Epitaph

R1 DVD

Danger After Dark

TLA Releasing

Epitaph is a visually stunning and surreal ghost tale from first-time writers and directors the Jung Brothers. Do not expect this tale to follow a logical path as it meanders through tales of love, obsession and death. It is comprised of a number of interconnected stories which use as their background an old Korean hospital which is beautifully portrayed with its polished wooden floors, long corridors, unreliable electricity and unusual morgue.

The film opens with black and white footage of experimental brain surgery on a decorated war veteran, it goes horribly wrong and one of the nurses is stabbed in the neck with a scalpel. This event reverberates throughout the film and it seems to cause the hospital to become the focus of various horrific and ghostly hauntings. A medical student is inexplicably draw to a beautiful dead girl; a troubled child is tortured by bloody visions of her dead parents; and a married couple find themselves investigating a series of gory murders in which they seem to be directly involved.

While the plot could be said to be somewhat derivative of similar Asian ghost and horror films, the cinematography makes it stand on its own. Every scene seems to be meticulously planned; the camera focuses on very specific angles which give you a strange sense of foreboding even when nothing untoward is occurring. The violence and gore is also well used and the ghosts are impressively confronting, each character seems uniquely perverse and nothing is what it seems.

When all this is combined with a superbly atmospheric soundtrack Epitaph becomes a very eerie experience indeed.

One of the things that stood out for me was the emphasis on the “texture” of each scene. Whether it be the focus on snow (as a prelude to supernatural appearances), a snail crawling out of a container, water dripping from a body or a snow globe. Each image is presented in such a way that they have a symbolic significance which is puzzling and intriguing. Even a hair pin with a butterfly on the end becomes a highly visceral image of violence and murder.

Epitaph is much like a long nightmare; it has a continual dreamlike quality which makes it both seductive and frustrating. At times you wonder what the heck is going on but at the same time you continue watching as you are fascinating by the mood the film creates.

An old hospital, failed surgery, ghosts, murder, necrophilia and a demented serial killer matched with superb cinematography and a sinister soundtrack, how can you go wrong ? What Epitaph may lack in innovation, it makes up in style and mood. It will keep you guessing right to the end and certainly is an accomplished Korean chiller.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.2 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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