Ji-won (Ha-Neul Kim), suffering amnesia after an “incident” a year ago, has decided to study abroad, much to the chagrin of her possessive mother. When one of her old friends drowns in her kitchen, Ji-won begins to investigate the past, and discovers she was a rather unpleasant girl, with three unpleasant friends, all of whom are targets for a ghost. When she uncovers that they used to abuse a fifth girl who disappeared a year ago, it seems clear who the ghost is, but not what to do about it.
A Korean take on the vengeful “yūrei” spirit, The Ghost has enough twists and tension to satisfy horror buffs and enough clues and complications for mystery enthusiasts. But it really wins on character. Asian horror is often weak on defining who we are watching and what they are like (see Whispering Corridors or The Heirloom), but here we really get to know the heroine. It’s an advantage of the amnesia tale. At the beginning, we don’t know the character, but neither does she, and we learn together.
The Ghost is not going to satisfy viewers who’ve tired of the look and feel of Asian horror. If you’ve watched a half dozen J/K/#-horror films, you know this ghost, seen the directing and editing style, and heard the music. Of course if you’ve seen a half dozen films in any movement, then you’re unlikely to find much new in any additional movies, but Westerners tend to be more susceptible to this kind of fatigue with Eastern movies. Yes, till the end, there’s not a lot new here, but what’s old is done slickly.
As for what is new, that’s the ending, and you’ll rarely find a more convoluted conclusion. It all makes sense, eventually. I almost needed a diagram to keep it clear and would have been grateful for the clichéd scene that’s in almost every American horror-mystery when the survivors state what it was all about. Still, it is better to be obscure than overly predictable.
While the ghost story is vibrant, filled with requisite frights, the romance is dead on arrival. Ji-won’s potential boyfriend serves no purpose in the movie except to slow things down, which isn’t a desired job. He doesn’t bring needed emotion, he isn’t part of the mystery, and he never effects the plot. He’s just there, hanging around, taking up screen time.
The Ghost isn’t a game changer. It is, however, a satisfying ghost story.