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15 out of 19 people found the following review useful: The best horror/cello flick I've seen since, um..., 8 August 2006 Author: killerreviewscom (gdumont@weggaproductions.com) from United States
First things first. The box for "Cello" has some of the most bad-ass cover art I've ever seen. It's sexy, bloody and instantly makes my wonder how the hell a horror flick can revolve around a cello. Quite honestly, I'm burning myself out when it comes to foreign horror. They're quickly becoming my favorite sub-genre, but man, do I miss the days when I didn't have to read or think so much. I'm actually becoming smarter watching horror movies and that's scarier then the films themselves. Moving on… "Cello" is about (what else?) a young cellist by the name of Mi-ju (Sung Hyun-Ah), who holds herself responsible for killing her best friend in a car accident. Fast-forward a few years later and Mi-Ju's life is finally back-on-track, or at least close to it. She has two beautiful children, a loving husband, a big house, a decent teaching career and a small waistline. She's got it all - too good to be true right? You bet your ass it is. Before you can fart out last night's dinner, Mi-ju's world begins to fall apart. Her students are constantly screwing with her, her sister's going crazy, terrible nightmares plague her sleep and her oldest daughter is becoming a human vegetable. Hey! - at least her waistline is stable. So is all this a coincidence? Probably not. Is a bitter spirit from the past coming back to seek revenge? Probably. What did she expect? Even in purgatory, the chick is still removing pieces of windshield from her face. Hopefully her tits didn't get hacked up too bad.The opening of "Cello" embodies everything I love about Asian cinema. We have a beautiful girl sitting in her bedroom playing the cello, sliding the bow across the strings producing a beautiful melody. The camera slowly moves around the room, changing the focus between the foreground and background. Sounds peaceful right? Well, almost immediately we cut to a woman in an emergency room covered in blood. We see that she has been in some sort of accident and the doctors are struggling to save her from her already-decided fate. These shots are realistic and downright disturbing. It's funny; I can watch Jason Voorhees hack through a bloody plethora of terror-filled teenagers, but when the people are in a realistic situation, like a car accident, it's far worse to watch. Oddly enough, it's also very beautiful in a morbid sort of way. Asian films always seem to accomplish this and I'm very drawn to that.Because of the dark, eerie cover art I just assumed that "Cello" was going to be a ninety-minute spook fest, very much in the tradition of Ju-On and Ringu. Man, was I was wrong! Director Woo-cheol Lee chose to focus more on story and character then the scares. (Uh-oh… there goes half the audience.) At first this was disappointing to me but of course – like with most Asian cinema - when all is said and done, the story development pays off in the end.I was also surprised how non-atmospheric and bright "Cello" was. Most Asian flicks require a heavy-duty flashlight for viewing but not "Cello." A good portion of the film takes place during the day and if it's after-dark, then the characters are inside in well-lit rooms. They seem to be much 'brighter' than normal, too. We see them dressed in bright colors, joke around, dance and laugh. Basically act like regular people. This was such a refreshing change from the usual dark, gloomy characters that populate most Asian films.The only qualm I had was with the pacing. Like I said, when the end credits started rolling I felt satisfied, but it was a slow ride at times. I was going to rate this flick a little lower because of this, but as I sat down to write the review I just kept thinking of several key sequences that really impressed me, the final shot of the film being one of them. I think with a higher scare factor "Cello" could have been one of my favorites. I really enjoyed this one.Overall, I think most people will like "Cello." It's the classic Asian approach. You have a lot of story development, which can be slow at times and of course, an ending that will no doubt spark conversation. If you enjoy these types of films then you'll most definitely like this one. If you don't, then you probably won't. If you're new to Asian cinema, then I highly recommend you check out "Cello." It's a great introduction to the genre.
