Oh boy. Another long-haired girl ghost pumped out by the Asian horror generator. For those who are new to Asian horror, movies centered around creepy long-haired female ghosts (a la "The Ring" or "The Grudge") are the slasher movies of Asian cinema - there are ten million of them, and they're generally riddled with clichés. This film centers around an amnesiac college student whose high school friends have begun to die mysteriously, apparently at the hands of a creepy long-haired ghost girl. Naturally, the poor main character must go and dredge up her lost memories to find out this angry spirit's identity and what exactly her beef is. Now, let me get this out on the table - there is almost nothing original about this movie. If you have seen a couple other Asian horror movies, especially "The Grudge" and "Shutter", you have basically seen this movie (There is one scene that honestly looks like it was straight up stolen from "Shutter"). Now, a few good words for the movie. It is well-paced and does have some decently scary moments, which is unusual for Korean horror flicks IMO. Most Korean horror movies I have seen are extremely slow, not scary in the least, and make very little sense. This movie avoids all but the last one. The plot is fairly straightforward for most of the film, but there is a twist at the end which comes basically out of nowhere, except for some extremely vague foreshadowing. Add this to an opening scene that seems to have no relation to the rest of the movie, and you've got a recipe for confusion. Again, however, it is far from the worst I've seen. I would really not go so far as to call this a bad movie. The budget was obviously pretty high and the film itself looks pretty slick. Again, there are some decent scares, though nothing that will stay with you afterwards. It could be enjoyable to newcomers (and I mean REALLY new) to the Asian horror genre, but others are better off giving it a pass.
Review of Dead Friend
