Yeogo goedam 5: Dong-ban-ja-sal

If this movie teaches you nothing else, you will walk away saying there are some shady females out there. If you've seen all the other films, you will be happy to learn that this one is just as good as the rest. This and the 4th film are best in my opinion. Check it out. Great addition in the series.

Well, I must admit that I wasn't particularly thrilled to get to sit down to watch the 2009 "Whispering Corridors 5: A Blood Pledge" (aka "Yeogo goedam 5: Dong-ban-ja-sal"), given the overall less than mediocre movies that preceded this particular movie.

But I was given the chance to sit down in 2021 to watch this fifth movie in the "Whispering Corridors" franchise, so I did that. But I have to admit that this movie from writers Joo-Yeon Hwang, Jong-yong Lee, Se-Young Lee and Yoon-Hyung Lee proved to be every bit as bland as the majority of the movies thus far had been.

Sure, by now we know that apparently the lives of South Korean schoolgirls is pure Hell, if you are to believe what is portrayed in this franchise. But the storyline presented in "Whispering Corridors 5: A Blood Pledge" just didn't manage to lift itself out of the less than mediocre gutter that these movies have been trotting around in.

This 2009 addition to the franchise, was the least interest of the movie, well aside from the original 1998 "Whispering Corridors" which was just a train wreck.

I managed to sit through this entire movie, but I was only mildly entertained. The storyline just didn't bring much of any enjoyment with it for me, and it didn't help much that the characters were devoid of personalities and essentially could be clones of one another.

True to the other movies in the franchise, "Whispering Corridors 5: A Blood Pledge" is scarce on horror elements, and instead serves a storyline that is brewed from supernatural drama.

The acting in "Whispering Corridors 5: A Blood Pledge" was adequate, if not actually among some of the more noteworthy in the entire franchise. Just a shame that the actresses had so very little to work with in terms of a proper script and storyline, or interesting characters.

One thing that impressed me in "Whispering Corridors 5: A Blood Pledge" was the scene where one of the girls jumped from the roof of the building. That was one of the most realistic-looking fall scenes I have ever seen in a movie.

"Whispering Corridors 5: A Blood Pledge" is by no means or standards a grand moment in the South Korean horror cinema. It was a less than mediocre foray into the franchise, and a movie that came and went without leaving a lasting impression. My rating of "Whispering Corridors 5: A Blood Pledge" lands on a four out of ten stars.

The Blood Pledge is the fifth film of the South Korean horror series Whispering Corridors, where the only thing in common threading through all the films, are its predominantly female cast, its setting in an all girls high school, the dabbling with ghouls and spirits, and the context of urban myths and legends being spread through the gossip sessions along the corridors of schools, from which the anthology got its title from. All stories so far are different, and so are the characters, so in truth, you can watch this as a standalone film.

But it's not so much of a horror film, than a study into the psyche of the female of the species. Can I understand it? Certainly, as far as identifying common and distinctive behavioral patterns go. I would call this film, and probably the series, a girly-girl's film, not because of its cast, but rather having plenty of girly moments that before you label me sexist, think about it - girls will probably understand just what this is all about from its premise to the character motivations, while the guys, I suppose we're probably happy with the eye candy on display, rather than to sweat about the stuff that we don't understand because we're wired differently.

Take for instance, we don't fathom why the girls behave the way they do, with friendship treated so frivolously, in one moment you can befriend someone, and because of cliques and the want to belong to another group, you've got to burn bridges with others just so as to demonstrate group loyalty. Then there's the usual petty fights and arguments about grades, the stealing of boyfriends, gee wheez! the whole nine yards of schoolyard problems, magnified because you've got arguing school girls trying to assert their influence on one another. Here, there are 5 of them making up the core group, and a lot more from the outside playing supporting characters, which in turn makes it a pretty noisy, active school with the students doing everything but study.

