Memento Mori (1999)

the audience applauded

A Masterpiece!

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

MEMENTO MORI is a South Korean ghost story and follow-up to the similar WHISPERING CORRIDORS, although the two films are unconnected in terms of plot. They're both set in girls' boarding schools and involve similar situations with female bonding and sadistic teachers, but there the similarities end. While watching MEMENTO MORI, it soon becomes apparent that this is an extremely atypical horror film: it's more of a touching, tragic love story between two lesbian school friends rather than anything else. It turns out that the director had no desire to make a ghost story featuring any of the traditional ghostly stuff from Asia, but the producers forced him to add some ethereal menace to appeal to the ready fan base.I found the film to be one of two halves. The first forty-five minutes is stodgy, dull and slow: it's a depiction of school life full of interchangeable characters and unappealing sequences. I found little to keep me watching, but persevered nonetheless and was rewarded by an improved second half, which actually features intriguing plotting and some intelligent, well-filmed moments. The ghostly stuff is kept to a minimum other than in a few situations, and it works better that way. It's not a film which I can actively describe because doing so will spoil it; but if you're looking for an unusual take on a usually familiar genre then this might be up your street.

This is a improvement from the first movie in the saga, but it still has a lot of flaws. The subplots in this film is pretty much boring and didn't really add much to the story. The plot is basically this, this two lesbian girls decide to both make a diary, but when one of the girl doesn't show the same feelings as the other lesbian girl things start to go bonkers. With one girl who finds the diary and investigates it caught in the middle. So this time around it has more to do with being an outcast than teacher brutality. Almost the first hr of this movie has hardly no scary or even creepy scenes, just two lesbian girls doing stuff and one girl who finds the diary investigating. Most of the horror elements come near the end, but it wasn't executed very well and seemed sort of lame than actually scary. The drama aspect of the film wasn't too bad, but the horror parts wasn't done that well. Let's just say I slept like a baby after watching this movie. What started out okay, just became a kinda boring horror flick, with hardly any horror elements in it. One a positive note, most girls will be able to sit through the whole movie with little to no screams. It's basically a supernatural revenge flick from being a outcast by the other girls for being lesbian. The main negative thing I can say about this movie is that it really felt, all over the place at times and didn't stick to a more fluid method and direction. In another words it leads to a simple story to be more confusing that it should be at times.6.3/10

Memento Mori, as a sequel to Whispering Corridors, ditches the grainy, atmospheric feel of a gloomy autumn for a slick-looking summery feel. It may be incongruous with the nature of the film, but if it were to be shot exactly the same as Whispering Corridors then I would moan.A lonely student at an all-girl Korean school finds a diary out in the schoolyard and is sucked into the world of the soon-to-be dead who has left behind. The film jumps around in time as the girl reads stories from the diary. A think a lot more could have been done with this concept since it has so much potential. But the film seems to take place all in a couple of days. Which doesn't give it enough of a change to develop. However, the version I saw was the 99-minute version of the film and since there is a 186-minute cut out there it may well contain a helluva lot more interesting story.I didn't have a lot of trouble keeping-up with the characters this time though, but the story still seemed kinda incomprehensible. The flashbacks to the past could have been made a little bit more obvious.Aside from this, it's an enjoyable time-waster.

Better than average film for its genre, but there is clearly more going on here than meets the eye. Yes, it's another-- at times gory-- high school horror flick, but the difference here are the girls... from the two leads to their supporting cast clique there is a sense of realism that is sometimes lacking in horror films. These girls aren't just stock characters as they very well could have been. Instead, they come off quite natural even if there is nothing natural about what's going on at their school. Whether good or evil, they are played with a genuineness that sometimes makes you think you're eavesdropping on actual conversations.And while there are definitely some horror clichés, it is, after all, yet another high school horror flick(!), it just feels different this time. Maybe that's because for much of the film the horror is lurking in the background, taking a backseat to the girls. In fact, the basic plot of star-crossed lovers could have worked just as well in a more conventional teen-drama without any real blood and gore. The haunting musical score adds just the right positive note.There are some third act issues which might leave you scratching your head but the character study of teen girls at their best and worst leading up to the climax is more than worth the effort.