Death Bell

Death Bell (Korean: 고死: 피의 중간고사; RR: Gosa: Piui Junggangosa) is a 2008 Korean horror slasher film. The only Korean horror film released over the summer of 2008, it is the first feature by former music video director Chang, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Death Bell stars Lee Beom-soo in his first horror film role, and K-pop singer Nam Gyu-ri in her acting debut. Set in a Korean high school, the film's native title refers to gosa, the important midterm exams that all students are required to sit.[2] It is later followed by a stand-alone sequel Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp.

Death Bell
Theatrical poster
Hangul
Revised RomanizationGosa: piui junggangosa
McCune–ReischauerKosa: p‘iŭi chunggangosa
Directed byChang
Written by
Produced by
  • Hong Jung-pyo
  • Im Seong-been
Starring
CinematographyHeo Seong-ryong
Edited byYu Yeong-ju
Music byKim Jun-seong
Production
company
Distributed bySK Telecom
Release date
  • August 6, 2008 (2008-08-06)
Running time
88 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Budget₩1.3 billion
Box officeUS$9.2 million[1]

Plot

A group of 20 high school students partake in an elite class to prepare for a college exam. Among them are the rebellious Kang I-na, her best friend Yoon Myong-heo, and the class clown Kang Hyun, who harbors an affection for I-na. A few days after incidents involving a student, Beom sees a ghost haunt his paper, and class teacher Hwang Chang-wook discovers scars on his hand. The class is interrupted by a TV showing the top-ranking student, Min Hye-yeong, being trapped in a glass being slowly filled with water. A voice over the PA system announces they are part of a death game with questions that will be posed to the class; failure to answer them in time will lead to the student's death. It also warns them and their two teachers, Hwang Chang-wook and Choi So-yeong, against leaving the school. The class fails to solve the first question to save Hye-yeong.

Despite the warning, the class tries to leave, only to find that a teacher and hall monitor, Mr. Lee, was beaten to death, leaving only security Mr. Kim to guard them. The students split up and tried to answer the questions while also attempting to find a way out. Several students die in brutal death games set up by a mysterious woman as the class solves all the puzzles late, though they later notice that each puzzle contains clue pertaining to a student, Kim Ji-won who died earlier that year under mysterious circumstances. I-na discovers students are dying according to their ranking on the last test. Beom, who earlier tried to strangle I-na and was put in a mental facility, escapes and attempts to kill I-na, but Hyun shields her from the attack and dies. Chang-wook then kills Beom. I-na discovers to her horror that Myong-heo has also been kidnapped by the woman. They succeed in solving the trap, but the killer still kills her by dropping her from the roof, and Chang-wook climbs the roof and strangles the woman to death.

A memorial is held for the students killed, and then I-na is kidnapped unnoticed. One final question is posed: whoever killed his daughter step forward and confess. The person in question, a now-demented Chang-wook, reveals himself and is killed by the mastermind, who turns out to be Kim. I-na is then freed by So-yeong.

Flashbacks reveal that Kim's daughter, Kim Ji-won, worked hard to enter the elite class. However, the parents of the killed students bribed Chang-wook for the entrance test answers, giving them an unfair advantage. After being disqualified and finding out about the plot, Ji-won confronted Chang-wook, and he kills her to cover up his misconduct. Since Ji-won's death, the life of her parents fell apart as the family home was seized by loan sharks. Out of rage, he murdered the loan sharks and, along with his wife, planned their revenge. The sole witness to the incident, Beom, slowly became mad as he felt that Ji-won had been haunting him ever since. Kim and his wife (the woman who hung Myong-heo) find this from the cellphone of their daughters, who had been recording while being strangled, and decide to kill Chang-wook and all the students whose parents they deem responsible for their daughter's death.

The film closes with I-na seeing that she topped the class ranking, and it is implied that Beom's attacks were due to her being possessed by Ji-won since the beginning.

