Voices (2007) User Reviews

Don't trust anyone, not even yourself

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 24 October 2009]

In Sung-Nam City, the teenager Ga-in Kim (Jin-seo Yun) goes with her family and her boy-friend Hyung-Joong (Ki-woo Lee) to the wedding of her aunt Ji-sun and she sees the bride falling off a balcony. Then she witnesses Jung-sun (Yu-jeong Seo) violently stabbing her sister Ji-sun in the hospital. In school, the outcast Sung-min (Gi-woong Park) tells her that the events were not accidents and advises her to not trust anyone, friends, and family, not even herself. Ga-in believes in a family curse and almost gets killed by the classmate Eun-kyung (Kan-hie Lee); then by her teacher; then by her mate in fencing. When her mother attempts to kill her, Ga-in becomes completely paranoid and travels to visit a strange with Sung-min to seek answers for the curse.

"Du saram-yida" a.k.a. "Voices" is an ambiguous and confused tale of manipulation and paranoia with a great potential. Unfortunately the flawed and messy screenplay is never clear and it seems that Sung-min is indeed a manipulative demon or evil force that is visible only for his victims that pushes the characters to a paranoid behavior, culminating with a death wish. I like Asian movies that usually requires interpretation of the stories; however, the subplot with Ga-in's boyfriend is ridiculous and the weakest part of the complicated screenplay. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

I Don't Get It

[gftorain · 5/10 · 19 December 2010]

The opening scene is of a young boy in shock, reaching out to his (apparently) recently murdered mother. Who is this kid? It isn't the brooding "new guy" in school- he murdered his father. It isn't the boyfriend- his father tried to burn everyone to death. Mom, in her final act, shielded her son from the flames with her body.

Okay. So why was the aunt murdered? Is the brooding boy a demon? Who was the recluse? What did he have in connection with ANYONE? Is our lead character insane? I don't know much about Korean culture, but I find it odd that the parents of a high-schooler didn't bother with at least finding out the name of her adult boyfriend, whom they we well aware of. In a flash-back, we learn that the boyfriend blames our lead character for his ill-fortune, even though our lead character was a toddler in the flashback, and her father showed an act of charity. How were the two families connected?

If this review is muddled, choppy and not quite cohesive, then I've put you in the perfect mindset for "Voices"

Voices

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 30 April 2009]

For about 90 minutes, practically everyone around Ga-in(Jin-seo Yun)wants her dead. A classmate. A teacher. Her male fencing partner. Her mother. Perhaps even her best friend. But, the very one she wouldn't realize is exactly the person that wishes to kill her the most.

A little boy sees his mother topple over with a knife in her back and we later discover that his father went apesh#t due to stress and poverty. This corresponds with Ga-in's family we later discover with the little boy seeking revenge for he blames them mostly for his father's eventual psychotic breakdown. The film also highlights a young man who seems to follow Ga-in around yet no one seems to acknowledge him but her. Ga-in's aunt presumably leaped off a balcony(..or was pushed by her fiancé)and was eventually stabbed to death by her sister as she lie recuperating in a hospital bed. Ga-in later is sent by her father to an elderly man who tells her of a story concerning his decision to murder his wife out of rage towards her adultery. He feels his action, fueled by a voice over the phone who warned him of her adultery, has perhaps set off a chain of events where some sort of curse is running rampant hypnotizing folks into killing people they wish were dead. And, the young man who hangs around with Ga-in, like a little drooping, sad puppy with nowhere else to go, tells her to trust no one, not even herself. Eventually someone Ga-in loves so dear will unleash a fury on her family, her having no idea that he harbors such harsh feelings.

There are a lot of hallucinatory scare effects designed to make the viewer jump concerning a monster which resembles red raw hamburger meat in the shape of a man always reaching out to grab Ga-in. She also sees this spooky young women, her face emerging from a pool of dripping blood, hovering over her bed, threatening that Ga-in would be next(..this happens after Ga-in's aunt stabs her sister in the hospital room). The film seems to establish that a sinister figure representing a symbolic form of harbored desire(..the desire one has against another, out of jealousy, mostly)provides people with an option to violently rid themselves of their "adversary." Ga-in stands in the way, so to speak, of certain people's happiness. The student who never benefits due to Ga-in's success as a fencer. The teammate who is one step below Ga-in in their sport, wanting her out of the way. The best friend jealous of her attaining the boyfriend she always wanted. The mother who doesn't feel appreciated. But, to be honest, I couldn't understand what happened at the end(..Ga-in's fate after a tragic murder of a relative)regarding Ga-in. I thought I had a decent understanding of what the hell was going on, but, like a lot of these films, the filmmakers involved desperately needed to throw a wild twist at us..the heroine can't get off that easy can she? That's how I felt..we watch this poor girl go through an absolute nightmare for 90 minutes and yet she must not escape. That's the mentality of horror films these days. Still, there's some great moments here and there, but this is quite a confusing experience one must endure in order to enjoy those instances of shock and awe.

