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Like some horror movie fans, I find myself gravitating toward Asian horror movies. I’ve been finding this more and more the case when Hollywood went thru its “torture porn” phase of horror movies. Also their remakes of classic horror movie staples didn’t quite help either. Because of this I’ve usually find myself reverting back to past glories of supernatural movies I’ve come to enjoy or I take my chances and browse my Netflix catalog to see what hidden treasures I might find there. And thanks to “MysticalMists” strong interest in Korean dramas, Netflix has seen fit to give me suggestions in the various Asian horror shows they offer. For the most part it’s a mixed bag. Some of them were good; some of them were pretty bad. Some were surprising while others were rather cliché. It’s one of these that are the former that I speak of this time around. It’s a movie I really shouldn’t like given the plot and similarities it shares with other Asian horror movies. Yet at the same time I can’t help myself in enjoying watching this movie over and over again, despite its weaknesses. Though I've already talked about this movie before, I thought it could use a revisitig given my love for asian horror. Sadly this movie is no longer accessable on Netflix but if your eager enough to watch it you can find it easily online. So allow me to share with you once more in this blog reposting of this little K-horror movie called White: The Melody of the Curse.

 

I submit to your approval: The Pink Dolls, a k-pop girl group consisting of four members. (I may not have their names right so bear with me) Je-ni, the good singer of the group but is unsure if she can hit the high notes. Ah-Rang, who seems more interested in her looks than her status as a singing talent. Sin-Ji, who is the least talented in singing but a great dancer and rounding out the group, is Eun-Ju. She’s the eldest and her only claim to fame is being a former backup dancer. She’s the one that the group’s manager is expecting to lead the other three by example though Je-ni, Ah-Rang and Shin-Ji seem to look down on her due to her backup dancer status. Because of their untapped potential (and obvious hang-ups) their group is slowly losing relevance in the music industry.

Warning: What follows is a video clip (so long as it’s not pulled for copyright) of “My Boy”. It might not be considered bad but just the same it might be a bit “painful” to watch.

 

Their latest show on a TV competition program, which their performance gave me that bubbly, sweet” vibe to it didn’t do so well thus causing them to lose to a more main-stream girl group. The girls are down on themselves because of this as well as that their fans no longer visit their website. They seem to be on the verge of becoming second rate singers, to spend the rest of their careers on the cheesy variety show circuit, when their manager decides that a change of scenery might be in order.

The girls then move into a new studio in the hopes of them being able to overcome their hang ups (and my personal hope that they stop blaming each other and work on their own problems) and hopefully record their next big hit. As the girls get settled, they begin to learn how their manager was able to afford such a fancy new studio. It turns out that it suffered a tragic fire that took the life of someone and because of this it was at a reduced price. As the girls explore Eun-Ju happens to find a bunch of video cassettes behind a row of revolving mirrors that somehow survived the fire (I know what you’re thinking just go along with it.) Among the tapes is one that is labeled simply as “White”. She watches the tape to find a music video with an addictive beat to it. The manager happens to stop by to give Eun-Ju a pep talk when she notices the music video which mysteriously starts to play, despite the fact that Eun-Ju pasued the video just as the manager arrived. After the manager watches the video she decides it has the right mix of music and dance moves to be the “Pink Doll’s next hit. She orders the studio to begin a deconstruction of the music video and brushes off the concern of copyright given there is no claim of ownership from anyone on or in the tape. The girls are not too keen on the new reworked single, entitled White, but Eun-Ju convinces them during practice and at the last minute that this could be their last chance at making the big time. Armed with this new “darker” tone of music, along with their new choice of wardrobe and the assist of Eun-Ju’s friend Soon-Ye for vocal doubling purposes, the “Pink Dolls” prepare for what could be their final performance. What happens next is something to be seen…

 

And yes, if you sang along to this, you’ll be dead… o_O

For those that didn’t see the video clip (or the clip being removed due to copyright) what is shown is a complete 180 of both style and substance of what the “Pink Dolls” use to sing. With “White” they take on a darker tone and appearance that wows the crowds and catapults them into instant stardom. The girls are riding high on their new found fame as the manager begins to capitalize on their new turn of fortune. She turns down a movie deal but signs them up for a reality TV show cameo and various TV commercials. This brings the manager to the task of choosing a new lead for the group, given how the original “White” song was a solo, complete with the lead wearing a white wig and outfit. This brings out the girls competitiveness in deciding who should be the lead as well as rekindling their old attitudes toward each other. But their troubles don’t truly begin until a mysterious fan begins to submit “warped” videos of certain members of the girl group on their fan website. From there the movie dives into the supernatural and it’s a race against the clock for the girls to avoid falling into the Curse of the Melody…

