Whispering Corridors (film series)

Whispering Corridors
Poster for the first film
Directed by	Park Ki-hyung (1) Kim Tae-yong (2) Min Kyu-dong (2) Yun Jae-yeon (3) Choi Ik-hwan (4) Jong-yong Lee (5)
Produced by	Lee Choon-yeon (1-5)
Written by	In Jung-ok (1) Park Ki-hyung (1) Kim Tae-yong (2) Min Kyu-dong (2) Kim Su-ah (3) Lee Yong-yeon (3) Eun Si-yeon (3) Lee Soyoung (3) Choi Ik-hwan (4) Jong-yong Lee (5)
Starring	Choi Se-yeon Kim Gyu-ri Lee Mi-yeon Park Yong-soo Kim Yu-seok Lee Young-jin Park Ye-jin Kim Min-sun Gong Hyo-jin Kim Ok-bin Seo Ji-hye Cha Ye-ryeon Son Eun-seo Jang Kyeong-ah Song Min-jeong Oh Yeon-seo
Music by	Moon Hyun-Sung Jo Seong-woo Gong Myeong-a Lee Byeong-hun
Production company	Cine 2000
Distributed by	Cinema Service Lotte Entertainment
Release dates	Whispering Corridors May 30, 1998 Memento Mori December 24, 1999 Wishing Stairs August 1, 2003 Voice July 15, 2005 A Blood Pledge June 18, 2009
Running time	Total (5 films) 492
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean

Whispering Corridors (Hangul: 여고괴담; Hanja: 女高怪談; RR: Yeogo goedam; also known as Ghost School, Horror at Girls' School and Ghost School Horror) is a South Korean horror film series. The series uses an all-girls high school as the backdrop for each of its films and doesn't share a continuing plot. Every Whispering Corridors film features a different plot, characters and settings. The series is notable for helping generate the explosion of the New Korean Wave cinematic movement, and dealing with taboo topics such as authoritarianism in the harsh South Korean education system, gay relationships and teen suicide, following the liberalization of censorship.^[1][2]

History

In the late '90s, screenwriter Oh Ki-min had written the screenplay for Whispering Corridors and showed it to various production companies, but the film was rejected by all of them. Meanwhile, producer Lee Choon-yun became aware of a Japanese horror film set in a school (Gakkō no Kaidan) and thought this type of horror film might work well in Korea. Since many Korean schools have urban legends tied to them, Choon-yun intended to produce a contemporary film version of the scary stories adapted from school legends. Choon-yun stated that another thing that motivated him was his antagonism toward the harsh South Korean education system. The producer thought that an all-girls high school was an attractive setting, stating that "It's a space that stimulates male curiosity, a place that men have never been in but are fascinated by. Conversely, for women, it's an environment that they can feel nostalgic about."

The film became a big commercial success, which led to several sequels. The films don't share any direct links with each other, due to the producer wanting Whispering Corridors to be a "brand name".^[3]

Films

Whispering Corridors (1998)

In an exclusive all-girls school, a former pupil returns to start a new job as a teacher and strikes up a friendship with two very different students. But when a teacher is found dead, apparently having committed suicide, circumstances that link the past and the present begin to unveil themselves. As the body count rises, the memories of past deaths begin to call forth a series of ghosts to haunt the corridors of this troubled school.

Memento Mori (1999)

Min-Ah spots a maroon diary near a water fountain at school. She's late for class and takes the diary with her. In class, Min-Ah opens the diary and experiences a brief hallucinatory experience. The diary originally belonged to two girls that attend the same school, Hyo-Shin and Si-Eun. The two girls seem to share a relationship that's closer than even best friends. As Min-Ah becomes immersed in their world, a suicide occurs at school. Hyo-Shin leaps to her death from the roof a school building. Soon, Hyo-Shin's spirit unleashes unbridle terror upon her former school.

Wishing Stairs (2003)

Two young beautiful friends, Jin-Sung and So-Hee, have forged a "close" relationship, but this is challenged when the ballet school holds its annual competition to see who will go forward to the national competition and win a scholarship to a Russian ballet school. The better of the two friends, So-Hee looks all set to win, when it becomes apparent that Jin-Sung is becoming more and more jealous. She then bumps into Hae-Ju, a former fat girl who stuffed her face all day and appeared quite mad, who reveals that she is now thin because of the wishing stairs and the synonymous appearance of the 29th step. Jin-Sung then decides to give the stairs a go herself. When the 29th step appears she wishes that she could be the one who wins the ballet scholarship. When So-Hee falls down a flight of stairs and becomes crippled, she commits suicide by jumping from her hospital window. With So-Hee gone, Jin-Sung wins the ballet competition. Hae-Ju goes back to the wishing stairs and calls for So-Hee to come back to life. This then sets up the rest of the film that you will have to watch to find out what goes on.

Voice (2005)

This installment follows the story of Young Eon, a timid high school student who dies mysteriously while singing in the school's music room. But even in death, Young Eon's voice continues to be heard by her best friend, Sun Min. Although startled by this supernatural development, Sun Min adapts rather quickly to the situation and tries to uncover the reasons for her friend's untimely demise. But Sun Min's absolute faith in her dearly departed friend is soon shaken when a plague of mysterious deaths start to occur on campus! Are these murders Young Eun's doing? Or could the culprit be someone far more sinister?

A Blood Pledge (2009)

After her sister Eon-ju (Kyeong-ah Jang) commits suicide by jumping from the roof of her school building, Jeong-eon (Shin-ae Yu) chooses to investigate the unexpected incident further. Speaking to three of her sister's friends she is told that the four girls had previously made a suicide pact and that Eon-ju was the only one to fully commit. But now that the other girls have abandoned their friend and cheated the pledge, Eon-ju has come back from beyond the grave to make them pay.

References