Decent film, with huge plot holes, well made but should have fixed those holes.

[Bababooe · 5/10 · 9 March 2018]

Production is well made, good actors, sets, cinematography, music, editing. Decent idea. Basically, the kid is cursed, or there's a demon that pushed people to kill. But the demon idea is completely thrown out the window when they somehow shoehorn the girl's boyfriend is out for revenge. What the hell was that? If they just kept it as a demon pushing people to kill others or commit suicide, then it would be a simple idea but it would work. The idea of the boyfriend's family being wrong to or whatever that was and seeking revenge is nonsense.

I saw this with English subtitles. As some other reviews mentioned that something may have been lost in the translation and/or the cultural view of the society. But I think I got the point of the film. It was well made and one can sit through it and be entertained and shocked by the proceedings. And I believe if they went back in and edited out the boyfriend nonsense this film's plot holes would be less. Everything else on how the curse or that strange boy (The demon) coming to the school and pushing people to death, is still a big plot hole. That can't be fixed in editing. Only in a remake.

It is so important that writers create a story/screenplay that not only contains words, but those words create a story that's relatively complete. We don't get that with this movie. And unfortunately we don't get that with most movies.

In the beginning we see a woman stabbed and dead or dying in front of a little boy. She then jumps out at the kid. Good for quick suspense and decent open. But where does that fit in with the rest of the movie? Then were introduced to the lead character and her sister in school. They go to their aunt's wedding where the aunt is pushed or jumps off a balcony. She cracks her head and tons of blood. Good visuals. I would say this woman is dead. But no. They take her to the hospital and after surgery she's in the hospital bed. Ok. Then this woman's sister starts stabbing her. Again, visually it looks great. But after 30 stab wounds the woman finally, finally dies. Ok, so now that woman is taken away. We see her once more when the lead character visits her. But never again.

So, next thing we know, the lead character is being attacked by her classmate, teacher, another classmate, her mother. What is going on? We don't know. Is it a curse? There are some serious plot problems here. Where is the connection between her aunt who fell off the balcony, and her other aunt killing her sister, and now she is the target of death?

Rating is a C for a B movie. 5 stars, mostly for the acting and production. Screenplay is a failure.

The Family Curse

[crossbow0106 · 7/10 · 7 June 2009]

Pretty good K-Horror film starring Yoon Jin-Seo as Ga-in, a young lady who seems to have a good life. She does okay in school, has parents, a younger sister and a good boyfriend. The story begins unfolding when her aunt is thrown from a balcony on her wedding day by her own sister. It turns out, the family has a history of violent death, just about all at the hands of family members. There are good special effects and Yoon Jin-Seo is a good actress. The story is never boring and a few crazy things happen but that is all part of the "fun". If you like horror check this out. If you have never tried K-Horror, there are better films like "A Tale Of Two Sisters", but this is good also.

Generic Korean horror...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 19 December 2015]

Based on the cover of the DVD and the fact that it is a part of the '8 movies to die for' series, then "Voices" (aka "Du saram-yida") seemed promising and it was with a certain amount of anticipation that I sat down to watch it.

And now that it is finished, I must admit that I have an empty feeling and a sense of having been cheated out of something potentially great.

So why did "Voices" fail to deliver? Well, because it was a predictable storyline that held no surprises to throw off the audience. And director Ki-Hwan Oh failed to impress where it mattered.

The acting performances in "Voices" were good, despite of the limitations imposed by the director and the lack of a proper script.

And the absence of scares and spooky moments just made the movie even more mundane - to put it mildly.

This movie scores a mere four out of ten stars from me solely on the production value and acting performances.

Some people get stabbed. Some people do the stabbing.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 9 October 2020]

"Voices" is a decent South Korean entry into the third After Dark Horrorfest. While the story is not a particularly great one, it does entertain, combining familial horror, doom and gloom atmosphere, over the top gore, and oppressive music by Jun-seok Kim. It concerns a teenage girl, Ga-in (Jin-Seo Yoon), with a good life as a model student, with a loyal boyfriend, and loving parents. However, the family is attending a wedding when the bride is suddenly thrown from a balcony by her sister. Later, the sister goes a step further and butchers the bride in her hospital bed! Ga-in understands that death is now all around her, and friends, foes & family alike seem to want to do her in. She desperately seeks answers.

