Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
If you’ve not swapped ghost stories with your friends as a child in school, then you’re probably not the target for the Korean horror movie ‘Ghost Train’. Because this film is often unintentionally funny, but it does try to deliver an intriguing tale about a content creator specializing in horror, trying to get stories about a haunted station in Seoul to boost her dwindling views. Basically, low-stakes, not super creepy, but has entertaining moments.
Directed by Se-woong Tak and written by Jo Ba-Reun, ‘Ghost Train’ stars Joo Hyun-young as Da-kyeong, a YouTuber who comically calls herself the “horror queen,” complete with a silly signature pose and catchphrase. Despite having lots of subscribers, her recent content tanks to single-digit views. So when she hears about multiple mysterious disappearances about a Gwanglim Station, she pesters the station master (played by Jeon Bae-soo) and is rewarded with multiple sinister stories. But what if they’re true?
Since there are almost six different stories spread across the film’s 95-minute runtime, things rarely get boring. Besides, the tales are intermixed with fleeting glimpses of Da-kyeong’s work life: she isn’t an independent content creator, but works at a firm where multiple creators across genres are employed. Da-kyeong has a huge crush on her cute colleague Woo-jin (Choi Bo-min), although he seems to be interested in popular beauty creator Hye-jin (Kim Jin-in). Hye-jin’s popularity is a huge source of envy for the horror queen.
While ‘Ghost Train’ is rarely scary, its urban-legend centric storytelling is entertaining, with tales about a cursed station relayed by an old, sickly, and deadly serious station master to an enterprising, nerdy content creator. I found myself chuckling at some of the horror scenes, despite watching it all alone at night. Some of the special effects are also quite mediocre, although one particular body-horror segment features some great make-up work that will unsettle viewers, especially those with trypophobia.
The film is well-acted, and Ghost Train itself gets an intriguing backstory toward the end, which helps tie together the otherwise rather random tales narrated to Da-kyeong. And with her repeatedly returning to the haunted station in search of new material, there’s also the increasingly obvious question of whether our ambitious horror queen will become part of the horror stories herself.
Overall, these stories won’t keep you awake at night, or creep you out when you’re commuting alone in a deserted local train/metro at night. But if you’re a horror fan with 95 minutes to spare and want something undemanding, occasionally gruesome, and entertaining, Ghost Train isn’t a bad ride.
Watch ‘Ghost Train’ on Prime Video.
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