ACF 319: 'A Public Cemetary of Wol-ha' at The Korea Society

A Public Cemetery of Wol-ha / (월하의 공동묘지)

Directed by Kwon Chul-hwi
Cast: Kang Mi-ae, Park No-sik, Do Geum-bong
Korea, 1967, 88 min
In Korean with English Subtitles

The Korea Society's current film series, When Japan Ruled Korea: Movies Set in the Colonial Era, continues this Thursday, June 18 at 6:30 PM with this tale of ghostly revenge.

Beautiful kisaeng Wol-ha returns from the dead to wreak a terrible vengeance on the stepmother and housemaid who opposed her marriage. A tremendous box-office success when released in 1967, A Public Cemetery of Wol-ha (also known as The Public Cemetery Under the Moon) inspired a generation of filmmakers who emulated this horror classic by director Kwon Chul-hwi. The film is a fascinating forerunner to Nakata Hideo's Sadako and the raven-haired female ghosts that haunt contemporary East Asian cinema.

The film will be screened at The Korea Society in midtown Manhattan at 950 Third Avenue, 8th Floor. The building is located on the south-west corner of 3rd Avenue and 57th Street, and the entrance is on 57th.