Korean movie "Death Bell": Review, mega amount of screenshots and trailer

 Release Date: August 7, 2008 Running Time: 85 minutes  Director: Chang

 Main Cast:

Nam Gyu-Ri as Yi-Na, student

Lee Beom-Soo as Kim Chang-Ok, teacher(character is listed as Hwang in some credits)

Kim Beom as Kang Hyun, student

Yun Chung-Hee as Choi So-Yeong, teacher

Kong Jung-Hwan as Lee, teacher

Ham Eun-Jung as Kim Ji-Won, dead student

Lee El as the Gaurd, Ji-Won's father

Yang Ji-Won as Hye-Young, student

Kang Won as Dong-Hyuk, student

Son Yeo-Yun as Myung-Hyo, student

....plus a another ten students who all had a few brief appearances on the screen.

 Two for two on my current run of Korean horror films, hope it's a sign they'll continue and have a feeling they will. Up next will be "Death Bell" II though it's not a true sequel, haven't read any reviews but have read some comments from viewers who say it's almost as good as this one. This film was a gory watch but it ended up being much more than that as the plot was interesting and there were some nice surprises thrown in, especially at the end. Though just an 85 minute thriller this review will be another long one as so much took place. Trailer above is a different one than was in the first post for the film.

 Very exciting film as the action was almost non-stop for the final seventy minutes. Bit of a slow start though which was okay, we got to meet a few of the students and learned a bit about them though not too much. Slow starts are good because when the action picks up it seems even more intense. The entire movie takes place at the Chang-In high school, a very elite institution. About 95% of the film happens on one day, May 24th into the 25th, the last scene was a few days after.
 The Chang-In school seemingly has only the elite of the elite students and none of them seem to mind taking exams and studying. The final exam period has come to a close, it's time for the whole school to take a well deserved breather. That is except for the best 24 students in the school who will be put into a special class.
 On May 24th the high school is expecting some distinguished visitors from their sister school which is the famed British school Eton. That visit will be taking place in less than a week so the 24 students who ranked one to twenty four on the exams were put into a new class to impress the visitors. They'll be studying English and other subjects though they're so smart don't think they need it.

 Not sure if that May 24th date is 100% correct but no other dates were mentioned but to be honest the date(s) don't matter at all. It's the first day of the special class, as you can see above one of the students is missing who is Hye-Young who was ranked #1 in the school. The 22 students don't know it but another one has disappeared who is Dong-Hyuk, that's him above. He had collected the student's cellphones as they're not allowed in class.
 After collecting them for some reason he was next seen by us in the men's bathroom, Dong-Hyuk was conscious but on the floor bleeding. He was slowly being pulled by a rope, he disappeared into a ceiling hole but we'll be seeing him soon. Will quickly bring up one student who didn't make the class, his name is Cho-Beom. He's a real oddball who gets picked on and has been seeing ghosts and such in class, he had to be committed to a hospital by his teacher but we'll be seeing him again.
 The missing student has sort of been located but she's not in a safe location as her image is now on every video screen in school. Hye-Young is in a water tank that's slowly filling with water, unless the students and teachers can answer a question then she'll soon meet her fate. That's the basic premise to save someone, the group needs to answer a question within a certain period of time though we never learn how long that period is.

 But even if a question can't be answered quick enough to save a student the answer still needs to be solved. Don't think I nodded off, certain I didn't, but it was never fully revealed why an answer still needed to be figured out. Think it's for the remaining students, that is if there are any left as knowing them may hold the key to leaving the school.
 There was also an eerie voice coming over the school's speakers, someone had hijacked the entire PA system. The students and teachers were warned not to leave the school, if they do only tragedy awaits them. There are three teachers with two of them being men, one of the men is named Lee and he confronted the boy Hyun about the PA system. Hyun had hacked into it earlier in the week and played a prank on the school, Lee thought he was behind this event too but he was mistaken.
 Hyun doesn't seem like a smart lad though he has to be to finish so high in the school's rankings. He's also a DJ at nights and has his eyes squarely focused on Yi-Na, we haven't talked about her yet but you'll know who she is as she's in more screenshots than anyone. The students failed to answer the question to save Hye-Young who has now drowned to death in the tank. Lee is furious and regardless of the warning the teacher leaves the school to find a phone, no phones in the school will work.

