I welcome Asian horror movies for a number of reasons, particularly because each of them carries a message, not just a scaremonger. “The Cursed Melody” is such a movie. There are scary scenes here, but the film did not focus on them - it is a film about the competition among young singers for the title of best.
The fact that we have a horror, you do not immediately understand, because the beginning introduces us to the environment of preparing new participants for performances on stage. The girl Yun-ju does not get along with friends who consider her a withering flower that missed the time of its heyday. Watching the instability in the female team, you gradually join it, feeling something very close, because everyone in real life at least ever wanted to be better than others. And at the moment when the viewer is already preparing for an intriguing drama, where pride and defeat will divide the neighborhood, the most interesting and frightening begins. Fear in the film grows gradually, slipping at first only in scenes with a suspicious lost recording of an old performance with unknown performers, and then flowing into the real world, overtaking the concert participants one by one. The closer you get to the end, the more you feel something terrible, lurking not only in the spoiling video files, but everywhere behind the scenes. The real nightmare embodies the ghost of a victim of a long-standing fire, which is no less frightening than Kayako Saeki from the Japanese "Curse".
But the main point of "The Cursed Melody" is that we often act too cruelly and selfishly, trying to become famous. Fame turns us against others and makes us hurt them to leave us behind. The vengeance of an angry spirit in the film is therefore perceived as a just retribution for excessive pride, which in the end succumbs even Yun-Ju, embarrassed initially by other participants. But no matter how much the girl has changed, she still disposes to herself, causing sincere regret for her fate.
In fact, it was Yoon-Joo and her friend Sun-Yo who became my favorite heroines. Ham Yun-John and Hwang Woo-Sul-Hye played best. The rest of the actresses and actors did a good job, but I can not speak of any character as ill-conceived or superfluous.
I can’t say that “The Cursed Melody” is a masterpiece, because to some points I have questions: the last minutes fly so fast and there is so much going on in them that you don’t really have time to understand what exactly happens. It is quite possible to watch this film for those who are already familiar with Asian horror films, since this film does not stand out. But at the same time, it is for the fact that “The Cursed Melody” has all the elements characteristic of many Asian horror films that I put the mark “good”.
8 out of 10
I thought this was an ordinary film about a group of girls rushing into the Korean show business, but it turned out to be not a simple film, the film turned out to be such a plot that is just super.
It begins as an ordinary drama (this is an Asian youth series), in which a group of Pink Dolls girls participate in a competition and lose and then accidentally find old records of one White clip.
Further, the plot goes into mysticism is what cases occur with the girls participating in the group; horrors are the most delicious at the end; the detective story is very famously developing that Hollywood is resting, and all this is so competently put that it looks harmonious, the picture is excellent, the camera is above all praise!
Actress Ham Eun Jeong, she's gorgeous, she's a very talented and attractive girl! And in white, she was dazzlingly beautiful. Other girls also liked them, they were very reliable in their ambitions, aspirations to be the main vocalist.
By the way, what Asian horror films are appreciated and loved for is the fact that they have an atmosphere of the very horror from which there is usually frost on the skin, so this is enough in the film.
Well, the title song White, really hit - very obsessive and melodic.
Having read the synopsis, it seemed to me that nothing new and original film is not and certainly not distinguished by something interesting, but attracted the musical theme (because we are talking about musical groups). That was the reason to watch it, but I was actually preparing for the worst. As they say, you don’t check, you won’t know.
The beginning does not bring much clarity, but you already understand that the bundle does not seem to be full of stupidity and the tape is not one of those that remove incompetence, and, therefore, it is worth looking further, which, in fact, I did. Everything is quite logical and quite fascinating: with tension you follow the plot and note the quality of the picture, which is even surprising in the current state of affairs with the horror genre, which is rapidly rolling into tartara. It is good to think that all is not lost.
An interested viewer watches what is happening on the screen, not suspecting that the finale of the film is not at all his middle, and looks surprised at the screen when, having survived all the misadventures and “understood” in the intricacies of other people’s destinies that caused terrible events, the main character An Ju continues the story. I confess, I was even surprised when, like, in a well-understood story (and if you interpret it that way - that is, the story with the first part of "White" - the plot turns out to be quite banal) came up with an original move. Perhaps this made me completely change my initial opinion about the tape in general.
