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Rain's friends
are turning up dead one by one and she
starts to suspect that it has something to do with a
cell phone game that's spreading like a virus on campus.
Due to her curiosity, she decides to play the game.
Bad idea. Now she has to survive through the nineteen
levels of hell in order to come out alive and deserve
her place in heaven. But will she succeed?
Naraka 19 has one word written all over it; potential!
Based on a best-selling novel, I'm sure that Naraka 19
would have been better had the running time only been
longer since the movie feels rushed and questions are
left unanswered. However, when I say potential I mean
that Naraka 19 could very well have been the best
horror thriller to come out of Asia in several years
as it's got brains, an intriguing story and some
spectacular special effects (especially considering
the budget). Technical-wise, Naraka 19 puts Re-Cycle
to shame but unfortunately, it has too many things
going against it and in the end you feel a bit
disappointed that it's over and that you're left with
so many questions unanswered.
In China they believe that hell consists of eighteen
levels. The level that you will be for all eternity
is depending on what sin you've committed. Kind of like
Dante's inferno. This is what this movie is based on,
only Naraka 19 tries to convince the viewer that there
are in fact nineteen levels of hell. A teenage girl,
Rain, starts getting worried when her friends start
dying or go crazy around her and believes that it's all
due to a mysterious sms game. She decides to play it
to see if she can get some answers to her questions
but unfortunately, once you've began to play, you have
to finish it or you will die a horrible death.
Meanwhile, a young detective is trying to figure out
the connection between the deaths and who lies behind
the mysterious game.
Naraka 19 is extremely clever and will have you guessing
until the very end, but as I said before, time is its
downfall. Rain is taken through the various levels way
too quickly and we only get to see her go through four
or five different levels. When it's finally time to
reveal what the nineteenth level is, you're really
disappointed as there's no real explanation as to what
the nineteenth level really is. It feels like they
should have cut down on the dialogues and tried to
cram more levels in there as those were obviously the
highlights of the movie.
I have to give Naraka 19 some credit for its beautiful
cinematography and visual effects as you can't take
your eyes off of the TV for a second as you're afraid
you're going to miss something spectacular. It really
is a treat for the eye. Despite some flaws and errors,
Naraka 19 still comes out as a clever and intriguing
horror thriller which shows a lot of potential. I'm
really hoping that there will be an American remake
of this movie as I'm sure that Americans will try
harder to give the audience answers as to what's really
going on. Don't head into this unless you're sure that
you can sit completely concentrated for 100 minutes
as you have to figure out a whole lot of things for
yourself - and perhaps that's the most brilliant thing
of the movie. It forces people to think.
Not a lot here.
The piano theme melody is simply beautiful but it feels
like we've heard it before. I think that the movie
could have used a somewhat stronger overall score but
it did what it was intended to do.
Clever and intriguing horror thriller which forces the
audience to really concentrate and think to be able
to understand what's going on. Unfortunately the movie
feels rushed due to its limited running time and that's
where this movie fails. Questions are left unanswered
and we only get to see a few levels of the game. Could
have been something great but ended up being an okay
horror thrilller - such a shame.
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