Gawi (2000)

Director:

Byeong-ki Ahn

Writers:

Byeong-ki Ahn (writer)
Brian O'Hara (script adaptation)

Release Date:

29 July 2000 (South Korea)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Everyone is going to die

Plot:

Seven friends will die one by one for protecting a terrible secret. Can a vengeful spirit be stopped?

Plot Keywords:

Eyes Sewn Shut | Lesbian | Murder | Slasher | Throat Slitting

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Gyu-ri Kim	...	Hye-jin
Ji-won Ha	...	Eun-ju
Jeong-yun Choi	...	Seon-ae
Ji-tae Yu	...	Hyun-jun
Jun-Sang Yu	...	Jeong-ok
Jun Jeong	...	Se-hun
Hye-yeong Jo	...	Mi-ryeong

Also Known As:

Gawi: The Nightmare (Philippines: English title)
Horror Game Movie (South Korea) (video box title)
Nightmare (International: English title)
Scissors

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Sweden:15 | South Korea:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:PG-12 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB)

Company:

Mythos Film

Movie Connections:

References Inferno (1980)

I was tricked into seeing this movie...

The reviews I read for this movie were pretty decent so I decided to check it out. BAD IDEA! This is another movie about a ghost out for revenge against a group friends. The story is stupid, mix two parts Ringu with one part Prom Night, a sprinkle of I Know what you did Last Summer, and add a tiny dash of Single White Female - now blend until completely nonsensical. There is nothing new to this plot, and revisiting the clichés I've grown so fond of wasn't even entertaining this time. This movie jumps to and from the past too much, and once I made sense of it all I realized it still didn't make much sense. Characters go from sane to psycho killer in the blink of an eye. Speaking of characters, they are all your stereotypical favorites - the greedy selfish lawyer, the egocentric actress, the has-been baseball star, the video voyeur, the bitter girl, the spooky quiet chick, the 'nicer-than-nice' nice girl, a freakin' black cat... and I didn't care about any of them. Perhaps a better writer could have made the movie work, there were some decent scenes in it, but overall this movie was a mess. I should also mention a certain 'video tape' that would have been IMPOSSIBLE to shoot.

This movie isn't the worst Asian horror has to offer by far, but it is still pretty bad. If you just want to see some creepy images in the dark, or just want to laugh out loud at some over the top acting, or just want to yell "you're stupid!" at a movie screen, or just want to have another Asian horror flick up your sleeve when someone asks you how many you've seen - this movie is for you.

Those seeking a decent plot look elsewhere.