Horror Theater Video bloody reunion film review

In all the different genres of exploit, the slasher film has become the most clichéd. Few films have been able to put a new spin on the genre for quite some time. First time director Dae-Wung Lim has found that new spark which the slasher film has so desperately needed. "Bloody Reunion" comes to the U.S. from Korea. I believe most American filmmakers do not have the vision of their foreign counterparts. "Bloody Reunion" would have a difficult time being made in America due to our studios' unwillingness to take chances on something different.

The plot is simple, yet complex, and has more twists than a California road.

A group of young people have been invited to a reunion of their grade school teacher, who is now sick and wheel-chair bound. The film shows flashbacks of what appears to be happy times the students had with their teacher. But we also find out something horrible; at one point the teacher is pregnant, and when she is wheeled into the hospital she gives birth to a grotesquely malformed baby. Her husband, unable to accept this fact, hangs himself some years later in front of his child. The teacher keeps the child locked in the basement, as she home schools him after regular school hours. Often other children would come to the window and see him, but he would put on a "bunny" mask to cover his face.

One by one the people arrive and we still see what appears to be a happy moment. As they arrive, they all pay their respects to their teacher.

The plot than instantly turns, and we find that the teacher was not so nice. Through flashbacks we see she was abusive, humiliating poor students, making fun of fat students, and even child molestation is uncovered. Each student has come to face the demons of their past.

But then the killings begin, by someone wearing what else; the bunny mask. One by one we see the gruesome deaths of the students, one explicit seen a girl has her eyelids stapled open.

So who is the killer? Is it her malformed child? Is it the quite boy she made soil his pants? Is it the girl she made fun of when she had her first menstruation cycle in class? Is it the fat girl, now attractive but wears sunglasses she never removes? Is the student that she molested?

"Bloody Murder" is fast paced, beautifully photographed, and the effects are far above average. The script by Se-yeo Park takes you on a rollercoaster ride of how simple abuse on a child can leave scars that last a lifetime. This film is intelligent, but will keep slasher fans happy. It is in Korean Language with English subtitles. The DVD also has an interesting extra of the making of the film.

Bloody Murder, as it states on the back of it's case, is the best Korean horror film in years.

My rating- 1/2