The Vampire Lives Next Door To Us: A Short Film Spotlight

When I found out that Ji Sung (Kill Me, Heal Me, Entertainer) had starred in a short film last year, I was ecstatic. When I discovered he played a quirky vampire in said short film, I was through the roof. How did this escape me? I searched up the short film and, to my delight, found it on YouTube. The film lives up to the 'short' in its genre, at only sixteen minutes long (including the credits). But it was sixteen minutes of pure, quirky delight starring Ji Sung and Park So-Dam (Beautiful Mind, Cinderella and Four Knights), and I'm here to tell you all about it (with screencaps)!

Meet the Vampire. He works in a morgue. It's a perfect job, really - he takes a personal interest in the corpses that come his way, speaking to them as he cleans their clothes, asks them questions (unanswered, of course) and wishes they'd lived a longer life. He also sleeps in a cadaver drawer because it's almost as good as a coffin.

Then, one fateful night, a young woman is brought in by the morgue assistants - her eyes refuse to shut, and she looks extremely unhappy at the whole turn of events. While the Vampire fusses over cleaning her clothes and bemoaning the loss of such a young life, her phone gets a text. It's from the girl's mother, and as the Vampire stares sadly at the phone, a mysterious reply shows up.

Apparently the girl, named Nami, isn't quite ready to die, and is somehow managing to communicate via her cell phone. Surprised, the Vampire asks her if she really wants to live that much - to which she responds enthusiastically via text message.

Fortunately for Nami, the Vampire has a way of bringing people back to 'life.' He decides if she wants to live so much, she should have the opportunity. 

Later, when the morgue assistants come in, they find Nami relatively alive and well and full of questions. It seems the Vampire, finding someone even more 'vengeful' than he, passed on his 'life' to her and can finally rest in peace. The morgue assistants, happy at the change of pace, leave the new vampire Nami with the body of the ex-Vampire. She thanks him, profoundly grateful, and assures him she'll continue doing his job for him — and then probably eats him to complete her transformation, as vampires do.

The short film is beautifully shot and extremely Burton-esque. It is also a tribute to the sinking of the Sewol Ferry in 2014. Well-acted, wonderfully filmed and an odd, atmospheric delight to watch, if you like vampires, Tim Burton, or just strangely touching short stories, I recommend giving the film fifteen minutes of your time.

Do you have a favorite short film?