10 out of 12 people found the following review useful: A fun watch!, 18 May 2006 Author: Muviegirl from United States
I liked this movie. I'm not sure why they called it Cello, because it's the characters in the movie that really make it scary and not the instrument. But, it is directed by Lee Woo-Chul, a music director, and he really does use the music effectively to create this creepy ominous vibe. He also makes the movie look good too (there's a lot of cool imagery) and it comes off almost looking somewhat like a longer version of a scary music video. Maybe that's what they decided to name it after an instrument. Anyway, it's about this woman, who is a really great cellist, and she just wants a peaceful life after surviving a car crash that killed her best friend. So she decides to give up a professional career in music in favor of teaching college students and her daughter how to play. Well, once her life appears to regain a sense of normalcy, of course you know that that's just the quiet before the storm. Suddenly, one of her students attacks her, her sister in-law develops a wacky obsession with her fiancée, and the new housekeeper – lets' just say the woman will scare the crap out of you! Plus, her daughter develops some serious issues, including a nasty biting habit. There are plenty of scary women in this movie and they had me jumping several times. That's why I reiterate it's the characters that you have to watch out for. Before I saw it I thought it was about this haunted instrument or something. The acting is good, and the music really does add to the jump factor. Basically, it's a really fun movie to watch late at night…with the sound up loud. I recommend it!
9 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Haunted by the Guilty, 23 June 2007 Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The cellist and teacher Mi-Ju Hong (Hyeon-a Seong) is invited by her colleague and friend Sun-Ae (Na-woon Kim) to assume the position of professor in her renowned institution, and gives an invitation to the concert of Hae-Young Kim, the little sister of her former school best friend Tae-Yeon Kim (Da-an Park) who died in a car accident. Before leaving the building, she is threatened by a former student that failed in her test. While driving home, she escapes from an accident on the road and once at home, she has a surprise birthday party with her husband and prosecutor Jun-Ki (Ho-bin Jeong), her daughters the slow Yoon-Jin and the young Yoon-Hye Song, and her sister-in-law Kyung Ran (Jin Woo), whose fiancée is in Manhattan in a MBA course. On the next morning, her husband hires the dumb housekeeper Ji-Sook, a very weird woman. While shopping with Yoon-Jin, the girl is fascinated in a cello and Mi-Ju buys the instrument. After the mysterious death of her dog Sunny, creepy events happen with Mi-Ju, jeopardizing her family, while she insistently listens to her husband voice saying "open your eyes"."Cello" is another magnificent Korean horror movie. The original plot is very well constructed like pieces of a puzzle, with a scary and ambiguous twist that gives the sensation of deja vu. The film is supported by an excellent screenplay, wonderful and classy soundtrack, awesome direction and performances and a perfect use of special effects. The actress Hyeon-a Seong is extremely beautiful and elegant and fits perfectly to her character. Unfortunately this movie is underrated in IMDb and based on the 218 votes, quite unknown. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): Not Available
9 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Surprising horror movie, 3 July 2007 Author: brucev13 from Netherlands
"Cello" is one of the best Korean horror movies I have seen! It sure is very creepy! And it certainly has enough scary scenes to keep you satisfied! The brilliance of this movie is that you don't exactly know when something is going to happen! In most horror movies you can anticipate and predict a scene! Although some scenes seem similar to other Asian horror movies and you think you know what is going to happen the scene goes into another direction! And then out of nowhere something happens! It takes a while to fully comprehend the plot! But once you do you will be surprised even more! Twist after twist and it never seems to end! "Cello" won't be for everyone,since the pace is quite slow and there aren't that many scares compared to other similar horror movies! Personally I didn't mind much because overall the movie is very entertaining and it's conclusion very rewarding!
