Ahn Byeong-ki (안병기)

AHN Byeong-ki to Remake 'Phone' in English

Source | 2009/05/15 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Director AHN Byeong-ki's 2002 horror hit "Phone" is being reworked into an English-language version for the North American market, in an announced co-production between Seoul-based Mirovision and LA-based Imprint Entertainment. Original director AHN is attached to direct the remake, with principle shooting to take place in Korea.

In the wake of a slew of Hollywood remakes of Asian horror films such as The Ring, The Grudge, One Missed Call, and Dark Water, having profitably tested the waters, the new co-production is expected to follow in their success.

The original "Phone" drew 2.2 million admissions at the local box office in 2002. AHN went on to direct two more successful horrors, "Bunshinsaba" (2004) and "A.P.T" (2006). The director will also be credited as producer of the remake along with Mirovision CEO Jason CHAE and Imprint Ent'.s Mark Morgan who previously produced the successful vampire romance Twilight for the company.

With casting currently in discussion ...| More

YOO Ji-tae and LEE Yeon-hee in romantic film

Source | 2008/11/06 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Director RYOO Jang-ha is adapting the popular internet manwha (Korean equivalent of Japanese manga) Soonjeong Manwha by KANG Pool (real name: KANG Do-young), the English title will be "Hello Schoolgirl". The titular role will be played by LEE Yeon-hee and her love interest is a role by YOO Ji-tae.

The story is about a high school girl (LEE) who every morning sees a shy thirty-year-old businessman (YOO) at the elevator. The girl is not afraid to express her feelings for the man who is the first she feels romantic feelings for.

The young actress LEE is still mostly acting the roles of young women encountering their first love. She is currently also playing a similar assertive young woman in the television drama "East of Eden", and portrayed a headstrong young woman in the teenage drama "A Millionaire's First Love". In her previous film "M" (LEE Myeong-se), her character was a shy young woman whose love defied death.

YOO broke through internationally with his role opposite of ...| More

'Forbidden Floor' [DVD Review] Convincing characters married to standard J-horror shticks

Source | 2007/12/10 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

The second installment in the You Il-han and Ahn Byeong-ki team-up horror series concerns a young working mother Min-young (Kim Seo-hyeong, the victimized teacher in "Voice Letter"), who moves into an "office-tel" room (a studio flat that doubles as a workplace) with a kindergarten-age daughter (Kim Yoo-jeong). Of course, the office-tel turns out to be spooked by the spirit of another young mother, whose attacks are responsible for a series of mysterious deaths. Soon it is uncovered that the building originally had another floor (the "fourth floor", which, like the thirteenth floor in the West, is considered bad luck and usually absent in Korean buildings). When the vengeful spirit seeks to possess Min-young's daughter, she decides to uncover the sordid past of the office-tel building.

Written and directed by Kwon Il-soon, who received notice due to his short "Hide and Seek" (2001) that, not coincidentally, explores a young child's feelings of loss of her ...| More

'February 29': Deja Vu All Over the Place

Source | 2007/12/02 | 0 comments | Permalink |

[DVD Review] You Il-han's horror short given a lackluster adaptation

Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

"4 Horror Tales" was the 2006 summer season's top-line experiment of producing four horror movies based on Yoo Il-han's short stories on the cheap in high definition video. The tab was picked up by CJ Entertainment and TV station SBS. Yoo himself was involved as executive producer, teaming up with Korea's resident horror specialist Ahn Byeong-ki ("Phone", "A.P.T", among others) and giving opportunities to four young directors to scare up the audience in theaters as well as on TV screens.

The first installment "February 29 - 4 Horror Tales" might be of interest to the fans of "Dae Jang Geum" ("Jewel in the Palace"), a mega-hit Korean TV drama, since two among its main cast members, Im Ho (who played the Choseon monarch Joongjong) and Park Eun-hye (Jang-geum's friend Yeon-saeng), star in the movie....| More

Brussels Fantastic Invites 2 Korean Films

Source | 2007/03/20 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Two of last year's big budget fantasy thrillers have been invited to compete at the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film (BIFFF), set to run April 5th – 17th, 2007 in Belgium. BONG Joon-ho's record-smashing monster film "The Host" and JO Dong-oh's purgatorial fantasy "The Restless" will vie for the top international prize in the program.

Other Korean films selected to participate in the non-competition category are AHN Byeong-ki's residential horror "A.P.T" (2006), KIM Eun-kyeong's boarding school nightmare, "Roommates - 4 Horror Tales" (2006), JO Beom-jin's scatological animation "Aachi and Ssipak" (2006), LEE Si-myeong's biting comedy "Vampire Cop Ricky" (2006) and LIM Ah-ron's animated children's feature "Mug Travel" (2006).

BIFFF ranks along with Spain's Sitges and Portugal's Fantasporto as one of the world's top three fantastic film festivals. Previous Korean awardees at the festival include KIM Ki-duk's "The Isle" (2000) and JANG Joon-hwan's "Save the Gree...| More