At the very least, this kept this viewer watching as it unlaid this nasty yarn. Yoon delivers a haunted, vulnerable performance in the lead, and is surrounded by a good supporting cast. The director, Ki-hwan Oh, gives the movie good pacing, and some memorable visuals. On the surface, the film seems to be nonsensical, but ultimately it isn't too hard to figure out. Ga-in, who has every right to be paranoid, learns some hard truths about the situation, and how relentlessly she and those around her are being manipulated. It gives the scenario, which was apparently derived from a comic book, a bleak, hopeless feel; while some room is left for humour at the outset, director Oh and company commit to crafting a bizarre and downbeat picture that never really loses its grip. They don't go out of their way to explain or clarify everything, but they made a film that still manages to live up to the word "horror".

Seven out of 10.

Another Asian Ghost Story ... Yawn.

[MisterSisterFister · 2/10 · 31 October 2018]

This movie was pointless and immediately forgettable. Most of the time, nothing really happens and as far as the plot is concerned, its confusing and makes little sense.

What a shame, though. South Korea usually produces some truly awesome films. Yet, they almost always dive head first into soap opera territory and its painfully obvuous with this one. Skip it.

How can you survive if you can't trust noone?

[dummiejo-90918 · 7/10 · 28 April 2024]

At its core this horror movie tries to present a world where people around you, who had a trust status, suddenly react paranoid and want to kill you.

It all starts when her aunt gets thrown down from the top floor by her fiancé on wedding day. Her aunt barely survives and is taken to the hospital. Supposedly here should everything being normal, but out of nowhere the sister of her aunt, stabs her to death. Ga-In witnessed everything in shock from the hospital door.

Since that event strange visions and dreams follow her and the next day, people who she had blind trust in, want her dead. The best schoolmate in the class, her teacher, her friend in the sport, her mother. There's no end and no escape.

Ga-In hasn't much to work with. Her family believes there must be a family curse, starting 30 years ago, when her uncle who lives in seclusion killed his wife. There's also a schoolboy who advised her to trust nobody, not even herself. Does he know more?

When's the point, when you can't see what's real?

This movie does good at being a horror movie. Some bad attempts at jump scares can be forgiven. Good effects. Doesn't offer a very surprising ending, but have to admit the story with her boyfriend wasn't expected, haha.

Very Entertaining Despite Its Flaws

[ebossert · 8/10 · 16 May 2009]

Sometimes I think that many reviewers are simply too lazy to understand films with indirect communication. I've heard people complain that "Asian horror movies don't make sense", which is usually just a roundabout way of saying, "I'm too lazy to figure them out." However, there are some films that prove to be very difficult to understand (e.g., Spider Forest) or simply don't make the slightest bit of sense at all (e.g., Marronnier). "Voices" (aka "Someone Behind You") is one of those projects that is most definitely a bit too vague for its own good, so it's understandable that many viewers have serious problems figuring this movie out.

This is a shell game kind of movie that tries to bait the viewer into red herring traps from start to finish. Don't be fooled, this is simply and solely about a demon (in human form) who is one gigantic scumbag that uses varying degrees of manipulation to coerce and/or control human beings for his own sick little games and perverted enjoyment. His favorite statement, "Don't trust anyone, not even yourself" is nothing more than a patronizing taunt to scare his victims. If he was more forthcoming, he would say something like this: "I will coerce your friends and family to kill you. If that doesn't work, I will force them into a state of temporary insanity to kill you." The only true escape from this disastrous situation is to simply move into a desolate, isolated area and live the rest of your life in seclusion, which isn't exactly a losing proposition for a scumbag demon who wants to see people suffer, both physically and/or psychologically.

The psychological effects come into play when his victims prove particularly difficult to kill – and our lead protagonist is one tough cookie, eluding a number of attacks from friends and family members. In cases such as this, the attempted murders will form an unprecedented pattern that points towards some supernatural, uncommon influence. Think about it. Why would every single friend and family member attempt to kill someone? At this point, the possibility of a curse no longer seems so far-fetched. In addition, paranoia reaches its highest level, and the target will suffer greatly when attempting to reconcile these crazy events with their newly acquired mistrust and fear of their loved ones. Just the kind of psychological games a sick, demonic scumbag would love to watch. It also makes this film hella interesting.

