Ryeong (2004)

Director:

Tae-kyeong Kim

Writer:

Tae-kyeong Kim (writer)

Release Date:

18 June 2004 (South Korea)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Don't remember... Take it to your grave.

Plot:

A teenage girl suffering from amnesia discovers that she is somehow connected to a group of people who are being killed off one by one by a vengeful ghost.

Plot Keywords:

Amnesia | Ghost | Jealousy | Spiritual Possession

Cast

Ha-Neul Kim	...	Min Ji-won
Sang-mi Nam	...	Su-in
Bin	...	Eun-seo
Yi Shin	...	Mi-kyeong
Hie-ju Jeon	...	Yu-jeong
Yun-ji Lee	...	Eun-jeong
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ran Choi	...	Su-in's mum
Ju-bong Gi	...	Detective
Hae-suk Kim	...	Ji-won's mum
Grina Park
Jin Ryu	...	Park Jun-ho
Hye-jeong Kang	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Su-jeong Lim	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Tae-kyeong Kim

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Tae-kyeong Kim		writer

Production Companies

• Popcorn Films

Distributors

• Happinet Corporation (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Showbox Entertainment (2004) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Force Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• I-On New Media (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (USA) (all media)
• Stardis Pictures (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Tartan Video USA (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Dead Friend (International: English title)
The Ghost (International: English title) (Singapore: English title)

Runtime:

South Korea:98 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:12 | Germany:16 | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | UK:15

Filming Locations:

South Korea

Company:

Popcorn Films

Korean ghost movie brings nothing new to the table

I had high expectations going into this. I love ghost stories and I love Asian horror. After recently seeing A Tale of Two Sisters (another Korean ghost/horror movie) and loving it I thought this would be scary, intelligent and original. However, this was far from original, in fact, it was a mix-up of Ju-On: The Grudge and Dark Water. The ghost looked like a mixture of Sadako from (Ring) and Kayako (Ju-On) and the water element has been used before in Ring and Dark Water. The director does manage to conjure up some atmosphere and an interesting enough story to keep the movie going but it's not enough to disguise the many stolen elements (and scenes!) The acting wasn't anything spectacular and the score sounded very familiar to The Grudge's. The ending was a surprise, and a good one at that. It caught me unaware and it did make me think a bit after. Overall it seems the good and the bad outweighed each other and the movie for me was just average. Atmospheric and interesting enough to keep me watching but too unoriginal for my liking.

2½/5