Following this prologue what has to do with the elevator txt massacre, we meet a young reporter by the name of Ji-Won, who is receiving weird phone calls, the kind where folks say "oooh, you look scared" and so on, and then she closes the curtains cause whoever it is is probably right outside the window, looking in, making notes so as he can be ever more specific in his descriptions. Also, she gets weird images on her computer, kind of snuff-type affairs, with women being stabbed and then they bleed some.
Sounds good, and kinda intriguing, the whole weird snuff on her computer, and the voyeur with the mobile.
Fuck knows what the snuff-pictures have to do with anything. Director Beyong-ki Ahn gets fed up with that whole narrative device fairly quickly, and instead focuses on the text messages and weird phone calls. He probably just wanted to make sure he could get as many evil electronics into it all as possible.
It turns out Ji-Won has recently written an article about sex scandals, and her editor is concerned that these named-and-shamed deviants are the cause of the sinister phone-calls.
He might even be right. It's as credible an answer as anyone involved seems to be bothered with concocting.
What follows is lots and lots of phones ringing, and then numbers being changed, and then phones ringing again, and then numbers being changed, and then, fuck, the phone's ringing! I'll bet it's someone going to say "oooh, you look scared" or maybe ask who the killer was in Scream.
It was Shaggy, in case you're ever in that position.
Beyong-ki seems to suffer from the kind of ADD that, I dunno, folks who write on the web-net about films but really just use it as an excuse to say motherfucker and fly off on weird and bizarre tangents might also suffer from. He starts off with something in mind, but then, shit, that bores the hell out of him, so he'll head somewhere else, never bothering to say "by the way, that thing I just spent twenty minutes setting up, I don't think I can be bothered with that whole affair".
Article comments
1 - srp
weird. this sounds sort of interesting because i've been researching weird voyeur porn and stuff and had no idea how freakin' weird people can get. i mean, pee cams? and these ain't staged: these are real men, women, and even KIDS (not barely legal, either, i mean Kids like 9) in poses from their parents etc. And then there are tips on how to hook up spy cams on your sexy young wife neighbor, even rape requests that are fulfilled, all buried deep within "legit" sites that ARE staged; but if you go deep enough, you find creepy stuff; so this idea Duke, that you mention, that technology is evil, is as you said, intereting. to me as well...
since my work involves IT a great deal - the whole idea that technology that was developed to help us is being manipulated for what i can only think of as evil (you'd have to see these things of kids), then it's again, the people - but it's such a compelling topic. I'd be curious to know if Snuff and the like are a big deal in Asian films and if so, are they staged or real? i've heard that most are staged and i believe that - but the stuff i recently saw of children, was most certainly not staged - these were little kids; anyway
going OT but i found your piece really interesting and it hooked into some work i've been writing lately -- if you have any related links etc. or film suggest. for this topic, please do post or private email me.
cheers and thanks for such an interesting piece.
srp
2 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
srp, thanks for the comments. its well late in the night, so i just have time to suggest these links to other reviews de duke what you might find interesting, since they cover similar subjects. Especially of interest, based on what you said, will be the review of tesis.
Review Of Tesis
Review Of Mondo Cane
Review Of Mondo Cane No. 2
Review Of Cannibal Holocaust
Review Of Mountain Of The Cannibal God
Review Of Africa Addio
phew! hope you find something of worth.
3 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
shit, those links mostly don't work. hopefully these ones do;
Review Of Tesis
Review Of Mondo Cane
Review Of Mondo Cane No. 2
Review Of Cannibal Holocaust
Review Of Mountain Of The Cannibal God
Review Of Africa Addio
4 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
yep, those work