It is the week before Halloween!  Which means it is the perfect time to release reviews on all the spooky dramas South Korea offers.  Some will be humorous spooky and others will provide the thrills, chills, and serial killers that will keep you up at night.  Whatever your preference, we have you covered.  So join The Fangirls this week as we chat all things scary.  First up, White Christmas.

Synopsis:

In the mountains of Gangwando, there is a prestigious private high school named Soo-Sin. The school is located in an isolated area and all the students and staff stay in dormitories. The students at Soo-Sin comprise of the top 0.1% of all the students in South Korea.

Their only vacation days are the 8 days from Christmas Eve to the first day of the new year. During this time, the students and faculty leave the school. The school becomes empty.  This year 7 students stay behind …

Trailer:

Cinematography

Kmuse: Before we get into discussing the meat and potatoes of this drama, I think we need to give a shout out to the director.  He created a unique and terrifying drama by using unique camera angles and making the location as important as the actors.  To this day, the thought of this school gives me chills.  I don’t care how beautiful the architecture is.  It is nothing but a cold, isolated death trap.

Drama Geek: This is one of those dramas where even when nothing is happening the mood set by the director makes you bite your fingers and want to hide under the covers. Yet there were several scenes I would consider breathtaking, with an eerie sort of beauty.  I agree with Kmuse, the director used this isolated school out in the snowy mountains as his playground and made it into a scary place you’d never want to sender child to.

Plot:

The story begins with 7 students (and one supervisor) staying at school during the holiday vacation. Each had received a note from a student who had committed suicide the year before claiming that they were responsible for his death. If that isn’t spooky enough, add in a blizzard, a serial killer, and teenage angst and you have the formula for one scary drama.

KMUSE: I loved that the show was not just all slice and dice action. But instead, it is one of those horror shows that is a psychological scare. How are killers made? Are killers created through nature or nurture? That is a question posed by the killer. I think as humans we don’t want to think that the normal looking person next to us could become a killer depending on the situation.

Drama Geek: Snowed in and nowhere to go while a serial killer hunts you down is pretty scary, but to add the mind games they were forced to endure it made it even more terrifying. I did love that the writer wanted to dissect how a killer is made. In fact, I think this drama might have been the kick off of a lot of other dramas that tackled this question.

Character Development:

KMUSE: We get to see so many current stars in this show. For most, this was their first drama and they were hired, not just because of their acting talent, but because of their height. It makes sense then that so many of these stars were models turned actors. That said, they all did an amazing job of creating layered characters in only eight episodes. Each character has a distinct purpose and  character growth.

Drama Geek: Who knew that a height requirement could mine so many gems all at once? My angel vampire was delectable in this, and Woo Bin brought his own type of madness to this character.

Bad Guy:

Kmuse: Yes, I know this isn’t a photo of the bad guy.  But I want to leave some of the suspense for you all to enjoy on your own.  However, I loved that the serial killer was more psychologically evil.  Sure, he was willing to kill off a person if they annoyed him, but not before psychologically messing with them first.

Drama Geek: One of my favorite things about thrillers is the guessing game of who done it. I can’t remember if I knew who the killer was way before he was revealed but I remember loving everything surrounding the tension that led up to it.

Overall Suspense:

Kmuse: I give this drama a 5/5 suspenseful stars.  It is spooky from the beginning to end and I love everything in between.  The perfect show to celebrate Halloween.

Drama Geek: I also give it 5/5 suspenseful stars with an bonus star for the tall line up. 🙂 With its short episode count, it would be the perfect marathon watch on Halloween.

Keep your lights on and your doors locked,

Kmuse & Drama Geek

Drama With a Side of Kimchi