공포영화의 이론과 실제 -<여고괴담> 시리즈를 중심으로-

Abstract

Robin Wood set the critical agenda for much of the scholarly analysis of horror films in his book Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan, in which he offered a structural model of horror featuring a fundamental binary opposition of the normality and the monster(the thing). Wood argued that the manner in which any given horror narrative resolves this conflict reveals its ideology, and that most movies will be conservative, repressing desire and the id within the self and disavowing it by projecting it outward as a monstrous Other. Here, the Other is depicted as unknowable and threatening to bourgeois. For analysis of any given horror film, the Other is represented as the monster. He also argued that such horror films as The Exorcist, The Omen and Carrie in the seventies reversed the normal/monstrous opposition to critique different aspects of contemporary society such as patriarchy, capitalism and the family. In this context, he estimates horror films very highly and considers them as subversive medium in modern society. In this thesis, I deal with the Korean horror films such as Whispering Corridors in the light of a structural model offered by Wood. Whispering Corridors directed by Park Ki-Hyung has been the turing point in Korean horror films. This film has also been in the mist of scandal. This film subverts the traditional Korean 'ghost story' where spirits of those who died miserably cannot go to the other world. Instead, it presents a new genre which combines elements of the thriller film by delaying the real identity of the ghost. Moreover, this film carries on a controversy that sheds light on the brutal education system in Korea. From this or that reasons, conservative education groups attempted to legally block the screening of this film. They argued that this film distorted the reality of education and disgraced teachers.However, it has been overtly recognized that there are many problems in our education system. These problems include the discrimination and violence committed by teachers, and even peer-pressure. In this film, the unfair death of Jin-ju, the suicide of Jung-Sook and, the murders of two teachers are not only allegories but becoming a horrific reality that exists in girl's high school. Memento Mori directed by Kim Tae-Yong and Min Kyu-Dong brings forth to the forefront the issues of sexuality and lesbianism that were only subtly present in the previous film, Whispering Corridors. When the restless sexuality of young women become denied and oppressed by social powers and prejudice, it then takes on the force of a spectre(aghost story). Moreover, when that sexuality is that of lesbians, then to the degree that oppression is amplified, the spectral presence is also increased. The third version of the ghost stories with girl's high school setting, Wishing Stairs directed by Yoon Jae-Yeon, is not dependent on the former versions' success, but deals with the folk tales that familiar to Korean people. However, this film achieves another level by narrative's setting to the girls' mentalities. Avoiding the direct concern about school itself, this film describes girls' self-love and desire of competition between two close friends who perform a ballet contest. The fourth version of the ghost stories with girl's high school setting, Voice directed by Choi, Ik-Hwan, is a very specific horror film, in which 'a voice without body(organs without bodies)' become a main agent. That is, this film deals with the transference of a voice from one person to another. As previous films, two close friends are also main characters, of whom one girl is killed and disappeared. Therefore, the remnant is in deep sorrow, but she is able to listen to the voice of the dead. In this film, the main plot is to seek the identity of a ghost and the truth of murder case.