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: One of the better Asian horror films, 1 May 2007 Author: fulcigore from United States
I am not really a fan of Asian horror cinema, most likely because my first impressions of the genre came from boring remakes like The Ring. I picked up Cello on sale at Wal-Mart (!) of all places, because the cover caught my eye.Cello was a good horror movie with some quality chills and good direction. The story starts with a music teacher at a school who obviously plays a cello. She has difficulty with a certain student, who is a pretty important figure story wise. The plot really gets going when we are shown a pretty intense car wreck. From there many crazy things happen to build the story and make a good horror flick. Of course there are several staples of Asian horror such as creepy little girls etc.The movie has some real gritty tension between two competitive characters and some good twists to keep the viewers interested. The acting is pretty top notch and the film looks good in terms of picture quality and the sound mix is good.If you enjoy Asian horror movies and good creepy stories, check out this Korean import.
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Cello, 1 June 2008 Author: Scarecrow-88 from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Tragedy strikes a deeply depressed musical teacher's family as they fall prey to a vengeful ghost seeking revenge.There's a secret Mi-ju(Hyeon-a Seong)is hiding and we can see that whatever is plaguing her in how she carries herself and on her face. The film's most symbolic image may be several claw mark scars down her arm..they hold a special meaning as to why Mi-ju's innocent family is being preyed upon. A student she gave a bad grade to is causing mischief which seems to have no relevance to the proceedings, but we realize that certain phone calls sent to her(I hope you're happy.. You ought to be..)aren't from this rude girl. Haunting her besides these phone calls is the mental illness plaguing her autistic daughter. Mi-ju pops pills and we can see a cold distance in her marriage to businessman husband. Her sister-in-law is slowly driven crazy by the absence of her fiancé, going to school in America, who has quit calling her. Mi-ju's husband has hired a mute(..she swallowed acid) housekeeper, who lost her family and once attempted suicide several times. And her normal, adorably cute daughter is a victim to the unraveling of the family. The husband, often at work or away from the malevolent occurrences damaging his family, soon himself makes discoveries involving his wife's past which yield a dead school friend of hers, a promising cello musician named Tae-yeon(Da-an Park). Soon Tae-yeon's musical score shows up out of thin air as a constant reminder of that certain secret Mi-ju has kept buried which we'll soon see solving all the mysteries as to why her family suffers so.Asian ghost revenge tale where the lead protagonist is hiding something that will soon come back to haunt her. It's the whole "sins of the mother" where you can perhaps hide a truth from others, but you yourself know what really happened. Mi-ju is a failure in life, not only as a cello player, but as a mother, whose guilt and joyless existence are on display. As I mentioned above, the claw mark scars are perhaps the image one should remember for this reminds Mi-ju of her past for which she can never escape, no matter if her shirt sleeves cover them or not. Not only do the claw marks work as an interesting symbolic image for the story regarding a character's past sins, it remains in our minds for we know there is something to them as it pertains to the mystery of the film. The twist at the end is an oft-used Twilight Zone type of gimmick where a character can truly never escape from the consequences of her own actions. Some of the special effects are decently staged(..what happens to the sister-in-law, for example, or the image of Tae-yeon often popping up out of nowhere), but the film is more of a mystery unraveling with the ghost making occasional appearances as a reminder of who is causing the supernatural terror to Mi-ju's family. The violence is limited to the end as Mi-ju loses her family members one by one to "the ghost". The use of the cello instrument is a key image throughout the film, obviously, and the autistic daughter has a significant role(..and is the cause of an unfortunate major family tragedy)in the story..perhaps she's a representative of bad karma or something regarding her mother's sins? I was so into the story, I paid little attention to the technical side of things, but it's quite professionally made with beautiful camera-work. This is very story-driven psychological thriller with the ghost more or a less an image of Mi-ju's undoing.The creepiest image for me personally was the ghost's ghastly white hand, with those long, black finger nails crawling up the throat of Mi-ju.
