Wishing Stairs is a 2003

2003 in film

The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...

 South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

n K-Horror

K-Horror

Korean horror, sometimes referred to as K-Horror, is the term given to horror films made as part of the cinema of Korea. Korean horror features many of the same motifs, themes, and imagery as Japanese horror. Korean horror has been around since the early years of Korean cinema; however, it wasn't...

 film. It is the third in a series of South Korean horror films set in girls high schools that began with 1998's Whispering Corridors

Whispering Corridors

Whispering Corridors is a 1998 South Korean horror film about a girl's high school. It was part of the explosion in Korean cinema following the liberalization of censorship in the aftermath of the end of the country's military dictatorship, and makes a strong social commentary on authoritarianism...

, but, as with all movies in the series so far, is unrelated to the others; apart from a song being sung in one scene that is a pivotal plot in Voice.

Plot summary

The legend goes that if you climb the twenty eight steps leading up to the school dormitory, counting each step aloud, and find a twenty ninth, a spirit will appear and grant you a wish.

The movie takes place in a girl's art school and focuses on two friends studying ballet, however their friendship soon turns sour when they find themselves competing for a single spot in a Russian ballet school. Yun Jin-seong (Song Ji Hyo), remembering the old legend of the "Wishing Stairs" wishes for a place in the prestigious arts school, and in a shocking turn of events, she gets it, but at the cost of her best friend, Kim So-hee's life. However, it's only when the extremely odd character of Eom Hye-ju wishes the dead girl back, that an unspeakable evil is released.

The film itself seems to mirror the ballet "Giselle

Giselle

Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...

", which girls in the film are studying, as well as drawing upon the classic short story "The Monkey's Paw

The Monkey's Paw

"The Monkey's Paw" is a horror short story by author W. W. Jacobs. It was published in England in 1902.The story is based on the famous "setup" in which three wishes are granted. In the story, the paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with an...

". So-hie as Giselle, and Jin-sung as Albrecht. Unhappy with always having to play the "prince" to So-hee's princess, Jin-sung betrays So-hee, which in turn leads to So-hee being crippled and commits suicide after her friend Jin-sung confesses she has hated her all along. When So-hee's spirit is wished back, Jin-sung is haunted by So-hee's ghost, the love she once felt for her friend warped by Jin-sung's hurtful actions.

As in the two previous movies, this film has strong themes of friendship, betrayal, and the taboo of lesbian affairs in an all-girls school.