 If you've seen the "Battle Royale" movie then the deaths are reported just like they were in that film, you can see an example in the middle screenshot. Below that is a staggering Lee, he made the mistake of leaving the school and has been badly beaten. He was beaten so horribly that within a minute of coning back into the school he's met his death as very quickly two of the 27 are now dead, the 27 consisted of the 24 special class students and three teachers.
 As the group watches Lee crawl into the school and die the school's monitors come alive again as they discover what's happened to Dung-Hyuk. We knew as we saw him in the bathroom but his disappearance had been a mystery. He's tied up somewhere and has been beaten but this time we are able to find out what a question is to save a fellow student. He talked about the sins of his mother, the question was to find eight Chinese characters that would be the correct answer.
 The characters are in the school's auditorium so the students rush off there, Dong-Hyok had mentioned his mother was greedy. The other male teacher Kim was able to deduce what the eight words needed were: Be satisfied and stop, then no dangers await. The students were able to find the words though it took a while, unfortunately just before they could successfully complete the answer their time was up. Dong-Hyuk's death was quite painful as very hot wax from a candle had been dripped on to his head and the students were so sick to their stomachs when they saw how he died.

 Above listed 27 as the the amount of people in the school at the beginning of this ordeal. Increase that amount by one as there was also the school guard who was an older man, we see him now and again as he's been trying to look for a way out and to fix the phone system with no success in either. With the film just lasting a bit over eighty minutes there's no time for filler so the action is non-stop. Shortly after the second gruesome killing one more student has been discovered as missing.
 That's a boy with the name of Jae-Wook, he's third on the school's ranking list as the killer is eliminating the students starting from the smartest one. That bit info was from Yi-Na who had gone to the PA room but was unable to get the phones working. The computers still functioned though which is how she figured out how the killer is selecting his next victim.
 The students remaining in the auditorium are getting a bit antsy, seems like they're just sitting ducks if they do nothing. They get the bright idea to slither away and head back to their dorms, all of the students at this elite school live on campus. The group of six were successful, they were able to get the keys to the dorms from the school's main office and headed to the safety of their rooms though they won't be safe for too long.

 Back at the auditorium the six students have have been discovered as missing. The remaining students and teachers know they haven't been killed or at least that was hopeful thinking. They splinter off into two groups to find the students but also were looking for some clues about the heinous killings.
 No luck in finding out anything for either group but as they were searching some screams were heard from the dorms. The six weren't safe for too long as many eerie noises were heard from all over the dorm and all were too petrified to leave their room. Shortly after there was someone banging manically against their door and it seemed like it was just a matter of time until it was broken through. But the banging stopped and it appears the person or persons have left the six students for now or what is a ruse?
 One unnamed student crept toward's the door and was going to peek out but never got the chance to do that. As he was next to the door a hand(!) smashed through it and grabbed the boy's head. The hand pulled the boy's head through the hole made in the door, death number four has now taken place as the boy's throat was torn to shreds as he was being pulled through.

 The two groups had rushed over to the dorm but arrived too late to save the boy. But the other five were all safe but actually that's the wrong number as it's been discovered someone else has gone missing. That's a girl named Seo-Jin, she had been the one that came up with the idea of hiding in the dorms. The killer is ahead of himself now as he hasn't killed the third student he captured who is
Jae-Wook but we're about to hear about his demise.
 It's been a long day as it's now early nighttime, the group headed by teacher Kim has headed back to their classroom. On the blackboard is another question, they need to quickly figure out what it is to save Jae-Wook. The answer will give the password needed to log into the computer you see above. Once again the teacher Kim figures out what the answer should be, this time it's Warm Spring day, remember the auditorium.
 But sadly once again the answer was discovered too late, as you'll notice below it's 8:40 pm and
Jae-Wook has met his end. He had been mussing for a very long time, to me it had to have been for over five hours but the time limit to figure out the solution to an answer has never been said and they all seem to be different. His death was another brutal one as his mouth was stuffed with flower petals, he also had been severely cut up.

