Death Bell

Death Bell

Theatrical poster
Hangul 고死: 피의중간고사
Hanja 考死: 피의中間考査
Revised Romanization Gosa: piui junggangosa
McCune–Reischauer Kosa: p‘iŭi chunggangosa
Directed by Nayato Fio Nuala
Chang
Produced by Hong Jung-pyo
Im Seong-been
Written by Chang
Kim Eun-kyeong
Starring Lee Beom-soo
Yoon Jung-hee
Nam Gyu-ri
Kim Sang-beom
Son Yeo-eun
Music by Kim Jun-seong
Cinematography Heo Seong-ryong
Edited by Yu Yeong-ju
Production
company
Distributed by SK Telecom (South Korea)
Mirovision (International)
Release dates
  • August 6, 2008
Running time
 88 minutes
Country South Korea
Language Korean
Budget ₩1.3 billion
Box office US$9,274,859
Nam Gyu Ri at Death Bell premiere

Death Bell (Hangul: 고死: 피의 중간고사; RR: Gosa: Piui Junggangosa) is a 2008 South Korean film. The only Korean horror film released over the summer of 2008, it is the first feature by former music video director Chang (real name Yoon Hong-seung), who also co-wrote the screenplay. Death Bell stars Lee Beom-soo in his first horror film role, and K-pop singer Nam Gyu-ri in her acting debut. Set in a Korean high school, the film's native title refers to gosa, the important midterm exams that all students are required to sit.[1]

Plot

The film is set in a high school, where an elite group of twenty students—including rebellious heroine Kang I-na, her timid best friend Yoon Myong-hyo, and her suitor Kang Hyeon—are taking a special class for their college entrance exam. After Kang I-na is nearly strangled and another student throttled in the restroom, the classroom TV screen switches to an image of top-ranking student Hye-yeong trapped inside a fish tank that is slowly filling with water. A disembodied voice announces that her life depends on the exam questions he will set for them, and that a student will die for every question the class gets wrong. Trapped with the students are head teacher Hwang Chan-wook and English teacher Choi So-yeong. I-na realizes that the students are being killed in order of their rank in the class, and she is ranked fifth. Someone is slowly killing the students one by one, but who are they? And what do they want?

Deaths

  1. Min Hye-Yeong - drowned in an enclosed glass tank.
  2. Mr. Lee - Killed by the person offscreen after trying to escape the school.
  3. Sohn Dong-Hyuk - killed by being burned with candle wax drops, then dropped from the ceiling to the gym floor.
  4. Cha Jae-Wook - killed by hundreds of cuts, then his mouth was stuffed with flower petals.
  5. Yoon Soo-Jin - killed by being stuffed into a washing machine, then someone turned it on.
  6. Kang Hyun - killed by being stabbed repeatedly by Beom, the "crazy" student who is haunted by Ji-won's ghost
  7. Cho Beom (the crazy student)- killed by being hit in the head with a rock by Hwang Chang-Wook
  8. Yoon Myung-Hyo - killed by being dropped from the ceiling, head-first.
  9. Kim Ji-Won's Mother - killed by being strangled by Hwang Chang-Wook
  10. Hwang Chang-Wook - stabbed and killed by the father of Kim Ji-Won.

Question & Answers

  1. 1st : Solve all of partial differential equations which are written down to a blackboard, and combine them into one complete answer in time. => Unknown. That equation is a series of partial differential wave equations, not belonged to Cartesian coordinate system. After its solution is revealed, Solution is a form of infinite series function.
  2. 2nd : No. 2 overall ranking sins committed by the student's mother indicated eora of eight characters to Hanja. And then find the answers to Show the kanji in the auditorium. => 知足不辱 知止不殆(Hangul: 지족불욕 지지불태).
  3. 3rd : Kim Ji-Won—previously ranked first on spring—died. Complete the sentence associated with it. => "One fine spring day, remember the auditorium." (Hangul: 따뜻한 봄날의 강당을 기억해.)
  4. 4th : By changing the spellings of the text, please complete the sentence. => I know who killed me. My anger will endure, face the truth. (Hangul: 나는 누가 죽였는지 알고 있다. 나의 분노는 멈추지 않을 것이다. 진실을 대면하라.)
  5. 5th : Input the number as password by resolving these association with this number sequence. Then, Speak the meaning of the number. You have only one chance. : 5685 -> 2485 -> ? => 1320. (it meaning '1st grade, 3rd class and 20th student, Kim Ji-Won')
  6. 6th : "2 years ago, on one fine spring day, my daughter was murdered by someone with a bear-shaped key chain.. who is it? Only the culprit would know the answer. Step forward and confess your sin; if you don't, everyone here will die." => Hwang Chang-wook. Kang Yi-na's Teacher. He is killed by Kim Ji-won's father, who, with his wife, was the mastermind behind the murders.

