Wishing Stairs (2003)

Truly Dreadful Film

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The Yeogo goedam movies aren't necessarily connected. Each feature different characters and different locations, though the setting is always at a school and features a similar sort of premise. It is obvious that this movie tried to be like the second entry out of the series, using a similar sort of build up and approach to the story but it's definitely not as good or effective with it.Problem is that the movie just never becomes really that interesting to watch. It really isn't a very involving movie, which is due to its lacking characters and directing approach by Jae-yeon Yun.The movie is obviously deliberately picking a slow approach, to build up its tension. It however feels far too stretched out, which again, is really due to the fact that the movie never really becomes an interesting or involving one. The long shots of people staring got old and annoying pretty fast, especially when nothing is really happening in the movie. It takes an hour or so to finally pick up some pace and for the movie to become a real horror movie. Far too late and it besides feels too much out of tone with the overall atmosphere and approach of the first hour of the movie. In that regard this movie is also being a lot like the first movie, out of its long running series.So yes, besides not being that interesting to watch, the movie is also really a lackluster. Lovers of Asian horror cinema can also definitely pass on this movie. There really is not all that much to enjoy for the fans of horror. No tension, no scares, no good mystery. No, this movie is definitely a failed attempt to try to recreate the success formula of the second movie.The story itself features too many sidetracks that don't really get developed properly enough. Seems to me that the writer was having some difficulties coming up with a story for a full length movie and therefore came up with all kinds of thin plot lines and characters, that really don't add any real depth and surely don't make the movie any more interesting to follow. It's often a bad sign when a movie has lots of writers involved but in this case it probably wouldn't had harmed the script if it had received some help from some more and other writers, or some rewrites by better and more experienced people.It really isn't a very well made movie.It never finds the right approach and pace for its story and also never becomes effective with its build up and pay off. It's all lacking a true horror film director's touch. I'm still sure a somewhat more capable director could had managed to make this a more effective, or at least more interesting. genre movie to watch.5/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

"If you give your heart, the 29th step will appear and grant your wish."It's one of those "Be Careful What You Wish For" type horror flicks with an invisible 29th step taking the place of the genie's lamp. Overweight Hae-ju climbs the 28 stairs nearby her boarding school hoping to lose the excess fat that has made her quite a fixture for chuckles and ridicule. When she takes that one extra step, it seems her wish has come true when Hae-ju notices such rapid weight-loss in such a short period of time. Kim so-hee is quite a success in her ballerina class and an apparent shoo-in for the special part of Gisele in a major Russian play. She's in love with a class-mate, Jin-sung(the film doesn't just come right out and say it loudly, but you can see her adoration for Jin-sung in nearly every moment they are together)who desperately covets the same part so-hee seems destined to portray. Jealous and obsessed, Jin-sung scales the 28 stairs, eyes closed in concentration, hoping to make that one extra step desiring the role of Gisele over so-hee. When, like Hae-ju, she feels that 29th step under her feet, Jin-sung gains hope that it'll all work out for her behalf. It does, but there are consequences for making such a request..in a tragic set of events, Jin-sung will accidentally push so-hee down a stairway. Kim so-hee's leg is damaged in the process and subsequent grief leads to the young girl to the point of taking a leap out her hospital window. Blamed and hated by the students in her class, Jin-sung gets what she asked for, but it costs her much more than she receives. But, Jin-sung's nightmare merely begins..secretly Hae-ju had a fixated hero-worship for Kim so-hee and takes to the 29 steps in request that the one she deeply cared for would return. In true "monkey's paw" fashion, it's quite possible Kim so-hee just might answer that request, with both Jin-sung and Hae-ju becoming haunted by her spirit.

Wishing Stairs is the least scary of the Yeogo Goedam films so far (I've still to see the fourth however). It's just the same old clichés of 'be careful what you wish for' done in a South Korean girls school. It's like Wishmaster gone Asian with a bit of Grange Hill thrown in for abstract measure.The windy atmosphere is don again, the lesbian love thing is done AGAIN and the old, dusty secret room is done again too. In fact, when I think about it, this movie is nothing more than some rehashed scenes from the first two. It's not boring in any way, but is certainly not scary and not a film I could sit through again.

I was hanging out in Seoul when this movie was in the theaters there. Not speaking a word of Korean I randomly picked a movie to watch, which was this one. So I go in with my number one combo of popcorn, coke and fried squid and sit down to watch the movie. OMG for not knowing what was really going on at all I was scared out of my gourd. Mind you I was 24 at the time 6'1 200 lbs and was sitting there saying to myself 'oh god that sound means the ghost is coming, I think I have to fix my hair in front of my face as my hand coincidentally covers my eyes...' Trying to be discreet as possible about diverting my attention as the ghosts unrelentlessly appear in the scenes. The movie was cinematographically done awesome, the sound in perfect harmony with a horror movie and if you can watch it on the big screen with surround sound flooding you, you'll probably be sleeping with the lights on at night. Unfortunately I talked to a couple of friends of mine who saw the subtitled version in the privacy of their own home and said it was hardly scary and actually reminiscent of Nickalodians "Are You Afraid of the Dark". But when I saw it I was saying 'Oh sweet lord I'm going to die of a freakin heart attack if this movie doesn't end soon.'