Asian horrors have been done to death. Whether its a little boy/girl ghost, or an adult woman, they're always the same. Long, dark hair, pale face, walking around having spasms. It might have been scary the first few times, but after about the 50th movie, shouldn't the screenwriters take a step back and say "Wow, I'm an unoriginal douche, maybe I should at least try to think of something creative?" Alas, they never do, because the same old formula makes the cash. Being experimental means taking risks, and for some reason Asian cinema rarely does so, and thus "Ghastly" was born.
"Ghastly" is about a Korean boy Bin, who witnessed the brutal homicide/suicide of his parents. His aunt's family gains custody of him, yet somehow they still decide to live in the same house where the tragedy occurred. Great idea, right? A cliché set-up, then cue the nightmares and visions.
The lack of originality is pretty blunt. Almost none of the scenes elicit any fear out of the viewer. You can see whats about to happen from a mile away. There's a lot of cliché gory scenes which end up just being a dream, and so forth. The only redeeming quality is the two sisters. Both are super hotties, so at least you get some eye candy.
When I say this movie is slightly better, I'm mostly referring to the quality of the film itself, not the storyline. It moves along at a fair pace, considering its a little under 80 minutes. Some of the shots were done pretty well, and the acting was convincing for the most part. The main flaw is that the story is a carbon copy of countless other Asian horrors. I've seen so many movies with similar story lines that I can't even differentiate between them in my mind anymore. Thats how bad it is. Overall, I guess I'm not slamming this movie as much as I'm slamming Asian horror cinema in general. This movie is just a good example of how lacking they are in the creativity department.
See this movie if you're a dedicated Asian horror fan, and if you like ogling at Korean girls. Thats about it.
