More scary stuff from Korea is on tap this time out….“Hidden Floor”, the second installment in the You Il-han and Ahn Byung-ki team-up horror series “One Day Suddenly – 4 Horror Tales” consisting of the films: “February 29″ (2006), “Hidden Floor” (2006), “D-Day” (2006), and “Dark Forest” (2006).

“One Day Suddenly” is a collection of four horror films that were originally put together and produced by Korean horror director Ahn Byung Ki, the director originally responsible for hits such as “Phone”, “Bunshinsaba” and the more recently released “APT”.

Neko-chan hasn’t yet seen the other films originally done for this collection, and my DVD for this one is the Taiwanese release which looks to be pretty much a direct port of the Korean DVD itself. Originally filmed in HD video and transferred to film, the images are crisp and lovely, allowing a much smaller budget than comparable films shot directly to film…..and it really does look professional. Let’s read more…..shall we?

The synopsis for this one reads as follows: “Min-young moves onto the fifth floor of a new studio apartment with her six-year-old daughter, Joo-hee. She’s concerned when her downstairs neighbor, HAN Chang-soo, says that he cannot tolerate the noise above him, even though the two women live tranquilly. Furthermore, she is anxious about other residents’ strange behaviors – never mind the mysterious deaths. Min-young hardens herself mentally after the move into the new house, largely because of her daughter’s unprecedented odd behavior and continual run-ins with a bizarre woman. Convinced that Joo-hee has fallen sick and perturbed by the mysterious events around the studio apartment, Min-young looks to find the truth.”

So far so good…..Basically this is another simple “Long Haired Ghost” story……..and while it breaks no new ground, it tells a good simple and scary story just the way this lil’ Catgirl likes them. Seo-hyeong Kim plays a like-able mom that you can really feel for as the creepy events slowly threaten to overwhelm her, and Yoo-jeong Kim is absolutely cute and adorable as her daughter Joo-hee…….at least until possessed by the evil spirit of revenge that haunts the building….then “Watch Out!!”….

I liked this one a lot….despite the well used premise. Director Il-soo Kwon has done a very nice job with his material, and while others might dissmiss this as a ‘wanna bee” version of many other J-horror stories, I can say that it was 90 minutes well spent for me. I recommend this one and plan to look up the other films from the collection that I originally (foolishly, it seems) didn’t pick up because of cost concerns……..Korean DVD’s can be brutally expensive….not as bad a Japanese imports, but close.

At 10$ US, the Taiwanese disc was a bargain though….I just hope the others follow suit and show up soon.!! Neko gives this one a hearty well deserved 4 “Meows” out of 5 with my popcorn crunching-est extra purr of satisfaction…..

Ah…..and lest you think I forgot the Trailer…..