Rusty-61 To start, I want to mention something: I have a list of "Top Ten Scariest Asian Movies". This may have been the weakest in my original list (though the 'weakest' still made the list for almost a year as a Top Ten scary-as-Hell Asian horror flick). Since I created the list, I saw the blood-curdling, cleverly-scripted 'Coming Soon' and decided it had earned a place over 'Cinderella'. I removed it, but that doesn't mean I don't want to give this creepy Korean thriller its props here.First of all, if you love K-Horror, this deserves a look. Yes, it has one or two elements that appear in other Asian horror. I should point out that except in some extreme cases, I actually like the formula and the common images (black hair covering a face, usually with one ghostly dead eye peeking out, and the horrifying, creepy reveals of what is almost always referred to in the movie's promo materials/synopsis as 'the Dark Secret behind it all'. Usually in the last act, the 'horrifying buried past' is usually so brutal and disturbing you have sympathy for the 'Onyro' (lf you're familiar with Asian horror enough to have done a little research, you know the meaning--if not, this is a great time you to look it up) along with the fear. When handled right, the true back-story is so horrible that you kinda decide the ghost/Onryo out for revenge has every reason to come back and try to cause serious damage.I gave Cinderella seven stars rather than the 9-10 I give to perfect, close-to-soiling- yourself in utter terror Asian horror such as Shutter and Ju-on. I took three stars off based mainly on my opinion that some parts, especially the first act, are slower than I thought they needed to be, dragging down the film and viewer a bit. The movie could have stand to lose 10-15 minutes for a tighter edit. HOWEVER… get ready for the last act of Cinderella--it pounces right at you out of the dark.This is one of those last acts, and with a back story that stuck with me. There's a couple hints, but it turns out to be way uglier (no pun intended-if you've seen the movie you'll get the pun) than anyone imagined. I also actually started talking back to the flat screen TV a couple times (if I'd seen it in a theater and said the same things at that volume, I would have been asked by an usher to calm down) and at least once hearing myself urgently and loudly giving a character advice ("oh no, no, NO, don't, DO NOT go in there, Oh God, RUN!"). I do that frequently during really addictive, well-made, fun TV shows (True Blood, Breaking Bad, and Spartacus for example), but it's rare when I watch a movie. Yet another movie on this list where a movie-watching exception was made. Funny thing, it's usually Korean chillers like "Cinderella" or Korean crime-revenge "I Saw the Devil" and "Memories of Murder" that get me so hooked in that (more than once) almost blew off a deadline because I HAD to know what happened.I saw that many reviewers cited the movie for being 'too melodramatic' and 'more like some soap opera'. I can see a base argument for 'melodramatic' ; fair enough,I suppose (though I personally don't agree). However, a SOAP? Jesus, really? If so, I'd like to ask what the hell kind of fu(ked-up soaps have YOU been watching? The only thing on TV right now that is a 'horror-drama' and would even come close to this claim is American Horror Story. Note: if you're a big fan of the show AHS --like I am--you'll probably enjoy this movie.Yeah, Cinderella is no Shutter or Two Sisters (then again, nothing put on film is) but if you're looking for some Oynro-genre scares and a twist or two you didn't see coming, watch it now. There's much worse ways (and MUCH worse Asian horror movies to watch, trust me) to spend 100 minutes. As long as you weren't really planning on sleeping that night anyway….

