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18 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the Better Asian Horrors, 15 October 2005
8/10
Author: Iok from Hiding Behind The Sofa

"The Ghost" tells the story of Ji-Won, a young student suffering from amnesia. Ostracised by her former friends and haunted by strange visions, she begins to try to unravel the mystery of her past...

Despite what people may say, there's only most tenuous links to the classic "Ringu" and the not-quite-so-good "Dark Water." Look beyond the shared imagery (which is from classical Japanese/Asian mythology anyway and wasn't invented by Nakata) and judge this movie on its own merits and you'll find a very cleverly structured, disturbing and touching horror movie with a clever twist and some memorably creepy scenes.

A far superior movie to the overly praised "Dark Water" and right up there with "A Tale of Two Sisters" as Korea's premiere horror.

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15 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Creepy,but unoriginal South Korean horror., 18 July 2005
8/10
Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland

A young female college student Ji-won who has recovered from a serious accident,which led her to have amnesia.As she attempts to put her past together and get her current life straightened out,she slowly comes to realize that those she associated with in high school are now turning up dead and all are keyed to water.As fragments of her memories and the people she knew come together,she experiences weird visions of a girl drowning and what she thinks is a ghost following her around.Could there be a connection?"Dead Friend" is obviously inspired by Hideo Nakata's "Ringu" and "Dark Water",but it certainly offers some genuine scares.The most terrifying moments in "Dead Friend" come from the appearance of a ghostly girl with drenched hair and one evil eye looking out from the mass of hair.The climax is extremely creepy and surprising,so I was pleased.The cinematography is gorgeous with a lovely green look and the sound effects are awesome.Watch "Dead Friend" alone in the dark and it will creep you out.8 out of 10.

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Creepy, But With a Complex and Confused Twist, 1 June 2007
7/10
Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The teenager Min Ji-won (Ha-Neul Kim) is suffering from amnesia and being haunted by weird visions. When she meets her former high school friend Oh Yu-jeong (Hie-ju Jeon), she receives a picture of her high school group of friends: Kim Eun-seo (Bin), who had recently died; Shin Mi-kyeong (Yi Shin), who is in the hospital and Eun-jeong (Yun-ji Lee). Ji-won questions who took the picture, and when she visits her former friends, she recalls Han Su-in (Sang-mi Nam), a girl that was badly treated and humiliated by their group, disclosing her past and the fate of Su-in and finding a scary hidden truth.

"The Ghost" is a creepy and scary movie, but like other Asian horror movies (for example, "The Tale of the Twin Sisters" or "Rinne"), has a complex, confused and intriguing twist in the end. My first difficulty was to associate the names of the characters performed by the gorgeous actresses with their faces. I repeated the first chapters three times to make this association. When Ji-won meets her mother in the end unraveling the mystery, I repeated three or four times to clarify the twist. If I were in the movie theater, I would not have the chance of rewinding and understanding the plot. But Asian horror movie is my favorite genre and I liked this film a lot, and I startled many times, especially with the scary atmosphere and the soundtrack. This is the type of movie that deserves to be watched at least two times. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

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14 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Best Korean Horror Film I've seen, 26 June 2004
9/10
Author: Jay Shin from Seoul, S. Korea

Without a doubt, the best Korean Horror movie I've seen so far. This movie is creepy, has nice effects, and actually has a story which is understandable and doesn't have a deranged theme. I mean, you don't have some whining ghost who was cheated by her boyfriend or a schizophrenic girl having fits. This movie has a ghost whom I can actually sympathize with.

Like other Asian horror films, this film is more creepy than scary. The atmosphere makes you tense. The sound effects and the theme of water is enough to give you the creeps. And the acting, though not top-notch, is enough to satisfy you.

I admit, this isn't the MOST scariest film you'll ever find. But it IS the best Korean Horror film I've seen so far. Better than Phone(I hated the ending; pretty twisted and pathetic) and Janghwa Hongryun: A Tale of Two Sisters (I still don't get that movie -_-), at least.

