This film is the third in the girl's high school ghost stories film series from Corea, following Whispering Corridors and Memento Mori. All the films share two common traits: the setting is an all girl's school and there is some sort of supernatural terror visiting the girls, but as far as I can tell, the stories each tries to tell are different.
Wishing Stairs is built around the concept of a set of stairs leading to a dormitory that can grant a student's wishes, should they desire it enough. Of course, since this is a horror movie, the stairs do grant the wish, but not exactly in the way that the wishing students expect. I do like the themes of competition and friendship present in this film, but I think the whole breaks down, especially in the weak third act.
I suppose I should start with some of the problems--although the actress does a decent job with the role, the "fat girl" in the story is drawn a little too off-kilter for my taste. I would've rather had her be either a little kooky or just fat and have to deal with just one of the problems, but when compounded, the character comes across as an exaggeration, a caricature, rather than a well developed character and the fat suit being so obvious doesn't help. The themes of competition and how it affects friendship are actually really strong and the story had a lot of potential, but again, the third act blows it all away.
As the competition between two close friends boils to a head, one of them makes a wish that they will soon regret. Some of the best points of this film show how much backstabbing can go on in such an environment and how breakout stars are often hated. It's actually a tragic story that hits a real high point in the middle of the film. Unfortunately, guilt isn't given enough time to be explored from then on and the drama between the students starts to take a back seat to the spooky goings-on. And the fat kid gets crazier.
Towards the end of the film, humongous leaps in logic take place and the story seems to progress arbitrarily, without much sense or reason. I think what frustrated me most though was that the story had real potential to become an interesting exploration of delusion and the lengths we would go to get everything we want (via the main character) and even closer to the end, I was still hoping that all the spooky goings-on were the result of a guilty conscience. You could still read it that way, but I feel like this film is just way too attached to generic conventions to really break out like that.
First-time director and leads do a decent enough job, given the material. The film has high technical proficiency, so it won't be ugly to look at. It's just that the story was such a let down from the potential that it had. Ultimately, the film is had a lot of potential and the first two-thirds of the film are pretty decent. The weak third act breaks down the potential, making this just another ghost story. It's okay--if you love the sub-genre, you might enjoy this for what it is, but it's sort of a let down, considering the other films in the series. 6/10.
Wishing Stairs is built around the concept of a set of stairs leading to a dormitory that can grant a student's wishes, should they desire it enough. Of course, since this is a horror movie, the stairs do grant the wish, but not exactly in the way that the wishing students expect. I do like the themes of competition and friendship present in this film, but I think the whole breaks down, especially in the weak third act.
I suppose I should start with some of the problems--although the actress does a decent job with the role, the "fat girl" in the story is drawn a little too off-kilter for my taste. I would've rather had her be either a little kooky or just fat and have to deal with just one of the problems, but when compounded, the character comes across as an exaggeration, a caricature, rather than a well developed character and the fat suit being so obvious doesn't help. The themes of competition and how it affects friendship are actually really strong and the story had a lot of potential, but again, the third act blows it all away.
As the competition between two close friends boils to a head, one of them makes a wish that they will soon regret. Some of the best points of this film show how much backstabbing can go on in such an environment and how breakout stars are often hated. It's actually a tragic story that hits a real high point in the middle of the film. Unfortunately, guilt isn't given enough time to be explored from then on and the drama between the students starts to take a back seat to the spooky goings-on. And the fat kid gets crazier.
Towards the end of the film, humongous leaps in logic take place and the story seems to progress arbitrarily, without much sense or reason. I think what frustrated me most though was that the story had real potential to become an interesting exploration of delusion and the lengths we would go to get everything we want (via the main character) and even closer to the end, I was still hoping that all the spooky goings-on were the result of a guilty conscience. You could still read it that way, but I feel like this film is just way too attached to generic conventions to really break out like that.
First-time director and leads do a decent enough job, given the material. The film has high technical proficiency, so it won't be ugly to look at. It's just that the story was such a let down from the potential that it had. Ultimately, the film is had a lot of potential and the first two-thirds of the film are pretty decent. The weak third act breaks down the potential, making this just another ghost story. It's okay--if you love the sub-genre, you might enjoy this for what it is, but it's sort of a let down, considering the other films in the series. 6/10.