This is one of the best horror movies I've ever seen.
The first time I watched it with my mom on a very small screen, I didn't dare to watch it alone because I knew it was a very famous horror movie.
I already knew what kind of story it was when I watched it this time, so I thought maybe it wasn't as scary as the first time I watched it. But it turns out I was completely wrong.
I used a larger screen this time, and connected the speakers at night. But when there is creepy music, I still automatically mute it. The director of this film is really bad. The daily character dialogue in the film is quiet, but the ambient sound, soundtrack and sound effects are abnormally loud, so that once there is a terrifying sound, it will startle people. Once I didn't have time to lower my voice, and I was so scared that my heart stopped beating.
difference between east and west
The film is a typical oriental horror film, and its horror elements are very different from western horror films.
Western horror films have some classic themes, such as clowns, haunted houses, vampires, cults, and more. But the protagonists of oriental horror films are zombies and female ghosts.
There are also differences in performance. Western horror films usually have very bloody scenes, and there are fight scenes between people and the horror protagonist. The horror mostly comes from the senses. However, Oriental horror films pay more attention to the creation of a horror atmosphere, which can bring psychological fear to people.
That's why it's so easy to tell the difference between Eastern and Western horror films. Of course, nothing is absolute, and in many respects, the imaginations of the East and the West are not so different. For example, there will be frightening music and sound effects, there will be paranormal phenomena, and so on.
Horror elements in "Midnight Bell"
What makes this horror film so classic is that it uses some of the things we all see in our daily lives: TV, telephone.
In the days when the film was made, these two things were almost everywhere, but we hardly thought they were scary until we saw this film.
We never think there's anything scary about someone calling in the middle of the night, but we've probably all experienced picking up the phone and ending up in silence on the other side.
We also don't think things on TV are real (except for small children), and even if we all get scared when we watch horror movies, we keep comforting ourselves that it's all fake.
But the film "Midnight" makes us revisit these two common objects in life: the ringing of the telephone represents death, and the television is the gateway between the real world and the other world. This is the most amazing part of the film. Just like in "Venice Mystery", the touristy Venice in our impression was shot and turned into a ghost town.
vengeance and water
This is a story about the vengeance of a lingering ghost. The white clothes fluttered, the hair was scattered in front of the body, the face and the upper part of the body were covered, and all the nails fell off. This woman was treated unfairly. She was disrespectful and her death was not normal. Everything that is happening now stems from the resentment in her heart.
The water in the film is also a very scary element, the sea and the well. Water reminds us of death. It's hard to imagine how many lives are lost to drowning every day. Humans seem to be instinctively afraid of water. It is said that babies can swim when they are just born, but as they grow up, we have less and less contact with water.
ups and downs
The plot in the film is very clever. The story starts off as suspenseful and quirky, and as the story progresses, the horror begins to unfold and becomes more and more puzzling, and we, like female reporters, are drawn to what's going on behind the mysterious death of a young man, and want to talk to her. Let's find out together. Next we gradually understand the real reason behind the death. But when the protagonist in the film retrieved Tomoko's body, we all breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that they finally broke the curse, but the ending of the story was so surprising: the death of the ex-husband, and the cause of death of everyone before. All the same, the curse continues.
This unexpected ending makes the film even more gripping and more terrifying.
This is an excellent horror film. I think this is the pinnacle of what the traditional horror genre can achieve. From the plot, acting, to the soundtrack, to the photography, I can't see any horror film that can do it better, it's simply impeccable.
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