Cast

Production

Shot on HD video with a budget of ₩1.3 billion,[3][4] Death Bell is the feature film directorial debut of Chang, a former music video director,[5] who also co-wrote the screenplay with Kim Eun-kyeong. The film also marks the acting debut of Nam Gyu-ri,[5] a former singer with K-pop trio SeeYa, and stars veteran comic actor Lee Beom-soo in his first horror film role.[6]

Release

The only Korean horror film to be released in the summer of 2008,[6] Death Bell made its premiere in July 2008 at the 12th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.[3] Post-production on the film had been rushed in order to have it ready for the festival,[7] and director Chang had to apologise for the poor state in which it was shown.[8]

Death Bell was released on DVD on 8 November 2008.[9] Asian film specialist, Terracotta Distribution, released the film in the UK on DVD in October 2011.[10]

Reception

Critical response

Derek Elley of Variety found Death Bell to have a "neat concept" with "enough shocks and gore to keep genre addicts contented", and commented, "After a fairly conventional half-hour setup, the pic keeps the tension high with tight cutting and a no-flab script that ups the student body count in some especially inventive ways. Solution to the whodunit is less convincing than the lead-up, with a finale that doesn't deliver on expectations. But the journey there is fine, with Lee, better known for comedy, interestingly cast as the students' tough prof."[7] Kyu Hyun Kim of Koreanfilm.org was more critical of the film, saying, "Death Bell annoyingly combines prettified, slick visual filmmaking (but with no real depth) and gag-inducing torture porn excesses: it's simultaneously tepid and lackluster on the one hand and gross and offensive on the other"; he also regarded the screenplay as a "fetid mess" with an unconvincing central premise, but gave credit to the performance of Lee Beom-soo.[11] A review for Twitch also labelled the film's premise as "ridiculous", going on to say, "Lee Beom-Soo certainly tries, and the tempo keeps building decently until the end, but there's really no vibe to it. It's just a succession of tortures and murders, with no sense of surprise, no interest... [and] no thematic consciousness whatsoever".[4]

Box office

Released on 6 August 2008 in 366 theatres nationwide, the film grossed $2,370,785 and received 575,231 admissions on its opening weekend, placing it third at the local box office.[12][13] By its third week, Death Bell had climbed to second at the box office,[14] and as of 14 September 2008 had grossed a total of $9,274,859.[15]

Death Bell had looked set to become the second most popular Korean horror film after A Tale of Two Sisters, which attracted more than 3 million viewers in 2003; however, admissions of 1,636,149 (as of 14 September 2008) were less than those recorded by R-Point and Wishing Stairs.[5][13][16] Nevertheless, the film attracted more than twice the number of viewers required to break even at the box office.[17]

Accolades

Awards & Nominations
Year Award Category recipient Result Ref
2008 The 12th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival Bucheon Choice Death Bell Nominated [18]
17th Buil Film Awards Best New Actress Nam Gyu-ri Nominated [19]
Best Lighting Park Soon-hong Nominated
2009 27th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival Thriller Competition Death Bell Nominated [20]
26th Beaune International Thriller Film Festival Nominated
45th Baeksang Arts Awards Best New Actress - Movie Yoon Jung-hee Nominated [21]
Popularity Award - Movie Lee Beom-soo Nominated
Nam Gyu-ri Nominated
Yoon Jung Hee Nominated
20th Málaga International University Film Festival Feature Film In Competition Death Bell Nominated [20]
11th Seoul International Youth Film Festival Feature Film - Korea Nominated [22]
4th Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival Nominee Film Nominated [20]
3rd Indonesian International Fantastic Film Festival Nominated
The 7th Firenze Korean Film Festival Nominated [23]

Listicles
Publisher Year List Recipient Rank Ref
SlashFilm 2018 The Best South Korean Horror Movies You've Never Seen Death Bell Placed [24]
Film School Rejects 2019 10 Best Korean Horror Movies 9th [25]
The Times of India 2020 15 Unsettling Korean Horror Films Will Haunt You For A Long Time 8th [26]
Cosmopolitan Philippines 2022 40 Best Korean Horror+Thriller Movie List 39th [27]
Lifestyle Asia 15 best Korean horror movies Placed [28]
Mensgear 22 Best Korean Horror Movies 7th [29]
Creepy Catalog 35 Best High School Horror Movies Placed [30]
Scoop Whoop 8 Best Korean Horror Films To Watch 5th [31]
Screen Rant 5 Underrated Korean Horror Movies Placed [32]
August Man 20 of The Best Slasher Movies Ever Made 19th [33]
WION 2023 15 spine-chilling Korean movies 14th [34]
Creepy Catalog The 30 Best Korean Horror Movies Placed [35]
Pinkvilla 15 Best Korean Horror Movies 15th [36]
Collider 15 Best South Korean Horror Movies That Will Keep You Up All Night 15th [37]
OTAKUKART 50 Best South Korean Horror Movies of All Time Placed [38]
Rolling Stone India 10 Vicious Korean Slasher Films Placed [39]

