Nightmare (2000)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Absolutely amazing

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The following are some of the most blaring problems with this movie: 1) Clichés abound. Seriously, awful "twists" are everywhere.2) The narrative jumps around in time, which would be fine if done well, but it's not.3) Lame characters that don't develop so much as either remain utterly static, or drastically change for no good reason.4) Big one: HORRIBLE ACTING. Over the top from nearly every person.The following are some of the best points from the movie: 1) The lead is damn good looking.As I see it, there are only two kinds of people who would be into this movie: a) People who can sit through 90 minutes of tripe simply because the lead is attractive.b) People who often think to themselves, "I like Hollywood dreck rife with clichés and overacting, but if only I could watch it in Korean..." There's a lot of good Korean cinema out there, so why waste your time with garbage?

I'm afraid that I didn't like this movie very much. Apart from a few saving graces, it's nothing to write home about. J-horror has boomed for the last five-six years but the films themselves have on more than one account been repetitive and carbon copies of a previous success. This is one of them.Basically this is a supernatural slasher movie. The beginning is promising with chilling scenes from a morgue where a dead girl has her eyes graphically sewn together, but soon after opens them. However, after that, it's quickly downhill for this flick.To be kind I will start with the things I like about "Gawi". On the plus side, the visuals are gaudy and the movie looks great for it's type. For those who like their horror movies gory there are a few nicely executed (no pun intended) murder scenes. We also get a few good suspense sequences/set-pieces.However, there are quite a few drawbacks also...First of all, and my major complaint about this movie, is that the plot skips and jumps forwards and backwards in time with an alarming intensity. Usually that's not a problem for me, but here, where the students look exactly the same no matter what age they are, I was confused on more than one occasion.The performances are okay I guess (a little hard to tell when you don't know the language), but seem a little stiff. And for a horror movie, I don't think it was scary enough. For a while I was quite bored actually.Being a fan of giallo movies, I was expecting quite a lot from "Nightmare", but unfortunately I was quite disappointed.

"Gawi" (aka Nightmare/Scissors/Horror Game Movie) was Byeong-Ki Ahn's first horror film. It's a decent, if unoriginal attempt at horror, and is somewhat effective. Then again, this movie is chock-full of flaws.First is the lack of coherent continuity. The movie confusingly switches from the past and present without warning, and has quite a few badly-placed flashback sequences. The next thing is the complete lack of originality. There is not one but TWO long-haired vengeful female ghosts, gory deaths reminiscent of every other slasher in the world, an ending clearly jacked from every other sequel-promising slasher. The last thing is how ineffective it is: yes, it is effective to a degree, but not as scary as it could have been. Having said all that, "Gawi" does have a few good twists along the way, and I must say, a fairly gripping mystery story going for it.If you like slashers, or liked the director's later movie "Phone", this is recommended.My rating: 6/10

This South Korean thriller can't claim much originality in its basic story. A group of young adults are linked by a guilty secret from their college days. They start being haunted by visions of someone who was killed accidentally several years before, and begin dying violently themselves. The idea dates back to at least 1980 (PROM NIGHT), and more recently formed the basis for I SAW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. But writer-director An Byung-ki, evidently familiar with Italian gialli, maintains interest by giving the plot a quite convoluted structure plus several bizarre twists and turns as the film progresses. The influence of Dario Argento is specially noticeable. Mr. An also invests the story with enough ambiguity that, until the last scene, we're not sure whether the vengeful ghost seen by the characters is for real or simply a projection of their guilt.The young cast generally furnish convincing and underplayed performances. Particularly noteworthy are Kim Kyu-ri as a psychology major and Ha Ji-won as the film's enigmatic nemesis. The picture's mood of unease is greatly enhanced by imaginative lighting, smoothly gliding camerawork, sharp editing, and a varied but never intrusive score. KAWEE successfully continues South Korea's recent emergence as a new force in the psychological horror film sub-genre.Westerners can catch this movie on VCD or DVD under the titles NIGHTMARE and HORROR GAME MOVIE. It's highly recommended.