Yeah sure they are pink shoes but its a metaphor. They are "red" because of all the blood and gore and stuff. Get it. Anyway this movie is excellent. It is definitely not what i expected. It is surprisingly emotional, sad and beautiful. There is lots if disgusting blood and gore thats for sure and its the goriest part in the first subway scene. This movie also has an interesting story line based in the hans Christian anderson tale "the red shoes". It also has the first sex scene sort of thing i have ever seen in an Asian film. It will haunt my dreams forever. It has fights between the mother and the 5 year old daughter which makes you just want to scream at the screen STOP. because it is such good acting. It is so horrible in a good way that they would hurt and kill each others family just to have the shoes.

I'm in a quandary over this film. Like many other reviewers have amply illustrated here, this film is like a Korean Klone in lots of ways. It borrows moves from the Ringu play-book, the Dark Water play-book, the Ju-On play-book, The Eye play-book...please stop me. It's got a daughter and mother all alone in the world facing supernatural evil. It's got hunched-over, black-haired teens with bad attitudes and osteoporosis floating around upside-down and showing up in elevators. It's got the cheating hubby, the young love interest, the entrepreneurial "young Asian professional female" slowly losing her mind. Most importantly, it's got the requisite cursed artifact (not a wig, not a videotape, not a pair of transplanted corneas, but a swanky set of pink stilettos that a particular ghost doesn't want any mortal wearing).

BUT GOSH DARN IT, I LIKED THIS FILM! I guess it says something if I feel compelled to excuse myself for this fact, but I really did care for the characters and the serious situation they are hopelessly trapped in. Indeed, I was hooked by the grue--people getting their feet forcibly removed gets my attention. The cinematography is colorful, and artful, and top notch--as we have come to expect from Korean directors. (Did you catch those cool on-purpose-out-of-focus shots? Fuzzy weirdness...) The music is actually pretty unique--the low-key guitar ditty that recurs off and on is melodic, and personal, and not overwrought. Yes, the plot "twists and turns" in terribly predictable ways: Could our protagonist really be the guilty one? Is it possible that we might find the answer to the horrible mystery by rifling through old newspaper copy in the library? Even though we've "properly buried" the red shoes with their owner, is it possible the evil will return nevertheless to wreak ultimate revenge? When we get to the end, will the decidedly downbeat narrative actually make very little sense? Yes, you've seen--and come to expect--it all.

But, darn it, this flick is done with such panache in a very gutsy way. The characters are carefully drawn, the direction is solid. And when you get right down to it, America simply does not make films like this. I don't think America ever will again. We used to make great, sad, horror films, but not anymore. We real horror fans have got to rely on films like "Bunhongsin" to get our fix. In fact, that's precisely why I give this film the benefit of the doubt.

'THE RED SHOES' is a supernatural tale with its center revolving around a pretty typical plot involving a mother alone with her daughter, struggling in the world. The reoccurring images you see in far too many Korean ghost stories are present here. There are pale faced girls with long black hair hanging in their face and cursed artifacts that bring misfortune to those that possess them. But there are enough unique touches paired with an intriguing performance by the lead actress that helps to elevate its status.

Sun-Jae unexpectedly goes home in the middle of the day to find her husband banging some other woman. She moves out on her own with her young daughter Han Tae-su to an inexpensive apartment near Goksung Station. She meets handsome young architect, In-cheol who is designing her eye clinic and the two embark on a relationship. On the subway on her way home Sun-Jae sees a seemingly abandoned pair of shoes she cannot resist picking up. The shoes bring the worst out in people, including her daughter who becomes obsessed with them on sight. When a friend is found dead and her daughters behavior becomes more severe, Sun-Jae and In-cheol will need to solve the mystery behind the cursed footwear before it's too late.

Bloody death scenes filmed in sterile white environments can be extremely effective. The opening scene of 'THE RED SHOES' is an outstanding example of this. There are some cherry props also. The main character is obsessed with shoes. The depth of the obsession is shown with a massive glass store display prop. The stacked glass boxes showcases each individual pair of shoes. The visuals are strong throughout. There are some respectable moments of suspense, but not nearly enough of them. Violence and gore is slim but I enjoyed what there was of it. The performances were strong and there is some interesting character development. I found the lead actress, Hye-su Kim fascinating. The love interest, In-cheol is very easy on the eyes. The problem is, that I liked the films individual pieces more than the completed work. I had a serious issue with certain "spooky" images. One in particular stood out because it is a carbon copy of something I've seen in at least two other films and seemed completely irrelevant to the story. Obviously added in for mood, it was totally ineffective. There are some predictable plot twists that also bog it down. The story is uneven and trips over its own feet, but ultimately for a ghost story it just isn't very scary. That said, I still think this is a really nice looking film with strong performances and enough special touches that it's worth a watch.