Project Silence (2025)

The TRAIN TO BUSAN of Animal Attack Movies?

Well it's perhaps not quite that, but PROJECT SILENCE, which is getting a DVD, Blu-ray and (for those who like things sparkling and shiny) a 4K UHD release that looks excellent, is a rip-roaring Korean killer dogs on the loose picture that also handles the human element well. 

There's a huge pile-up on a suspension bridge during terrible fog and pretty soon the lanes both ways are closed. The main problem, however, is the subjects of Project Silence, a military research project gone wrong that has involved training big black bully breed dogs to attack assigned targets, those targets having been programmed into them via the chips inserted into their brains.

The lorry carrying them is in the crash. The dogs escape. Everything would still be okay but after the animals have been herded back into their container the helicopter crew sent in to lift it out (in terrible weather) find that one of the dogs has lost her chip and she attacks them. The cage is dropped back onto the road, the helicopter crashes, and the all the dogs end up viewing everyone on the bridge as targets. Oh, and the bridge is collapsing and at one end there's a tanker of poison gas that's leaking.

PROJECT SILENCE moves at a clip (it's only 95 minutes long) and handles its scenes of action, suspense, and catastrophic disaster well. Characters are well drawn and interact believably. Finally there are the dogs. Some reviews have complained that they look too CGI, but actually if you're a dog lover the effects sufficiently divorce you from thinking of them as real dogs that you can enjoy it too.

Altitude's disc release contains no extras, but you do get the option of either a Korean or English language track, with subtitles if you need them. 

PROJECT SILENCE is out on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD, and 4K UHD steelbook now

Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula (2020)

"Contains No Trains"

At the same time as the classic TRAIN TO BUSAN comes out on 4K in the UK, Studio Canal are releasing its sequel on the same format. There are no trains but there is a boat and some lorries. As for zombies, read on...

The action starts one day after the events in TRAIN TO BUSAN as a family make their way onto a refugee boat headed for Hong Kong. Unfortunately an infected has made it on board, but just when you think this is going to be like the first film but set on a boat (which could have been a lot of fun) we jump forward four years.

The two survivors from the prologue are now illegal immigrants in Hong Kong and get roped into a scheme to recover a lorryload of money from the Korean peninsula (aha!). The baddies have a ship laid on and the team have satellite phones to say when they've located their target and are ready to bring it in. But the place is teeming with infected, plus a community of soldiers who have gone rogue and now play macabre games with anyone they kidnap.

As PENINSULA progresses there are scenes and sequences reminiscent of Neil Marshall's DOOMSDAY, Lamberto Bava's DEMONS 2 and Zack Snyder's ARMY OF THE DEAD. At no point is there anything especially reminiscent of the original TRAIN TO BUSAN. Whether or not you enjoyed those other films will give you a good idea of if you're going to enjoy this. Either way at 116 minutes PENINSULA is about half an hour too long and has a climactic chase that goes on for ages. 

Unfortunately this all allows plenty of time for your attention to wander and start asking questions like why haven't the zombies rotted away to nothing over four years, and how is the little girl in this is so chipper and giggly when all she has known in her short life is a harsh and violent apocalyptic wasteland.

Studio Canal's 4K disc comes with four featurettes on the making of the film, which total just over eight minutes, plus a trailer. 

TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS PENINSULA is out on 4K UHD from Studio Canal on Monday 27th May 2024

Train to Busan (2016)

 

“A 4K Upgrade for a Genre Classic ”

Oh yes indeed - one of the best ever zombie films gets a welcome 4K UHD release from Studio Canal.

Seok-Woo (Yoo Gong) is accompanying his young daughter Soo-an (Soo-an Kim) on the train from Seoul to Busan to visit his ex-wife. Unknown to any of the travellers when they board, a bit of a toxic waste leak at a chemical plant has led to a zombie outbreak of the ‘running very fast’ variety, and one of the infected is on the train. Soon there are lots and lots of infected on the train and when it turns out city after city is being affected the few remaining survivors have to hold out until they get to Busan. If they ever do.

So many good things have been said about TRAIN TO BUSAN by so many reviewers that it’s difficult to know what to add, suffice to say that Hollywood could learn a few lessons in character building and development from this one. Then they might realise that when the non-stop action and razor-sharp editing kicks in you actually end up with a thrilling, edge-of-the-seat movie experience rather than a hollow effects extravaganza.

What else? Well, great horror films that take place entirely in daylight are a rare commodity in themselves, but this is one (TREMORS is another). There are some tiny bits in a tunnel but there’s no night in this picture. You’ll miss the music on first viewing because the pacing and the acting will sweep you away but it’s actually nicely effective. 

Extras on Studio Canal’s disc are the same as on their previous Blu-ray and DVD release. These include a trailer for SEOUL STATION, and a making of featurette.

On its release in 2016 press releases for TRAIN TO BUSAN were filled with quotes like ‘The Best Film of the Year’, ‘Exhilarating’, ‘Will Keep You Gasping For Breath Until the End of the Line’ and ‘A Genre-Transcending Masterpiece’. It’s still all true. TRAIN TO BUSAN isn’t just a great horror picture, it’s a great film. one that will enthral you, thrill you and (by the end) move you. A must for any genre connoisseur's film library. 

TRAIN TO BUSAN is on on 4K UHD from Studio Canal on Monday 27th May 2024

The Villainess (2017)

"Lady Snowblood, Korean Style"

       Receiving its UK premiere at this year's London Frightfest, Jung Byung-Gil's blood-soaked, action-packed revenge thriller gets a DVD & Blu-ray release courtesy of Arrow Films. 

