Memento Mori

Yeogo Goedam II starts out as an interesting story about adolescent love and turns into a nonsensical "horror" film. I felt mislead by the first part of the film. The way Hyo-shin and Shi-eun's relationship is revealed to Min-ah through their diary gave me the sense that this film would be far better than it turned out to be (the diary is pretty cool). Instead the film has a lot of amusing school moments that are fun but distract from the plot, and adds a few subplots that are not only confusing but boring. I don't know how this can be defined as a horror movie when nothing really horrible happens outside of one tragic event. Even the supposedly scary moments at the end of the film do nothing but stall the ending of the film.

I would not consider this film a waste of time - there are many great moments in it,but they lead nowhere.

out of 10 I give it a 5 - an even split - >

the Drama part of the film was great - the Horror part of the film was terrible

This film was quite disappointing really. Not much happens in it, and it certainly wasn't very scary at all. The freakiest thing in the film will be the fact that the diary was very densely written in, and it reflects a very obsessive personality of the writer. At the beginning, the intrigue of the diary barely keeps you on your toes, and as the film dragged on, you just start losing any other interest in it.

Acting was pretty OK, but by no means amazing. I guess the film does reflect on the compulsiveness of the characters within it - this is the only interesting bit I think.

If you wanted to see a film scarier than this, and leave you with something to think about, I suggest 'A tale of two sisters' instead.

I saw this movie after having seen the first and third installments (except for a common setting at an all-girl Korean school, the three have no plot connections). While I found the first film uninspiring and the third yet more uninspiring, this one was actually pretty engaging.

As other reviews have noted, there is not much here in the way of horror or scares. There are some horror elements, but the film is more successful when it focuses instead on character development and on unfurling its back story (largely through flashbacks, which can sometimes confuse the narrative a bit). The acting is good as a whole, and most of the minor characters seem fully-realized, resulting in a film that has a rich setting behind it.

There are some bad sides to Memento Mori. As mentioned, if you come in expecting a Ju-On-ish scare-fest you will be disappointed. Some of the scenes towards the end (in particular, one involving mayhem and panic at the school) dragged on a little long, and began to nag at my suspension of disbelief. I didn't find the ending to be terribly satisfying, either--it wasn't terrible, but I wanted a little bit more.

Overall, though, this is an enjoyable film, one that inhabits its small world completely and doesn't try to be more than what it is.

In a Korean high-school, the teenagers Hyo-Shin Min (Yeh-jin Park) and Shi-Eun Yoo (Young-jin Lee) are lesbian lovers that decide to write a diary together and expose their love to their schoolmates. When Hyo-Shin has one night stand and gets pregnant of a depressed teacher, the love of Shi-Eun dies and she breaks up with Hyo-Shin leading her to commit suicide. Shi-Eun's classmate Min-Ah So (Min-sun Kim) finds and reads their diary, disclosing the innermost secrets of the two lovers, and becomes obsessed for Shi-Eun. When a close friend advises that Min-Ah would die because she was reading the diary of a dead girl, she wants to return the diary to Hyo-Shin.

"Memento Mori" is an intriguing, tragic and eerie love story, with a confused screenplay. The plot is built like pieces of a puzzle, but without chronological sequence, and in the end there are many parts without explanation that I have really not understood. I saw in IMDb that there is an 186 minutes running time director's cut version where probably I would find the resolution of my questions, but unfortunately I have just found the imported DVD with 97 minutes. In the end, this film is a good supernatural romance but not recommended for fans of the traditional horror genre. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Fans of the original "Whispering Corridors" will be disappointed to learn that this is a sequel in name only; it shares absolutely no connection with the original movie apart from its title. The story tells of a girl, Min-ah, who finds a diary kept by two lesbian lover classmates at her boarding school - and soon begins suffering from strange hallucinations whenever she reads from it. Shortly after, one of the lovers is found dead and it's up to Min-ah to discover whether she killed herself or whether someone murdered her; before her spirit returns to the school for revenge.

"Memento Mori" is a wonderful movie, but it isn't an out-and-out horror flick as some have suggested. It's actually a cross between "The Virgin Suicides" and the original "Whispering Corridors", ie. a school ghost story ridden with teen love and infatuation, and the result is a beautifully crafted dreamlike feature which is a true delight to watch.

Acting is phenomenal from all concerned, with the actress playing Min-ah using a wide range of skills to play the different states her character finds herself in to perfection. The directors do a commendable job, too, even if their choice of camera angles is sometimes confusing - and the storyline occassionally lacks a clear narrative - I haven't enjoyed a Korean movie as much as this for quite some time.

Basically, "Memento Mori" is excellent from start to finish and seamlessly blends horror, suspense and romance to create a truly unforgettable feature. You'll need to think about some plotpoints carefully in order to fully understand what's happening - but it's totally worth the extra effort. Highly recommended. ****.5 / *****