A BLOOD PLEDGE

(A.k.a. YEO-GO-GOI-DAM 5: DONG-BAN-JA-SAL; WHISPERING CORRIDORS 5: A SUICIDE PACT)

Yes, indeed, as one of the above alternate titles suggests, A BLOOD PLEDGE is the 5th instalment in the WHISPERING CORRIDORS series of Korean horror films. These also include, perhaps most famously, MEMENTO MORI and WISHING STAIRS. Fret not though, each film works as a standalone slice of entertainment and that rule of thumb is adhered to here.

In A BLOOD PLEDGE, four teenaged girls meet in their school's chapel late one night to recite a pact in which they each vow to commit suicide before the sun rises. Only one, Unjoo (Jang Kyeong-ah), carries out this task - falling to her death, luminous syringe at her side, in front of her younger sister Jeong-eon (Yu Shin-ae) who just happens to be passing at the time.

The surviving three girls - Lee Eugene (Oh Yeon-seo), Eun-Yeong (Min-jeong Song) and Soy (Eun-seo Son) - are quizzed by the police soon afterwards, and pilloried by their friends at school. But these girls have made a further pact to remain silent about what happened that night at the chapel: the circumstances of Unjoo's death, it would seem, are going to remain a mystery for good.

But this code of silence has a disquieting effect on Soy, who is overcome with grief and begs the other two to join her in coming clean to the cops. Led by Eugene, they insist their silence is maintained. Soy reluctantly abides by this, despite the taunts of her classmates and - more disconcertingly - the nightmarish visions of the dead Unjoo that she's started to suffer.

The pressure is upped when Soy attends Unjoo's funeral, only to be accosted by an inquisitive Jeong-eon. She can sense that Soy - Unjoo's best pal through school, until she got in with Eugene's gang a year ago and started acting mean to her former sidekick - knows the reason behind her sister's suicide, and wants answers.

Soy withdraws further, but Jeong-eon keeps fishing for answers at school. Something's got to give. Especially when Soy and her co-conspirators suffer further visitations from Unjoo's apparition and the deaths begin...

Writer-director Jong-yong Lee is previously responsible for penning the screenplay for SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE. This is his first time behind the camera, aside from the 2007 short A DAY OUT.

His novice skills are evident, as A BLOOD PLEDGE plays very safely with the tried and tested conventions of Asian horror cinema. Lank-haired ghosts flashing up on the screen in brief edits; long silence followed by sharp-edit shocks; schoolgirl suicide shenanigans; themes of loyalty and revenge: this is well-traversed territory, and Lee brings little fresh to the plate.

Some decent special effects and scenes of agreeable, hallucinogenic gore don't harm its cause - and A BLOOD PLEDGE does manage to get quite creepy on occasion.

The film also looks very handsome. Cinematography, lighting and production design are all strong, ensuring a consistently aesthetic slickness to proceedings. In terms of editing and performances, A BLOOD PLEDGE is proficient too.

It simply lacks any original ideas and is therefore hard to care too much about, beyond the stylish but ultimately unmemorable entertainment it provides.

Matchbox Films' region 2 DVD presents A BLOOD PLEDGE in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The picture is enhanced for 16x9 televisions and looks generally good. Colours are never vivid, but that's true of a lot of modern horror films from Asian territories: they clearly prefer a more restrained aesthetic. Having said that, whenever bolder images appear on the screen (flames; blood), they are represented very well. Blacks are deep and solid, images are fairly sharp and the picture quality is overall clean - there's little to gripe about.

Korean 2.0 audio is equally agreeable. English subtitles are burned-in but easy to read, and for the most part proffer a strong translation that avoids the distraction of typing errors etc.

The disc opens to a static main menu. From there, a static scene-selection menu allows access to A BLOOD PLEDGE via 16 chapters.

We get but one bonus feature on this disc: the film's original 99-second trailer. While this is relatively entertaining, its grainy, pillar-boxed quality is somewhat stifling: it looks like it's been lifted from the Internet.

A BLOOD PLEDGE doesn't evolve the plight of the Asian horror film any, rather it plays straight into its well-worn motifs. And yet, there are far worse ways to while away 88 minutes of your free time.

Stylish, dark and more than a tad intriguing despite its overall familiarity, this film comes mildly recommended.

Review by Stuart Willis