Customer Reviews

Voice

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

 

 

Don't be fooled by the cover art - there is no gore or extreme violence in this movie. On the contrary, it provides everything one would expect from an excellent South Korean horror film: a great script, excellent cinematography, strong characters, dense atmosphere, and some tense moments of suspense.

This installment is the strongest of the Whispering Corridors series. The rule system regarding the communication between the ghosts and humans is interesting, and is utilized well when everything comes together near the end of the film. There is limited (yet successful) use of special effects and the night time atmosphere is very good, using dark red lighting consistently. Everything about this movie screams quality, from the interesting storyline to the excellent acting to the effective, stylish horror elements. The scene that plays during the closing credits is something really special. This is a beautiful film.

I personally consider Voice to be the second greatest South Korean horror film of all time (behind A Tale of Two Sisters). Just be sure that you watch this knowing that it's not another Hollywood crapfest with irritating, sex-crazed, drug-addicted teenagers and you should be fine.

This is one hell of a movie.

I watched a subtitled import copy of this movie back in 2006 and immediately fell in love with it. The original posters and DVD art for the Asian markets was much more subdued and appropriate for the film, which is dark, depressing and almost as much of a drama as it is a horror movie. Don't be fooled into expecting a slasher flick or a violent monster movie. Although it is a horror film (and the fourth part in a series of "haunted school" stories) the focus is mainly on the characters' interaction with each other, not the supernatural.

Highly recommended. Just know what you're getting before you buy.

In a girls' school where music plays that only certain people can hear - along a quie corridor or after hours, when the building is deserted - the death of a student singer sets in motion one one of the eeriest, most dramatic, and most thoroughly absorbing films to come out of South Korea yet.

Able to be perceived only by her best friend, the girl's ghost clings to existance in this world while she and her friend try to solve the mystery of her death. Meanwhile, more strange occurences start to happen, and secrets from the school's past slowly come to light. Those who dislike ambiguous endings may have a harder time getting into Voice, as the movie masterfully and Very subtlty presents, almost simultaneously, alternate explanations for the truth of what's really going on. As with a number of other Asian horror movies, there's also an intangible sense that underneath the surface, something even stranger and more terrifying than what's up front is taking place, and that sense has never been stronger than it is here.

With great performances, deeply involving interpersonal relationships, and the high production values characteristic of most Korean movies over recent years, Voice is a brilliant (and dark) success that deserves a far, far wider audience than it's gotten on these shores. A must for fans of Asian horror or of movies like 'The Sixth Sense', 'The Invisible', or 'The Orphanage'.

I saw it on the Sundance channel and I fell in love with this. But the cover on the DVD cover is very misleading. It makes it look like it's some scary movie when it really isn't. It's a story about a young girl that is killed and becomes a ghost and her friend is the only one who can here her. Most of the movie is seen through the ghosts eyes. So, Don't be fooled by the case cover.

Voice (Ik-hwan Choe, 2005)

Somehow I've lived the last five years in ignorance that the Ghost School trilogy had been turned into a longer series. (At the moment, five exist; A Blood Pledge, the fifth in the series, was released in 2009.) All of the movies in the series (the first three are Whispering Corridors, Memento Mori, and Wishing Stairs) are at least worth watching, and the original trilogy finds moments of greatness, especially in Memento Mori. Voice continues the series in the tradition it started; it's another standalone film set in a girls' school, focusing more on atmospheric horror and character development rather than stuff jumping out at you, and like the others it's liable to confuse the hell out of you until all the pieces click into place and the thing gets running. Stick with it. The rewards are generous; this replaces Memento Mori as my favorite of the series.

We begin with two friends, Young-eon (Thirst beauty Ok-bin Kim) and Sun-min (Ji-hye Seo in, to date, her only big-screen appearance), in a music practice room. Young-eon is currently doing the practicing. Her voice is otherworldly. (I'm pretty sure it's actually a recording of a nineteenth-century castrato; you don't get that kind of voice without doing some body altering.) Sun-min, who does the school's lunch broadcast, is recording her to play over the air. As they're leaving, Sun-min runs ahead, and we see Young-eon killed by a ghostly music score... or do we? The next morning, Young-eon is right there in school. Except that no one can see or hear her. Yep, okay, looks like she's a ghost. In her ghostly form, however, she's capable of both digging into an older murder at the school, another singer named Hyo-jung (Spring Bears Love's Hyeon-kyeong Lim), as well as searching her own memory for traumatic events she'd blocked that led, at least in part, to her death. Meanwhile, she discovers that Sun-min is still capable of hearing her, if not seeing her, and that opens up another subplot entirely, where Sun-min and Cho-ah (Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do's Ye-ryeon Cha in her big-screen debut) search for Young-eon--who is presumed dead, but whose body has never been found. Meanwhile, Sun-min reminisces with Cho-ah about her friendship with Young-eon, leading to a series of flashback episodes (this is where it can get really confusing, until you realize the movie is flashing back on a regular basis; the first flashback is specifically designed to confuse you).