Pretty enjoyable. **** out of *****

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
The Ghost, 1 July 2008
7/10
Author: Scarecrow-88 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

An amnesiac, Ji-won(Ha-Neul Kim, playing the character as vacant and lost as possible)troubled by a traumatic past which is slowly unraveling memories, begins to realize that a ghost, possibly of a high school girl, Su-in(Sang-mi Nam)is killing former friends who ridiculed this girl because of her low-income status. What Ji-won doesn't realize is that her "past self" was a nasty rich bitch who treated those less fortunate, from a financial standpoint, like dirt while her "rat pack" would join in on the festivities of name calling among other cruelties. Along with her boyfriend, Ji-won will indeed seek out the truth behind the deaths of her former friends and who is behind them. Soon, the complete mystery tucked away in her subconscious, will reveal a horrifying drowning that perhaps shapes what has been taking place to her former school chums. Each of Ji-won's high school friends die by drowning shortly after the ghost appears to them in a vulnerable state unable to find help from their menacing visitor.

As you've read throughout the user comment section already, "The Ghost" is stylishly directed and rather well acted. The film looks great and the cast doesn't disappoint. There are even a few scares here and there..but it's all rather familiar. The twist at the end saves this film, I believe, from completely feeling "been there done that." It's a mind-boggling doozy of an ending, I'll tell you, where someone isn't who they appear to be..it's the case of "identity crisis" where jealousy can drive the motivations of a cast-away so longing to have the life of the one they envy. It's the kind of twist that takes you right back through what you just have seen, putting a new light on the story and central character. The film is designed like "The Grudge" as a spook film, so there isn't any graphic violence, the emphasis is on creeping the audience, not blood-letting. The ghost, as can probably be pictured in the minds of those who have seen numerous Asian horror flicks, is a girl with long black hair which splits to reveal this discolored eyeball that peers at a potential victim. When her hands reach out, and her feet walk across the floor, water is shown soaking off, foretelling to the viewer this restless spirit's fate. I felt the director skillfully crafts the story, supplying the memories of a past conveying to us just the kind of loathsome person Ji-won was, and how Si-un was treated by her. This back-story is supplemented as the story comes to the obvious confrontation between Ji-won and the ghost. I think one can rightfully criticize how similar this film feels to others that have came before it, but at least we get a back story into their lives and what motivates the horrors to those who kept a specific secret one fateful day.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
A good ghost story that will keep you guessing, 7 October 2006
7/10
Author: Joel from Australia

A good Korean horror with a number of surprising twists and turns. Unlike some of the corny ghost movies you may have seen before, this one takes "ghosts" up a step. I don't want to spoil the movie for you because it's worth watching but I'll briefly explain it. Its about a girl called Ji-Won who for some reason has suffered from amnesia (you will find out why later in the film.) She finds out three people she somehow knows are being killed off by an unforgiving ghost. But you will have to carefully watch any flashbacks that are shown during the movieto fully understand it. Expect to have to watch it twice. An unraveling ghost story involving sadness, jealousy and revenge. If you liked The Ring and The Grudge then you will probably like this.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
I Really liked this movie, 8 August 2009
7/10
Author: atinder from United Kingdom

The story Min Ji-won is suffering from amnesia and being haunted by weird visions. When she meets her former high school friend Oh Yu, she receives a picture of her high school group of friends: Kim who had recently died.

Anyone who likes Asian Horror movies, Will love this movie, I for one did, yes this movie as another dead girl with long black hair, killing off people, it not gory but it still very creepy.

This movie had the perfect story and there really good creepy scene that make hair on back of your neck stand up.

I Give this 7/10

I didn't think I would ever say this, I enjoyed this movie more then Enjoyed The Ringu

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Effective ghost story, 8 August 2009
Author: slayrrr666 (slayrrr666@yahoo.com) from Los Angeles, Ca

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"The Ghost" is an over-the-top enjoyable and entertaining Asian Ghost story.

**SPOILERS**

Suffering from amnesia, Min Ji-wong, (Kim Ha-neul) decides to leave her home to help recover her memory, which upsets her friend Jun-ho, (Jin Ryu) who begs her to stay. Agreeing to finish the classes, she tries to get over the difficulty of the situation when she finds out that her former friends Eun-sae, (Bin) Eun-jung, (Lee Yun-ji) Yu-jung, (Jeon Hie-ju) and Mi-kyeong, (Yi Shin) are being killed off by the malevolent spirit of Su-in, (Nam Sang-mi) who is tormenting them for a prank committed in the past by the group, despite her not knowing the incident. As she gradually begins to remember what happened, she tries to save her friends from falling victim to the ghost out on the rampage.

