WISHING STAIRS (2003)

An isolated, all-girl boarding school in South Korea harbors a supernatural urban legend - a stone stairway, leading up to the girls' dorm, with 28 steps that - if your desire for something is truly deep, when climbing thems - a 29th step will suddenly appear on which, if you make a wish, your desire will come true.  A fairly cool premise, but the first rule of a scary movie is that it be scary - and this is where Wishing Stairs fails.  Hardly anything weird happens for half the film, as it lines up the story of two best friends - both studying ballet - whose friendship goes south when one gets too competitive.  We also see another student, a fat girl, who suddenly and swiftly drops a lot of weight after wishing on the 29th stair.  But by the time the scares do come, even with a few good moments, they're both weak and anti-climactic.  I'd forgotten this was the third of four semi-related films in the Whispering Corridors series; haven't seen the others, but supposedly this is the least scary - and after seeing it, I'd bet that estimation's true. (rated R)  D+

WISHING STAIRS trailer