The Red Shoes (2005)
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The Red Shoes is yet another installment in the wave of inanimate objects causing misfortune to its owners, but unlike films like Cello, it's actually not bad. Director Yong-gyun Kim uses the tired sub-genre and predictability to his advantage by combining bloody deaths and stylistic sequences with a relatively fast pace to create another interesting above-average entry in the long line of South Korean horror films. Based on the Hans Christian Andersen story of the same name, the film details a woman and her daughter as they move into an old apartment building after discovering her husband's infidelity.
In the process the mother comes across a pair of beautiful red shoes, which she adds to her collection of high-priced designer pairs. However, these shoes are far from ordinary, as she discovers that they have an unnatural hold over her daughter's persona once she puts them on. It's soon revealed that whomever wears the shoes are taken over the by its original owner, and if the shoes don't want you to wear them it will kill you in a number of horrific ways; excellent!
Yes, I know the plot sounds dumb and predictable (which it is), but due to the creative directorial effort from Yong-gyun Kim, the movie actually becomes an above-average supernatural flick. The movie doesn't suffer from slow-pacing, and even has its fair share of cool and bloody deaths to keep the audience even more interested. Although, I can't say that there are any genuinely creepy scenes, it does have some that aren't the same-old that we might've already seen in past films.
There are a number of interesting sequences that deliver nice eye-candy and mood for the audience (the blood-red snow for one) that clearly shows the creativity Yong-gyun Kim brings before the camera. The story, down to the climax, is predictable, but the pacing and deaths alone should be enough to please the average Asian-cinema-enthused horror fanatic, such the case with myself.
An above-average South Korean horror film that takes a predictable and unoriginal storyline to interesting new heights. With the use of bloody deaths and a somewhat fast pace, the movie should please fans lookin' to check more Asian horror.