slayrrr666 "Cinderella" isn't that bad but could've been much better.**SPOILERS**Preparing to undergo surgery, Suk-yung, (Jeon So-min) tries not to let her fear stop her from going through with it, despite surgeon Yoon-hee, (To Ji-won) trying to qualm them. When her friend Hyun-su, (Shin Se-kyeong) tries to gather her other friends Sung-aum, (Yu Da-in) and Mae-wong, (Ahn Ah-yung) that also had work done at the office, for a birthday party when they suddenly start behaving weirdly and begin to carve themselves according to the surgery performed on them. Convinced it has something to do with her mother, she confronts her about it only to have a terrifying secret revealed to her in the process. Realizing that all of the events in the past as well as what's happening to her friends are related to this secret, he races to solve it before more friends are injured.The Good News: There was some good stuff to this one from time-to-time. One of the best features is that, when it starts to get going there's some good scenes. One of the best here is the rather fun and entertaining birthday party scenes, which really don't have a whole lot really wrong. There's some creepy images once it utilizes them, from the image of the lit birthday-cake moving through the darkened room to the rather bizarre freak-outs and the darkened room when the power goes out causing them to also freak-out is a pretty entertaining scene. Coupled with the different visions in the mirrors featuring the distorted face, either with severe scalpel marks or burn wounds is an overall great scene. Another really fun scene is the fantastic scene in art class, which starts with the hand appearing in the paint before dragging the victim head-first into it, only when returning to it later on showing no signs of anything happening. When that's stumbled upon later, the graphic face-cutting that resulted in the interim makes the scene really stand-out. Other minor scenes, including the ghostly visions at the beginning that may-or-may-not be there, the nightmare with her in the facial mask or also run into quite enjoyable scenes and are definitely pretty enjoyable as a whole. The back-story to this is also really good, with there being two great parts that come from it. Firstly is the awesome twist that's revealed, which is definitely something that isn't seen coming and really shouldn't, to a rather inventive way of finding out about it, it's a really great flashback that manages to hold more significance than initially expected. As well, there's some fun action to be had as well with the exploding car and the race to the hospital, which really help this one out considerably as well. The last plus here is the kills, which are pretty graphic and brutal. There's several faces that are sliced up with knives, a burnt victim, a stabbing in the arm and more, which while it doesn't sound like a lot definitely has it's moments. These here are what work for the film.The Bad News: There was a couple of problems to this one that hold it down somewhat. One of the film's biggest flaws is the fact that the film makes utterly no sense at all. From the revelation to the fact that it's done at the very end of the film, and the big angle where it's just so confusingly done that nothing here is given anything close to a definitive answer. This is due to the film's incessant and irritating problem of skipping around in time so much that there's hardly any way of knowing where anyone is at in a certain point in time, since it goes from the present time to the flashback that explains everything to seeing what happened with the friends without any change in doing anything new to explain that it's skipping around in time to do this. It all looks the same, to the wardrobe to the outfits and appearance as well as the technical look of the film, and this just ends up not really doing the film any favors in clarifying issues at all. The fact that the film just sort of ends without really doing anything else is a big part of that. This one doesn't have a real clear-cut way of ending, just sorting of featuring a series of scenes that pass by without any dialog whatsoever which makes it impossible to tell what's going on, and then the series of events themselves make even less sense. All in all, it's a very problematic issue. The last issue with this one is the fact that there's not a whole lot of scenes in the middle that are really enjoyable. It's just a whole lot of rather slow-going scenes that rarely match up with any kind of excitement or momentum into the film, which manages to make them come across so dull that it makes these scenes even harder to care for. The constant scenes of her working out with her mother, her friends sniping at each other in art class or at the pool, or the seemingly endless scenes of the group talking over what's happening are just a part of this, and they all take this one down.The Final Verdict: Not that bad overall, but there's enough good points and bad ones to make this film an even washout. Pretty much only there for the hardcore Asian fanatics or those who might find this story interesting, while those who are put off by the film's problems should heed caution.Rated UR/R: Graphic Violence and some Language

HumanoidOfFlesh Mommy's little girl Hyeon Su is a normal 17-year old student,beautiful enough to disregard her friends latest obsession:plastic surgery.Or maybe the lack of interest is due to the fact her gentle mother Yong Hee is a plastic surgeon.When one of her friends decides to go under the knife for a little skin revision,Yong Hee gives her more than a pretty new face.The result is blood all over the place.Seeing so many of her friends die,Hyeon Su finds comfort in her friend Seung Eun,but then she discovers a creepy secret of her mother...Some reviewers compared this film to masterful "A Tale of Two Sisters",but it's clearly not as good and memorable.In fact it's pretty dull and offers almost zero scares."Cinderella" looks slick,the acting is fine and Korean girls are jaw-droppingly beautiful,unfortunately the action moves at the snail's pace.Skip this one.5 out of 10.

DICK STEEL No, this is nothing about that fairy tale with the pumpkin coach, fairy godmother and the glass slippers, but if I were to elaborate, I would have to spoil it for you, which I won't. But don't let curiosity get the better of you, as this movie is not fantastic. It's one of those movies that start off promisingly, before betraying its audience with cheap scare tactics and an incoherent storyline. And that's real horror.Yoon-hee (To Ji-Won) and Hyun-soo (Shin Se-kyeong) are your ideal mother and daughter. One's a successful plastic surgeon, while the other your dutiful, obedient, and beautiful teenage daughter. Their relationship is like hand in glove, so close you'd think of them more as siblings rather than parent-child. But things start to go wrong (don't they always) when Hyun-soo's friends, whom Yoon-hee has operated on, start to go berserk.Perhaps it's a warning to audiences, and for those Koreans ladies who don't bat an eyelid when going under the knife, if news reports are to be believed. The only truly scary moments are those scenes in plastic surgery, though somehow, I thought Kim Ki-duk's Time actually had more gore when featuring and describing what goes on during the surgery itself.It's a tale of two halves, the fist being an attempt to shock audiences with standard scare tactics, which, I admit, did get to me now and then. However, the second half degenerated the movie into mindless mumbo-jumbo melodramatics, and was quite contrived into its forcing its ideas down your throat. Some things begin not to make sense, and while attempts are always presented to explain, you probably won't buy it, not that horror movies are logical to begin with.The leads are all beautiful, and there is a distinct lack of male presence besides the negligible cop role. But hey, I'm not complaining, though the storyline could have been improved tremendously. I'd recommend you to watch this, only if you're a fan of mediocre Korean horror, on VCD. Watch out for those face off-ish moments!