Dead Friend

A college student suffering from amnesia tries to figure out how she lost her memory, and what it is she can't remember. She tries in vain to get help from her friends, even though they seem to know something. The closer she gets to the truth, the more it appears that her past could be more devastating than she could ever imagine.

THE GHOST (aka: DEAD FRIEND) is a ghoulish, supernatural mystery from South Korea. Although it does venture into Japanese horror territory -vengeful, long, black-haired specter- there's enough originality and good storytelling to outweigh any overly familiar images. The final revelation is definitely satisfying...

I had high expectations going into this. I love ghost stories and I love Asian horror. After recently seeing A Tale of Two Sisters (another Korean ghost/horror movie) and loving it I thought this would be scary, intelligent and original. However, this was far from original, in fact, it was a mix-up of Ju-On: The Grudge and Dark Water. The ghost looked like a mixture of Sadako from (Ring) and Kayako (Ju-On) and the water element has been used before in Ring and Dark Water. The director does manage to conjure up some atmosphere and an interesting enough story to keep the movie going but it's not enough to disguise the many stolen elements (and scenes!) The acting wasn't anything spectacular and the score sounded very familiar to The Grudge's. The ending was a surprise, and a good one at that. It caught me unaware and it did make me think a bit after. Overall it seems the good and the bad outweighed each other and the movie for me was just average. Atmospheric and interesting enough to keep me watching but too unoriginal for my liking.

2½/5

"The Ghost" tells the story of Ji-Won, a young student suffering from amnesia. Ostracised by her former friends and haunted by strange visions, she begins to try to unravel the mystery of her past...

Despite what people may say, there's only most tenuous links to the classic "Ringu" and the not-quite-so-good "Dark Water." Look beyond the shared imagery (which is from classical Japanese/Asian mythology anyway and wasn't invented by Nakata) and judge this movie on its own merits and you'll find a very cleverly structured, disturbing and touching horror movie with a clever twist and some memorably creepy scenes.

A far superior movie to the overly praised "Dark Water" and right up there with "A Tale of Two Sisters" as Korea's premiere horror.

A young female college student Ji-won who has recovered from a serious accident,which led her to have amnesia.As she attempts to put her past together and get her current life straightened out,she slowly comes to realize that those she associated with in high school are now turning up dead and all are keyed to water.As fragments of her memories and the people she knew come together,she experiences weird visions of a girl drowning and what she thinks is a ghost following her around.Could there be a connection?"Dead Friend" is obviously inspired by Hideo Nakata's "Ringu" and "Dark Water",but it certainly offers some genuine scares.The most terrifying moments in "Dead Friend" come from the appearance of a ghostly girl with drenched hair and one evil eye looking out from the mass of hair.The climax is extremely creepy and surprising,so I was pleased.The cinematography is gorgeous with a lovely green look and the sound effects are awesome.Watch "Dead Friend" alone in the dark and it will creep you out.8 out of 10.

DEAD FRIEND is yet another Asian ghost story featuring the now clichéd long-black-haired-dead-girl-out-for-revenge. There is absolutely nothing new here in terms of plot or even character; if you've seen THE RING, TOMIE, PHONE or any of the other countless Asian imports than you've already seen DEAD FRIEND and plot breakdown would be as redundant as this film itself.

While the movie's plot and structure lack in originality, DEAD FRIEND betters many of its' contemporaries by showcasing some solid acting and beautiful cinematography.

If you're addicted to these ghost/revenge films as most of us are to the equally uninspiring slasher genre than DEAD FRIEND is worth a viewing strictly to add another notch in your belt.