Now, the "unrated" designation on movies these days is nothing more than a marketing tool. If the movie never got a theatrical release in America, as Voice didn't, that just means it was never submitted to the <s>film censors</s> MPAA for a rating in the first place. Why bother spending the ten grand, or whatever it is these days, on a panel of wizened old prudes who are going to hate your film anyway? There's nothing here your thirteen-year-old can't watch, and in fact given that the movie is set in a girls' high school, you'd expect teen girls to be the target audience for these flicks. Nevermind that, it's well worth watching for folks of all ages. The acting here is solid from front to back, which makes me wonder why more of these kids haven't shown up in more high-profile films since. (And while I call them kids, they were all in their early twenties when the film was released.) As with most of the films in the series, also, Voice was directed by a first-timer, Ik-hwan Choe. Being in America, we've gotten used to the idea that when we're seeing a first film from a new director, there are going to be some things he doesn't get quite right. I've mentioned the confusion factor early in the film, but to be fair, as I said in the synopsis, I believe that was intentional; I'm not sure he quite pulled it off correctly, but gotta give points for trying. Also, there are a few places when the pacing slips a tad, but that's another minor niggle at best in a movie this strong. At the end of the day, what Choe hands us is a slick, accomplished little piece of work that's really less a horror film than it is a drama about loss, the cycle of abuse, and the price we pay for artistic greatness; in other words, in many ways this is the movie The Lovely Bones wanted to be and wasn't. If you're not yet familiar with the Ghost School flicks (now being called Girls' High School Horror in this country, though the series title, Yeogo Gwaedam, hasn't changed in the original Korean), I strongly recommend getting so at your earliest convenience, even if you're not normally a horror fan. Since they're all stand-alones, you can watch them in any order. Voice is an excellent starting point, and is much more readily-available in this country than Memento Mori, the next-strongest in the series. See it. Soon. ****

The Haunted School trilogy (Whispering Corridors, Momento Mori and Wishing Stairs) actually turns out to be an anthology as the Korean horror film "VOICE" (aka. Yeogo Gwae-Dam 4: Moksori, 2005) joins the trilogy in this franchise. Directed by rookie director Ik Hwan Choe's installment borrows some elements from David Lynch's "Lost Highway", "The Invisible" and Forster's "Stay". Despite the film's gory Dvd cover art, the film isn't a gory bloodfest; as with many Asian horror installments, it has the same formulas typical to the genre (well, minus the long-haired vengeful ghost) but it is accompanied by a strong script and it turned out to be a mind-freak than a spook fest.

When a young student with an angelical singing voice named Young-Eon (Ok-Bin, Kim) is murdered and her body disappears, her soul becomes trapped within the confines of the all-girl school. For some unknown reason, her closest friend Sun-min (Ji-Hye Seo) is able to hear her spectral voice and interact with her. Sun-min becomes determined to find the truth behind Young-Eon's death. One day, their music teacher is found dead in the music room--police says that it is suicide. Puzzled, Sun-min enlists the aid of another student named Cho-ah (Ye-Ryeon Cha). Together they must unravel the mystery behind the deaths. Is Young-Eon the one responsible or it there something more sinister within the confines of the school?

True, the film does look like your run-of-the-mill Korean horror film but what separates it from other typical K-horror films is it's foreshadowing. From the Kiyoshi Kurosawa-style reddish light that radiates as the harbinger of something ominous, the film also focuses on NOISE; both in its musical form and vocals. The film has a lot of eerie atmosphere and it is quite effective with its execution visually and its set ups. The film is more a murder mystery mixed in with the spectral world. The ability to hear voices from the alternate world may be the film's main premise, and the film moves on its proceedings quite similar to a teenage melodrama. The film is movie about friendships, jealousy, selfishness, inner secrets--the need to be remembered, denial and realization. Now, this is not a "sappy" melodrama, there is some violent imagery to be had and while there is blood and gore in its proceedings, it is not a film that relies on visual violence. (the Dvd cover may suggest otherwise and is rather misleading).

"Voice" carries a lot of emotion in its proceedings. The frustration and fear felt by Young-Eon and the confusion of Sun-min is explored. The dialogue is pretty effective to keep the audience interested and the details of the past is revealed in the form of flashbacks, accompanied with the use of CGI. Young-Eon appears to be a tortured soul, to be aware of one's ordeal with very little options in trying to find out the truth. Cho-ah is an enigmatic student that supposedly knows quite a few facts about spectral episodes, she helps along the movie's pace by setting the rules and defining a ghost's existence. One of the film's effective moments are the creepy attempts by Young-Eon at communication to Sun-min--the two actresses manages to deliver the right emotions into the sequences and the set ups are quite credible. It is a true auditory freak-out.

The film's foreshadowing does make a lot of sense once you apply the expressed rules within the alternate world Young-Eon exists. The cinematography is very nice and reflects the mood of the film--the closer the two comes to solving the mystery, the tighter the camerawork becomes. It's a 5 step process that is quite formulaic in Korean Horror films but it does work when used properly. The convolution reaches its peak when the film's reasons begin to unravel--such as the reasons why Young-Eon's soul is stranded in the school. Remember, in order to understand the film, you need to pay attention to the step by step groundwork established by the director. The twists and turns near its climax do reach some levels of a mind-bender, it is complicated and has metaphysical aspects to it, and it does prove sensible in a inexplicable manner.

