The Red Shoes Review

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(More customer reviews)"The Red Shoes," is not a bad film; and for those who are new to the Korean horror, suspense, or thriller genre you may like this film. For me however, the film is very unoriginal. I have seen this type of stylistic suspense film already in too many Korean films. Throw in beautiful cinematography, some classical music: maybe Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart and perhaps Beethoven, and weave a psychological twist in the film and there you have it! Well not quite. I believe the reviewer below, [KURT W.] gave a very good description [AND PROBLEM] of the Korean horror film today. This is not a bad film, however, it's not a very good film either. Yet, it will appeal to some viewers.
There was a time when I would usually purchase a Tartan DVD almost immediately, as I found many of them were pretty darn good. But with so many alike, this began to get a little old. I think the film is good, and many will probably like the film. However, I also believe that you can pretty much figure out the film almost from the beginning in many of these Korean horror and suspense films [Not that this is a bad thing]. If you see a ghost, an angry spirit or some other supernatural occurance, this will later be explained [sometimes ambiguously] at the end of the film. The film "Acacia" would be typical of this type of an example.
I think the appeal of these types of films are mainly due to the fact that so many American horror/suspense films are so bad [usually] that these films seem to resonate with many American viewers. And this is a pretty bad indictment on our film industry. The film has very good color and camera visuals which one will find appealing. Also, there are some very good creepy scenes in the film. But if you have seen many of these types of films as I have, then you basically know what to expect at the end. I guess I am looking for something different. With the great skills of the directors and cinematographers, I believe they can come up with something different for a change. Once again, the film is not bad. However, it is still the same old formula used in so many other Korean films. Recommend with caution, however, it will appeal to some viewers.

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After catching her husband cheating with another woman, Sun Jae takes her young daughter and moves into a dilapidated old apartment building to start a new life. Heading home from work one day, Sun Jae finds a strange pair of high-heeled red shoes located inside her subway car, and decides to take them with her. Unfortunately, these shoes are cursed and cause unspeakable repercussions for those foolish enough to try them on.

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After Life (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)A masterfully humorous, compassionate, quiet and moving film by a Japanese director whose work has primarily been in documentaries. The premise is strange but thought-provoking: after death, you have to choose one memory to take with you into eternity; everything else will be forgotten. In a brilliant series of cuts the staff at a run-down, out-of-the-way establishment explain this to the weekly intake of their "clients"--people who have just died. They have three days to decide; then the staff, with summer-camp-like enthusiasm, stages tiny films that recreate the memories. On the last day of the week the films are shown, and the clients vanish, one by one, as they relive the memories that are projected.
Kore-Eda worked with actors and scripts, actors telling the camera their own memories, and non-professionals; the marvellous cast mixes all three and it's impossible to tell which is which. A young girl wants to relive Splash Mountain, only to reconsider after a worker gently tells her that thirty others had made the same choice that year. A boastful roue explains that the memory of course has to be of sex--and then chooses something quite different. An old woman remembers dancing for her older brother's friends in a red dress, and shyly coaches the little girl who will play her in the memory film. And a seventy-year-old salaryman can find nothing worth remembering, so videotapes of his life are requisitioned--touching off what plot there is.
There are no flashbacks and little overt drama, but as the clients look back at their lives the staff are drawn in, and the viewers, too, can't help but wonder what memory would be worth living with for ever. What glows from the placid surface of this extraordinary film is the wonder and mystery of everyday things, the tenuous but rich beauty of merely living. "After Life"-- the Japanese title is "Wonderful Life"--is only ostensibly about death; no film of recent years has been more life affirming.

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