Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp

Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp (Korean: 고死 두번째 이야기 : 교생실습; RR: Gosa dubeonjjae iyagi : Gyosaengsilseup)[1][2] is a 2010 Korean slasher film.[3][4] It was directed by Yoo Sun-dong and is a sequel to the 2008 film Death Bell.[5] The story is unrelated to the previous film. The film was also pre-sold in Taiwan and Hong Kong for $230,000 at the 63rd Cannes International Film Festival Film Market.

Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp
Hangul
Hanja
고死 두番째 이야기: 敎生實習
Revised RomanizationGosa dubeonjjae iyagi : Gyosaengsilseup
McCune–ReischauerKosa tupŏntchae iyagi : Kyosaengsilsŭp
Directed byYoo Sun-dong
Written byPark Hye-min, Lee Jeong-hwa, Lee Gong-ju
Produced byKim Gwang-su
Starring
CinematographyChoi Yeong-taek
Edited byChoi Min-yeong
Lee Jin
Music byKim Woo-geun
Production
company
Distributed byNext Entertainment World
Release date
  • July 28, 2010 (2010-07-28)
Running time
84 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Budget₩1.1 billion
Box officeUS$5,191,289

Plot

This film is about a group of high school students and teachers who are locked in the school after the swimming instructor is murdered. In South Korea, the high school student and swimmer Jeong Tae-yeon (Yoon Seung-ah) is found dead in the pool, apparently a suicide. Two years later, teacher Park Eun-su (Hwang Jung-eum) joins the high school, where Tae-yeon's stepsister Lee Se-Hee (Park Ji-yeon) is haunted by nightmarish visions and is bullied by the student Eom Ji-yun (Choi Ah-jin). Eun-su finds it difficult to earn respect in the classroom and is backed up by an older teacher, Mr. Cha (Kim Su-ro). Se-Hee and her classmates are selected for an elite "study camp" held at the school during the summer break, where 30 students study for their university entrance exams. The school's swimming trainer is murdered in the showers and the words "When an innocent mother is killed, what son would not avenge her death?" are found scrawled on a blackboard. A voice warns the students that they will all be killed unless they can answer who is the murderer and why. The students and teachers find they are locked in the school when more deaths begin to happen.

Several students died of various causes, mainly by brutal murder. Mr. Cha was kidnapped by an unknown figure and trapped in an activated dryer with the temperature increasing rapidly. The students tried to save the teacher by inputting the correct password phrases for the dryer with hints from various photographs. As they almost succeeded, the fire broke out, causing Mr. Cha to be incinerated and to explode due to the heat, panicking the students.

After failing to rescue their teacher, a student notices Ji-yun disappeared. Actually, Ji-yun escapes the site and confesses her sins to Eun-su. In the past, several students made a study group, but at some point, it nearly degenerated, and JK provoked Soo-il to commit sexual violence against Tae-yeon. She resisted heavily, but Eom Ji-yun smashed her head on a water tap in the shower room, leading to her death. Her boyfriend Jung-bum realized this, but the students tried to cover up their criminal act as they were concerned about the humiliation of their alma mater and their own honor. The students falsely accused Jung-bum of the accident, leading him to be put in mental facilities. This made him and his sister Eun-su covertly plan and commit the serial murders against the students.

Then, Eun-su orders the students to gather in auditorium, where Ji-yun is trapped and prepared to be hanged by noose, and the key for safe containing the cell phone is connected to her. In order to call any help through the cell phone, they should sacrifice her by pulling keys, opening the safe, and making the call in ten minutes. They fight for the call despite Ji-yun's heavy resistance, but several seconds after the cell phone goes out of range, the call has been disconnected with Ji-yun hanged.

Later, Jung-bum sets the school on fire. Kwan-woo devised the idea to escape. He puts a butane cylinder against the other students to escape, but he realizes Se-hee is not there, so he heads to the swimming pool. Jung-bum arrives at the site as well, and with Se-hee, they push themselves into the pool to be drowned in order to avenge her because she turned away the accident and acted as bystander. Se-hee tried to break the chain to no avail, leaving only her to be drowned. However, the ghost of Tae-yeon appears and releases her from the chain, bringing her back to life through CPR done by Kwan-woo and Na-rae. Tae-yeon and Jung-bum slowly disappear through the darkness in the swimming pool.

