Ouija Board (2004) Bunshinsaba (original title)

Director:

Byeong-ki Ahn

Writer:

Byeong-ki Ahn

Release Date:

30 July 2004 (South Korea)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Being the new kid in school... can be hell.

Plot:

Yu-jin and her blind mother move to a small village from Seoul. On her first day at the new school, Yu-jin gets picked on by her classmates...

Plot Keywords:

School | Dead Girl | Stabbing | Psycho Thriller | Knife

Cast

Gyu-ri Kim	...	Lee Eun-ju
Se-eun Lee	...	Lee Yu-jin
Yu-ri Lee	...	Kim In-suk
Seong-min Choi	...	Han Jae-hun
Jeong-yun Choi	...	Ho-kyeong
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yoo-jin Im
Jeong-hwa Kang
Seong-eun Tak

Directed by
Byeong-ki Ahn

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Byeong-ki Ahn

Produced by
Yong-dae Kim	....	producer

Original Music by
Sang-ho Lee

Film Editing by
Sun-duk Park

Production Design by
Yo-han Lee

Production Companies

• A-Post Pictures

Distributors

• Buena Vista International (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Korea (2004) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (2005) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Media Blasters
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)

Also Known As:

"Bunshinsaba" - South Korea (original title)
"Ouija Board: Bunshinsaba" - Philippines (English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and disturbing images

Runtime:

South Korea:92 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Japan:R-15 | Philippines:R-13 | Malaysia:18PL | USA:R | South Korea:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Company:

A-Post Pictures

Quotes:

Lee Yu-jin:Something strange... Has entered my body.

Soundtrack:

Ya li v pole da ne travushka byla? (Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass?), Op.47-7

Dark horror revenge story, well directed, acted and entertaining, but nothing special

Bunshinsaba is not a name that will roll off of your tongues. Comes in the wake of other far eastern horror movies, and generally follows similar traits to them. Story surrounds the horrific "suicides" of girls at a school in a Korean village, whilst bringing back memories of dark chapters in the communities past.

As is the norm for Korean movies, probably the best in the world at the moment, the film is set in beautiful scenery whilst the direction and acting is surprisingly great also taking in the age of a number of the actors. Really puts to shame the teen horror films from the US.

On the other hand, the film's main weaknesses are two fold. The story meanders and doesn't seem coherent, whilst the film also takes too much from others in the genre, e.g. the teenage girl with long hair who is the outsider (e.g. Ringu, Phone), broken families, ghosts, revenge etc... At points it appeared to go for frights above all else, trying to outdo it peers, but really its the storyline that is usually the most important point of the Far Eastern horror films. Regardless, original it really isn't, but its still not bad. I enjoyed it, but I still wouldn't push anyone to go watch it. A good viewing but no classic.