While somewhat obvious that the demon has added outside influence to every attempted murder, what makes this movie even more appealing during a second viewing is pondering just how much manipulation is required to push a particular person over the edge into attempted murder. For example, the husband who throws his wife into the path of a moving bus is possibly the least influenced murder herein. It is possible that the demon made the phone calls to his house, but I have no problems assuming that the character is wholly responsible for his actions and that the demon simply instilled some doubt into his mind regarding his love's possible infidelity. To take a contrasting example, the groom who tosses his bride off the balcony had no identifiable motive for doing so, which leans more towards a demon-influenced state of temporary insanity. The other instances of assault usually fall between those two extremes.

Not everything in this film is cut and dry though. As I mentioned earlier, the script is vague and ambiguous, leaving unexplained gaps in the storyline. Most of these are easily rectified with logical, common sense assumptions because there's very little (if any) blatant contradictions when one understands that a demonic scumbag is behind everything; and as we all know, demonic scumbags are not bound to follow a set or rules or guidelines. I would post my specific thoughts, but this 1000-word review is very limited (read the message board instead). Also, I knowingly confess that this film is flawed in terms of scriptwriting, so there's really no hard-hitting points to be made in that regard anyways.

However, the blemishes in "Someone Behind You" are overshadowed by a number of positive qualities. At the very least you'll get solid acting and a refreshingly different premise, which automatically elevates this film above most non-Asian horror fare. The aforementioned murder attempts are well-executed (some of which are very bloody) and the sense of paranoia is most definitely highlighted at numerous points. The protagonists are also very likable and their decision-making is understandable. What you end up with is a flick that's pretty damn entertaining.

The last few years have been fantastic for the South Korean horror/thriller genre. "Someone Behind You" (2007) is a nice compliment to films like "Hansel and Gretel" (2007), "The Chaser" (2008), "The Return" (aka "Wide Awake") (2007), "Epitaph" (2007), "Muoi" (2007), "Bloody Reunion" (2006), "Loner" (2008), "A Bloody Aria" (2006), "Seven Days" (2007), "Cadaver" (2007), "A Good Wife" (2007), "Coma" (2006 miniseries), and "D-Day" (aka "Roommates") (2006). Most of these have their own particular flaws (most films do), but this is a very good lineup of titles that would make an awesome weekend marathon. I'll never understand why everyone reflexively runs out to rent the U.S. "Shutter" remake while ignoring these little gems. There is a significant minority of movie buffs who like Asian horror, but more people need to see these movies. I rarely (if ever) hear anyone talk about them. Even the formulaic entries like "D-Day" are really cool – and all of them are better than 90% of the crap coming out of Hollywood these days. Please check them out.

a solid impressive film

[rivertam26 · 8/10 · 15 November 2009]

Korean horror thriller Voices offers up an interesting premise. A young girl named Ga-In Kim plated wonderfully by Jin-Sen Yun finds herself the victim of several people as they try and murder her. It seems that the people around her begin dying and some very gruesome fashions and visions of a grotesquely deformed man plague her thoughts. The film delicately plays on the concept of the people who are closest to you being capable of murdering you. It's executed well with dark visuals, a brooding atmosphere and strong performances. It all leads up to a surprising finale you won't see coming. Voices is in fact one of the most disturbing and solid Asian genre efforts in quite some time.

The 2007 South Korean Violent Supernatural Thriller

[jfernandezjosh · 10/10 · 23 May 2012]