In general, it is probably no secret that in the race to become as famous as possible, singers and various musical groups just go out of their way to outdo each other and not always these competitions end peacefully. That’s how I would describe the general essence, which, to be honest, doesn’t seem like something really new to many. But there is one very interesting circumstance in the film, which sooner or later will make the viewer think about his actions, because any Asian film (especially horror) is always aimed at realizing and rethinking himself and his values. But we all know that sooner or later you will have to pay for it. And everyone who had the honor to at least get acquainted with the description for the film, it will not be difficult to unravel the common mystery - yes, it is again a question of revenge. In general, it seems that revenge is the only topic that is fully supported not only by Koreans, but also by Chinese, Japanese, etc. Yes, simply because this topic will never leave the viewer indifferent, especially if this revenge is really needed. Sometimes for the viewer this is a real outlet.
That's probably why we watch horror. Especially Asian horrors. In "The Cursed Melody" everything is in its place - this I have not seen in a long time. Although not a revolution in cinema, but definitely a quality story with its own set of “horror stories”, and for the first time in my life, it seems that I wanted a vengeful ghost to prevail. Thank you to the wonderful actresses, who were not only “white and fluffy”, but also distinguished themselves by their talent. Omitting the small details of the game, I will highlight Ham Eun Jeong, Woo-seul-hye Hwang and Maydoni. These three girls made a good impression on me, which, by the way, does not mean that everyone else did not excel.
In general, quite "pretty" and very even watchable horror. In addition to the “quiet” horror, there is a good intrigue here, which I personally was able to solve until I reached the final. Perhaps it was even better - it was several times more interesting to watch. And I think that's right.
The main characters are a group of girls "Pink Dolls", consisting of four girls: beautiful McNe - A Rang, the main vocalist - Je Ni, the dancer - Shin Kyi, and the oldest, the leader of the group - Eun Zhu. The group tries to break through to the musical Olympus, but constantly loses to the more famous group "Pure". Once again losing the competition, they are forced to move to a new hostel, recently renovated after a terrible fire that occurred fifteen years ago. While cleaning up, Eun Joo finds an old recording of a music video called White. The song is mesmerizing and the manager decides to use the song as a new single for Pink Dolls. Thanks to the song, the girls climb to the top of the chat rooms and everything goes fine until a decision is made that the song is not suitable for the group - it should be sung by a soloist. And in the group begins the struggle for the place of the main. Girls, one by one, end up in hospital beds in serious condition. And only Eun Joo realizes that the song is to blame, as well as the ghost of the dead White girl in the fire. She decides with the help of a friend to stop the curse.
I can say one thing, I was not afraid. There were times when it was disgusting. Well, it was a little strained by the flashing of frames with a ghost during the panic at the last contest. I really liked the movie.
The girls handled the roles well. Ham Eun Jeong, who played Eun Joo, I was already familiar with “Dream Obsessed”, she played the negative role of Baek Hee there. Here she is almost the main character, who strives to become famous, but pays a rather high price for it. At first, she did not get involved with the role of leader, because she completely calmly carried all the mockery of the girls in her address (I would not resist and definitely punched in the face a couple of times). But then it shows character.
A couple of girlfriends – a beauty ( Cho A Ra) and a vocalist ( Jin Si Yen) – finished, impudent, always dissatisfied. The dancer ("Maidoni") kept up well until it was her turn to try the role of the main one.
I really liked Eun Jeong’s girlfriend, Sun Ye (Woo-seul-hye Hwang), an attractive actress, and the character was the most reasonable.
OST. Good. I didn’t see anything bad in the song, except what caught me. Invisibly penetrates the brain, and you no longer notice how you hum "hot - hot - hot - hot - hot". I also liked the guys-rappers who performed at one of the concerts, the song catches the rhythm.
I loved the movie, the music and the horror. The peculiarity can be determined that the ghost was with white hair, and not dark, as usual in Asian horror films. Not as scary as I wanted, not as musical as I expected. But, the intrigue tried to keep to the end, and it succeeded.
When I talk about movies, I always think about the words of the great Hitchcock. The true quality of the painting does not change. After all, no matter how twisted, it is impossible to make professional work weak.” It is difficult to argue with such an expression and I think it is even stupid. That's just no secret that most often when perceiving a particular tape, not the last place has a mentality and similar qualities of a person. That’s why dumb comedies in the spirit of “American Pie” are hugely popular in the United States, and fantasy is just the same in other countries. So on a similar note, most blockbusters at home are perceived rather mediocre in other countries. What I can give on the example of this tape, which turned out to be one of the highest-grossing products in the history of Korean cinema, but not good enough that I would call the film a masterpiece.