6 out of 10 people found the following review useful: So creepy!!!!, 13 October 2006 Author: Satine_25 from United States
I wouldn't go so far as to say that this movie was scary, but it was sure as heck bizarre!!! So basically this movie is about a woman (a former cellist) with a mysterious past, involving a car accident, and all of a sudden strange and terrifying things begin to happen to her much beloved family. She has a husband who seems to love her very much, a sister-in-law that lives with them until she is married to her fiancé, a mentally impaired older daughter, and another younger daughter. She also teaches as a part time instructor and one day is threatened by a young student who received a poor grade in her class. No spoilers, so to find out more you have to watch the movie. This movie had TONS of twists and turns, just when you think you've figured it out something new pops up and it throws you entirely off guard. Especially about the main character's past... you have been warned. One thing I love about these types of movies is the beautiful cinematography, it's just absolutely gorgeous even in such a twisted and creepy movie such as this one. Everything just seems to flow so elegantly, something rarely achieved in American movies. I definitely recommend this movie for someone who enjoys a good creep fest, but don't recommend it to someone who is really squeamish towards blood.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: I don't know why you say goodbye, I say cello., 19 December 2009 Author: tyler-and-jack from Edinburgh.
An impressive horror from South Korea, this is yet another supernatural tale and another movie containing a number of effectively creepy moments that should please fans who are turning to our Asian friends more and more recently for the high standard of horror movies being provided.Hyeon-a Seong plays Hong Mi-ju, a young woman who finds herself with a troubled mind (wouldn't you just know it) and some memories that refuse to remain just memories. It all seems to be linked with a cello and many things start to happen around her eldest daughter Yoon-Jin, a young girl with learning difficulties. And there are other things going on like a resentful student who has been given a low grade by Hong, a car accident that brings to Hong's mind another car accident and the slow but steady unravelling of the family unit.Many of the Asian horrors that I have seen, and constantly try to see, fall into two categories. There are the extreme, gore-filled slices of craziness and there are the more traditional, almost comfortable, spooky movies that remind me of reading works from M.R. James and other masterful literary talents. This movie falls most definitely in the latter category. It does have a familiarity to it, in many respects, but also achieves a great atmosphere and sense of creepiness throughout with one or two standout moments dotted amongst the more sedate chills.It's also a damn fine psychological horror, rather ambiguous in places and open to interpretation to each individual viewer (although my personal favourite reading of events is one often disregarded and I can happily accept other ways of interpreting them).The acting, as is so often the case from this particular part of the world, is great, the script is decent and nicely constructed to create maximum significance for each twist, turn and/or revelation and while the design and look of the thing may be a little unimaginative there's really nothing wrong with complimenting this as simply an enjoyable, solid horror movie.Oh, one final word of warning: some people may loathe the ending. I didn't but I have heard others complain about it so thought it should be mentioned as a possible stumbling block.See this if you like: Audition, Coming Soon, A Tale Of Two Sisters.
Much more entertaining than expected, 8 August 2009 Author: slayrrr666 (slayrrr666@yahoo.com) from Los Angeles, Ca
"Cello" is a watchable if not entirely worthwhile Asian entry.**SPOILERS**At a prestigious university, Professor Hong Mi-ju, (Seong Hyeon-a) learns from colleague Sun-ae, (Kim Na-woon) that a new position has opened for her, despite most of her students harbor ill feelings to her. Putting it behind her, she turns her focus to her family, husband Jun-ki, (Jeong Ho-bin) and long-time friend Kyung-ran, (Jin Woo) only to feel like she's being stalked. Trying to keep herself entertained through her musical exploits, she finds that the cause of the freaky, on-going coincidences are the result of a former associate of hers from years back taking revenge for her actions toward her when they were friends that led to her death, and must prevent her family from falling for the supernatural menace.The Good News: There was some good stuff in here when it counted. One of the best parts to this is the usual plus found in Asian fare, their fantastic ghost scares, which here aren't up to snuff with the best of the genre but are still rather good when they occur. The first case, in the car, is actually really good as the radio begins playing a different song than the one that was initially selected, made creepier by later revelations that hinted at it's true origin, and the