Geoul sokeuro (2003)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Sung-ho Kim

Writer:

Sung-ho Kim (writer)

Release Date:

14 August 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

In the deep night, if you live alone, don't look in the mirror!

Plot:

An ex-cop now working as a security guard in a shopping mall tries to uncover the secret behind a series of mysterious deaths linked to mirrors

Plot Keywords:

Death | Murder | Mirror | Department Store | Security Guard

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Ji-tae Yu	...	Woo Yeong-min
Myeong-min Kim	...	Heo Hyeon-su
Hye-na Kim	...	Lee Ji-hyeon / Lee Jeong-hyeon
Ju-bong Gi	...	Jeong Il-seong
Myoeng-su Kim	...	Choi Sang-gi
Young-jin Lee	...	Choi Mi-jeong
Eun-pyo Jeong	...	Kim, Il-hwan

Also Known As:

Into the Mirror (International: English title)

Runtime:

South Korea:113 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (edited version) | Hong Kong:IIB | Argentina:13 | Sweden:15 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Singapore:PG (edited version) | South Korea:15 | UK:15

Company:

Key Plus Pictures

Movie Connections:

Remade as Mirrors (2008)

Decent thriller with good traditional photographic effect

This was only my fourth experience with a Korean film, and was probably the best I've seen so far.

By my so-far limited experience, Korean films share many production values with Canadian ones. Well-balanced real location lighting, good use of real ambient soundtracks, acting that is at times understated even to the point of awkwardness, and skilled use of traditional in camera photographic effects are among these.

As the title implies (English: Into the Mirror), there are a number of cleverly executed mirror shots throughout the film. For viewers who are fans of good photographic effects, this is a must-see for this reason alone.

This is a more "traditional" thriller, with decent suspense tying the story together. The film does not rely on fancy effects to fill in what would otherwise be plot; there's an actual story here, and though it may be somewhat disjointed at times, it follows throughout the film and leads to an ending that may not be entirely surprising, but is satisfying nonetheless.

I viewed the film with its original 5.1 soundtrack (very nicely mixed) and have to say that the English subtitling (at the least) is easy to follow.

A good watch for those who like suspense rather than mere graphic violence.