The tale begins with 4 students - Soy (Son Eun-seo), Eon-ju (Jang Kyeong-ah), Eugene (Oh Yeon-seo, don't ask why the masculine character name) and Eun-yeong (Song Min-jeong) making a pact to commit suicides together. Well, if there's the existence of suicide clubs, then this idea and premise isn't all that far fetched, though their motivations to do so are kept under wraps for the time being. Meeting at a chapel and making the titular blood pledge where they are to die together, things get messy when only Eon-ju ended up killing herself, which leads to the rest being spooked because they fail to keep their end of the bargain. Witnessed by Eon-Ju's youngest sister Jeong-eon (Yu Shin-ae), she begins to bug the rest into providing answers, which of course isn't forthcoming, in order to provide narrative legs for the film.

Now just how one can form such a pact is beyond me, and so are things like running to your BFF and telling her everything, and I mean everything, about the problems one is facing. Perhaps it's a guy thing to put up a strong front and not break down uncontrollably while figuring out solutions to problems, but in this case it is this confiding that perhaps laid the foundation for being continuously spooked. That said, this is not a horror film per se, as the ghoul hear appears in the day and at night, being much more like a guardian angel to keep her BFF away from trouble, and to inflict pain upon those that have ill intention toward a BFF. I suppose such a friend is for keeps, since he/she ensures some level of protection even when belonging to another realm altogether.

Writer-director Lee Jong-yong follows the tried and tested formula in Asian horror narrative, always giving out a little clue at a time as the story progresses, while dealing with the background of each of the characters, whether or not they contribute to the story directly. The scares here are pretty expected, with heavy reliance on sudden movements, in-your-face appearances, and dastardly makeup in other to elicit the fear factor, but seasoned genre audiences won't find your hair standing at all, being rather intrigued by the female talent on display here. After all, this franchise is famed for having some of its alumni progress into blockbusters and award winning films, with the likes of Song Ji-hyo from Wishing Stairs making that starring role as the Queen in A Frozen Flower, and more recently, Kim OK-bin from Voice making her big art-house break as the bullied wife turned vampire in Thirst. It's anyone's guess now who amongst the ensemble here will progress much faster than the rest.

Friendship, love and jealousy are the three themes that thrive in this particular horror film, although don't let that fool you into thinking that lesbianism has anything to do with the plot, as it has previously. Familial love, love between two best friends, and love of academia and succeeding are frequently prominent. Set in an all girl's school (like the former titles), the film focuses upon Jeong-eon (Shin-ae Yu), who waits for her sister Eon-ju (Kyeong-ah Jang) outside of a building one night, only to have her tragically commit suicide by throwing herself from the roof of the same building.

But was it really suicide? The mystery behind this event is the driving force that keeps the viewer entertained in this incredibly complex story that is slowly revealed overtime in the form of flashbacks. The audience continuously remains uncertain of what led to the tragic circumstance, the way the truth is hidden been one of the strongest aspects of the feature.

Unlike the previous Whispering Corridors films, where we already have preconceptions regarding the deceased student from having previously witnessed her, in this feature, the first time we see Eon-ju is during the final seconds leading up to her demise. From the beginning, viewers are made aware Eon-ju's death is related to a suicide pact three best friends, So-Hee (Eun-seo Son), Yoo-jin (Yeon-su Oh) and Eun-yeong (Min-jeong Song) form, swearing that whoever does not partake in the ritual will inevitably be haunted by those who took their lives. Eon Ju's return as a ghost, haunting these young ladies, immediately makes it clear that she was somehow involved, and Jeong-eon is equally suspicious, continuously pressing So-Hee, Eon-ju's best friend, for answers. The secrecy between these three friends after Eon-ju's suicide leads the school body to conceive slanderous rumors about what may have happened.

Despite the friendship between So-Hee, Yoo-jin and Eun-yeong been fleshed out, the connection between sisters Jeong-eon and Eon-ju is not, and for the most part they seem like total strangers. Despite Jeong-eon's dedication to uncovering the truth, she sometimes appears less emotionally traumatized than one may imagine, while it is So-Hee who seems to bear a number of emotional scars, making their friendship appear more legitimate.