 

If I make this movie sound deep and intricate (due to my long winded summary) it really isn’t.  The basic set up, along with the misfortunes that befall the girls, could’ve easily been made into a regular Korean drama about the music industry. Instead of having a supernatural angle to it all it could’ve been just a drama about the girls as they try to cope with making it big. It could’ve explored the psychological aspects of the industry and the effects it has on the girls. From the pressures to being instant stars to dealing with their own personal vices and the lengths they will go to ensure they stay on top of the charts as well as each other, could’ve made “White” into a psychological thriller than a supernatural horror movie.  In fact I dare say this could’ve been a decent live action version of the anime “Perfect Blue” by focusing on girls mental states as events unfold around them, being easily explained by their own madness and demented determination by making it as the lead by any means necessary. Just replace the “ghost” with any person in the movie who happens to have mental issues, who makes it look like simple accidents and it could’ve worked.

 

But instead we get the classic “Ju-On/Ringu” angle where upon mixing a traumatic death and watching (or in this case performing a song) a video cassette awakens the ire of a ghost that is determined to make the transgressors pay for singing that particular song. From there the movie follows the usual steps in any Asian horror movie. One girl gets a warning, notices weird events around her but ignores them, begins to act erratic due to weird events along with the compounding of their own shortcomings and eventually falls to their fate from singing the cursed song. Rinse and repeat with heightened tension, jump scares and a race for the truth as the girls get picked off one by one.  Eventually one girl learns the truth and does what she can to break the curse before she too falls to the fate of her other group members. If anything “White” is able to play on the girls hang ups and neurosis to help add tension, complete with specific set pieces to play on their fears. The dance studio, make-up room, a certain rehearsal run and Eun-Ju’s performance stand out the most. Through it all the movie keeps you guessing if it is indeed the ghost tormenting them or if it’s the girls own mental anguish causing them to create their own demises. And like other Asian horrors the plot twist can be confusing if you’re not familiar with the usual “play the song clips” backwards to get the real truth behind the curse, along with the Korean slang for outtakes.

 

Yet despite this by the numbers horror movie I actually enjoyed watching “White”. Not because of the obvious “eye candy” given that the main characters are all attractive girls, but that it shows the tragedy unfolding as we see the girls ill-intended means of survival ends up working against them in the cutthroat music industry. Even seeing the fate of the girls in the end is entertaining to watch if only to show that despite their best intentions to right the wrongs they did, they still got it all wrong on whom exactly the ghost was. Coupling that to their actions toward each other (from humiliation to backstabbing to a suggested scene of sexual favors) helps to further cement the girls into being less bubble headed and more in the line of genuine characters whose only sin was being too driven to success and suffering a tragic fate because of it. They may have been innocent in not knowing the true nature of the song “White” yet it doesn’t excuse them of their actions and their end during the third act. This is especially true of the one girl near the end that goes solo and does what she can to forget what took place, with tragic (thought I did laugh at two individuals demises) results.

Perhaps it’s because of the aforementioned “Ju-On” and “Ringu” that I did enjoy this movie. It borrows enough from those to movies in “White” to make it stand out with the main characters being a k-pop girl group. “White: The Melody of the Curse” may not be up everyone’s alley, especially if they are not one for Asian horror movies. But if you give it a chance during a dark night this month you couldn’t do any worse.  Just be prepared for some “Ju-On” style jump scares, some cattiness between female characters, your standard plot twist and an ending that leaves itself open to interpretation. Just remember that “NG” stands for “No Good” or “outtake” and try your best not to laugh near the end.

“White: The Melody of the Curse” sadly can no longer be found on Netflix. But if your resourceful enough I'm sure you can find it if your curious enough to try out this movie some Octoberween evening.

Ta-ta

“N”

BONUS VIDEO!

In this episode of Camera Obscura, Claire takes stock of the situation after her first supernatural encounter and trying to convince someone who disbelieves. Enjoy!

Sleep well tonight....