Wishing Stairs poster & wallpaper

Ji-Yeon Park, Ji-hyo Song, Han-byeol Park

The South Korean "Ghost School" trilogy comes to a close with Wishing Stairs, a typically creepy example of modern Asian horror. First-time director Yoon Jae-Yeon was fresh out of film school w...( read more  read more... )hen she signed on for this commercial assignment, and her rookie status makes this a lesser entry in the "Asian Extreme" genre, following the trilogy's previous installments, Whispering Corridors and Memento Mori. Still, fine performances and attention to psychological detail make this an effectively eerie study of peer pressure, classroom cruelty, and blind ambition in a girls' art school, where three aspiring ballerinas make fateful wishes upon an enchanted staircase (or is it cursed?) near their school. According to legend, if you climb the 28 steps and count each step aloud, a 29th step will magically appear and a fox-spirit will grant your wish. Fierce competition, paranoia, and malicious intentions make these "wishing stairs" a recipe for disaster, when one girl commits suicide and another wishes for her revival. At that point, Wishing Stairs employs standard-issue horror techniques that will be familiar to anyone who's seen Ju-On or the Japanese version of Dark Water (including the ghostly girl with long black hair). For patient viewers, the film's frightful climax comes not a moment too soon. A comprehensive "making of" documentary is included, including interview clips with primary cast and crew. --Jeff Shannon

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61% liked it

4,367 ratings

R, 97 min.

Directed by: Jae-yeon Yun

Release Date: December 1, 2004

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DVD Release Date: July 19, 2005

Stats: 250 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (250)

  • BloodyKitten
    July 25, 2008
    BloodyKitten
    Overall, a good story that's very well-written and expertly filmed. Unfortunately, Wishing Stairs plods along at a painfully slow pace, and that takes away greatly from the tension it builds. Still, worth a watch for an interesting story.
  • alanjayh
    June 1, 2008
    alanjayh
    think whispering corridors part ll...thought the movie was effective for its genre...jut not as strong as 'wc'..still worth a watch
  • Hellshocked
    February 5, 2007
    Hellshocked
    The third in the 'High School Death' series from Korea (the first being Wishing Stairs and the second Memento Mori), this film is every bit as intimate and earnest as Memento Mori. I love how this series is set in a tangible place, a living breathing school with actual characters...( read more), each with their own particular motivations. I also love how they lack a villain: most of the mayhem is brought about by misunderstandings, or well intentioned mishaps.

    This is much more of a horror film than Memento Mori, but with a fairty-tale feel. If its structure is very much like that of "The Monkey's Paw" (a series of wishes gone wrong) that is not where its ambitions lie. It is much more about what leads the characters to wishs about what they do than the wishes themselves. These characters are genuine, have a conscience, and have difficulty dealing with what they have unleashed.

    If in its third encarnation the Wishing Stairs series is this good, this noble, this worthwhile, I can only hope they keep them coming.
  • GOLDIE0007
    October 10, 2009
    GOLDIE0007
    ..no comment? ..
    i really love PARK HAN BYUL ..
    so hee ..she is sooo .. CUTE :) promise :)
  • Topsie11
    August 11, 2009
    Topsie11
    this film makes u imagine.. and scares you to the bone. This movie is dakr and creepy types of movies then really violent...the movie gets creepy afterwards... like this movie
  • amidemarunane
    August 6, 2009
    amidemarunane
    wah,tat very touching horror movie....at da ending feel tats rily weird friendship...i watching more than 5times...tats rily fantastic muvee..cOol,keep going on.... :)
  • ellelag75
    April 23, 2009
    ellelag75
    like climbing up the stairs.
    tiring.
    and again, nice poster.
  • ilovemyprozac1
    March 29, 2009
    ilovemyprozac1
    Plagued with a lagging plot although when it does get going has quite an interesting premise.
  • mikezillatron
    March 7, 2009
    mikezillatron
    something new...please!
  • jhanicereal
    March 7, 2009
    jhanicereal
    think before you make a wish..

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  • babyfetus
    November 9, 2009
    babyfetus
    i really love this movies... scream to death talaga ako sa loob ng cinema non...
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