Since The Year 2008 I Discovered This on the Internt,I Only Watched the Original Trailer on Youtube,Since 2009 i re-discovered it and buy the DVD,When i watched it i,m not so scared,I,m braver in watching it,s scenes,This gives me more plot twists and plot surprises,The 2007 South Korean Supernatural Thriller was loosely based on a comic strip written by Oh-Ki-Hwan under it,s original title "Two Will Come",This is provided with buckets of blood and oceans of murder victims,No long-haired spirits,But actually demons(in human form)and hearing strange noises,The film opens with a ghostly sequence where a little boy witnessed a mysterious murder of a woman in his own home,Blood smears over the television set,As he gets closer to the dead woman her eyes are opened and utters a hair-raising scream,Then we see on the opening credits Newspaper Reports that reads "Jumps Off-Balcony" and "Kills Mother and Daughter"And other spectacular and horrible past killings which were taking place since the past few years,The scene moves on to the main protagonist Ga-In(Yun-Jin Seo)who is a normal high school teen who has a talent for Fencing,Has a Lovng Family,A Cool Friend,And a Tender Boyfriend,The next day she,her boyfriend by the name of Hyun-Joong(Lee Ki Woo)and her family attends the wedding party of their Aunt Ji-Sun,But soon her Aunt,s happiest day of her life was turned into an act of violence where she was accidentally pushed from the balcony which was done by her Groom(Ahn Shin Woo),She witnessed this terrible event,After the accident happened Ji-Sun was rushed to the hospital and is confined where she was gruesomely stabbed by another aunt of Ga-In,s Jung-Sun(Yu- Jeong Seo),Ga-In sees this violent event,What if ever the people around you ,love,support and cared for you now are out to kill you faster,Will you race against time to uncover a murderous secret?,After the horrible murder of her Aunt,She began to experience mysterious and weird events at her home and school,In the dream sequence while she is sleeping she saw an apparition of a girl who is covered in blood telling her that she,ll be the next victim of the so-called "Family Curse"But when a string of inexplicable deaths of one of her family members,relatives,loved ones and friends,I Think she holds the answers to all her nightmares,Then The Clinic scene my favorite was Ga-In sees a vision of a shadowy figure(in shape of a lady)frightens her with a deformed hand,Actually Ghosts or Spirits of Dead Persons are actually demons or evil spirits,Because These Demonic Creatures pretend to be the spirit of a dead person or a loved one,Ga-In herself is attacked by another murderous schoolgirl Eun-Kyung(Oh Yeon Seo)who plans to kill her with a scissor,Then she is watched by a Mysterious Student with a dark past by the name of Seok-Min(Park-Ki Woong)Well i know that he is a Mysterious Villain and his role is very creepy,He then warns her "Don,t Trust Anyone,Your Family,Friends,Relatives,Not even yourself"Seok-Min is a mysterious schoolboy since in the Dream Sequence he stabs the spirit of his Father,The Locker Room scene follows Where she is grabbed by a deformed creature who then sometimes haunts her in her visions warning her that more killings will increase,There is an additional inexplicable scene where she hears a mysterious wind blows by closing the gate after she have accepted the Invitation given to her by another student by the name of Sang-Kyung who then have his try to kill her with a Baseball Bat,Terrified for her life she flees inside the house and sees her Mother throwing a Kitchen Knife at her then picks up a stiletto and shouts at her "DIE" Her Husband stops her,Then she travels with Seok-Min to a mysterious place in order to look and search for the mystery Behind these strange murders,The stranger by the name of Dae-Young confesses his dark past to her of why did he killed his wife,Then the next day At School she sees a vision of her Best Dude attempts to push her from the Balcony,But she ignored her and leaves school,One Night as her parents slowly to get murdered,She wakes up and makes her way downstairs where she finds Hyun-Joong(who turns out to be the last villain)Then turns around and saw her Parents sitting dead on the table,She mourns out loud ,Hyun-Joong reveals to her that he killed them because he had manipulated her to get close to her family in order to get back at her Father,This Movie is a Giallo-Supernatural Slasher style!This is one of the Inspiring Serial Killer Films like that of Suspiria(1977),The Bird With The Crystal Plumage(1970),Deep Red(1975) and Trauma(1993).

I loved it

[eventlaunch · 8/10 · 28 July 2020]

One of the first movies got me into YouTube k horror and j horror movies Excellent

Brilliant

[Rosiechuchu · 10/10 · 3 January 2021]

If you think this movie has plot holes you should see it again! The problem is you not the movie. This movie is fantastic, is well acted and directed. Is a true horror film and i enjoyed every moment. Love it!

Trust issues

[kosmasp · 8/10 · 8 May 2020]

It's tough to know who to trust - and would trusting anyone after all that is happening even make sense? I think the movie makes it so ... that it does make sense. Very nicely told and always lingering in paranoia the viewer clearly has issues or rather feels what the main character is going through. Quite mad but also very intriguing.

The special effects (especially one scene with water over a bed in the air) is astonishing to say the least! Really well made and very interesting story. Suspense from beginning to end and quite a few surprises along the way. You should be squeamish, because this is quite vivid when it comes to violence in places/outburst! No pun intended! Good horror that I missed when it was first released but I made up by watching it now

o;

[rxqueeen · 9 October 2011]

this movie was scary, will literally let you jump off your feet. and in the end the lesson was amazing. showed different people all over the world, the boy in the beginning had nothing to do with the rest of the characters but, at some point they were all pushed by the demon that is behind you as the title states (Someone Behind You)to do something you wouldn't do. But think of doing. Even a tiny bit of doubt, hate, jealousy..will trigger it, even if u just wished deep in ur head that hes dead, everybody does that like if for example your little sister steals your money don't u just wish her dead? just be careful, he might help u out, give u a weapon or a little dodge and bam! This sort of explains how evil gets in the way of people killing his family/loved one and pleading innocent or saying it was drugs/grudge that made him do it. This is my new favorite now. :o