Review Ryeong a.k.a. Dead Friend a.k.a. The Ghost (2004): A horror movie that could have been great

genre: horror

This movie starts out with this creepy song that gave me some chills like the song used in Nightmare on Elmstreet. It immediately sets the mood. The sequence that follows also shows what to expect. We are made aware that a ghost is present. The mystery concerning this ghost is what keeps this movie together. But the structure of the plot is so complex that it is difficult to make sense of it. The ideas behind the plot are quite interesting. Only the way it is told to us is far too abstract. I understand that the director believed that he had to maintain the mystery as long as possible. The problem is that when certain matters get revealed you never get a satisfying explanation. The motives of the important characters are left out and some questions raised in the movie don't get answered at all. Since we don't learn enough about the characters it becomes hard to care for them. And as a consequence you will loose interest. Only some scares and a twist save this movie from becoming a total failure. The twist is interesting but no real shocker. The experienced viewer will see it coming. Some reviewers complain that this movie is too much like Ringu and is not original at all. Well it is true that some of the effects and scares are borrowed from that movie. But there is a main difference. The suspense in Ringu mainly was based on this one twist where the viewer finds out how the characters get killed. WARNING MILD SPOILER: *In Ryeong (the Ringu like) twist is used as a creepy effect to accompany another crazy twist.* END MILD SPOILER.  Ryeong heavily depends on a complex structured plot and twist that doesn't contain enough scares to hold your interest Simply put: This isn't a scary movie. Then what is the point? If this film doesn't give you a well told story and in the end does not scare much, aren't you wasting your time then?