20131018: Horror Review--White

White: the Melody of the Curse

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. South Korean live action feature length film, 2011, NR, 106 minutes, horror, music, mystery.  Spoken word is Korean; English subtitles.
2. IMDB: 6.1/10.0 from 517 users.  Aspect: 2.35
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 'No reviews yet,' and 53% liked it from 70 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.5/5.0 from 60,492 users.
5. Directed by: Kim Sun and Kim Gok.  Screenplay by: Kim Gok, Kim Sun.
6. Starring: Eun-jeong as Eun-joo, Woo-seul-hye Wang as Soon-ye, Maydoni as Sin-ji.


2. Setup and Plot
1. The all girl group "Pink Dolls" has never quite come to the forefront in the Korean music scene.  Other groups are always ahead of them in the rankings.


2. They move to new digs that their agents got cheap because it was damaged in a fire.  One of the group discovers an old VHS tape where another group performs 'White.'  This song turns out to be free for the taking (no rights to buy).  When they start performing the song 'White,' they rocket to the top.


3. Unfortunately for them, members of the band start having mental problems.  One thinks she's being strangled.  Another starts having problems with her eyes.  Both end up in hospital with some actual injuries.  How the real injuries occur is not explained all that much in the film.


4. The agency attempts to fill in the injured parties to reconstitute the group.  The remaining members investigate the old band and agency to see what went wrong the first time through.  One of the replacements is injured in a freak accident (well, perhaps) while filming a side reality show segment.


5. Eun-joo, the girl who is to be the next lead singer makes some progress after sleeping with the sponsor of the group.  She has a vision of her predecessor being wounded and committing suicide, then is able to find what's left of the suicide note.  The two remaining hold a religious ceremony to soothe the dead lead singer, and they hope things will be better this time around.


6. Eun-joo dies her hair white and makes a solo recording.  All seems to go well.  The three injured girls wake up simultaneously in the hospital and make rapid recoveries.  They blame Eun-joo, but she is not having it.


7. Meanwhile, the remaining girl from the original Pink Dolls and the sound engineer continue the fine examination of the VHS tape content from the first filming of 'White.'


8. The three girls injured previously make a date to perform.  Instead of performing, they drink poison to commit suicide.  Live.


9. The research with the sound engineer continues.  Will new information save Eun-joo?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Well-made modern ghost story from Korea.
2. Four stars of five


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 Sharp focus, lush color saturation, good framing, just lovely.


2. Sound: 10/10  Good!


3. Acting: 7/10 Meh.


4. Screenplay: 7/10 I rate it high on coherence, but low on resolution.