Films like Memento and the Bourne series have taught viewers that suffering from amnesia really sucks. While such is also the case for the heroine of the South Korean chiller The Ghost, don't let the movie's native country fool you. This flick is as much a product of the Japanese horror boom as any other Ringu ripoff, and anything funky or intriguing that does emerge comes across as too little, too late.

Ji-won (Kim Ha-neul) is a young college student in an unfortunate position. A year prior, an unspecified incident caused Ji-won to lose her memory, and her attempts to start over cause a strained relationship with her mother as well as with a fellow student (Ryu Jin), who has a big crush on her. Just as Ji-won is about to pack up and begin a new life studying abroad, something strange starts happening to the girls she used to hang around with in high school. One is driven to the looney bin and two suffer extremely odd deaths which appear caused by drowning -- despite no water being around to drown in. At the same time, Ji-won herself begins to feel a ghostly presence on a mission to lead her to the same horrible end, sending our befuddled heroine on an investigation to plumb the depths of her own damaged memory to find out what happened before the ghost claims her next.

Forgive me for being wary about the originality and ambitions of a movie with such a lazy title as The Ghost. However, in the Asian horror trend that's exploded in recent years, it's hard to find any real variety beyond the "long-haired ghost out for revenge" scenario that's rubber-stamped onto one film after the other. The little twists and turns these filmmakers introduce to try and separate their product from the rest of the pack usually backfire. The Ghost is no exception. It presents a boring stream of scare sequences, causing me to think more about what I should buy from the grocery store than making me cower in fear. 

Granted, this movie is definitely well-made, with more crisp cinematography and truly spooky atmosphere than you usually get from slapdash horror flicks made on the cheap. But a great look makes up only part of the equation, and The Ghost stumbles along mostly because of its wan storytelling and uneven acting. The plot involves your basic supernatural mystery with a structure in the tradition of other Asian horror imports, including the obligatory "good conquers evil" fake-out ending before the filmmakers sucker-punch you with a twist. In this case, though, the film's big revelation plays out to mixed results; technically, it connects to the story well enough, but on principle, it might cause you to scream "Oh, come on!" 

Performances here aren't anything to write home about either, especially when it comes to star Kim Ha-neul. She has a gorgeous and very photogenic face, but that doesn't count for a lot when she looks like she's waiting for her nails to dry in a scene where her character's being strangled.

Though not providing much for seasoned horror buffs, The Ghost serves as a bearable introduction to the world of Asian horror for casual viewers. But I think other films have done that much better before. 

MY RATING: ** (out of ****)

(Released by Tartan Video; not rated by MPAA.)