"Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary" (2024) [Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival]
by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden
In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s Korean horror comedy Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary by Kim Min-ha.
Synopsis
A group of high school senior girls discovers a school ghost story that if they win a game of ghost hide-and-seek on the night of the school anniversary, they will receive a perfect score on the college entrance exam.
The Good
Joseph: The heyday of Korean horror movies set in high schools may have peaked around 15 or so years ago — the five Whispering Corridors movies were a huge part of that trend — but the subgenre is a time-honored one in Korean cinema, with occasional entries still hitting chain-cinema or film festival screens. Writer/director/editor Kim MinHa’s Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary — my 'The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle' subtitle would be "Or, I Never Meta Movie Trope I Didn’t Have Fun With" — has a devilishly fun time sending up not only Korean high-school horrors, but also American and Japanese scare fare. From stating-the-obvious humor — Kim DoYeon’s character who dreams of being a film director has several such lines — to blink-and-you’ll-miss-it visual homage, Kim MinHa shows that he is well-versed in horror cinema. The emphasis with Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary is much more on comedy than fright, and thanks to super work by the four leads — Kim DoYeon, Son JuYeon, Kang ShinHee, and Jeong HaDam — and a clever screenplay and terrific pacing by Kim MinHa, the film offers a wildly entertaining time.
Mike: There are some fun moments throughout Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary with some fine performances by the four lead characters. The humor runs from silly to the subtle with nods to plenty of tropes and clichés from other genre films. It’s well paced and directed and should keep viewers engaged throughout its ninety minute run time. Of note is the rather poignant monologue at the end about the trials and tribulations surrounding the youth of today that await not just Korean kids, but kids everywhere. Kinda reminiscent of the message at the end of The Breakfast Club in a way.
Overall this is a well crafted film with far more shots at humor than scares.
The Bad
Joseph: I had too much fun with Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary to nitpick. Sure, there have been plenty of American meta horror movies — the Scream franchise immediately comes to mind — and comedies making sport of horror clichés and movies — a la the Scary Movie franchise — but Kim MinHa’s feature puts a unique Korean spin on matters.
Mike: I’ve gotta say that the humor didn’t work for me on just about every level which is quite an accomplishment as I generally can find humor in anything that is supposed to be funny. There were a few times that I chuckled, I will admit, but that’s a far cry from actually being entertained by something billed as a comedy. I suspect the main problem is that this is geared towards a Korean audience and a majority of the comedy is more culturally rooted than I expected it to be, with me simply not being familiar enough with certain things to get the joke, figuratively AND literally.
The Verdict
Joseph: Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary is a blast! Humor doesn’t always translate well between cultures, but I feel that this film can work marvelously in international markets as well as at home in South Korea. It deserves to find a wide audience, and I hope it does just that. Highly recommended for fans of horror comedies.
Mike: I don’t usually read what Joseph has written before putting my own thoughts down on “paper”, but in this case I felt I needed to since he is a teacher of the age group depicted in Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary and I was hoping that thanks to his knowledge and experience with Korean school kids maybe seeing his thoughts would jog something in my own mind.
Unfortunately, it did not and I still can’t find much to like about this film.
It’s rare when our opinions differ so wildly on a film and it makes me think, despite his beliefs, that the humor here simply doesn’t translate very well. At least not insofar as an old American guy is concerned.
Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary
Directed By: Kim Min-ha
Written By: Kim Min-ha
Starring: Kim Do-yeon, Son Ju-yeon, Jeong Ha-dam
Run Time: 1h 30m
Rating: NR
Release Date: July 7, 2024
🚫 No trailer was available at the time of this review
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