Jeong Woo-cheol (정우철)

'Cello' Horror Best Tuned Out

Source | 2006/09/10 | Permalink |

[DVD Review] Listless spook show is a typical post-'Ring' Asian horror flick

Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

"Cello" is a typical example of the lugubriously underwhelming horror films flooding Korean theaters every summer season. The first decade of 21st century has seen an out-and-out flourishing of Korean horror films, once a vilified and ignored genre. A few among them, like "A Tale of Two Sisters" and "Memento Mori", beautiful, mysterious and emotionally engaging, have attained the status of minor classics. Others, including "Into the Mirror", "The Uninvited", "R-Point" and "Voice" ("Voice Letter") have experimented with a mixture of genres, refinement in techniques and style, or infusion of art-house sensibilities, winning praise among critics and support among more patient viewers. And then there are the rest: the hopelessly cliched and listlessly non-frightening, which still constitute, unfortunately, the numerical majority.

There are many reasons for this state of affairs. Si...| More