"If you give your heart, the 29th step will appear and grant your wish."

It's one of those "Be Careful What You Wish For" type horror flicks with an invisible 29th step taking the place of the genie's lamp. Overweight Hae-ju climbs the 28 stairs nearby her boarding school hoping to lose the excess fat that has made her quite a fixture for chuckles and ridicule. When she takes that one extra step, it seems her wish has come true when Hae-ju notices such rapid weight-loss in such a short period of time. Kim so-hee is quite a success in her ballerina class and an apparent shoo-in for the special part of Gisele in a major Russian play. She's in love with a class-mate, Jin-sung(the film doesn't just come right out and say it loudly, but you can see her adoration for Jin-sung in nearly every moment they are together)who desperately covets the same part so-hee seems destined to portray. Jealous and obsessed, Jin-sung scales the 28 stairs, eyes closed in concentration, hoping to make that one extra step desiring the role of Gisele over so-hee. When, like Hae-ju, she feels that 29th step under her feet, Jin-sung gains hope that it'll all work out for her behalf. It does, but there are consequences for making such a request..in a tragic set of events, Jin-sung will accidentally push so-hee down a stairway. Kim so-hee's leg is damaged in the process and subsequent grief leads to the young girl to the point of taking a leap out her hospital window. Blamed and hated by the students in her class, Jin-sung gets what she asked for, but it costs her much more than she receives. But, Jin-sung's nightmare merely begins..secretly Hae-ju had a fixated hero-worship for Kim so-hee and takes to the 29 steps in request that the one she deeply cared for would return. In true "monkey's paw" fashion, it's quite possible Kim so-hee just might answer that request, with both Jin-sung and Hae-ju becoming haunted by her spirit.

The third in the series of South Korean ghost stories set in girls' boarding schools, WISHING STAIRS follows on chronologically from WHISPERING CORRIDORS and MEMENTO MORI although there the continuity ends. This one is completely different in scope from MEMENTO MORI, featuring a traditional Asian female ghost: white face, long dark hair, popping up in all manner of unlikely situations. One of the main draws for me is that this film's set in a special art school, where the students are all involved in artistic pursuits: sculpture, music, and, most predominantly, ballet.

Once again a love story takes centre stage, and before long tragedy takes over. The central conceit in this film is the titular flight of stone steps which sometimes grants those who climb it their wish; you can guess the results. The spectral shenanigans that ensue are highly clichéd and not particularly shuddersome, although there are a few choice moments to be found here and there for genre connoisseurs. The character of the overweight student who comes to rely on the stairs to fulfil her wishes is extremely creepy and An Jo does well in a difficult role. Okay, some moments veer into over-the-top territory, but for the most part this acceptable ghost fare.

One step forwards and two steps back...

That is essentially what "Whispering Corridors 3: Wishing Stairs" (aka "Yeogo goedam 3: Yeowoo gyedan") was for the "Whispering Corridors" franchise. And by that I mean that this 2003 addition to the franchise seems to slump back to the less than mediocrity that summarized the very first 1998 "Whispering Corridors" movie.

Initially then "Whispering Corridors 3: Wishing Stairs" started out with an interesting storyline and definitely had lots of potential for a good and interesting supernatural mystery here. Again, the horror elements are scarce and far in between. However, the storyline just caved in on itself given the fact that writers Soo-ah Kim, Shin-ae Lee, Soyoung Lee and Yong-Yeon Lee seemed to want too much for the movie and heading in a myriad of directions all at once. This resulted in the storyline becoming cluttered and hard to find a red thread throughout.

Little did it help on the storyline that the characters, while having potential, were essentially rather superficial and flaccid. Director Jae-yeon Yun just wasted so much opportunity to spruce up the movie by not letting more personalities shine through on the screen. Most of the characters in the movie felt mundane and faceless.

Now, I did like the concept of the stairway itself, and it definitely made room for a potentially interesting storyline. Just a real shame that it was washed away by having too many writers cluttering the concept.

The acting in "Whispering Corridors 3: Wishing Stairs" was, for the most parts, actually quite good, especially taking into consideration that many of the characters they portrayed were very monotonous and bland.

All in all, "Whispering Corridors 3: Wishing Stairs" was a less than mediocre foray into the South Korean horror genre. If you are looking for an entertaining South Korean horror movie, then your money, time and effort is better spent elsewhere, especially since there are so many entertaining horror movies to be found in the South Korean cinema.

My rating of "Whispering Corridors 3: Wishing Stairs" settles on a less than mediocre four out of ten stars, taking us right back to the original 1998 movie.