Whispering Corridors
Encyclopedia
Whispering Corridors is a 1998
South Korean horror film
about a girl's high school. It was part of the explosion in Korean cinema
following the liberalization of censorship in the aftermath of the end of the country's military dictatorship, and makes a strong social commentary on authoritarianism and conformity in the harsh South Korean education system
. It has inspired a number of other Korean horror films set in girls high schools and there are four direct sequels (Memento Mori
, Wishing Stairs
, Voice, and A Blood Pledge/Suicide Pact), though none of the sequels share a continuing plot or characters with each other.
She tries to call her new colleague, Hur Eun-young (played by Lee Mi-yeon
), who is a former student of the school, and Jin-ju’s best friend, and tell her what she has found out, saying “…Jin-ju is definitely dead… but she’s still attending school!” However, before she can explain about her discovery, she is attacked and murdered, and left hanging in the schoolyard.
The first people to make this gruesome discovery the next day are three girls just beginning their senior year: a timid outsider called Young Jae-yi (Choi Se-yeon) and a confident, talented young artist, Lim Ji-oh (Kim Gyu-ri), who are the new class monitors and therefore obliged to carry out early-morning classroom cleaning before school; and a weird, sullen, deeply unpopular girl, Kim Jung-sook (Yun Ji-hye), who the other girls believe has been possessed by the fabled spirit of Jin-ju.
All the girls are of course shocked and upset to make this horrible discovery; it upsets Ji-oh so much that she feels the need to paint a portrait of Mrs Park’s death, to try to get the disturbing image out of her head cathartically through her art. However, the girls are told to hush up the incident as much as possible so that the press and school inspectors don’t begin to research the school’s affairs – especially since violence and psychological/physical abuse are pretty commonplace in this particular school.
The whisper refers to urban myth or legend and the corridor refers to gossip in schools where most of the films in the series are set.
1998 in film
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South Korean horror film
K-Horror
Korean horror, sometimes referred to as K-Horror, is the term given to horror films made as part of the cinema of Korea. Korean horror features many of the same motifs, themes, and imagery as Japanese horror. Korean horror has been around since the early years of Korean cinema; however, it wasn't...
about a girl's high school. It was part of the explosion in Korean cinema
Cinema of Korea
Korean cinema encompasses the motion picture industries of North and South Korea. As with all aspects of Korean life during the past century, the film industry has often been at the mercy of political events, from the late Joseon dynasty to the Korean War to domestic governmental interference...
following the liberalization of censorship in the aftermath of the end of the country's military dictatorship, and makes a strong social commentary on authoritarianism and conformity in the harsh South Korean education system
Education in South Korea
Education in South Korea is viewed as being crucial for success and competition is consequently very heated and fierce. A centralized administration oversees the process for the education of children from kindergarten to the third and final year of high school. Mathematics, science, Korean, social...
. It has inspired a number of other Korean horror films set in girls high schools and there are four direct sequels (Memento Mori
Memento Mori (film)
Memento Mori is a 1999 South Korean K-Horror film. It is considered to be a loose sequel to the previous year's Whispering Corridors, as it is also set in an all-girls high school, but they are otherwise unrelated. The film was one of the first Korean commercial films to depict lesbian characters...
, Wishing Stairs
Wishing Stairs
Wishing Stairs is a 2003 South Korean K-Horror film. It is the third in a series of South Korean horror films set in girls high schools that began with 1998's Whispering Corridors, but, as with all movies in the series so far, is unrelated to the others; apart from a song being sung in one scene...
, Voice, and A Blood Pledge/Suicide Pact), though none of the sequels share a continuing plot or characters with each other.
Summary
Whispering Corridors is set in a fairly typical all-female high school in Korea, called Jookran High School For Girls, and the story begins on the night before the first day of the new school year. A female teacher called Mrs Park (better known by her unaffectionate nickname ‘Old Fox’ on account of her nasty behaviour and treatment of the students), has discovered something mysterious and weird concerning a late pupil of the school called Jin-ju. Jin-ju had committed suicide in the school’s art rooms nine years previously, and her ghost was said to haunt the art rooms which had been closed up after the incident.She tries to call her new colleague, Hur Eun-young (played by Lee Mi-yeon
Lee Mi-yeon
Lee Mi-yeon is a South Korean actress.- Filmography :-Awards:*2008 Chunsa Film Art Awards: Best Actress *2007 Andre Kim Best Star Awards: Best Star...
), who is a former student of the school, and Jin-ju’s best friend, and tell her what she has found out, saying “…Jin-ju is definitely dead… but she’s still attending school!” However, before she can explain about her discovery, she is attacked and murdered, and left hanging in the schoolyard.
The first people to make this gruesome discovery the next day are three girls just beginning their senior year: a timid outsider called Young Jae-yi (Choi Se-yeon) and a confident, talented young artist, Lim Ji-oh (Kim Gyu-ri), who are the new class monitors and therefore obliged to carry out early-morning classroom cleaning before school; and a weird, sullen, deeply unpopular girl, Kim Jung-sook (Yun Ji-hye), who the other girls believe has been possessed by the fabled spirit of Jin-ju.
All the girls are of course shocked and upset to make this horrible discovery; it upsets Ji-oh so much that she feels the need to paint a portrait of Mrs Park’s death, to try to get the disturbing image out of her head cathartically through her art. However, the girls are told to hush up the incident as much as possible so that the press and school inspectors don’t begin to research the school’s affairs – especially since violence and psychological/physical abuse are pretty commonplace in this particular school.
The whisper refers to urban myth or legend and the corridor refers to gossip in schools where most of the films in the series are set.