Rating: **
Starring: Jin-Seo Yoon, Gi-woong Park, Ki-woo Lee
Here's a novel idea: a bloodline cursed with death as one family member of a generation gets to be killed by just about anyone close to them, or be the one to kill a fellow family member (or in some cases, members) out of pure spite. Highschool student Kim Ga-in witness this curse in action one fateful day, inflicted upon her aunt on her wedding as she gets pushed off a balcony by her fiance and then later stabbed to death by her own sister whilst recovering at a hospital. Now, it appears that it's Ga-in's turn to be snuffed and she has no choice but to try uncovering the origins of this curse to stop it, or face the murderous rage of her classmates, teachers, friends and even family.
Someone Behind You (2007) has an admittedly unique set-up for a psychological bodycount plot and there are moments where this idea's used to decent effect, particularly the tragic misfortune befalling upon the auntie character and Ga-in's own relentless attacks at school and at home. Even if we can easily tell where certain scenes are leading to, which are often savage attacks, they play the right amount of paranoiac terror and effectively highlights the violent hopelessness of curse's nature.
Regrettably, nearly everything else in this film is a misfire, from the lackluster characterization of the rest of the casts, to the incomprehensible twists that spoil any good build-up the story has or was having. You can honestly tell this movie wanted to do more than just another long-haired ghost creeper and/or haunted trinket horror, but the grander scale of Someone Behind You (2007) can be described as rather confused and tired, still walking through familiar footings of Asian horror scares while basically threading water and slowly leading way to no actual plot development, whatsoever. It's quite disappointing as the first half of its run has all of its chaos structured to escalate with all the right tropes, trappings and violent assaults, only to be followed by a direction that's grasping at straws and hoping whatever sticks stick, even if it doesn't add up or it feels like it came out of nowhere. It raises questions with answers that are more or less non-existent, replaced by twists that's unnecessarily convoluted as it is hardly subtle.
If there's anything else I could praise Someone Behind You (2007) for, it's the decent enough production quality that makes the movie looking a bit more worthwhile than your average B-flick shlocker. Unfortunately, if almost everything else in this movie couldn't ground itself to actual course and purpose, then it's lacking a point and that frustrates me. Still, its grittiness may still appeal for some so I cannot easily dismiss this as garbage, but it's certainly not for everyone.
Bodycount:
1 female seen knifed on the neck
1 female stabbed to death with an IV catheter
1 male knifed to death (dream/flashback)
1 female thrown to an incoming bus (flashback)
1 elderly male hanged
1 male found with throat cut
1 female found stabbed to death
1 male and 1 female burned to death (flashback)
1 male impaled with a rapier, hunting knife to the back
1 female knifed on the gut
1 female knifed on the chest
Total: 12
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