Cast

Release

Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp was premiered at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival on July 23, 2010, where it was the festival's closing film.[1][6] The film received wide release in South Korea on July 28, 2010.[1]

While writing the script, it was suggested that the characters should solve their problems in a quiz show format like they did in the first film. Director Yoo Sun-dong was against this ideas as he felt it was too much of an imitation of the first film.[5] Yoo was influenced by his own high school experiences, stating that "Authoritative teachers like Teacher Kang (played by Kim Byung-ok) and Teacher Cha (played by Kim Su-ro) or the competition and violence between the students were things that I saw and felt when I was in school. I tried to put such horrifying elements into the film."[5]

Reception

Commercial success

On wide-release, the film was a huge success with over 97,000 people seeing it in Korea on its opening day and around 300,000 people in its first 3 days.[7] An official for the film said it was "four times what we expected".[8]

The film was also pre-sold in Taiwan and Hong Kong for $230,000 at the 63rd Cannes International Film Festival Film Market.[9]

Critical response

The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film was an "alarmingly brainless and sloppily directed follow-up to Death Bell" noting that the only "scene worthy of attention is when student Jang-kook is stranded on a corridor and repeatedly attacked by a motorbike outfitted with revolving blades. It has the Gothic, apocalyptic taste of Mad Max."[10] JoongAng Daily gave a negative review of the film, saying that "it should have taken more chances and offered audiences more than blood...the film won't do much for viewers who are die-hard slasher film fans".[11] Despite negative reviews, both The Hollywood Reporter and JoongAng Daily praised the scene involving a metal-spiked motorcycle that attacks a student.[10][11] Film Business Asia gave the film a seven out of ten rating saying that the film was a "dark, fast-moving gore feast, with less emphasis on puzzle countdowns but a richer plot than its predecessor".[1]

Asian Economy credited Park Jiyeon, Eun-bin, Ji Chang-wook and Yoon Seung-ah as one of the factors for the movie's success praising their acting performance.[12]

Accolades

Awards & Nominations
Year Award Category recipient Result Ref
2010 47th Baeksang Arts Awards Popularity Award - Movie Jiyeon Nominated [13]

Listicles
Publisher Year List Recipient Rank Ref
Rolling Stone India 2023 10 Vicious Korean Slasher Films Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp Placed [14]

References
  1. Elley, Derek (July 28, 2010). "Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp (고死 두번째 이야기 : 교생실습)". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  2. "Korean Film Council [search database under D]". Korean Film Council. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  3. Mudge, James (12 July 2012). "Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp (2010) Movie Review". Beyond Hollywood. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  4. Adrian Majewski (September 20, 2012). "Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp". Filmausweider - Das Splattermovies Magazin (in German). Vol. 1, no. 2. Germany: Books on Demand. pp. 13–14. ISBN 9783848218493.
  5. Kim, Lynn, ed. (July 19, 2010). "Kim Su-ro says "Yoon Si-yoon is truly remarkable"". 10Asia. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  6. Frater, Patrick (June 16, 2010). "PiFan set to torture VIP guests". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on June 22, 2010. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  7. "'고사2' 50만 돌파 앞 둔..'흥행요인 3가지는?' | 연예가화제 : 네이트 연예". 모바일 네이트 뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  8. 포토엔 티아라 지연-효민, ‘은정 언니 모르게~빙글빙글’. Newsen (in Korean). July 29, 2010. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  9. 조선일보 (2020-08-02). "티아라 지연은 200만원 받고, 함은정은 1억2000만원 받은 사연은?". 조선일보 (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  10. Lee, Maggie (August 14, 2010). "Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp -- Film Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  11. So-ya, Seo (July 30, 2010). "School horror sequel offers few reasons to scream". JoongAng Daily. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  12. "'고사2' 50만 돌파 앞 둔..'흥행요인 3가지는?' | 연예가화제 : 네이트 연예". 모바일 네이트 뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  13. "고사 두 번째 이야기: 교생실습". movie.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  14. Dutta, Debashree (2023-04-24). "10 Vicious Korean Slasher Films". Rolling Stone India. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
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