Death Bell

This is more a slasher film where you count down who is going to be next on the list to be crossed off - it is formula driven. That being said, Death Bell has some very good moments and the middle half brings a lot of suspense and excitement and tension, though the plot gets a bit repetitive after that so you are simply waiting to find out who is the culprit.

The plot is simple: a class full of high grade students are being held captive in their school. An anonymous person has told them they must answer all the questions he gives them or student by student will be killed.

Of course, with Asian horror films, there is usually the usual cliché's - not to say that they won't work - because they usually do. This is no exception - you have your flashbacks, a tormented past and the reflections of adolescent school kids who often make the stupid choices while in stages of panic in their predicament - I guess that is universal.

The choice of music in this film is a bit questioanble as it felt more like a high beat sort of atmosphere that doesn't work at times. The concept is interesting but at the same time the film feels more like a detective game rather than anything really scary - there are only a few moments which made me shudder - and it is mainly shock tactics that don't last for more than a few moments.

Still, it is an entertaining ride. The final payoff at the end - I admit I didn't see it coming and it wasn't too bad. Think of this film like Battle Royale meets Saw.

Korean torture slasher set in a school and the torture element actually adds something different to the usual Korean/Japanese school gore fest movie. I was very surprised to find that these short set pieces were very much the best thing about the film. Nasty, gruesome, suspenseful but not drawn out to the point where the audience is also tortured, these were well executed. The rest of the film was much more formulaic and somewhat confusing. The elite students having to solve some question or one of their number dies before them was a fine idea but for some reason was made over complicated and it seemed that right or wrong the victim still got it . I didn't really care about anybody, so as one after the other died it just became a bit of a carrousel , a bloody one, granted. A great start and not a bad finish, surprisingly high production standards apparent but I just lost some interest somewhere along the way.

Meanwhile it's been more than three months since I watched "Death Bell" at the Belgian Festival of Fantastic Films, but for some reason it must have escaped everyone's attention here at IMDb, because the film didn't receive its very own page until now. Since it's been quite long, and since I watched a whole lot of other crap in the meantime, I'm glad I took some notes and wrote down impressions after seeing the film, otherwise I'm afraid I wouldn't have remembered that much. By that I certainly don't mean that "Death Bell" is a bad film. Quite the contrary, it's a very amusing horror flick with exhilarating gore and a dazzling fast pace. Originality, however, isn't the film's biggest trump as it borrows plot ideas and stylistic elements from various other and more famous horror movies. "Death Bell" somewhat describes itself as "Saw" meets "Battle Royale", with a bunch of high school students and their teachers desperately trying to escape the imaginative death traps of a maniacal killer. Twenty of the most intelligent, but also sickly competitive and pompous students of a prominent Seoul high school attend a special exam held on a Saturday. Suddenly classical music plays through the speakers and the television monitor displays images of one missing student trapped in an aquarium slowly filling up with water. The exits are sealed, the contact with the outside world is cut off and the group finds themselves subjected to the lethal and perverted games of a deranged killer. But who is he and what are his motives?

Co-writer and director Chang (who was a guest at the festival and appears to be incredibly young) has obviously watched and studied a whole lot of contemporary popular horror movies and knows exactly what it takes to please a large crowd of fans. The death traps are complex and implausible – like the ones in all the "Saw" movies – but they definitely guarantee extended moments of suspense and a lot of gruesome bloodshed. The make-up and sound effects are fantastic, so if you have the opportunity to see this film in a theater or with luxurious home cinema equipment, you definitely will be overwhelmed. The characters are typical Asian high school students; like they appear in numerous movies, but the film does it best to provide as many backgrounds and little personality details that are also relevant. Considering the subject matter, and exactly like "Saw", the script is often incoherent and extremely implausible (example: how could one individual plan such a hi- tech and accurate large-scaled massacre) but you easily are willing to overlook that thanks to the entertainment value. The identity of the killer and his reasons are quite predictable as well, but then again, this is a film that primarily relies on inventive shocks and outrageous gore.

I gave this film seven stars for the above average special effect they are using for an Asian movie. Normally, Asian movie are on pretty tight budget, I believe this movie received more investment than some others. The main actress is a singer turned actor, this is usually a disastrous move for western entertainment world but it does happen very often in Asian and she actually did a good job. Asian horror movies very frequently use young, innocent girl as main actress and she is perfect for that role. I must say, it works better than Western sexual appealing actresses. Most white girls are pretty tall and strong but with good body; I really think sometimes if they serious want to fight back, the bullies will get pounded.

Anyway, those young school girls and boys were as helpless as always but the only thing will work in this movie was their brain. Now another eastern culture people need to understand is that grades are everything; getting into good university is everything. There is something implied in the movie is about how those students were best students of the school and they have a bright future because they study hard and smart. Quite a few movies implies how stressful of the eastern education is and some writer thinks it is scary if he adds horror element on top of that stress will attract Audience. Based on the experience of the school in the UK, I really don't think English students will ever get it. Well, if you can think of it this way, you are fighting into the night after 1am in the morning trying to compete with one hundred thousands other students in the exam and there is a ghost start bothering you and try to rip your gut out, I think people will get disturbed by it.

By the way, I have seen way much more disturbing movies than it, so I am kinda numb. However, I thought among all the Korean horror movies, they do have some new ideas involving some psychological traps and supernatural activities. I liked the singer-actor small girl, it is refreshing to see a pure school girl for a change than teen-model wannabes getting slashed.

Worth a watch if you want to see something different. The movie is not that smart, direction was OK, story is fine if you are patient, please don't expect too much acting in a horror movie, in which I mean it is good enough. Try to get a friend grew up from Eastern Asian environment, you might enjoy this movie more if you know our culture.

If you're looking just for entertainment than it's great, fast phased, filled with action and a little gore. Other than that the acting is not outstanding but not awful either, the special effects are okay. However the story is nothing special it's kind of a revenge story with saw-ish elements. I gave it 6 stars because I did enjoy watching but it's not something that'll stick with me or have any impact whatsoever.