Cello (2005)

the audience applauded

Simply A Masterpiece

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Cello (2005) is a cool horror movie, one which you can watch with your entire family. It neither has rivers of blood flowing nor ear piercing screams, or for that matter no dark, zero electricity nights. Still it sends a chill down your spine.It primarily focuses on building up an atmosphere where even the normal things in day to day life when overturned can end up being a cause of your worst nightmare. The direction is good. The characters and their portrayal, the scenes and their neatness makes you feel normal, until you are jolted into reality of horror. The story at the end will pause you to think... for the protagonist and then for your own self.On the downside, there is a tinge of "The grudge (2004)" and "Ju-On (the grudge) (2002)". But then it leaves a distinct flavor for the later movies like "1408(2007)", etc.

I was quite disappointed with this film and I think it has to do with the fact that it gets a bit confusing at some parts, and the story relies on the same usual formula most horror films go for - that whole psychological twist thing at the end. There were a few scares here and then but it didn't last long, and this film didn't leave me with that scare factor I get when seeing horror films.Cello is about a professor who teaches the cello and has a family at home, where one of her daughters is learning to play the cello. But after her daughter seems to not communicate, a new housekeeper who can't speak is hired and seems to mysteriously appear every time something weird happens, a student who is harassing the professor due to a failed exam - what is happening? I think they added too many things into this film to lead you astray and make you think about what is going on. What was disappointing was the the villain in this film - or ghost wasn't really frightening at all which was bad. She looked like she just had too much bad makeup on that could have been washed away with a splash of water.The ending also was a tad confusing in my opinion so instead of being freaked out, I was more contemplating what had happened and that is not good if you want to scare someone. Storywise also, I think a lot of Asian horror films have this symbolism of an object that is overused a lot - The Red Shoes, Dark Water with that school bad etc. Not to say that it doesn't work but it gets a bit repetitive and I felt that this one has reached it's overuse date.It's a pity because I was looking forward to this one but this has to be one of the letdowns in Asian Horror.

I used to teach music theory. I flunked a student one time and his mother went ballistic, sending slanderous letters about me to the dean, the president, and eventually even the board of the school. Well, let me just say that her treatment of me was mild in comparison to what happens to the teacher in THIS trashy horror flick.Well, at least that's what we're led to believe at the beginning. The offended student is getting revenge on her snooty teacher. But then other weird things start happening. We see the same scenes repeated, but with different characters and outcomes. We have odd supernatural sounds and horrific nightmares. We have a bizarre mute housekeeper who creeps everyone out, but who stays because the husband feels sorry for her. (Would you keep a housekeeper who had "swallowed acid" if you had two young girls in the house?) There are deaths (including two animals and a small child), suicides, and an autistic child who loves the cello.This film can't seem to decide what it's really about. Mental illness? Revenge? Self- punishment? Competition in the world of music? It's just a bunch of random plot elements hung together on a cello string. It's one thing to have surprises in a movie; it's another thing to be misled by an idiotic script. And it's got an ending that's a weird combination of GROUNDHOG DAY and CARRIE.My most profound memory from this movie is: "Wow, Korea has the CLEANEST parking garage floors in the universe." I'm already forgetting the rest.

"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!