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The Red Shoes
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List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $17.99
Your Save: $ 1.96 ( 10% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Tartan Video
Starring: Hye-su Kim, Seong-su Kim, Yeon-ah Park, Su-hee Go, Eol Lee
Directed By: Yong-gyun Kim
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0842498030417
Format: Closed-captioned
Label: Tartan Video
Manufacturer: Tartan Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Tartan Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2006-10-24
Running Time: 103
Studio: Tartan Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2005
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Editorial Reviews:
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After catching her husband cheating with another woman, Sun Jae takes her young daughter and moves into a dilapidated old apartment building to start a new life. Heading home from work one day, Sun Jae finds a strange pair of high-heeled red shoes located inside her subway car, and decides to take them with her. Unfortunately, these shoes are cursed and cause unspeakable repercussions for those foolish enough to try them on.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: High production values, but lacks originality
Comment: "The Red Shoes" is actually a decent addition to the Asian horror genre and has commendable production values[ excellent cinematography, good casting, creepy sound effects], but is let down by a lack of originality and also an ending that stretches out too long and could have done with better editing.
The story centers around an optometrist, Sun-jae (Kim Hye-soo] who is married with a young daughter, Tae-soo [Park Yeon-Ah]. When she finds her husband with another woman in their home, she leaves him, taking Tae-Soo with her. Meanwhile, Sun-Jae comes into possession of a pair of 'red' [fuchsia actually] shoes on a subway train and finds herself captivated by them. The shoes are also coveted by Tae-Soo who up till now has been a model child, but strangely starts throwing tantrums and acting mutinuous in order to keep the shoes. Very soon, strange things start occurring, and people who come into contact with the shoes start dying. Sun-Jae, together with the new man in her life slowly start to figure out the shoes' mysterious connection to a past tragedy and how this has a tremendous impact on their current circumstances.
The story itself plays out quite well, building up sufficiently interesting plot twists to keep viewers glued to the screen. However, as the plot unfolds, those who are familiar with other Asian horror movies start to see some obvious similarities in plot devices - mother-daughter dynamics and the red backpack that wont go away in Dark Water, the use of music to build up the story like in Cello etc. Though this doesn't detract too much from appreciating the movie, it does indicate a lack of originality, especially for fans of Asian horror who have been exposed to so much of the same.
That being said, I did like this movie, right up until the ending - and then, it seemed to drag on and on for no good reason. It definitely could have used better direction and editing. All in all though, this is worth a watch for those who like Asian horror [this is a Korean movie], but perhaps Asian horror newbies might better appreciate it than seasoned horror fans.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Come find me pumps
Comment: The Red Shoes uses every J-Horror (and K-Horror) motif we've seen many times before. Most notably the young, attractive, professional female lead who's got a cheating husband and a daughter that goes freaky. Its plot is constructed around some thing that connects the natural and supernatural worlds via the kid. There's a hip, interested, and understanding 'other man' hanging around, helping when he can. The infamous J-Horror Goth Chick even makes appearances. If all this is a deal breaker with regards to your viewing pleasure, skip this one. If it's not, then add it your queue immediately.
The red shoes, usually referred to with the singular it in this film, are really more of a fuchsia pink set of come find me pumps. The Red is surely meant to symbolize blood, as in "blood on your hands", but I digress.
It's the production values of The Red Shoes that make it worthwhile. This is a good looking film whose creators clearly cared about doing it well. The cinematography is creepy and creative, accentuating the sense of dread with distortions, colors and inspired scene locations. The soundtrack is understated and almost peaceful--it's not used to create tension where none exists. And the script, typical of Asian Horror, is loose enough for the viewer to choose from a number of interpretive styles: is it a dream, a figment of some dreadful imagination, or is everybody a different aspect of a multiple personalty? The Red Shoes doesn't break any new ground but if you are a fan of the genre this is a professionally put together package.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I haven't enjoyed an Asian Horror this much in a long time . . .
Comment: Compared to a lot of the trite Asian Horror these days, this film is truly an original. I probably have read the original tale but don't remember it, so I can't say if this movie borrows heavily from it or merely alludes to it; however, it seems original enough and defies the strict parameters and convention of most Asian Horror. Yes, most of the same elements may be there, but it's more than just frightening women with long hair -- the film itself, the story itself, is taut and suspenseful and blends various themes and plots together. I also liked the visionary aspect of this film, it really has a more artistic feel than many of the other so-called artistic Asian Horrors. I have to recommend this film due to the fact that it's quite unforgettable and satisfying as a whole.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fairy Tale Horrors
Comment: Nifty idea, purportedly based on a childrens story, where a mysterious pair of red (or hot pink) pumps makes an appearance in a subterranean transit system, and they transfer from owner to owner (or host to host, as the case may be) with obsessively paranoiac and supernaturally bloody results.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not terrible, but not great, either.
Comment: The Red Shoes (Yong-gyun Kim, 2005)
If you're going to adapt a fairy tale these days, the obvious choice is Andersen's The Red Shoes, what with the current click-lit shoe obsession. Kim does so here. Unfortunately, I have to review a cut version of the film; the directors' cut has never (as of this writing) been released outside of Korea.
Sun-jae (Three... Extremes: II's Hye-su Kim) is a young career woman on the verge of opening her own optical center. Her young daughter, Tae-su (Yeon-ah Park, in her screen debut), wants to become a ballet dancer, and is attending dancing school. One evening, Sun-jae finds a pair of red shoes in the subway and takes them home-- but soon comes to realize that death follows in the shoes' wake.
Okay, yeah, so "adapt" is a loose term there. (The actual fairy tale, Andersen-style, is much more closely followed during a flashback sequence near the end of the movie.) Still, it's not a bad little film; Kim has given us some decent, if not fully-fleshed, characters. The main problem with it is that it's pretty obvious that Kim had seen Hideo Nakata's Dark Water not long before he began shooting here; there's a great deal of similarity in setting and atmosphere. If you can overlook that, however, it's not a bad way to kill an hour and a half. ** ½
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