 Yi-Na has is thinking it's the ghost of Ji-Won who is behind the gruesome killings. Ji-Won was a former student who had been killed in the school's auditorium the year before. It was definitely a murder but the culprit was never caught nor was it discovered why she was killed. That answer above is what made Yi-Na think that Ji-Won is behind the killings, almost everyone else rolls their eyes at her but Hyun seems to believe that it's possible Ji-Won is responsible for the deaths. At the conclusion of the review we'll learn all about Ji-Won's past and it does tie in with the deaths.
 The questions or you could almost call some of them riddles can sometimes be very difficult. Don't even think the first one has been answered yet though the last two have but too late to save a student from the torturous death. This next one seems to be the hardest of all and even though the students are the most elite in school they're baffled by what they're looking at. It has something to do with the school's layout and the three who are trying to solve better get a move on if they want to save
Seo-Jin.

 In the second screenshot the middle person is the teacher Choi and though there was an Idol and many other cuties in the film thought she was the most attractive woman. She was played by
Yung Jung-Hee who unfortunately hasn't appeared in enough dramas or films over the years. But back to the pressing matter which is trying to save Seo-Jin, the latest question is one stumper but it looks like the trio will be able to solve it on time.
 But then again there's no clock showing us or them how much time is left to save a student, in this case it was the same outcome as the previous three. Bit of an ingenious way to kill someone, Seo-Jin had already been beaten up badly but that wasn't enough to satisfy the killer. That person took the still conscious Seo-Jin and put her in a dryer with the gauge set at the highest heat.
 Looked like a normal sized dryer so Seo-Jin must have been quite tiny as her body fit into it, after a few minutes of extreme heat least her clothes were dry enough for her funeral. That's because she became the fourth victim as the number of students keeps dwindling. The trio was able to figure out the answer to the latest question, too late to save the life of their friend but it did give a potential clue on the whereabouts of the killer.

 The answer to the fourth question which is a bit above was 'I know who killed me. My anger will endure, face the truth'. Yi-Na still thinks all of the clues have something to do with her dead friend
Ji-Won and her death. The latest answer led the threesome back to the PA room where Hyun discovered a wire that shouldn't have been there. As a DJ he's a whiz at electronics so he feels the answer will be behind a wall the wire goes through. Perhaps if they follow the wire it'll lead them to the killer or at least to save the next student.
 The next one on the list, the fifth smartest student, is Yi-Na's current best friend Myung-Hyo and she has been captured by the unknown killer. The three break through a wall and follow the wire which has to be the longest one in the world. It leads them to the school's basement, soon they're all shocked as they run into their fellow student Cho-Beom who wasn't a part of their special class. This guy is definitely off his rocker but there is a reason for that and you'll soon find out why.
 He attacks the group but Hyun is a fairly strong eighteen year old and was able to subdue him. However as Hyun had turned his back to warn Yi-Na to flee Cho-Beom lunged at him with a knife and twisted it around in his body for all he was worth. Bit of a surprise as one of the 'heroes' has met his death and now the tally is up to five. Make that six as the teacher Kim and his group have stumbled upon the scene, he was able to snuff out Cho-Beom. But killing him hasn't solved anything, the killer is still on the prowl and it appears he had kidnapped Cho-Beom.

