors weren't really following through with the ideas that they had mustered to come up with. It was a shame, because the movie never managed to raise itself from being nothing more than generic and mediocre.

"White: The Melody of the Curse" was frightfully devoid of anything overly scary, especially for a seasoned horror veteran as myself. Perhaps if you are Asian you might find some scares here and there, but trust me, don't get your hopes up.

I am rating "White: The Melody of the Curse" a very mediocre five out of ten stars.

We all know the band or group that's been kicking round for a while than suddenly has that one song that throws them into the limelight, the one song that everyone buys, the radio always plays and the video views on youtube are already in the millions, well what if that song was haunted.

K-pop girl group "Pink Dolls" are a pretty second rate bunch in a very competitive field and really need an edge it doesn't matter the song, dance routine or audience they just can't seem to make a breakthrough. Then, one day, one member of the group Eun-Ju discovers a song that could turn everything around "White". The group learn the song, get some dance moves down and suddenly their fortunes change for the better and they are thrust into the spotlight that they've desired for so long. Of course as it's a horror movie they won't be living happy ever after and soon the group begins to unravel as the curse begins to take them out one by one.

the scars are sometimes pretty effective and the acting is a cut above some other Asian horror that is out there, the cinematography and editing are well crafted and the soundtrack only adds to the atmosphere.

Many Asian horror films actually trying to depict a horrifying situation from different perspectives. This one, White, based on issues regarding harsh nature of Kpop idols. It's quite original, although I have to conclude both the plot and execution are mediocre at best.

The premise of the movie revolves on a struggling girl group, Pink Dolls who garnered attention when they sang a song titled 'White' from unknown performance that found in their new renovated studio after fire incident 15 years ago. When the management decides to promote the song with center (lead singer), the chosen member become terrorized by unknown force.

It's interesting, in fact that the movie told us many information behind what's actually happening off camera. I don't know if the movie is exaggerating, but many issues like center choice, performance and MR in music shows (it's hella debatable by Kpop fans), and surge of popularity, are quite staple in Kpop and to know that for a bit, is fun.

Unfortunately, those are trivial things because we mainly have to face the acting that is confusing. Probably it's not how the act, but how inconsistent the character is. While it's understandable that being Kpop idol is stressful, I recognized these characters changing their attitude heavily, that makes me wonder how the reading process ever finished? The characters seem to be at the pole of bully and Cinderella continuum quickly. It ruins the flow of the plot, since it makes me have to understand many things.

In terms of production design, the movie also seems to know that this movie ain't A-class movie. It's understandable, but I can't stand how the movie like to give trippy shots when the ghost is around. I guess it's a trend back then. Honestly, it cheapens the movie, because I feel that the executed horror scenes aren't good enough compared to the other scenes.

I also note some plot holes, but I let it slide. This movie seems like B-class horror that fun enough to watch without high expectation. It has original and creative story (also direction) that makes you stay through the movie, but it lacks execution to many details that I'd like to observe when watching a horror movie. To conclude, if you want a horror from unusual setting just for fun, it is a great movie.