One of the biggest flaws in A Blood Pledge is its repetitive nature. Often, the film depicts the three friends communing together, then shows one of them been attacked verbally by students who blame them for Eon-ju's death, before revealing a scene where Jeon-eon confronts So-Hee, this series of events happening more than once over the course of the film, although occasionally the order is arranged in an alternative format. Besides this, there are a couple of decent jump scares that take place over the course of the plot, but at the same time, more than one of them has been previously encountered in former Whispering Corridors films, causing them to feel predictably stale.

For the most part. A Blood Pledge plays out similarly to a revenge story, where the ghost of the deceased returns to wreck havoc upon those who wronged them. At the same time, there is one particular occurrence that transpires during the friendship between Eun-ju and So-Hee (you'll recognize it when you encounter it readers!) that is largely unexplained, the impact of which is quite mountainous when it comes to some of their later decisions. Although at times beautiful, the lackluster degree of information provided in this circumstance prohibits the audience from becoming further involved.

Furthermore, the motivations behind a number of the deaths that transpire over the course of the feature are seldom provided sufficient detail on why it is they died. Though by the end we are able to make assumptions behind why these potentially occurred, it may have been beneficial to have a more detailed explanation. Moreover, the relationship between So-Hee and boyfriend Ki-Ho may have also benefited from additional material, and Ki-Ho's mother, who later becomes involved, deserved additional screen time too.

By the end, when the truth is finally revealed, though the sadness exhibited during this scene is incredibly powerful, it is not enough to adequately benefit the entirety of the film as a whole. If not for the repetitiveness, and if greater focus was emphasized on characters who, in contrast with the three friends, were largely overshadowed, the plot's depth would have been greatly strengthened. Where former Whispering Corridors films employed scenarios and ideas that caused them to feel uniquely fresh and entertaining, A Blood Pledge sacrifices originality for overused and sometimes cliché scenes and ideas that could inevitably be described as 'safe'. For a franchise that has made a habit of pushing the boundaries of horror, safety is the one element Whispering Corridors does not require.

After 5 movies the series is still going strong! You can't say this about an awful lot of series, especially not ones within the horror genre. In that regard the series deserves lots of credit but at the same time it also isn't exactly a movie series that stands out with great movies in it. All of them are quite average but certainly original and watchable enough to check out. Also as standalone movies, fore the series its movies aren't really connected to each other story- or character-wise.

It perhaps isn't fair to call this movie an horror, since it actually focuses far more on the mystery and dramatic elements of the story. This has basically been the case with every movie out of its series but yet they keep on advertising it as Asian horror because that simply is the popular thing to do. It would also be hard to advertise it in any other way really and find the right target audience for this movie. It's a hard sell because all of these movies are basically such unique and original ones within its genre. That's why I always keep enjoying these movies and wouldn't mind seeing more of them being made in the near future. As of yet this remains the last one out of the series but there is no reason to stop here really. There is still plenty of ground to explore and new, different, approaches to take on its concept.

But having said this; I don't regard "Yeo-go-goi-dam 5 - Dong-ban-ja-sal" as an all too solid movie. Out of all the movies this one has probably the most simple script, even though toward the end the movie becomes overly complicated again. It might be because the movie is 'borrowing' too much from its previous movies. The characters are all the same again, even though its a fresh new story with new characters and actors in it and also the way the movie progresses is quite predictable, especially when you've already seen some of the previous movies out of the series. The movie reminded me a bit too much of the first and the third movie; "Yeogo goedam" and "Yeogo goedam 3: Yeowoo gyedan", which does perhaps makes this a bit of a redundant entry within its series, that doesn't add enough new things.

The movie is still good though. It has a pleasant buildup, which is slow but steadily and with every minute starts to show more and more of what is going exactly. In that regard this movie works far better as a mystery than an horror really, even though the movie still has plenty of scares and also bloody moments in it.

Thing that didn't worked as well were its actors. Out of all the movies within its series this one probably featured the worst actors in it. Or perhaps it was the directing, since every movie out of the series had featured young, inexperienced actors in it, of which some had never acted before and also never again.

It's still a steady movie, that also helps to keep the series a steady one.

6/10

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