Customer Reviews

Cello (2005)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This movie is good!
Okay..Okay.. so its the same old revenge story by freaky black haired chick. I know.
But lets take a look at what this movie offers.
First off, no holds barred, original and graphic kills.
I mean come on..when was the last time a whole family got killed off.
Beautiful set pieces and air of unrelenting menace surround this flick.
This ghost is out for revenge..not just the come through the TV and poop scare ya to death kind. I'm talking about the whole enchalada. The last time I've seen a ghost this pissed off it was..hell I can't remember the last time I saw a ghost that pissed off.
A nice twist of events..and no I'm not talking about the ending.
I mean the part where we really see who was to blame for all of the mayhem.
So genre fans..not just Japanese Horror Genre Fans either..rejoice. Here is a ghost story to wrap your bed sheet around.
Okay, none of my reviews would be complete without a little negativity.
At times, the movie did feel as if it were a little been there..done that.Especially with the ghost being so Ringuish like. The final scene was not as explorative or explained as it should have been. I mean, give us a break..we just sat through 2 or more hours of watching this womens family get killed off in hellish ways and now it ends on a made for TV movie instant replay.
Do not let these qualms stop you from watching this movie.It is
a non stop spooky ride and one you will be glad that you got off sane and sound when its over.
Just a hint..If your daughter all of a sudden grows real attached to a Cello..Ship that sucker to Bangkok. The Cello, I mean not your daughter.

Once again, Korea has given their viewers a beautiful film in terms of cinematography. In fact, I find most Korean films these days visually stunning. However, this has never been a problem. What many of these horror films lack are real scares. Sure, ambiguity is nice once in awhile, and the revenge factor works now and then. But how about something totally different? Now, in all fairness, I do believe that Korean horror and suspense films are still a notch above what we in America churn out on a daily basis. But, these films are becoming so formulaic, that I find it hard to really like many of the films coming out of the Korean horror industry these days. That is not to say that some viewers will not like this film.

For me the film itself lacks the suspense and horror that I really look forward too in this genre. Having written this, I will write that "Cello" is better than many films that have been released in recent years from Korea--yet that is not saying much, as so many are so similar. Yes, they are much better than most of the horror films here in the States, but one keeps hoping that they will make a breakout with some really captivating and scary films that will capture the world with the same unique quality that their dramas, and suspense films have been able to do. Moreover, the talent in both the acting, and the directing is definitely there. Yet, by continuing to churn out the same formulaic horror films at a rapid rate, they are going to suffer the same fate that American horror films now find themselves in: Stale and turgid.

"Cello" is not that bad of a film. If anything it is watchable. I would just like something a little bit more than "well it was worth a watch." Anyway, the films narrative is more like a drama, with very little to non-existent horror. The film centers around a woman named Hong Mi-ju (Hyeon-a Seong) who is a former Cello player. Due to a tragic car accident, she injures her hand---and as a result, she gives up playing the Cello, and instead becomes a music instructor. [One more thing I would like to add, the Korean horror/suspense genre has pretty much played out the classical music in their films, however, the sound of the cello is beautiful]. Further, there is something that still haunts Mi-ju in regards to her past: For it was in this car accident that her good friend and cello rival Tae-yeon Kim (Da-an Park) was also killed.

Trying to forget this terrible incident and get on with her life, she finds herself saddled with a difficult student who is upset with the grade she has been given. Given a cassette tape from an unknown source, her past begins to haunt her again. Is Mi-ju being haunted by the spirit of her dead rival? And what about the student? How does she fit in? But there is more to the narrative. With a new servant in the house who is mute, and a daughter who begins learning how to play the cello, the film veers into more of a dramatic suspense film with the various characters that are introduced into the film. The film does drag a bit, and plays out more like a drama. And if you have seen Korean horror or thriller films you will notice there is nothing really new here. Once again, this is not a bad film, but it is not a good film either. Somewhere in between. I recommend that viewers rent the film first. It may not appeal to many viewers. [Stars: 2.5]

Before I watched Cello, I thought I was scraping the bottom of the K-horror barrel...a movie about a haunted musical instrument sounded kind of lame. I was wrong; it was surprisingly good. Hong Mi-Ju is an emotionally fragile music teacher whose past comes back to haunt her--or is it all in her head? The story unfolds like a Twilight Zone episode.