Now, the film will not induce a lot of scares but the storyline is compelling enough to keep me interested. The mood inducing mystery can sustain the film's pace and dialogue further enhances its experience. While the film does have some overused formulaic elements in the beginning but it quickly sidesteps them. The film may not as great as the amazing "A Tale of Two Sisters" but it may well be the most visually eerie of the four installments of the "haunted school" franchise. "VOICE" proves to be very enjoyable with the murder mystery that leaves a haunting feeling--its ethereal roots generates the feeling of genuine sadness. Young-Eon's past is an effective vehicle that managed to generate a few surprises. The manner with which it was revealed was rather haunting and disquieting, and does provide a solid insight as to why she couldn't pass on to the afterlife.

It may feel like a rehash of "Whispering Corridors" at times but it proved a little more polished, artistically speaking. While it does follow established formulas, it didn't prove to be a bad thing. After all, following the same groundwork established by its predecessors can lead to success, it's how successful horror films are usually made. The film does have genuine heartfelt emotions and it is a decent, moody horror thriller and aimed at audiences very similar to its characters.

Video/Audio: 1.78 ratio anamorphic widescreen. A good transfer with vibrant colors but a bit on the softer side at some scenes. Some scenes also suffer a bit from grain and minor print damage. The 5.1 Dolby Digital Korean track is powerful and perfect for this type of film. The accompanying English Subtitles are quite good. Thankfully, there is no dubbed English track.
Extras: Pretty basic and not quite very special. Behind the scenes feature and theatrical trailer.

Recommended to fans of this genre and a good rental for everyone else! [3 ½ Stars]

I don't know what it is about this installment of the whispering corridors series but I couldn't get into it. The story was very slow moving and about 1 hour in what could have been an interesting story dies as the suspense from the first hour is over once the mystery is solved. Had that not happened this would of been a good mystery/suspense film but really it's kind of dull.

I thought I hated the 3rd movie but this movie made me appreciate it more as it kept the tradition of the Whispering Corridors Suspense going with the student suicides and high school girl drama. Mostly I couldn't get into this because it's just like Ghost and the 6th sense. Two movies whose ideas have been beaten to death Hollywood. This being a foreign film I'm not sure if they are aware of that for American Audiences. I just didn't feel like this movie had the same level of originality as the others. WC3 was funny strange and suspenseful so was WC2. The first movie was the most serious especially with the teacher that punched and kicked one of the girls as the class watched in horror. "Voice" just doesn't feel like it fits in with the series. Other than it take place in school and deals with suicides,and ghosts it pretty much is a so so movie compared to the others.

The cover is misleading as it's not that type of horror movie. This one is mostly dialogue and mind tricks. Not to mention the ending was borrowed from another foreign film I saw where a girl posses the body of a girl she admired after she is killed in the process of saver her from drowning. I can't remember what it's called but when I saw the ending of this movie it just made me like it even less (P.S. don't worry the exact same thing doesn't happen here in this move no spoiler).

So what did that leave me with? Pretty much the re-telling of a story I've already seen before. This really felt like a lost Twilight Zone episode. 3/5 Stars for the film having good acting but -2 for originality on this one.

P.S. this is also I think the first Whispering Corridors movie I've seen where the girls didn't have food all over their face after eating or drinking I was quite surprised because I became accustomed to that token of Whispering corridors.

First-delivery and condition were excellent. For the movie, it is of a series of related flicks set in High School. Whispering Corridors started it off and it continues. The same story lines, done over and over again, but each time with a little tweek. Beautiful girls and bad men---the staple of Asian horror. Check out the whole crew of flicks. Momento Mori is the best of the group. It is an adult drama disguised as a High School horror flick.

ENJOY!

Ah, those Whispering Corridors showings. They sometimes have something really bizarre to play with for a time, sometimes have a love affair to settle on, or sometimes jus tlike to look at the stairs and tell you what happens when you wish upon a stone. In this, the 4th installment, we find ourselves thrown into an enigma of sorts. a girl is practiving a song she really loves (and her "friend" loves even more) when something happens to her. Things don't stop there, howeve,r because the girl doesn't simply die out. No, she can be seen by her best friend, and the firend becomes determined to find out what happened. And what happened - its a bizarre of goodies, baddies, and weirdies.

I have to say, barring the end part where revenge always seems to reign, that I really liked Vocie. I agree with the other person that said that the gore is REALLy misleading - the only gore here is some fake blood - that's not really anything a person hasn't seen before. And the rest of it - it is something you can expect somewhat. you have the horrible little things that go on, tragedies that come up, tears, girls talking, girls figuring things out, girls smoking, girls on roofs - they really do almost everything except stay in class a long time.
All jokes aside, however, this is a good one for the end - i really liked it.

If you like the other installments, the 4th won't hurt at all. It is good, has some nice offerings, and makes me a happy camper. I gave it 4 stars because the ending always has a little of a drag but, in the series, it isn't a pain. It is just one of those things that makes the Whispering that much louder on the knwoing-what-you-get circuit.