Of course, it is not a bad movie. The directors of the film Kim Gok and Kim Sung tried to fame. Only to the level of the masterpiece they did not reach a little. Perhaps due to the fact that the film is not shot in the usual style of Korean horror, but with a clear emphasis on the Western style of the genre. That’s only if the Western format focuses on blood fountains and spectacular deaths, then the stake is still on the atmosphere and it pleases. Although it is worth admitting that in this film the atmosphere is far from the most important and the film pleases to a greater extent with its visual appearance. Especially in the context of scenes of performances that are filmed very energetically, brightly and juicy. The songs are energetic, the girls are cute, the bodies are juicy and all this gives something like live performances and clips, rather than passing scenes of the tape. And it is worth admitting that in terms of the genre of the thriller, the film is very famous.
In the film a decent number of BU scenes, which are accompanied by the skillful camera work of Kwon San Jin and sustained in the best traditions of the clip manner of shooting. After all, this gives not only luxurious shots, their chic composition, but also makes all this a logical tool in the construction of all the terrible scenes of the tape. Of course, they are not as spectacular as Western films and with not so many corpses, but the deaths and spectacular moments seen look quite spectacular. And most importantly, at the genre level. Which is a pleasure. And I am glad that the film fully worked out the money spent on it. All the scenery and scope of the picture gives quite reasonable and worthy arguments for spending money on the project.
Devoted fans of the Korean horror genre and a number of dedicated viewers will immediately notice that the plot of the picture is not original in principle. After all, again the plot revolves around the mysterious curse and death of one girl who willingly kills the main characters in the course of the picture. Such an example of originality is perhaps that, unlike most damned girls with black hair, here the evil spirit of a girl appears with white hair. It's a small thing, but it's nice.
Actually, as well as how the creators were able to build a plot even with a rather conservative and stamped plot. Where all originality lies in the subject of the curse. It wasn’t a house or a person or something we’ve seen in a bunch of similar movies. The plot famously revolves around the music industry, and in the course of the plot we see the underside of such a glossy world for us and this production kitchen seems far from as fun as we know it. Hence, I personally believe that the element of horror and the morality of the picture does not revolve around the spirit of an angry girl, but rather around the female abilities in general. After all, we are all people quite ambitious, selfish and most of us are even ready to go on our heads to achieve the goal.
In this case, the main villains are the girls themselves from the team, who willingly plot each other to become the leading soloist in the group. It doesn't matter if it's big or small, but the fact remains. Which in a milder form suggests that man is a wolf to man. Hence, in principle, not sorry for any of the heroines of the tape. Because on the screen, we see them transform from pretty pretty girls into selfish creatures. Although we can say that in such a harsh business, you can not succeed in another way and this is bad. If you discard such an important meaning of the tape, the plot is sustained quite well and in the best traditions of the genre. It is not surprising that the most interesting things are reserved for the very end. Where the plot unfolds from a very unexpected side and it gives a rather juicy, but open ending of the tape. The continuation is unlikely, but such a move is definitely intriguing.
It is a pity that the lead roles were not performed by the lead singer of my favorite K-Pop band Girl’s Generation, as planned earlier. I am glad that the replacement was not bad. From the actress required not only the ability to play, but also plastic with decent vocals. Hence, it is not surprising that the main roles were performed not only by actresses, but also by professional singers in real life. Yes, and played Ham Eun Jeong, Hwang Woo Seol Hye, Ma I Do Ni, Cho A Ra and Jin Se Yeon. All five girls played naturally and equally well. And as a fan of Asian girls, it was a hell of a pleasure to watch the whole movie. Especially for Ma I Do Ni, which hit me the most.
The music of a fairly well-known pop composer S. Tiger turned out to be very not bad. It’s no surprise that the music was created by him. The movie is about the music industry and he ate the dog. The music turned out to be very juicy, tense and nervous. Which is perfectly combined with the genre of thriller tape. And the songs of the composer were successful. Especially the main soundtrack of the tape White, which can rightly be considered a hit. For the music turned out to be energetic, light and unambiguously bribing to itself.
7 out of 10
Quite tense, mysterious, intriguing and bright horror film with elements of a thriller. It's a joy for both the eyes and the mind. I loved the movie and would recommend it to you.