Director: Yu Seon-dong
Year: 2010
Country: South Korea
Alternate Titles: Gosa 2
Genre: Ghosts
Plot:
Undertaking a special session in school, a class of students arrives at a special training camp to prepare them for their upcoming exams, but when they notice one of their teachers is dead and that they're trapped inside, they must figure out why they're being held captive to stop their plans.
Review:
Overall, this was a wholly problematic and lowered sequel. Among the only real positives to be had is the sense of paranoia and chaos that emerges once the group finds themselves stuck in the situation without much in the way of escape opportunities. Once they realize what's going on and how they're trapped, with the attempted use of the hallway blocked by the motorcycle driver using spiked spokes to rip up anyone who tries to use it, the communications being cut off, and the group unable to leave the premises until they solve the riddle, this offers a kind of intriguing atmosphere that is presented. When the series of traps and games are utilized throughout here that try to present the whole thing as puzzles for the group to solve while racing to free their trapped friend inside, there are some immensely fun aspects to be had here that provide the proper series of investigations into the various killings. That's almost more fun, as the series of red herrings and twisting motivations behind everything is considerably more fun than anything, and there's plenty of intriguing dynamics at play here to play off the longer they remain trapped inside.
Still, outside of this, there's little else of interest going on here. For what should be a film about a ghost seeking revenge on the group of students who murdered her when she was alive, that constitutes surprisingly little of the running time. The traps and puzzles here have considerably less amount of time than anything else, with only a few such instances featured here due to the more general presentation of trying to sow distrust among the teens. With the main setup of them being trapped inside the school and realizing they're dealing with a killer on their hands occurring around the half-hour mark, which is the main selling point of this one, the rest of the first half brings about a slew of interactions dealing with the performers being forced to recount their connections for what's going on, making the whole thing slow to a crawl while dealing with the backstories of these characters who are not all that interesting or enjoyable to follow. These keep the film from really exploring the kind of scares it really needs, with everything here keeping this genre material out of the film, keeping this one down for the most part.
Overview: **/5
A watchable enough but severely disappointing follow-up, there are some worthwhile factors to this one that hold it up despite a series of issues here keeping this a disappointing slog to get through. The only ones who will be into this one will be fans of the first one or the style in general, as pretty much everyone else out there should heed extreme caution with this one.
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