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1997(1st) ~ 2024(28th)
Howling Decade of Whispering Corriders
PARK Ki Hyung
Korea1998 107 min 35mm C
With this landmark piece that got Chungmuro to take horror flick production seriously and eventually led to a boom in the late 1990s, director PARK Ki Hyung showcases a successful application of one of the Korean urban legends. The basic idea behind this highly-relatable story is simple: There is a student in this school who’s staying there for ever. That, when incorporated into Korea’s “abnormal” educational craze and tutelage madness, makes one truly scary story. A mysterious death of a teacher nicknamed ‘Old Fox’ kicks off the plot. “Who?” “Why?” “Why on earth Old Fox?” Questions keep spinning. So do murders! And when all the ugly details are out, only sorrows and heartbreaks linger. A film version of the urban legend exposes the dark side of today’s educational system in Korea. We’ve all been to that “hell.” The assumption that a student who died nine years ago is still going to school (as a ghost) signifies a lot for Korean audiences. Fresh faces of newcomers add to the intrigue. Recognized both for artistry and commercial appeal, Whispering Corridors, Korea’s first horror series, sparked the interest of the industry into producing more horror flicks. Anyone who has gone to high school in Korea would know the school portrayed in the film is true. (KIM Jong Chul)
Born in Pyongteck, Kyeonggi province in 1968, PARK finished industrial engineering course at Aju University. Highly evaluated with his short film Great Pretenders (1986), PARK made a debut as a director with Whispering Corridors. PARK has become one of the leaders in the genre film as he mainly directed horror movies focusing on expressing surreal images such as Acacia (2003).