This South Korean scary movie centers on a young girl named Ga-in (Jin-Seo Yun). Things are pretty normal in the beginning. Ga-in has a loving family, a cool best friend and a studly boyfriend. Things begin to unravel after Ga-in attends her aunt’s wedding and witnesses the blushing bride being pushed over a balcony. When Ga-in goes to visit her aunt in the hospital Auntie# 2 has locked herself in with her broken sister to finish the job the fall didn’t. What’s a fencing student to do?

Voices (aka Someone Behind You aka Du Saram-yida) starts off pretty swell. Auntie# 1 is sent flying off to her doom (don’t worry, the gown was mostly unharmed) and Ga-in’s mom and dad sort of look at each other with that look. The kind of look shot from a couple of people who know a deep dark secret but don’t want to reveal it just yet. Not until more corpses pile up at the door. Then they'll be absolutely convinced that their suspicions are confirmed and spill the beans. Meanwhile, Ga-in goes on with her life but then she starts getting attacked by acquaintances. I figured the curse was a family thing and poor Ga-in was the next lucky branch on that rotted family tree.



But I was wrong. The curse doesn’t have much to do with Ga-in’s ancestry. It just seems that whenever she ticks someone off bad enough to make he or she think “I wish I could kill Ga-in” they are driven to do so. This leads to some harrowing yet slightly amusing skirmishes featuring Ga-in fending for her life against a temporarily insane attacker. One example is a nerdy classmate who is smacked by the green eyed monster when a director chooses Ga-in for a role in his commercial. While Ga-in is resting in the nurse’s office the nerdy girl attacks her with a pair of scissors. It seems even if Ga-in indirectly offends someone that person will still come after her.

Like in all the “curse” films Ga-in seeks the root of the evil that is plaguing her. And that’s where Voices loses me. I was all thrilled to see an Asian horror film that did not include a long haired specter popping out of the attic (or the television). I loved the concept of the curse playing on people’s anger and not just their anger but their inmost thoughts. Y'know, those crazy violent thoughts you entertain but never seriously consider executing.....unless you're totally whacked to begin with, of course. Anyway, the idea of being suddenly taken over by a fleeting notion is scary and makes for a great scary story.

But Voices couldn’t seem to figure out what they wanted the origin of the curse to be. The first act it seems like a family curse but by the second act it looks like something that Ga-in has inherited through some other means and then the third act makes the dilemma more of a widespread attack. After seeing the final act I have no idea what the curse actually is or how it came to be. Actually, it might not even be a hex but something more demonic.

The school's "mystery boy" sees Ga-in’s plight and offers to assist her with her special problem. According to local gossip the boy witnessed his father fall victim to the same affliction, possibly, and both his parents perished as a result. Then the boy gives Ga-in this piece of sage advice; “Don’t trust your family. Don’t trust your friends. And don’t even trust yourself”. Sure enough, all those warnings prove truthful and surprisingly useful. That is until Ga-in has a moment where her own sanity is in question. Oh yeah, it sounds all ominous until you see how that event plays out.

Voices is touted as a “Film To Die For” and starts out as such but the sloppy conclusion with its illogical twists and tragic disconnection from the events set up in the previous acts makes me want to sue for false advertising. You are more than welcome to give Voices a try but personally I was disappointed. Voices started out so crisp and interesting and I totally dug the social commentary on anger management but by the end credits I found myself with a dark desire to throw the disc out the window.

The movie is presented in the original Korean soundtrack with English or Spanish subtitles. The only Special Feature is webisodes from the 3rd Annual Miss Horrorfest contest.

Part of the After Dark Films “Horrorfest III: 8 Films To Die For” Series