Diagonaldi Very well executed

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Derek Childs (totalovrdose) If you have never witnessed a horror movie before, then Whispering Corridors will more than likely scare you. For someone like me, who has an entire bookcase devoted to horror movies, there was only one moment in the feature that caused me to jump. Although Whispering Corridors contains elements that are quintessential to the horror genre, it works best as a character drama, shrouded by mystery and suspense, revealing to us the hardships of education, especially in South Korean culture, and the importance of friendship.Though released in 1998, Whispering Corridors has lost none of its poignancy, and though I was late to jump on board the Whispering Corridors franchise (none of the films were ever released in my country), the movie is surely one that should not be missed. If you are after a horror movie that will scare the pants right off you, I'm afraid by the end, your trousers will still be firmly attached to your legs. At the same time however, Whispering Corridors is able to grab your attention right from the opening scene, and refuses to let go, even after you've ejected the disc from your player.Eun-young (Mi-yeon Lee) is a teacher, only recently employed at the same all girls high school she attended as a student nine years earlier. Her time there is far from normal after receiving an ominous phone call from her former home room teacher Mrs. Park, concerning her best childhood friend Jin-ju, who tragically died on campus, but is suspected of haunting school property. Immediately after this phone call, Mrs. Park's life takes a turn for the worse, and a group of students the next morning find her hanging from an overpass.Alongside Eun-young, three characters strongly focused upon are Lim Ji-oh (Gyu-ri Kim), a gifted artist, and the timid Yoon Jae-yi (Choi Se-yeon), who, although a bit of an outsider, is far more sociable than interloper Kim Jung-sook (Ji-hye Yun). Through witnessing these characters lives we experience the difficulties of the education system, the teachers doing all they can to benefit the talented intellectual geniuses of the class, while those under-par, or who put one toe out of line, are subjected to intimidation and cruelty.Despite many of the characters been teenagers, I found myself engrossed in their lives, not one of them ever annoying me, although the same can't be said for American films of the same genre. By returning to her high school, Eun-young is able to witness how nothing has changed since her time as an adolescent, as she remembers past events, while taking Mrs. Park's final words to heart. The characters in the film are brilliantly portrayed, the audience becoming deeply involved in their lives to the point that we aren't just sympathetic towards them, but genuinely care for their well-being.The suspense in this intriguing mystery is marvelously conveyed, viewers being required to experience every second of this film in order to comprehend the many plots that are taking place. Although there are scenes with blood, the film doesn't rely upon grotesque violence, nor in your face scares to keep your interest.Although there are a couple elements of the film that remain somewhat unexplained by the end, the audience, after receiving a plentiful amount of entertainment, are able to use their own imagination to concoct potential answers. With a series of terrific camera shots that compliment the story, alongside entertaining, well thought out characters, Whispering Corridors is an intelligent, moving feature that you simply must see.

kluseba The first part of the very loosely bound "Yeogo goedam" series that tell stories about supernatural events happening in Korean girl schools is the best one I have seen so far and easily beats the second and third part.This movie mixes everything a good psychological suspense movie needs. The opening scene is very dark and somewhat confusing. The atmosphere of the movie is creepy and addicting. The playing of the young Korean actresses is very well done and offers a multitude of intriguing characters. From time to time, there some supernatural events and surprises that take place but nothing that seems to be too unreal or out of vogue. Until the end you keep on guessing who is behind all the tragic events that take place throughout the movie and many scenarios are possible. After that, the film lets you on a mysterious and dark note and finishes the dark flick in a creepy way.The tension and atmosphere is always quite high in this movie. There are not many shocking effects or gore scenes but a dark atmosphere that equals and even overpowers the usual flicks of the same genre. The great acting and a few interesting revelations keep the tension high and develop the different characters.The only negative thing might be that the idea of such a movie is not quite new and that the final revelations could have been even more developed and surprising and I was expecting something more spectacular. But those are only two rather subjective points and though this movie is nothing pretty outstanding, it's at least worth eight points and I completely understand why the general idea of this first flick lead to a total of now four sequels. The movie is really entertaining and far better than the American high school horror movies. You don't have to watch the sequels that are less impressive, but this first movie should be on your list if you like Asian cinema or high school suspense movies.

