U.S. DVD Release
Another day and another scary ghost girl flick. I love Asian cinema but this is just getting tiring even for a rabid fan such as myself. No joke, I’ll fist fight with an overweight, armpitty Freddy fan over an off-color A-horror insult but dammit gimme something to work with here folks! I can’t keep bringing up Marebito, truly original though a tad inaccessible, or A Tale of Two Sisters! Somebody is either going to have to start making something original here or Asian horror cinema is going to continue to drop in sales and favor with the fans.
The Red Shoes, while certainly not a bad film, is just a few years too late and cannibalizes just a bit too much to really stand out from amongst the droves of rip-offs and clones floating around out there on shiny. Just when you think The Red Shoes is going to avoid the tedious “ghost girl” formula…WHAMMO…contorted, long-haired vengeful ghosts abound. It’s enough to make you want to cry.
Based on the Hans Christian Anderson’s short story “The Red Shoes” written in 1845 and borrowing heavily from such films as Dark Water, The Eye, The Grudge and even Kubrick’s The Shining…this never aspires to be anything more than “another entry” in an already slumping sub-genre. While there certainly were instances in which I jumped out of my skin; ultimately I was left with a sense of déjà vu like I’d “been there, done that.”
Sun-jae (Hye-su Kim), a thankless housewife, and her spoiled daughter Tae-su (Yeon-ah Park) strike out on their own after Sun-jae discovers her husband (Eol Lee) engaged in some “extra-curricular activities” while she’s away with her daughter at dance class. The condo she purchases is in a horrible state of disrepair but she and her daughter dig their heels in and begin fixing the place up quite nicely.
During a trip on the subway, Sun-jae comes across some beautiful red shoes that apparently belong to nobody in particular and she scoops them up for her own. Naturally, this doesn’t go over well with little Tae-su who demands the shoes for herself. Tempers being to rage out of control as mother and daughter go back and forth, taking the shoes from one another.
Mysterious, and gruesome, deaths surround the shoes and those who wear them and Sun-jae and Tae-su each begin having strange flashbacks that may be connected to the shoe’s original owner, a beautiful ballerina that lived during the 40’s. Could a tragic event have befallen the ballerina and cursed the shoes and anybody that wears them?
Meanwhile, the interior of Sun-jae’s new eye clinic is being designed by the young, and handsome, In-cheol (Seong-su Kim) and Sun-jae takes a liking to him. Unfortunately, In-cheol begins to grow a bit curious after her best friend dies and it’s revealed that Sun-jae may still be legally married. Could little Tae-su have been telling the truth when she said her Father was there to see her while her mother was gone?
Desperate to regain control of her life and her daughter’s safety, Sun-jae and In-cheol set out to discover the mystery surrounding the red shoe’s original owner and hopefully break the curse that may take the life of Tae-su. Some secrets are better left hidden and some bodies are better left buried. Will the red shoes be reunited with their owner before the ghastly specter can claim the souls of all who place the shoes on their feet?
The Red Shoes definitely has gore and some effective little jump scares but its predictable, clichéd and ultimately forgettable. I just couldn’t help thinking this was nothing more than a cash-in on director Yong-gyun Kim’s part. You’ll easily spot the mother/daughter comparisons to Dark Water, the classic “ghost in the elevator scene” from The Eye, the contorted ghost from Ju-on and the rampaging parental unit from The Shining. If not…I just told you.
Personally, I thought The Red Shoes had some wonderful cinematography but that, in my opinion, really doesn’t actually warrant purchasing this film. One thing I can say I loved about The Red Shoes though was Byung-woo Lee’s (A Tale of Two Sisters) breathtakingly eerie score; it was truly dark and disturbing. Hell, I’d HIGHLY recommend purchasing the soundtrack if it was available!
One thing I found a bit curious was the title…THE RED SHOES. With a title like that and the OBVIOUSLY Saw-esque cover artwork depicting a severed foot wearing a red shoe, you’d naturally assume the shoes MUST be red…WRONGO!! Now, I’m not a color expert and shit but they looked mauve to me. Perhaps that was due to the fact that the film’s colors were purposely washed out, which is fine, but couldn’t they have touched up the red a bit? I mean, the film is called The RED Shoes. Ah well, petty complaint I suppose.
For those that enjoy this film, Tartan has included some extras for your viewing pleasure. I opted to avoid them because I really can’t see learning anything worthwhile about this film. The space needed to store that information could be put to better use naming green plastic soldiers, talking to my dormant Venus fly trap or reciting The Lord’s Prayer…backwards…in Esperanto…whilst impersonating Shatner.
The Red Shoes will do little to fuel your passion for Asian horror. It’s watchable but not entirely likeable. Those of you out there still undecided about whether to give Asian horror a chance or not…pass on this.
