At the far end of a long, spooky hallway, a girl with long hair in a school uniform is standing still. As the creepy atmosphere conquers the space, the girl swiftly moves toward the audience.

The well-known scene comes from the first “Whispering Corridors” movie, which came out in 1998. The signature scene was re-created in the upcoming “Whispering Corridors 6: The Humming,” which marks a return to the series after 12 years.

“As I was making the film, I mostly used the first ‘Whispering Corridors’ as the reference,” director Lee Mi-young said at a press conference Wednesday. “It has been 12 years since the fifth film came out, but it has been around 21 years since the first one was released. Some might not even know the first movie, but some might be missing it.”

She also searched for a high school with a dirt playground, long corridors and wooden frame windows like the ones that appear in the first film to invoke viewers’ nostalgia.

“Fortunately we found a shuttered school in Gwangju that was perfect,” she said.

In Lee’s upcoming movie, Eun-hee (played by Kim Seo-hyung) is posted as a vice principal at a girls’ high school where she was once a student. After starting work at the school, she begins having hallucinations. One day, Eun-hee unexpectedly meets student Ha-yeong (Kim Hyun-soo) in a hidden washroom at the school that is now used as a storage space, and they hear a mysterious humming sound.

During the conference, actor Kim Seo-hyung talked about difficulties she faced while filming, especially since she is not a big fan of scary movies.

“I can’t watch horror movies. While I was watching it today I think I screamed the most. I was sorry,” Kim said. “Toward the end of the film, there is a scene in the washroom. When filming, I was aware that it is only a set and not real. But seeing the place covered with blood, I couldn’t enter the room.”

She said that it took her a long time to finally calm herself down to perform the scene.

“I still wanted to be the horror queen, so I did it,” Kim added.

The Korean horror series has been introducing promising new actors through the years.

Through the new movie, Kim Hyung-seo, who is more widely known as solo K-pop artist BiBi, also kicked off her acting career.

“When I was asked about starting an acting career (by my agency), I was afraid. But after hearing that I can be part of the ‘Whispering Corridors’ series, I said ‘Of course, I have to do it,’” Kim Hyung-seo said. “I am now more willing to expand my acting career.”

Toward the end of the event, the director also sent condolences for the film’s producer Cine 2000 CEO Lee Chun-yeon, who died last month.

“Lee had a huge passion for the ‘Whispering Corridors’ series. Since not all films of the series were successful, some asked him questions like ‘Why are you making another one?’ or ‘How many more are you planning to produce?’ Then he would always confidently say that he will make 10,” the director said.

“Whispering Corridors 6: The Humming” will hit local theaters on June 17.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)