After Dark Horror Fest 2009: ‘Voices’

The only Asian film at this years’s horror fest was the 2007 Korean shocker VOICES. I confess to not having seeing much Asian horror. The ones I have seen are usually more restrained in terms of the bloody shocks their American counterparts offer. I often end up seeing the American remakes of the most popular ones, which are usually ghost stories with haunted female protagonists, flashback structures, and the inevitable secret skeleton in the closet. Though it has many of these elements, VOICES is not about ghosts but how those who seem closest to you can, through jealousy, cruelty, or just madness, suddenly turn into wild-eyed killers. It is a very good, scary film that, true to it’s message, does not hold back on the bloody violence.

VOICES follows the story of high school student Ga-In (Yun Jun Soo), whose happy existence is upended one day when she witnesses her cousin thrown off a balcony at her wedding. Things get worse when the recovering bride is soon slashed to death by her own sister.   Soon Ga-In herself is attacked by a bookish schoolmate and realizes that those around her, including her own family members, seem to have her marked for death. A creepy oddball at her school keeps warning Ga-In that she can trust no one, not even herself. Ga-In suspects that some sort of family curse is the cause, and tries to survive long enough to solve the mystery.

VOICES is a rather mean and nasty thriller, completely lacking in sentiment. The murders (mostly stabbings) are shown in gory detail.   Yun Jun Soo is believable in the lead and Ga-In is never shown to be simply paranoid or deluded. At some point in the story, pretty much everyone in the cast wishes her dead and this fact really keeps the viewer on edge of the seat as we watch those she loves repeatedly try to kill her. The explanation for the insanity (eventually given from a clichà © old bearded wise man living in a remote hut), is not particularly compelling, but at 80 brisk minutes, VOICES is a very satisfying Asian thrill ride. There are screenings at Ronnie’s 20 Cine at 3:10 and 9:50 on Wednesday.