The Good News: This here was an extremely entertaining entry that had plenty to enjoy about it. One of the best parts is the fact that there's just so many supernatural encounters that the film is built around them and becomes entertaining because of them. It starts off with a bang, as the first scene, the girls playing with a Ouija board, is the usually-creepy game coming into full effect, and is mixed nicely with the cutaways to the restless sleep, which is a perfect suspense-builder which then segues beautifully into the twist, which plays into their session with it and feels incredibly natural. Then, it transforms into the utterly spectacular water-faucet sequence, which nearly steals the show before the credits even roll. With the constantly dripping water serving as an atmospheric-setting perfectly, the entirely-human-like clump of hair removed from the drain is outstanding and comes as an absolute shock, and then the still-running water falls over the edge and up to the victim, showing them about to be possessed by an unknown force before the single greatest visual in the whole film, the sight of her vomiting gallons upon gallons and still more gallons of water before being attacked by an unseen force, and again, all before the credits roll. A similar scene in a darkroom is almost as good, with the picture-scare serving nicely to start the proceedings, the suddenly-blackened room lit only with a cigarette-lighter is ultimately creepy, and the ghost appearing out of nowhere illuminated by it before thrusting a water-logged hand at the victim is just utterly spectacular and ranks as another highlight. Other standout scenes include the freak-out in the movie theater, which is again perfectly handled and makes for some creepy moments, to a fantastic dream sequence where they play hide-and-seek with a ghost in a fog-covered cemetery along with a great scene where there's seemingly endless flashes of nightmare-ish faces appearing out of nowhere and this one tends to have a very well-rounded series of scenes with it's ghost. Also really fun is the several flashbacks that are used to spell everything out, since there's so much to learn here. The two main ones are the best, as each one manages to add a little bit more info on the story at hand while also providing some great touches on the action end, which is always great. From the encounter at the waterfall that sets up the wonderful twist at the finale which is completely unexpected and definitely works well to send the film out on a high, the fact that they're so much fun is a plus for the film in any regard. The last plus for the film is the fact that the ghost here manages to offer up a really fun and unique killing method that allows for more creepiness to come out of the film that expected, and especially when it comes to the victim in the asylum, a lot of fun as well. These here are what work for the film.

The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot here that really wasn't worthwhile. One of the few problems is the film's rather slow beginning, mainly due in part to several relatively small problems. One of those is the fact that the scares presented here, from the hide-and-seek game the young girl plays to the encounters in the swimming pool, are really just too short to mean anything, coming so rapidly that it's hard to take them in as they're done without ever getting to do anything about it. The last big flaw to this one is the fact that the middle segments are so slowly-paced that outside of the ghost's actions, it hardly has anything worthwhile. First up is the fact that the amnesia angle, is dragged out way too long to really mean much of anything, taking up the entire middle-portion of the film and not at all doing much to keep the momentum going since the film takes an eternity to spell out what really happened. That plot-point really begins to wear out with her constantly referencing her amnesia every third sentence and it makes these rather hard to enjoy. It also doesn't help much that an explanation for their behavior toward the girl is beyond lame and really shouldn't have been the just cause when there's far more believable ones out there. These here are the film's few problems.

The Final Verdict: An incredibly entertaining and enjoyable Asian ghost story that manages to entertain considerably despite a few minor flaws found within. Highly recommended to fans of the particular genre as well as those who have a fond taste for these kinds of films, otherwise those should heed caution.

Rated R: Violence

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2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Korean ghost movie brings nothing new to the table, 4 January 2008
5/10
Author: LoneWolfAndCub from Australia

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

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4 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Not bad for Korean horror but nothing new, 18 August 2005
7/10
Author: tenderluvher from LosAngeles, US

As far as Korean horror goes, it's not too bad, better than most out there. I only rate it behind A Tale of Two Sisters, which was more original with better cinematography and more defined characters. ATOTS was more a horror/suspensethriller though, while Ryeong is definitely dealing with the supernatural idea. Don't expect to be scared sh_tless or anything though. There's nothing really new here. A definite Ring rip with a little bit of Dark Water mixed in. Movie producers must really move beyond the long hair covering face wet female ghost idea. It's getting pretty played out. Seen one, seen them all. The production is good though with a story that's somewhat intriguing, keeping you guessing about what's going on until the finale. The end I was actually little surprised but the idea has been used before, an influence I believe from ATOTS and such where there's the revelation. Overall worth watching but it won't leave you sleeping with the lights on.

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