Shortly after Korea gained independence from Japan (1945), North Koreans decide to extort civilians' property in the name of revolutionalizing its land and settle class struggles for proletariats. The film depicts an anti North-Korean concept, detailing the country's situation after the independence. South Korea's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1968.

Artist Kyeong-pa is asked by the father of a dead girl to paint a portrait of the man's daughter to put her soul to rest. But whenever the artist tries to paint it, a different woman appears on the canvas. The image always takes the form of a woman whom he loved but has also passed away. The ghost of the man's daughter is not very happy that her painting has not been finished and makes her wrath known.

Hye-ryeon suddenly loses her parents and stays in the Black Rose Castle alone. One day, she says the castle is haunted and asks for help to friend Ji-suk. Ji-suk goes to the castle with boyfriend Yeong-uk, a newspaper reporter. Just as Hye-ryeon has said, they see a ghost, but Yeong-uk feels that someone is playing a prank. He waits for the ghost in the woods, and when it finally appears, Yeong-uk fights it off. The ghost misses a step and falls off a cliff. It turns out Hye-ryeon has been suffering from a mental disease and has been playing as a ghost.