Soucriant 'Whispering Corridors' is set in a South Korean all-girls high school, focusing on a senior class and four of its students. Although it's a horror film, Whispering Corridors seems to be a drama at heart. The school building is very atmospheric and eerie, and there's some spooky shots of long corridors and deserted classrooms. Along with that, we also explore the extremely competitive and harsh South Korean education system, identity and reputation, and the relationships between the four students and one teacher.After the suicide of Mrs Park (or 'Old Fox' as she's known amongst the pupils), rumours begin circulating around the school about what caused her death. Girls fall out, and come together; there's a ghost who apparently haunts the old, disused art room, and people aren't who they first appear to be...A thinking man's film indeed, this will have you scratching your head in some parts. Not a lot of blood, but some tense scenes of violence. A chilling atmosphere and setting endures throughout, the director certainly knows how to set a scene. He also gets the best of the cast, who are all exceptional. Mr Oh; aka Mad Dog, is a particular stand-out as a vile, abusive teacher. Altogether a very character and theme driven story, with interesting social commentary. If you like slow-burn, atmospheric, subtle horror, you'll like this. P.S. There's an intriguing quote towards the end, where a character says "It didn't matter who I chose as long as I filled the seats." A comment on the emphasis upon status and reputation in the classroom, and thus, lack of identity? Or a jab at the thought that Asians look really similar? (At least to those from outside Asia.) Or both?

refresh daemon I really didn't expect much going into this film. I think I'd been burned by too many mediocre horror movies featuring ghosties in the past, so to watch one of the grandmamas of the modern Asian ghost girl genre had me bracing for every trite conceit that could be thrown my way. Whispering Corridors surprised me. Rather than really being a flashy story about hauntings and killings, it turns out more to be an exploration of the impact of the brutal South Corean high school system on the youth that attend it, using the horror genre as the medium.First of all, I have to say that I wasn't frightened during this film. Not even for a brief moment. Rather than suspense and thrills, I was hooked into the mystery and dramatic elements that were at play. The way that the story is spun, there's no question as to who the ghost was or why it's doing the haunting, but rather, what the ghost's secret is. Now, astute viewers will pick up in the first few scenes of the film what we're looking for and I even managed to make the correct guess at it--although I really just had to watch to have my guess confirmed.Another interesting aspect of the story is that there are three stories going on. One about an artistic student trying to express herself in a system that cares little for her expression, another about a former student who returns as a teacher trying to make peace with her memories and the last about a student rivalry between a model student and the second-rank peer. The strength of this approach is that we anticipate the collision of the separate story lines and are rewarded when they do collide. The weakness of the approach is that the story has to juggle three (well, really two--the third is a B-story) protagonists and sometimes seems to suffer from a lack of focus.The film was clearly made in an era of Corean film-making that hasn't yet reached its more modern proficiency and the equipment/film stock used will have an almost grindhouse/direct-to-video feel to it for those who are only used to modern American/European cinema. Nevertheless, while the directing nor acting is spectacular, it is presented sufficiently as not to serve as a detraction from the story.All in all, this is actually a pretty decent film, even if it's not as much of a horror film as I was expecting. The interesting intertwined story lines and the use of horror to explore societal and personal burdens (and with some measure of tact) left me pleasantly surprised with Whispering Corridors. I can't recommend it to all viewers as the aesthetics might turn off those only looking for beautiful films and those looking for scary ghost or gorefests will be horribly disappointed. But this is an interesting look at the Corean high school experience as well as an intriguing mystery. So, recommended to those with open minds and a willingness to look past the genre for the story within. 8/10.