 Know this is getting lengthy but did warn everyone it would happen, usually horror flicks aren't as interesting as this one or at least I thought it was. But now it's on to save Myung-Hyo, that screenshot above holds the key to finding her. It's a mathematical puzzler, the teacher Choi was able to figure the sequence of the letters and numbers, it was so complicated won't even begin to explain it and even Einstein would have been thrown for a loop.
 With the code they were were able to open a secret door to the 'killing room', a small place in the cellar where all of the killings have been happening. There Myung-Hyo was found dangling from the ceiling, she was injured but not severely hurt. Yi-Na along with Kim and Choi were able to lower her to the ground though they couldn't get the cord off her leg. As the three began looking for something to cut it off with Myung-Hyo was whisked quickly back up to the ceiling.
 She was once again just dangling there but not for long as whoever had hauled her up cut the cord making Myung-Hyo the fifth victim of the killer as she dropped to her death. But that will be the final death of a student as all of the questions have been solved and the twenty can leave the school. The current total stands at eight deaths, the teacher Lee and seven students. It's now a few days later and the whole school is in the auditorium for a memorial service for the victims. This was the final scene and though not too long we did learn about all of the mysteries, for a change it didn't confuse me or at least too much.

 At the memorial service the PA system was taken over again and all of the details about why the killings took place came out, plus there's another kidnapped student who is Yi-Na. I'll explain everything about Ji-Won and her family right now. Her mother had been the person doing the actual killings though she's probably had some help from her husband, he's the school guard which means he has the keys to everywhere in the school.
 They had been a quiet family with Ji-Won being their only child, why would they then become such gruesome murderers? We're about to find out as Ji-Won had been the smartest student at school two years ago as she ranked #1 n the exams. She needs to score better than most others for her parents aren't too well off and she attends the school on a scholarship. But for the next round of exams she had dropped to sixth place, that ranking may force her to leave the dorm where she lives but think she can remain as a student.
 Ji-Won was confused why she dropped in the rankings as she thought she did well on the exams.
Ji-Won had done solidly on them but there were events that were out of her control. The five that finished above her in the rankings did so because of cheating, their parents had bought off the school's administrative staff along with the teacher Kim to give them the exam answers and to fudge their grades. Ji-Won had overheard all of the details in a secret meeting between the parents and school's staff, she told Kim she was prepared to reveal the dirty secrets of everyone involved with the exam fixing.

 There was no way Kim would allow Ji-Won to expose their secret so as you can see above he strangled her but it didn't go unnoticed. Cho-Beom was a witness to the killing and knew all about the exams. But since that incident he's thought that the ghost of Ji-Won was haunting him and he went from being such a normal student to such a lunatic.
 Ji-Won's parents had been planning these deaths for a while, they didn't want to kill just anyone but really just the five who topped their daughter on the exams. They thought it would be sweet revenge  as seeing as how their daughter was dead they wanted to see the other parents suffer too. In the auditorium the father had exposed all of the secrets over the PA system which also had revealed that Kim was the killer of Ji-Won. Kim ran around like a madman and was threatening to do more killing.
 That didn't happen as he met his demise when he was stabbed by Ji-Won's father and rightfully so, the greed of the parents had led to eleven deaths as Ji-Won's mother had also perished at the hands of Kim. Think that covered everything, this was so long it better had. The final minute featured Yi-Na who is now ranked #1 at school. As she was walking down the hall with her back to us she stopped and slowly turned her head, the exact same movement that "Whispering Corridors" ended on.

 Whew, that was a chore but I don't mind writing something that's long if it was for a good drama or film and this one was. It may not be as long as you think because there were more screenshots than usual but thanks if you made it all the way to the end. Feel a bit generous today so will give this a grade of 9/10, not a classic horror film but one of the better ones I've viewed the past few years.
 Personally like all kinds of films but lately been more interested in the horror genre so coming up next will be "Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp" and think that's supposed to be another good film. It has the same name but it's not an actual sequel as it has zero to do with this film. Reason for the second one was because this movie was quite successful and was the most popular Korean horror film of 2008. There is a third one which I know nothing about, could have been a straight to video release.