At a glance:Written by Yoo Il-han, the same man behind accompaniments Roommates, 29 February and Dark Forest - all which form an unrelated tetralogy of horror tales that did release in Malaysia back in 2007. It's evident from all four movies that Yoo does have a penchant for confined eeriness but the film adaptation for this one is technically insufficient to convey and extend that talent. Sufferin from the lack of impact is this story of a single mum and her daughter, both whom find the experience of stayin in a new apartment frightenin when a missin floor in the buildin seems to be the answer behind a spate of mysterious deaths.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Claustrophobic direction fails to double up with anythin original in its execution. Very little effort is made to expand beyond the traditional long-haired, bare-footed woman ghost and drippin faucets, not to mention the age-old 'oh-no-it's-the-same-floor-wherever-I-go' deja vu. Jerky body movements a la Ju-On are sparingly used, interwoven mostly between a semi-useful character development of its central characters - the mother, played by Kim Seo-hyeong (pic) and the daughter, played by Kim Yoo-jeong. Although the child actor offered more than a competent performance, so cliche is the relationship between the two (think the original Japanese Dark Water and Maria Bello's Welsh legend story The Dark) that their fate becomes suggestively pointless.
Perennial wonderment:
Succeeds in at least one department like Hollywood horror staples Saw and Psycho did - how a lot of action goes on in confined spaces. This limitation of parameters has become a proven formula in generatin fear and terror because people put in a suffocatin environment tend to have a greater sense of imagination, most of it negative.
Reminds me of:
Fuckin ghosts man, what else.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?K-horror is fuckin tedious, what can I say. While J-horrors prefer to centre on haunted objects or buildings, Korean ones tend to add an extra dimension by placin motive as an equally important plot device as well. However, in the same way a new object must be found to put a ghost into, motives need to diversify as well. Two stars is fair.
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