Cast

Production

Shot on HD video with a budget of ₩1.3 billion,[2][3] Death Bell is the feature film directorial debut of Chang, a former music video director,[4] who also co-wrote the screenplay with Kim Eun-kyeong. The film also marks the acting debut of Nam Gyu-ri,[4] a former singer with K-pop trio SeeYa, and stars veteran comic actor Lee Beom-soo in his first horror film role.[5]

Release

The only Korean horror film to be produced in the summer of 2008,[5] Death Bell made its premiere in July 2008 at the 12th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.[2] Post-production on the film had been rushed in order to have it ready for the festival,[6] and director Chang had to apologise for the poor state in which it was shown.[7]

Released on 6 August 2008 in 366 theatres nationwide, the film grossed $2,370,785 and received 575,231 admissions on its opening weekend, placing it third at the local box office.[8][9] By its third week, Death Bell had climbed to second at the box office,[10] and as of 14 September 2008 had grossed a total of $9,274,859.[11]

Death Bell had looked set to become the second most popular Korean horror film after A Tale of Two Sisters, which attracted more than 3 million viewers in 2003; however, admissions of 1,636,149 (as of 14 September 2008) were less than those recorded by R-Point and Wishing Stairs.[4][9][12] Nevertheless, the film attracted more than twice the number of viewers required to break even at the box office.[13]

Death Bell was released on DVD on 8 November 2008.[14]

Critical response

Derek Elley of Variety found Death Bell to have a "neat concept" with "enough shocks and gore to keep genre addicts contented", and commented, "After a fairly conventional half-hour setup, the pic keeps the tension high with tight cutting and a no-flab script that ups the student body count in some especially inventive ways. Solution to the whodunit is less convincing than the lead-up, with a finale that doesn't deliver on expectations. But the journey there is fine, with Lee, better known for comedy, interestingly cast as the students' tough prof."[6] Kyu Hyun Kim of Koreanfilm.org was more critical of the film, saying, "Death Bell annoyingly combines prettified, slick visual filmmaking (but with no real depth) and gag-inducing torture porn excesses: it's simultaneously tepid and lackluster on the one hand and gross and offensive on the other"; he also regarded the screenplay as a "fetid mess" with an unconvincing central premise, but gave credit to the performance of Lee Beom-soo.[15] A review for Twitch also labelled the film's premise as "ridiculous", going on to say, "Lee Beom-Soo certainly tries, and the tempo keeps building decently until the end, but there’s really no vibe to it. It’s just a succession of tortures and murders, with no sense of surprise, no interest... [and] no thematic consciousness whatsoever".[3]

See also

Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Korean Slasher GOSA (DEATH BELL) Coming To DVD!". Twitch, 3 November 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 D'sa, Nigel. "Korean Films at the 12th PiFan". Korean Film Council, 18 July 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "[K-FILM REVIEWS] 고死 (Death Bell)". Twitch, 4 September 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Yi Ch’ang-ho. "Gosa is unafraid of big-budget competitors". Korean Film Council, 22 August 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "He's one of the most recognized comical actors in Korea - Lee Beom-soo!". Arirang. Retrieved on 5 November 2005.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Elley, Derek. ""Death Bell"". Variety, 2 September 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  7. ↑ Kim, Kyu Hyun. "2008 Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  8. ↑ "South Korea Box Office August 8–10, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 South Korean Box Office for Death Bell. "Death Bell (2008) - 고死: 피의 중간고사". HanCinema. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  10. ↑ "South Korea Box Office August 22–24, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  11. ↑ "South Korea Box Office September 12–14, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  12. ↑ R-Point received 1,689,000 admissions in 2004. "Ranked Box-Office Results" (2004). Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  13. ↑ Jang Jiyun. "Low Budget Films Gaining Popularity With Good Storylines". Arirang, 24 September 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  14. ↑ "Korean horror DEATH BELL aka Gosa on DVD". 24framespersecond. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  15. ↑ Kim, Kyu Hyun. "Death Bell". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved on 5 Nove,ber 2008.

External links