freak-out manages to make sense in that context. Managing to mix together the scratches on the arm suddenly get deeper and darker while playing havoc with the signal lights is a lot of fun. Other good stuff occurs during the segue away from the middle and into the finale, which here is accomplished by the spectacular scene where the daughter attempts to play the cello, only to have supernatural tentacles spring out of the walls for no reason and changes over into a rather exciting confrontation outside that results in a really chilling and disturbing outcome. Other really good scenes include the scenes of her at the theater where it suddenly changes mid-song to a blackened theater with a ghost playing alone on-stage to a scene where she's assaulted in classes at school and where she finds her sheets being pulled off by an unseen force while sleeping before witnessing a nightmarish-image makes for some good times. The best scenes, though, occur early on where the freaky stuff is just starting, and they make for some fantastic build-up for the film. The scene where the ghost is shown to have been possessing one of the girls and leaves to attack the resident in the next-door-room, which is creepy and unsettling, and there's a lot of fun to be had with the resolution shown later on that is nearly as much fun as the attack is. The flashback revelation sequence as well is awesome, due to the fact that the events which start the vengeance are well-handled, logically and definitely manage to handle their own worth in the film and cause a lot of enjoyment to occur. The last plus to the film is the really twisted ending, which has a lot of great points that definitely make it fun. From the insane stalking of the family to their bloody deaths and the finale's awesome twist in the last few minutes, which definitely makes for a great ending to a fantastic effort. These here are the film's best parts.The Bad News: There was a couple of flaws to this one that manage to hold it back considerably. One of the biggest ones is the fact that the middle section of the film is incredibly dull and slow-going, hardly having anything all that worthwhile to it that manages to make it feel really good and enjoyable. This is mostly the cause from a series of scenes that barely have anything all that worthwhile to them. From the endless scenes of the family arguing over the mother trying to teach them how to play the cello and how her students feel about her to the drama between the family friend and her dealings, there's not a whole lot that really happens and as such, there's hardly any horror elements to be had. These non-horror scenes, combined with a style of pacing that tends to drag everything out to where it barely feels like the film has any kind of momentum or energy at all is really troubling and tends to make it seem like this one doesn't have a whole lot going for it. Another small flaw is the fact that this one tends to have potential-scare scenes that are over so quickly it ruins what hope they had. The parking garage is the most obvious case, since that one had so many intriguing angles to go before it's over without anything scary happening, and that's exactly how the scares at the school go as well, over before they have a chance to play out. The last flaw to this one is the fact that there's a completely confusing twist at the end that makes no sense. The rampage at the end is completed, they show the aftermath and then continue on without offering an explanation of what's happening, and it can easily go into several different directions from what's happened. It definitely could've explained some here, but these are still the film's flaws.The Final Verdict: While it's not that bad and is actually watchable, there's a few problems with this one that manage to keep it from reaching the upper echelon. Watchable for those who are extremely into the Asian genre or find this type of film enjoyable, while those who aren't that excited should heed caution.Rated R: Violence and some Language
5 out of 10 people found the following review useful: is it all a bad dream?, 11 October 2006 Author: TheatreX from Louisville, KY
This is a decent Korean horror film in which a young music instructor is haunted by the vengeful spirit of a woman who was her strongest competition when she herself was a musician. She apparently gave up her potential career after the death of her friend to take care of her kids and instruct part time. But now odd things have begun to happen to her and her family and it seems like vengeance from beyond the grave is the cause. When her autistic daughter begins to take an interest in the cello, things get even weirder, and it seems as though tragedies are befalling her and her family one by one. The woman is plagued by hallucinations and horrible things seem to happen and then everything seems normal again. This is rather an elliptical film because it seems at the end that nothing has been like what we've been shown, but then we're back to a starting point again, and that was rather chilling. Takes a while to get going but once it does it's rather worthwhile. 8 out of 10.
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