SYNOPSIS:
The latest instalment in the WISHING STAIRS K-horror series
set in an all-girls school. One day, a quiet but talented
singer student named Young-eon gets killed by a mysterious
voice. Soon after her disappearance, her best friend, Sun-min
starts to hear her voice. Frightened at first, Sun-min tries
to help her friend. But she is not the only one who hears
Young-eon’s voice. Cho-ah, another student who can hear
the dead since her childhood, claims she also hears Young-eon’s
voice… and someone else’s…
MOVIE
REVIEW
Screenplay
writer and director Equan Choe has delivered more than just
a horror Korean movie on the reels, set in an all-girls school.
Although its genre is labeled as horror, “Voice”
is definitely not excessive in the gore department, thankfully.
In fact, not much, except for a few really bloody scenes.
It has differentiated itself from the common staple of horror
movies by a degree of towards being better due to its attempt
to explain why the living sometimes hears the voices of their
closed, dead kins. In
the movie, Seon-Min (Seo Ji-Hye) begins to hear the voice
of her best friend and classmate, Young-eon (Kim Ok- Bin),
who has mysteriously absent from school. And yes, only Seon-Min
can hear it. She is the last to see her alive in school after
Young-eon has decided to stay behind alone to practice her
solo singing gig. Later, it turns out that the class loner,
Cho-Ah (Cha Ye-Ryun), shunned by the rest, has the ability
to hear voices of the dead. She believes in Seon-Min because
she too hears it but warns Seon-Min.
Nevertheless,
Seon-Min inevitably becomes the only person for whom Young-eon
can rely on to discover who has killed her and for what reasons.
Seon-Min is her last desperate hope. Soon, their surface tension
is actually hiding something that is lurking underneath. As
things get complicated with another mysterious suicide and
other incidents, these really test the audience’s imagination
and swiftness whether they can relate everything together
to solve the puzzle. The back story in the movie for the killer’s
motive adds on to the suspense effectiveness. Nothing that
is apparently seen is near to the bare thread truth. More
than meets the eye. Can an individual’s intense personal
desire to see only her good self, disillusioned everyone including
herself?
The trio,
(Seo Ji-Hye, Kim Ok-Bin and Cha Ye-Ryun), are not just mere
eye candy but can really act well.
Horror
movies with minimized, non-repetitive senselessly brutal killings
like Voice are appreciated. A mere tinge of lesbianism among
the characters is being vaguely explored but pitifully, it
is neither thoroughly explained nor confirmed at the end.
It
is refreshing to see that red color, instead of the eerie
green commonly favored by horror movies, is our color theme
here. There is a reason, perhaps to convey the message of
the oblivious vehement anger. A few frightening scenes to
note of here but perhaps might not be of sufficient adrenaline
to those hardcore horror fans.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Trailer
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The sound outputs from the Dolby Digital 2.0 are passable, though
not the best choice to bring out the creepy sound effects.
Presented
in 4x3 letterbox widescreen format. "Voice" is shot
with a reddish feel. Images are clear and crisp without any
visible trace of defects.
MOVIE
RATING:
OVERALL
DVD RATING :
Review
by Alicia Tee
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