Holstra Boring, long, and too preachy.

HottWwjdIam There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Derek Childs (totalovrdose) Everyone is certainly aware of the Japanese Ringu series, one of the first few Asian movies that made audiences terrified of women whose hair was longer than shoulder length. Although South Korea is responsible for making films that continue this particular genre trope, Dead Friend, otherwise titled the Ghost, is the one film that is potentially South Korea's answer to this iconic Japanese franchise. With this in mind, the feature contains in-depth originality that sets it apart from other films, and even when the next horror scene is predicted by the viewership, the film is still capable of surprising us with the unexpected, essentially providing the audience with a satisfying horror film.Though the explanation regarding why the ghost in question decides to begin extracting its vengeance is only loosely explained, and thus open to interpretation, the plot itself is as unexpected as it is entertaining, providing the viewer with a story that is not only coherent, but has enough suspenseful twists to keep viewers engaged until the end.Eun-seo (Hye-bin Jeon) is violently attacked by a water bound entity not long after her sister, Eun-jeong (Yun-ji Lee) uses a bunshinsaba with her friends to contact the dead. After this opening, which effectively grasps our attention, the story focuses upon Min Ji-won (Ha-Neul Kim), who has been suffering from amnesia. Her consulting physician makes it known that her condition is beginning to settle, and despite this being cause for celebration in most instances, in this feature, it is quite the opposite.Haunted by an unidentifiable figure in her dreams, which always has some bizarre connection with water, Ji-won begins a desperate investigation to find the link between the entity whose haunting her, and the memories she has long forgotten, and what's more, how all of it is connected to other young women, haunted by the same faceless terror.Unlike in films like Memento Mori, where the audience is on the outside looking in, Dead Friend thrusts the viewers right into the thick of the terrifying scenario. The effects are satisfactorily delivered, but it is the depth of character that really benefits the feature, with a collection of sympathetic, vile and enjoyable individuals that make this film such a great experience.The end of the feature could have been vastly more conclusive, though this is certainly overshadowed by the film's success; after watching this, you will never look at a glass of water the same way again.

Tanuccoon A young amnesiac's forgotten friend are being stalked and killed off by a ghost who drowns them in odd locations. The girl realizes that she has to recover her memories and learn the source of the problem or she may die next.Ryeong uses many of the standard a-horror conventions like a pale, long-haired ghost girl whose hair randomly appears places. The main thing that sets this spirit apart is a limitation involving water (hence the intended victims' fear of it). The amnesia is also an interesting gimmick, since it potentially allows the protagonist to be guilty of something while still allowing sympathy for the character (because she doesn't even know what she might have done and the amnesia makes her a new person). The amnesia itself naturally ties into the twist which, although clever, leaves all kinds of questions. I also wasn't sure why the victims' bodies had red eyes, unless it's a side-effect of drowning.The make-up effect on the ghost girl was kinda neat. The only other real effect involved some moving puddles.

xredgarnetx DEAD FRIEND is a Korean knockoff of THE RING, pure and simple. Is it any less scary for being a knockoff? No. It is plenty scary, and made with great verve and polish, and a high degree of professionalism. A vengeful ghost haunts four young women, one of whom is a college student who apparently suffers from amnesia. That's the plot. American audiences will have to exercise patience with this vengeful ghost movie because the ghost is just like the ghosts in THE RING and THE GRUDGE: they never stop coming at you, even when you think you've seen the last of them. The ending of this movie takes a bit of a twist in that regard. Is it worth seeing? I would say if you liked THE RING and THE GRUDGE and even A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, absolutely. All others, beware. DEAD FRIEND can be a bit slow-moving as it builds to the bizarre finale. I call this building atmosphere and mood. Others, especially those raised on a diet of hit-em-low and hit-em-hard horror flicks like SCREAM, may not feel so charitable toward it.

scobbah After reading the plot and reading some of the other comments regarding this film I had in mind that I might be up to experience another "Ringu" rip-off. Someone well stated that if you're new to Asian horror and have yet not grown tired of long-haired girls chasing others for revenge, well here's something for you perhaps. I feel like a some what of "veteran" of this genre now, so this one didn't bring anything new to my attention. The plot feels like something we've experienced before. The positive things to mention is that they've worked well with the "boo!" moments, combining neat sound effects with some fast-paced camera works so it may give you a few creepy moments, but it doesn't offer anything that for example "Ringu" hasn't. Please, if you have yet not seen Ringu, do it before seeing this one - I beg you! This one's a 6/10 since it is after all quite a movie based on effects and horror moments and it would certainly have scored higher if it had a plot of its own, not borrowing others.