If you get impatient with some of the Asian horror conventions (an insistence on cheesy effects when CGI would be better, unresolved major plot elements) then this might be more your speed. The body count is as high, and as bloodily graphic, as a Hollywood horror flick, and while there are weaknesses in the story--I'm still not sure what the housekeeper was doing there--the ending isn't a baffling existential statement. It's not as nuanced as a movie like A Tale of Two Sisters, but it doesn't require cliff notes to understand, either.

The cover of this DVD is very appealing but not so much the film. "Cello" is another entry into the Asian horror genre; the South Korean Cello tries to distance itself from the pack by focusing more on the story than predictable scares. Unfortunately,this only half-works. We are treated to a rich drama involving a former cellist-turned-music instructor, her family, her tragic past and her seemingly slipping sanity, but the scares are almost non-existent.

Mi-Ju is a part-time music professor with a tragic past. When she was younger, she was an up-and-coming cellist, until she was in a car accident with her rival/best friend, Tae-yeon. After Tae-yeon died, Mi-Ju gave up playing the cello and decided just to teach. One day, one of her students threatens her after receiving a bad grade and so begins Mi-Ju's problems. She is sent a mysterious cassette tape that contains a haunting cello duet that dredges up some painful memories of Tae-yeon and almost causes her to get into a car accident. She is distant from her loving family which includes her two daughters, husband and sister-in-law. Her older daughter is mentally disabled and mute, but falls in love with a cello she spies in a window. Mi-Ju buys it for her and begins to teach her how to play it. Meanwhile, a new maid moves into the house. She is creepy as hell and is also mute. It seems as though her family was killed in a car crash and she tried to commit suicide numerous times, once by swallowing acid. No more vocal cords there! Anyways, things start to get creepy slowly but surely...the family's golden lab, Sunny, begins barking all the time until one morning he is found dead. Mi-Ju starts seeing things, her daughter begins playing that haunting song on the cello, the sister-in-law goes crazy after her fiance breaks up with her and "accidents" befall the household

I found this different than most typical Asian horror films. The story is much more rich, with well-developed characters but it doesn't focus much on typical Ju-On or Ringu-type scares. The terror doesn't really begin until the last 20 minutes of the film, giving only glimpses of what or who is terrorizing Mi-Ju and her family. Like most Asian films, it does focus on building tension through the atmosphere. The atmosphere is nicely complemented by the gorgeous cinematography and the soundtrack (heavy on the use of the cello, of course). This is a slow film, but if you can live without the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am speed of most films today, I recommend Cello. Some claim the film is slow and redundant, but unlike most films where repetitiveness is a time-filler, the repeating themes throughout Cello actually stand for something; in this case, the nightmare that Mi-Ju relives over and over through the different tragedies she suffers. This theme also plays flawlessly into the twist ending.

Cello does have its flaws and I wouldn't be so quick to add it to my collection, but it is definitely worth your time if you appreciate this type of cinema.

Cello is a unique story for this genre. To me, it felt more like a thriller (something like What Lies Beneath (2000)instead of a horror movie like Ringu. The acting in Cello is great. The story is interesting and a little more personal than most horror movies. It does seem like the build up is a little long and drawn out before you get to the ending, but the ending was satisfying. There are some holes and some disjointed moments in the film, and I wondered if that was because the translation was off? I have always loved the Cello as an instrument and the music in this film is quite beautiful.

Overall I enjoyed watching it and was pleased that I rented it.

I'm a big fan of Asian horror/supernatual films, and this has to be one of the better Asian horror films to date. From the beginning it has this creepiness to it that doesn't let go. Though it is a little slow pace, the last twenty minutes will have you cringing until the very end.

Cello (Woo-cheoi Lee, 2005)

Cello isn't a bad little film. It's not one of the best Asian horror flicks I've ever seen, but it's far from the worst; there is, however, not terribly much to make it stand out from the pack. That said, it reminded me in many, many ways of Twisted, an execrable Jay Lowi film (if you haven't seen it, don't waste your time), except that Cello was everything Twisted couldn't figure out how to be--atmospheric, suspenseful, mysterious. Which leads to a dilemma: rate the film in comparison to other Asian films (in which case it's mediocre), or in comparison to the closest thing we have to it in America (in which case it's brilliant)? Eh, well, I'll decide that eventually.

