Well GO USA
Not every major metropolis’s rail system is haunted, and if they were, I’d be thinking twice about where I’d want to board and disembark. In Seoul, South Korea, The Ghost Station directed by Jeong Yong-ki takes place at the Oktsu stop (a fictional location), and during the course of this narrative, fewer and fewer people are deciding not to use it lest they get scratched!
And when reporter, Na-yeong (Bo-ra Kim) and her friend U-won (Jae Hyun Kim), are tasked to look into what’s going on, not even they are safe from the forces lurking here. That’s because of what happened in the past, and what her boss knows doesn’t get disclosed.
Instead, what these two investigators have to figure out is in how to get the station exorcised. Everyone believes its cursed, but can it be lifted? And if Na-yeong can’t deliver a solution, she’s out of a job! If that isn’t bad enough, all of this started because her boss got a letter from a reader saying he didn’t give permission to use his image when she approached him for a photo op. He was high at the time, and was dressed in drag.
Even as she tries to track him down to work things out, and finds other people at The Ghost Station, it seems every person she interviews ends up dead! And when her probe into the tunnel system itself includes finding the bones of children buried beneath the rails–and hearing their disembodied voices–I’m surprised they haven’t gotten the police involved!
If that doesn’t send chills down your spine, then I don’t know what will! However, to execute those moments convincingly, this director seems to forget that building tension is important. Technically, I knew what was coming and when it all finally manifested, I wasn’t scared. The performers have some chemistry, but ultimately, the way they play off each other wasn’t always convincing.
And as for what they heard from these disembodied voices are simply vows for revenge! While that’s okay for any horror movie, what I sensed was a film wanting to be like Five Nights at Freddy’s. By the time these spirit children manifest to show they are not at peace, I just can’t feel for them in the same way as the American movie. Although the theme of grief and loss helps give this tale some of weight, not everyone will pick up on that.
Even though this work has a short 80-minute run-time, what’s presented can be made tighter. Had this film been a either more original or actually cited some actual lore one can read up more on, then I’d probably be more interested. For example, to hear a reference to a famous crash, like in Ghostbusters 2 concerning the City of Albany Ghost Train, I’d be more invested.
Sometimes the spirits of children are not enough to scare me. Instead, it requires showing if everyone who died can be given their last rites, or given a chance to find their way home. This movie isn’t about the last train to Clarksville, or any other destination; instead, it’s about buried secrets and what keeping them as such can do to the soul! The Ghost Station is worth at least watching once, and then letting it move on!
3 Stars out of 5
The Ghost Station Movie Trailer
