In Korean with English and Chinese subtitles
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Lim Dae-woong
Cast: Oh Mee-hee, Seo Yeong-he and Yeo Hyun-su
RunTime: 1 hr 35 mins
Released By: GVP & Encore Films
Rating: R21
Official Website: http://www.encorefilms.com/tosirwithlove

Opening Day: 12 April 2007

Synopsis :

Mrs. Park, who is confined to a wheelchair, and Mi-ja, once a student of Mrs. Park, live together in an out-of-the-way cottage by the sea. As her teacher’s illness gets worse, Mi-ja tries to please Mrs. Park by inviting old classmates from her elementary school for a reunion at the cottage.

Mrs. Park and her seven former students have an emotional reunion for the first time in 16 years. They include the class president Se-ho, vice-president Eun-young, Super-Pig Soon-hee, Dar-bong who was good at sports, Myung-ho who was especially favored by Mrs. Park, and the incredibly quiet kid Jung-won. Mrs. Park happily welcomes her disciples as they arrive one by one and they are saddened at the sight of their elderly, frail looking former teacher. But the happy mood does not last long as they start to talk about the memories of the past and an unexplainable tension starts to fill the air. Eventually, brutally murdered corpses turn up one by one and the scars and truths around them start to get revealed....

Movie Review:

Its always fun to know when your school reunion has cripples, bulimics, plastic surgery addicts, drunks, and generally the most self-loathing crew of extreme masochists and adding on to the fact that the house guests are getting murdered with school supplies.

Brings you down memory lane doesn't it?

With massive blood-bath slashing back into the local screens agian, why not have the Korean jump in the bandwagon as well?

Its been called Bloody Reunion in other screenings which i thought would have been a much stronger straight to the point title that directs its intention to a horror flick instead of a bubbly korean drama. I mean, the teacher wasn't even a male to begin with. It all begins with Mrs. Park,an elementary school teacher who has fallen ill. Having one of her old students caring for her at her seaside house, a reunion may be a solution to perk her up. But the happy gathering turns into a nightmare as old grudges and hidden truths surface and one by one the former classmates vanish in a series of unforgettably gruesome murders. And you thought your school reunions were torture…

After sitting through "vengeful ghost" after another, asian horror cinema has somehow become stale ( or already has ). But leave it to the Korean to get some new blood pumping through the jaded hearts. Rather than a derivative ghost story in which characters stare into space while true scares pass right by, this heads out on the path of the slasher film, sticking close to its roots while bringing a few new elements of its own to the table. This one's got a twist in the end but one might argue that the ending may be a slap to your face. Either way, there are gore and violence abound so for all you mutilating freaks out there, there isn't as much fun like Hostel or the Saw franchise but it'll be sufficient enough to get by.

Direction is tight throughout, and the film rattles along at a good pace, wisely kept to a running time of just over ninety minutes. Although he does get a little zoom-happy at times, Im shows a skilful use of flashbacks and sudden visions, which are thankfully not played for exposition, but instead to disorientate, a trick which works well in keeping the viewer on tender hooks for most of the running time. The tension gradually builds throughout, leading to some genuinely frightening moments. As a result, there is a genuine feeling of threat, a fact which helps make for an unnerving and decidedly visceral viewing experience.

Aside from some all-too-brief flashbacks, the film misses a crucial emotional connection that could've added to its quality. Still, the acting is solid enough to at least earn our sympathy for the characters, the unexpected climactic twist and the gore, though used in a small number of scenes, comes across as quite disturbing like ones which involves a kettle of water and broken razor blades.

Movie Rating:

(Let this film be a warning to abusive teachers..you don't want to end up like Mrs Park now do you?)

Review by Lokman BS