Reviews written by Daniel
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The Ghost Theater (AKA: Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater) (DVD) (Korea Version)
The Ghost Theater (AKA: Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater) (DVD) (Korea Version) DVD Region 3
(2)Our Price: US$13.99List: US$35.99Save: US$22.00 (61%)Related promotions:2 people found the following helpful
September 5, 2007 Annoying, insulting "musical"Purchasing THE GHOST THEATER was the biggest film-related mistake I've made in a long time. This is a classic case of a films synopsis (on YesAsia.com) desperately trying to mislead viewers and trick them into purchasing a lesser product. The undeserved comparisons to THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (laughable) and mentions of "dark comedy" (funny to a child, maybe) and "good old gender bending" (a flat-out lie; there is none) led me to believe this film might be a new step forward for Korean cinema; a true musical with a sense of style and a touch of the bizarre. Well, it's not.
Calling THE GHOST THEATER a "musical" is the first, and worst, offense. There must be a total of four, maybe five musical numbers scattered throughout the film's nearly two-hour running time. The songs are staged without any energy or flair whatsoever, and the lyrics have nothing to do with the "story," if you can call it that. Most of the song lyrics are near-nonsensical strings of curse words, combined with unrelated gothic poetry.
The film's other offenses include abysmal acting, an incoherent script, and a complete disregard for the language of film. Director Jeon Gye Soo comes from a stage background, and this fact is painfully obvious in the execution of his debut film. All of the performers are guilty of over-acting and over-projecting, as if they were on a stage, in front of an audience of disinterested children. The worst offender is the young girl, So Dan (Kim Kkot Bi), whose emotional range seems to be limited to "yelling." The script takes a weak, muddled storyline and drags it out for two hours, when it just as easily could have been wrapped up in a taut thirty minutes. And I get the distinct feeling that director Jeon would have been perfectly happy to set up a camera in one position and let the actors perform on a stage for two hours, because thats basically what they do. His grasp of the film medium is limited only to dolly shots, rolling the camera in and out in a failed attempt to add vitality to limp performances and storylines.
So, is there anything good about THE GHOST THEATER? Yes: the art direction. The films creators obviously wanted to emulate the style of American director Tim Burton, as their sets and costumes could well be leftovers from BEETLEJUICE or EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, but thats where the comparison ends. Unfortunately, Jeon doesnt seem to realize that theres a difference between kitschy, which he was apparently aiming for, and cheesy, which is what THE GHOST THEATER topples into, headfirst.
This film was disappointing on nearly every level, and as an audience member, I felt alternately annoyed, patronized and insulted that a director would ask me to endure such a mess (and pay $29.95 for it). I strongly recommend that you AVOID this film.
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