Overview
Death Bell is a 2008 Korean horror slasher film. The only Korean horror film released over the summer of 2008, it is the first feature by former music video director Chang, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Death Bell stars Lee Beom-soo in his first horror film role, and K-pop singer Nam Gyu-ri in her acting debut. Set in a Korean high school, the film's native title refers to gosa, the important midterm exams that all students are required to sit. It is later followed by a stand-alone sequel Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp.
Plot
A group of 20 high school students partake in an elite class to prepare for a college exam. Among them are the rebellious Kang I-na, her best friend Yoon Myong-heo, and the class clown Kang Hyun, who harbors an affection for I-na. A few days after incidents involving a student, Beom sees a ghost haunt his paper, and class teacher Hwang Chang-wook discovers scars on his hand. The class is interrupted by a TV showing the top-ranking student, Min Hye-yeong, being trapped in a glass being slowly filled with water. A voice over the PA system announces they are part of a death game with questions that will be posed to the class; failure to answer them in time will lead to the student's death. It also warns them and their two teachers, Hwang Chang-wook and Choi So-yeong, against leaving the school. The class fails to solve the first question to save Hye-yeong.
Despite the warning, the class tries to leave, only to find that a teacher and hall monitor, Mr. Lee, was beaten to death, leaving only security Mr. Kim to guard them. The students split up and tried to answer the questions while also attempting to find a way out. Several students die in brutal death games set up by a mysterious woman as the class solves all the puzzles late, though they later notice that each puzzle contains clue pertaining to a student, Kim Ji-won who died earlier that year under mysterious circumstances. I-na discovers students are dying according to their ranking on the last test. Beom, who earlier tried to strangle I-na and was put in a mental facility, escapes and attempts to kill I-na, but Hyun shields her from the attack and dies. Chang-wook then kills Beom. I-na discovers to her horror that Myong-heo has also been kidnapped by the woman.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).