See also

References
  1. "Death Bell (2008)". Archived from the original on 2015-10-05. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  2. "Korean Slasher GOSA (DEATH BELL) Coming To DVD! Archived 2009-07-21 at the Wayback Machine". Twitch, 3 November 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  3. D'sa, Nigel. "Korean Films at the 12th PiFan". Korean Film Council, 18 July 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  4. "[K-FILM REVIEWS] 고死 (Death Bell) Archived 2008-10-21 at the Wayback Machine". Twitch, 4 September 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  5. Yi Ch'ang-ho. "Gosa is unafraid of big-budget competitors". Korean Film Council, 22 August 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  6. "He's one of the most recognized comical actors in Korea - Lee Beom-soo!". Arirang. Retrieved on 5 November 2005.
  7. Elley, Derek. ""Death Bell"". Variety, 2 September 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  8. Kim, Kyu Hyun. "2008 Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  9. "Korean horror DEATH BELL aka Gosa on DVD Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine". 24framespersecond. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  10. "". Terracotta Distribution. Retrieved on 20 November 2019.
  11. Kim, Kyu Hyun. "Death Bell". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  12. "South Korea Box Office August 8–10, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  13. South Korean Box Office for Death Bell. "Death Bell (2008) - 고死: 피의 중간고사". HanCinema. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  14. "South Korea Box Office August 22–24, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  15. "South Korea Box Office September 12–14, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  16. R-Point received 1,689,000 admissions in 2004. "Ranked Box-Office Results" (2004). Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  17. Jang Jiyun. "Low Budget Films Gaining Popularity With Good Storylines". Arirang, 24 September 2008. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
  18. "부천국제판타스틱영화제 : 네이버 영화". movie.naver.com. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  19. "부일영화상 : 네이버 영화". movie.naver.com. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  20. "Death Bell (2008)". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  21. "백상예술대상 : 네이버 영화". movie.naver.com. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  22. "서울국제청소년영화제 : 네이버 영화". movie.naver.com. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  23. "피렌체 한국영화제 : 네이버 영화". movie.naver.com. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  24. "The Best South Korean Horror Movies You've Never Seen". /Film. 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  25. Hunter, Rob (2019-10-16). "10 Best Korean Horror Movies". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  26. "Think You're Brave? These 15 Unsettling Korean Horror Films Will Haunt You For A Long Time". IndiaTimes. 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  27. "40 Korean Horror + Thriller Movies You *Need* To Watch If You Wanna Have Nightmares For Days". Cosmopolitan Philippines.
  28. "15 best Korean horror movies you should not watch alone". Lifestyle Asia India. 2022-09-08. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  29. Estornino, Irene (2022-10-28). "Halloween Watchlist: 22 Best Korean Horror Movies To Give You Nightmares". Men's Gear. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  30. "35+ Best High School Horror Movies". Creepy Catalog. 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  31. "8 Korean Horror Movies You Should Watch If You Like A Good Story And A Greater Still Scare". ScoopWhoop. 2022-12-13. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  32. "5 Underrated Korean Horror Movies". Game Rant. 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  33. "The Best Slasher Movies That Don't Hold Back On The Gore". AugustMan Singapore. 2022-11-25. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
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  35. "The 30 Best Korean Horror Movies". Creepy Catalog. 2020-05-17. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  36. "15 Best Korean Horror Movies: Train to Busan to The Host". PINKVILLA. 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
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  38. Chauhan, Sakshi (2023-03-07). "50 Best South Korean Horror Movies of All Time - OtakuKart". otakukart.com. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  39. Dutta, Debashree (2023-04-24). "10 Vicious Korean Slasher Films". Rolling Stone India. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
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