After a car accident that kills her best friend and causes her a hand injury, Mi-jou (Woman Is the Future of Man's Hyeon-a Seong), a promising young cellist, becomes a professor at a nearby school. Some years later, married and with a family, seemingly unrelated events set Mi-jou down the path of remembering the circumstances (which she's blocked from her mind) surrounding the accident: her autistic daughter wants to learn to play the cello, a student at school to whom she gave a bad grade vows revenge, she receives a rare album for her birthday, a handful more. As she gets closer to the truth of the accident, she begins to question her own sanity.

It's not a terribly original plot, and it's not handled in any terribly original way. Still, that doesn't mean it's not worth a couple of hours of your time. The soundtrack (which is, of course, mostly cello) is wonderful, the acting is above average, and if the ending doesn't come as a terrible shock, it's probably because you've seen Twisted. You have my condolences. ***

Hong Mi-ju is an accomplished cellist who gave up playing after she was involved in a car accident that killed her best friend. She now works only as an instructor, and after an unpleasant encounter with a former student, bizarre things begin to occur in her life. The family dog behaves oddly and then dies suspiciously, a grisly "present" appears in Mi-ju's school locker, and she receives ominous, untraceable messages on her mobile phone. Her older, developmentally disabled daughter displays a sudden interest in learning to play the cello.

The viewer is led to believe a number of things may be happening, from retaliation by the disgruntled student, to possession of the daughter. Or does it have something to do with the mysterious new housekeeper who has a tragic past of her own? However, this is one of those movies that doesn't really make sense until the very end. Red herrings and misdirection are fine, but if not handled well they can seem like a bunch of things are just happening randomly. Even the cello itself is something of a MacGuffin. At the end, when the true story comes out and several details shown earlier in the film are given significance, the other elements still felt gratuitous.

It's not a bad film, and I give it extra credit for being willing to kill off two small children (one of them in a fairly bloody manner.) It may, in fact, play better on a second viewing. Mild recommendation.

The DVD features commentary, director interview, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and trailers for this and other Tartan Asia Extreme releases.

If you judge the movie Cello based upon the glammed up DVD cover or the recent string of sub-par Asian horror remakes, you are bound to miss the subtle nuances that make this a very good movie. True, the movie is based upon some common horror suspense themes. Yes, there is a revenge aspect and an element of the beyond. But there is also a very well crafted story of guilt and regret, as well as an intriguing plot structure that is full of small details expertly sprinkled throughout. And contrary to a common belief that seems to be held about this movie, as far as I can tell the cello is not haunted.

The film is shot beautifully and makes equal use of darkness and light for various scenes. There is a somewhat mixed use of CG darkness (you will have to see for yourself to understand what I mean) that sometimes seems to be an add-on. But overall, this is a slick looking film.

The cast is made up of some big stars of Korean film, as well as some relative unknowns. The results are very impressive and the entire cast does a good job.

The film makes greater use of plot and character development to build suspense. There is some use of special effects but not really too much gore. This is a slow moving movie that is meant to be analyzed. If that's not your kind of horror, then you have been warned.

Conclusion

The final scene of the movie does bring to mind Asian horror remakes like The Grudge and it might be the reason why so many have judged this movie harshly. Despite the similarities with other movies, this one still is very well executed. It was definitely entertaining and it was fun to figure out the riddles behind what was going on. I recommend it.

Enjoy.

This is a really scary movie. I've always put Ju-On on the top mantle as being the scariest horror movie ever, but this movie surpasses that movie. I didn't expect much, seeing the title of the movie which doesn't sound scary at all, but was I wrong, dead wrong. If you are a horror fan, you got to see this movie. The terror one feels stays with you even after the movie ends. Cold chills ran through my bones and the hair never stopped standing at the back of my neck. Asian horror movies don't rely on gore, but suspense and an ever so thickening creepiness that never stops. Contemporary American horror movies don't scare me much anymore and it often relies on the same old tricks. Asian horror movies like this one, which is Korean, is not an original idea, but the craft of scaring the living daylights out of you is getting stronger and better. Other Asian titles I recommend are Ju-On, Dark Water, and The Red Shoes.