On the surface, Jeong Yong-ki's new South Korean horror “The Ghost Station” seems to be your average entry in the genre, following a similar path as many other recent releases from the country. However, there's a bit more going on beyond the scenes of this one, co-writing a solid story with two of the masters of the J-Horror movement in Koji Shiraishi who was responsible for films like “Noroi: The Curse,” “Grotesque,” and “Occult” among numerous others in a prolific career. As well, screenwriter Hiroshi Takahashi, who penned the original “Ringu” and several of the sequels, teamed up with director Jeong to base their new film on a popular webtoon that incorporates plenty of J-Horror ideas and concepts into a high-quality South Korean feature. The end result is this wholly enjoyable if overly familiar genre effort, coming to Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital from WellGO USA on December 19.
Trying to cover herself, reporter Kim Na-young (Kim Bo-ra) is tasked by her boss Tae-hee (Shin So-yul) to develop a new story after getting her magazine in trouble. After sharing the news with her friend Wee-won (Kim Jae-hyun), he relates a story about a strange incident at the local train station where he works which causes her to investigate the area. As Na-young unearths more information about the strange station and gains more exposure for her stories, it alerts her and those around her into a terrifying curse involving the past location on the property and the ghostly beings at the source of the continuing incidents. Finally understanding the powerful curse at play, they band together to stop the events from spreading further and bring peace to everyone.
One of the more likable aspects of the movie is the solid setup from Shiraishi, Takahashi, and Jeong which is based on the webtoon by Horang that brings about some rather intriguing elements. The opening with Na-young getting into trouble for her report and finding a new article to keep her job intact serves as a decent enough way to allow for the series of accidents at the specific train station to come into her life. Learning about the mysterious deaths involved at the station and the various supernatural means that get brought up as a result of the investigation causes a rather chilling sense of dread to emerge. With the revelations giving way to genuine supernatural beings and curses involved, the setup here is quite likable and intriguing. This interweaving storyline comes off rather well as the layers unearthed during the investigation are logically integrated with each other to provide a strong starting point.
As a result, “Ghost Station” generates a solid series of ghostly action and encounters. The gradually unraveling mystery in the first half involving the accidents at the station, the generally unnerving repeating of unknown numbers by the afflicted workers, and the strange markings that are found on them just before their deaths offer a wholly engrossing means of integrating into the mystery to come. The misshapen appearance results in deformed facial marks, glowing eyes, and a generally inhuman demeanor alerting them to the fact that something is wrong with them. It gets even more obvious when this features a series of creepy and genuinely chilling encounters, with the ghost children who live inside the well offering up a fine selection of imagery to go along with the solid storyline that had been built up.
One of the main issues here is the rather messy ending that has some convoluted ideas at play that leave some gaping logic holes. The reveal of the one party involved in the conspiracy to keep the story of the ghost kids and the connection to the local orphanage a secret makes no sense when the whole film has been a chance to uncover everything from the very start. The relationships between everyone at this point in the film would've made it next to impossible to rationalize how the story gets out in the first place, knowing what the end result is. Moreover, some of the reasoning makes little sense and the whole transfer of the curse is glossed over to the point of appearing to be a shock explanation for the sake of it. This is the main part of the film that's underwhelming and holds it down the most, and along with the familiar storyline and presentation of numerous other genre efforts are what generate the flaws here.
A rather fun genre effort even though it's not the most original out there, “The Ghost Station” has a lot to like about it even though a few factors do bring this down from the major names of the category. Viewers with an appreciation for this approach or major Asian horror fans, in general, will have the most to appreciate.
