Movie Review - Train To Busan

Train To Busan

2016

The Cast

I had this movie sitting on my "YouView" box for quite a few months, even though I had been originally excited that Film4 had decided to air this "little" Korean gem of a horror movie. There had been rave reviews and more than a slight "buzz" about the picture. The trouble with me is that I've been let down by hyped movies before - The Blair Witch Project, a major case by example. Another trouble is my own little foibles. I don't want to be reading subtitles when I'm tired (and I do so love to watch horror flicks after the sun has set with the lights low... or off!) and I cannot stand dubbed films (too many Jackie Chan movies in my youth...). So one night, not so very long ago I was feeling awake enough to read a movie so I hit play on "Train To Busan"...

By the time the end credits rolled I was amped up and wide awake. This is one hell of a rollercoaster ride of a movie and one hell of a tangle of modern-day lives story. This is not your basic Zombie flick.

You start out really slowly and pretty sedated. A farmer is on his way to the market when his van is stopped by men in hazmat suits. These tell him that there's nothing to worry about. There has been a slight leak at a chemical plant. After quickly decontaminating his vehicle they send him on his way... unluckily for the dear he runs down and kills. More angry at damaging his van than killing a dear he drives away leaving the carcass in the road... yeah... you know what's going to happen. Sure enough, the dead animal thrashes about and shakily gets to its feet... with a dead look in its eyes...

Even though this section only takes a few minutes it's one of the most superbly shot sequences I've seen in a movie. The director Yeon Sang Ho manipulates each set perfectly give the audience a creepily eerie atmosphere, which did start the shivers running up and down my spine. For that I thank them... it's been a long time since that's happened. There's nice steady sweeping camera pans. Effortlessly worked lighting. Superb control of sound... or lack of it. Even better is that all of this artwork and skill doesn't stop here it runs throughout the whole movie. It screams skill and class
.

Then the writers, Park Joo Suk and Yeon Sang Ho, get to work weaving together tales of modern-day living. The main characters are Seok-Woo (Gong Yoo) and his daughter Soo-Ann (Kim Su An). He is a busy, work-comes-first-to-support-family guy who was already lost his wife to divorce and is now bringing up Soo-Ann, with the help of his mother. Soo-Ann is a young child who doesn't understand or appreciate her father's outlook on life. All she knows is that she doesn't see either him or her mother as much as she wants or should. She wants more time with both of her parents. So, on her birthday, after her dad buys her a repeat present (who doesn't need two Nintendo Wii's(?)) she gets him to promise to take her to see her mum for her real present. As is the usual case it's Su-An Kim's performance that steals the show - and this is as it should be.

This then brings them into contact with Sang-Hwa (Ma Dong Seok) and his very expectant wife Seong-Kyeong (Jung Yu Mi). Sang-Hwa and Seok-Woo do not get on at all and it's this juxtaposition in ideals and prerogatives that add more depth to the story; especially when they have to work together to survive the train ride. It's Seong-Kyeong that provides the glue to their relationship.

Add to this a mysterious homeless man (Choi Gwi Hwa), a couple of romantic teens getting to grips with their feelings towards each other - Yong-Guk (Choi Woo Sic) and Jin-Hee (Sohee), and officious self-centred train manager Yon-Suk (Kim Eui Sung), you have a set of characters which can create some volatile or sentimental storylines... and this is before we get to the best Zombies... EVER!

One of my favourite zombie flicks is Return Of The Living Dead. Two of the reasons were the zombies - they were dead and very icky (most were skinless)... and they were fast. The brain-eating buggers didn't shamble after you. And you have the same here. Though these dead aren't so skinless they are damned fast and furious.

This adds to some pretty spectacular action scenes in the movie which Yuen Sang Ho directs magnificently. But, whereas, most directors would opt for action over horror and story Yuen is proficient in all styles. The scenes where the dead reanimate are both startling, invigorating, eerie, and full of style and strength.

This is a tour-de-force of filmmaking, let alone horror filmmaking. Everything in this movie is excellent, from the story to the acting to the directing. This was nearly a 10 out of 10, however, because some of the scenes get a little cheesy or stereotypical (for me) I rated it a little less.

To all movie fans out there and horror fans alike - this is a must watch movie.

I give this movie a Ferocious Bite Of Excellency of 9.75 out of 10.

The Trailer

This is the dubbed English trailer and shows how a film can suffer with voice overs.  This is now the reason I watch subtitled movies.

