Cello
Tartan Video Extreme
***

Directed by: Woo-chol Lee
Cast: Sung Hyun-ah, Jeong Ho-bin as Jun-ki, Yu-mi Jeong, Da-an Park, Hyeon-a Seong

(Please accept my apologies for any misspelling of names. It was not my intent. I am going by what I could read from the credits.)

Review by Larry Stanley

I feel quite lucky to have had the chance to review 'Cello.' Nah, that sounds too stuffy. Let's say it another way: "Cello" scared the heck out of me. This rather shocked me. I mean give me a break, a story about a possessed Cello. Images of Buddy Sorrell started jumping into my mind.
Nevertheless, as it turned out, this is now one of my favorite films of the last couple of years.
A young girl named Mi-ju has had a lousy day. She is teaching cello at a small school and one of her students is out to get her for a grade she does not think she deserved; he sister in law starts to get really into her fiancée and the new maid is scaring her. Moreover, to top it all off, her daughter's cello seems to be haunted.
Turns out that part of Mi-ju's problems stem from a car accident she was involved in a while back that led her to give up a career in music.
Finally, an invitation from a friend to attend a concert brings to memory the car crash that led to her death and when there is a near miss accident on her drive home, she is naturally rattled.
However, it is when she gets home that things start to go weird on her. She is visited by a spirit and discovers that everyone around her from her husband and children to her sisters and even her pets are in danger. It is over the course of a few days, Mi-ju finds that the past is not always dead and just because something is buried, does not mean it will stay there.
Hong Mi-Ju is excellent as the emotionally fragile young woman who is forced to watch as her life begins to unravel around her.
Written and directed almost like a classic Twilight Zone episode, Cello hits all the marks as a work of horror art. Yes, it has a great body count and most of those done are in suitably modern gory manners, the plot is excellent and the script is simply beautiful. Moreover, the ending is something Rod Serling would have sit up and applauded.
The special effects and CGI are well done, with the CGI being subtle in most of its places, which is what it should be in a film like this.
Yes, it is bloody. Accept that and keep watching for an ending that is almost perfect.
Sure, there were some things that didn't always fit to me. Like just what was the story with the maid? Moreover, didn't it seem like it drug a bit at the very beginning? Maybe that was just me.
The music is excellent, with the soundtrack providing a brooding almost surreal background to the images on the screen. My television is not 'souped-up' with a big stereo receiver and sound system, but the sound I got coming from my lone speakers was still enough in some spots to send chills down my spine. Oh, if anyone wants to get rid of or donate a nice home theater to the PCU, feel free to contact me at larrystanley@penguincomics.net .Thanks.
For many people, music can become a life consuming passion and drive that would make them do just about anything to achieve their goal. Suffice it to say that Mi-ju discovers that the drive that consumed her is not always the equal of someone else.

Special Features:
Presented in anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital and DTS Surround Sound 5.1. Special DVD features include trailers of Tartan AE's upcoming releases.
Language Track(s): Korean
Subtitle Track(s): English, Spanish
DVD Region: 1 - United States of America, Canada
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Director's commentary
Behind the scenes with cast and crew
Original theatrical trailer
TV spot