Yeogo goedam

While investigating the school files, the frightened teacher Mrs. Park startles and calls the young teacher Eun-young Hur (Mi-yeon Lee), telling her that the deceased Jin-ju Jang is back. The line dies and Mrs. Park is attacked and killed by a ghost. On the next morning, the teenager Jae-yi Yoon (Kang-hie Choi) waits for her friend Ji-oh Lim (Gyu-ri Kim), who has the ability to call the spirits, and they begin a close friendship. The abusive and aggressive Mr. Oh, a.k.a. Mad Dog, is the substitute of Mrs. Park and prohibits Ji-oh to paint and compares the performances of the pretty So-young Park (Jin-hie Park) and the weird Jung-sook Kim(Ji-hye Yun), raising a barrier between the two former friends. Miss Hur misses her former friend Jin-ju, who committed suicide, and while trying to contact her, she discloses a dark secret about the past of her friend and Mrs. Park.

I believe that the first point that impresses in "Yeogo Goedam", a.k.a. "Whispering Corridors', at least for Westerns, is the abusive treatment spent by the teachers with their students, brutally spanking and offending the harmless girls. I do not know if it is usual and acceptable this behavior of teachers, or if the intention of the director is to criticize and denounce how terrible this type of education might be. The story about friendship, needy and revenge has a magnificent cinematography, movements and angles of camera and some subtle insinuation of lesbianism. The performances are very convincing and my vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Now here's a curious movie - a supernatural ghost story from Korea. Set in an all girls school(thought that might have got your attention)its the story of a class being haunted by the ghost of a classmate who dies in mysterious circumstances and seems to return every 3 years.

It seems to be heading in obvious directions - Carrie one moment ,endless teen slasher movies the next but it neatly sidesteps these cliches and becomes something more interesting.

Yes there are creepy corridor moments and a couple of spectacular deaths (that owe more than a nod in the direction of Suspria - as does the soundtrack)but it is fairly gripping throughout and there are some schocking scenes of male teachers beating the pupils - The Korean educaution Minisrty tried to get it banned.

The ending is unexepected and quite enigmatic- so much so that I watched it 3 times (the ending that is) and am still not too sure.

Well worth a look

Whispering Corridors is a totally scary, and entertaining horror flick from Korea. It's easy to see why this was the first of an explosion of Asian Horror films like the Ring and the Grudge, because the director, Park Ki-Hyung is definitely well versed in American horror and uses his understanding of the genre to make the movie really appealing to any American horror fan. Whispering Corridors is the first in a trilogy of films. The first death in the movie and all of the rest are really reminiscent of the slashers like Friday the 13th and other late 70's early 80's American horror which are the staples of the genre. If you like horror films and have seen the best ones, you'll immediately see why this one fits right in to that group. What's really cool about it, is that there's no CG (computer generated effects). All of the blood and deaths etc. are all done with real actors, and it's almost more believable than the over-the-top current American horror genre. There's something so tangible about the blood in the film. It's bright red, and creeps the viewer out in a way that CG children running around (like in the Grudge) could never fully achieve.

The whole film takes place around an all girls school-- and with girls in uniforms and mysterious murders, you've got the makings of a great horror narrative. The first 20 minutes really suck you into the story as Ki-Hyung moves the camera much like 70's DePalma or Hitchcock--It's seductive. The school building becomes horrifying in and of itself. The way Ki-Hyung presents the school makes it like an evil edifice similar to the Overlook Hotel in Kubrick's The Shining.

The tone is similar to Rosemary's Baby in that the girls are consistently trying to figure out what the problem is-they want to get to the bottom of it, but the forces out of their control, i.e. the school teachers, get in their way, and they get in trouble. The grainy look of the film and the way the sound design/score are used is totally an homage to the classic horror films of the 70's. In the movie, the Korean school system is depicted as an evil force that represses the girls, abuses them, and ultimately is the motivating force that makes the one girl commit suicide and become the ghost who murders her enemies throughout the film. The performances by the girls are great. And the colors of the film are so dreary, that you can't help but feel like you're there. The end of the movie has a really amazing image of the two main girls alone in the classroom with blood pouring out of the walls and the ceiling. Overall, this film is really entertaining, and psychologically interesting, and will scare the crap out of you. The Tartan DVD release is pretty awesome. It has trailers for a lot of Asia Extreme films, 5.1 surround sound, photos, and English/Spanish subtitles.

Whispering Corridors is a slow moving, but engrossing, ghost story set in an all-girl's school in Korea. There have been a number of Asian horror films released in the U.S. in the past few years, but as this one was made before most, I think of it more as a trend-setter than a copycat. While much of the horror is subtle and implied, there are moments where the horror slaps you in the face with some very vivid imagery. The rest of the story dealing with the relationships between the girls and the teachers is not the normal kind of thing I go for, yet here it's very well done. It doesn't seem as clichéd as most American films dealing with teens seem to be. The acting is top drawer and adds a lot to making the film work. I wish I could point out one or two of the performances that really stand out, but I don't speak Korean and all the names look alike to me.

Whispering Corridors probably wouldn't work for those not patient enough to allow the film to slowly unfold. And while I may not have enjoyed it as much as some of the more recent Asian offerings like A Tale of Two Sisters, it's an enjoyable enough experience.

Whispering Corridors has much in common with the current tide of horror movie offerings from Japan. However, it is hardly derivative. The material may be recycled, but the filmmakers present it in a way that is different and anything but stereotypical. Don't watch this film expecting to see a massive body count and flying limbs. There are moments when you will see why this movie is classified as a horror film, but like most ghost stories, the power of this movie is demonstrated by what the filmmakers chose not to show us. The pace is slow and deliberate. I found it almost hypnotic, but it never lags. Some of the story elements are very convoluted, but ultimately this does not detract from the overall appeal of Whispering Corridors. A movie for the thinking horror fan.