Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

Nightmare (Byeong-ki Ahn, 2000)

Let's start off by saying that you've seen this movie before. Many times, probably. Group of young-and-beautifuls shares dark secret that returns to bite them in the collective behind, and they start dying one by one. The subject of many a giallo, and later, many an American slasher film. Why not resurrect it in the Asian horror boom?

Well, I'll tell you why-- because it's not always the case that Asian horror is better than American (or Italian) horror simply because it came from somewhere west of Hollywood and east of Bollywood. While it has generally been the case that they do grow 'em big out there, some Asian horror films are simply derivative shlock that's, at best, worth killing an hour and a half with, and that's the case here. There's no real standout acting, the direction is competent if pedestrian, the movie relies heavily on Western tricks to make you jump out of your chair rather than setting the eerie atmosphere that makes so many Asian horror films of the last thirty years so wonderful. That said, the young-and-beautifuls really are young and beautiful, and like most bad genre horror/mystery flicks, it moves along at a rapid enough pace that it's not a torture to watch. So if you've rented every other Tartan Asia Extreme movie your video store has, this isn't the worst choice you could go home with. **

"Nightmare," by director Byeong-ki Ahn, is neither a very good horror film, nor a very good slasher film. The film begins with a pretty good start: You witness the body of a young girl in a morgue who is having her eyes stitched shut. Fast forward into the future, and the films narrative begins with a a group of former college friends who are being killed off one by one. Is this the work of a mentally unstable woman? Or is it the vengeful spirit of one of the groups former friends who was accidentally killed years before? The film leaves you guessing as to whether or not this is the work of either a killer, or a ghost. Or maybe both?

As the films narrative moves along, you see a young woman, Sun-ae (Jeong-yun Choi) who has just returned from the United States, after a two year absence. Moreover, she is hiding out in one of the friends' apartment; and she believes the ghost of this vengeful spirit is out to take revenge and kill her. The viewer sees Kyungh-ah (Ji-won Ha) as the vengeful ghost who is on an unstoppable mission. Or is it? As the bodies begin to pile up, some of the friends are warned by detectives that one of the girls, Sun-ae (Jeong-yun Choi) has been in a mental hospital, and is either the killer, or maybe in danger herself. She has sought refuge in the apartment of one of her friends, who was also once part of her inner circle of friends: Hye-jin (Gyu-ri Kim).

These few survivors are what remain of the college friends who know of the terrible secret regarding Kyungh-ah [aka: Eun-ju]. Although this film was probably inspired by "Prom Night," that is not the problem. The major problem with this film is the scriptwriting and cohesion of the film itself. The film is very disjointed, and the back and forth flashbacks from past and present were a little irritating. And while the film was not really original, I could deal with that. However, the film was slow and boring. This film will probably appeal to those who like slasher films, whether or not it is foreign. This is not the worst Asian horror film I have seen, however, the film just isn't that good either.