Here's the subtitled version.  Amazing how much better it already appears in its natural language and voices.

Movie Review - Crimson Peak

Crimson Peak

2015

Double Dare You / Legendary Entertainment : Universal Pictures International / Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

9.5 / 10

While watching this beautiful motion picture one thought kept flickering through my mind; this is what a modern Hammer film should look like - it so reminded me of the classic '60's and '70's films.

Guillermo Del Torro has created another masterpiece filled with vivid and beautiful imagery and superb transitions between the light - happy - and dark -eerie - atmospheres, which work well on the emotions.  Along with superb acting from the cast and a potent story, with the help of Matthew Robins, we are given the tale of twisted love and greed, which builds slowly with twists and turns throughout.

What always surprises me most is that Del Torro takes some of the nastiest parts of the human psyche and the violent actions they include and shows them in such a gorgeous way while never glorifying or condoning them is amazing.

This is the story of Edith Cushing, lovingly portrayed by Mia Wasikowska, a solitary and intelligent woman trying to make her way as an author in a man's world.  She meets and falls in love with Thomas Sharpe, played elegantly by Tom Hiddleston, who is in town trying to raise funds for his mining machine from her father, Carter Cushing, who is admirably portrayed by Jim Beaver.  However, her father doesn't like Thomas and does everything he can to stand in the way of their relationship.  It's only after his death that Edith is free to wed Thomas and move out to Crimson Peak.

As the days pass, Edith begins to realise that maybe her father was right, there's something not quite right with Thomas and his sister Lucille, strongly portrayed by Jessica Chastain... or the house they live in...

I fell in love with this film right from the start.  It's so stylish with its lighting, camera angles, and sound, that it fits perfectly with the era in which it's set.  Even the End Credits are beautiful to behold.  There are a lot of directors trying too hard to be stylish and here Del Torro makes it appear effortless.  The special effects are really good, the one scene where the ghost is dragging itself up and along the floor is pretty creepy.  I also liked the effect of the clay on the snow, turning it blood red, that was a nice touch.

I would recommend this movie to everyone - it now resides at the top of my favourite Del Torro movies.

Movie Review - Devil In The Dark

Devil In The Dark

(2017)

Co-Pilot Film Services : eOne Entertainment / Momentum Pictures

2.25 / 10

Nice poster shame about the film... well, shame about the story actually.

This is NOT a horror story, nor is it a thriller.  Basically, this is a drama about two brothers and their relationship in relation to their father and his death.  These two brothers, Clint, played admirably by Dan Payne, and Adam, nicely acted by Robin Dunne, are two very different people with different interests and lives.  Though in an effort to build some kind of connection between them Adam asks his brother to go on a camping trip with him.  Clint turns it into a hunting trip.  Adam agrees though he doesn't like hunting.

Adam suffers from a reoccurring nightmare where he's a kid lost in the woods.  He finds himself in a strange clearing of dead trees that are decorated with stags antlers.  There's something in the woods with him though he never gets to see what it is.

Imagine his horror when on the hunting trip with his brother they find themselves in the very same dead tree clearing.

It takes half of the film to get to this point.  Up until then, we see the brothers arguing with each other, remembering past times, reconciling over other things.  Even though the actors do a good job with their characters it's the story, written by Carey Dickson, that makes them unbelievable.  It's not until the second half of the film that we're told it was Adams idea to come see his brother; if this is the case then why does he arrive late to dinner, wasting time driving around the town, and leave quickly afterwards to spend time with his old drinking buddies getting drunk.  This doesn't ring true and there are plenty of other places in the script that feel the same way.

The director, Tim Brown, doesn't bring anything to the film.  Instead of creating an atmosphere of unease and terror in Adam's dreams or when the brothers are troubled in the woods, he just gives the audience a bland rendition of the story.

The big letdown of the film is the reveal of the woodland monster.  If you're a horror fan you'll know instantly where you've seen the naked blind albino humanoid form before - in a more terrifyingly atmospheric film than this, is where.  On the heels of that is the "twist" at the climax.  It's been done before and better - you just know it's coming.  It's meant to leave you with a chill.  It just left me sighing and shaking my head.

There are some good elements in the film which should have been built upon.  The dead tree clearing.  The stag's antlers.  The antler tunnel.  With these alone, a good writer should be able to form a story to chill the bones.

If you like horror films or thrillers then stay away from this movie, you won't get anything out of it.  Though if you like dramas with moaning brothers in them... I still wouldn't recommend it.