       To avenge the death of her father, Sook-hee (Kim ok-bin) kills as many men as is humanly possible in the opening minutes of a film. She passes out and wakes to find she has been abducted by the National Intelligence Service, which proceeds to train her as a sleeper cell assassin. Pregnant when she comes to them, she and her baby daughter are given new identities, after which she starts work as an actress while awaiting various blood-spattered missions.

       All goes well until she is given an assignment on her wedding day to assassinate a crime boss who turns out to be her husband from her past life. When she bungles the mission, her life begins to fall to pieces, and things can only end in tragedy.

       Opening with an action sequence that feels like a cross between ATOMIC BLONDE (this is better) and DOOM (first person shoot-em-up), THE VILLAINESS offers regular bouts of breathtaking action, combining remarkable stunts and camerawork. Fortunately there's a good story in here as well, and the bits where the film calms down to allow character interplay are just as watchable. 

       Arrow's disc comes with a commentary track from film-makers and critics Sam Ashurst and Dan Martin, as well as a trailer. If you get the first pressing of the disc then you'll get an illustrated collector's booklet with new writing on the film by Anton Bitel. If you're a fan of South Korean cinema you'll definitely want to watch this, and if you're unfamiliar with this country's movies then this might just be the one to get you into them. 

THE VILLAINESS is out on Blu-ray and DVD from Arrow on Monday 30th October 2017

The Wailing aka Goksung (2016)

“Great K-Horror with No Easy Answers”

I’m stating that up front because, while THE WAILING is a great film with lots of atmosphere, some excellent performances and a lot of very interesting ideas, if you like a film that ties everything up neatly at the end with an explanation be warned - THE WAILING doesn’t do that. At all.

THE WAILING opens with a passage from the Bible that becomes relevant close to the end (I’ll leave you to discover exactly how). Then we find ourselves in a dreary, rainy village in South Korea (the film’s original title refers to the mountainous region where the village is located). Strange things are occurring, including a series of murders where the killers have gone mad and in some cases been affected by a skin condition akin to boils. 

Local police sergeant Jong-Goo (Do-won Kwak) learns that the deaths only started following the arrival of a mysterious Japanese man (Jun Kunimura with his leg all better after Takashi Miike’s AUDITION) who lives in an EVIL DEAD-like cabin in the woods. When Jong-Goo’s young daughter starts to behave bizarrely, it’s time to call in a shaman, who claims that a demon has arrived in the village and if it isn’t driven out everyone in the village will die. He seems to know what he’s doing, but does he actually end up making things better or worse? 

That’s just one of the questions you’ll be asking yourself long after THE WAILING is over. Before that you will have been treated to a plot that keeps you guessing as to just who can and can’t be trusted as Jong-Goo deals with horrible murders, demonic possession, at least one zombie (I think) and a sense of almost Old Testament-style Smiting. 

As I’ve said above, the ending leaves you with plenty of questions unanswered, & if you’ve a mind to there are plenty of message boards on the internet trying to come to grips with what THE WAILING is all about. It has been compared to David Lynch’s MULHOLLAND DRIVE in its complex plot, but whereas the Lynch film makes perfect sense once you find the right way into it, I have a feeling THE WAILING isn’t the kind of film that’s designed to have a definitive explanation. 

As long as you don’t mind that, I’d very much recommend THE WAILING. The running time clocks in at over two and a half hours but the film doesn’t feel that at all. In fact, it’s a rare film that gets to ninety minutes only for me to be relieved that there’s at least another hour to go - that’s how well made and engrossing this one is.

THE WAILING is only getting a DVD release in the UK. If the transfer that hits the shelves is anything like the review disc I was sent I’m afraid to report it’s pretty grotty, with blurring of the lush countryside every time the camera moves. As far as I can tell the release will have no extras. 

THE WAILING is out on UK DVD from Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment on 30th January 2017

Cello (2005)

      It’s always a pleasure to discover a horror film that’s well plotted, scary and lives up to its fabulously gruesome poster art. For a film with such an innocuous title (and the perhaps understandably underused setting of the cut-throat world of duetting lady cellists), CELLO is a very fine example indeed of the ghostly revenge Korean Horror subgenre.

Cello teacher Hong Mi-ju (Sung Hyun-ah) has a few problems. She’s curiously unwilling to take up a job promotion and it’s possible she’s being persecuted by a student whose exam paper she recently failed. Someone is sending her text messages that ask “Are you happy? You should be,” while at the same time dead maggotty-ridden birds are turning up in her locker at the school where she works. 

      Things begin to take a turn for the weird at her house, where the new housekeeper employed by her husband turns out to be mute from swallowing acid - the result of a suicide attempt after she was the sole survivor of a vehicle accident. The family dog turns up dead and then her sister-in-law has a breakdown and hangs herself after her fiance apparently breaks up with her. Then things get really strange.

Her husband discovers that in Hong Mi-ju’s student yearbook, the face has been cut out from one of the photographs, who turns out to be her old cellist partner. Apparently the girl was jealous of her getting all the best parts to play and drove them both off the road one night, with Hong Mi-ju being the sole survivor.

That’s not the true backstory at all, of course, but we get to find out what actually happened eventually in an extremely satisfying denoument that saves its ultimate horrors for last. That, plus the systematic destruction of everything Hong Mi-ju holds dear, forms the basis of the story, but even when she’s surrounded by corpses the worst is still in store in a nice twist ending that I didn’t see coming.

CELLO is definitely one of the better K-Horrors I’ve seen, managing to combine a sense of rubber reality and weird flashback sequences (or are they?) with a plotline that’s actually completely logical and an ending that’s really quite haunting.  I’m a sucker for any film where there’s a lot of classical music and plenty of blood anyway, but if you’ve yet to enter the world of the Korean horror film this is an excellent place to start.