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South Korea’s Project Silence Needs to Listen Up!

When in South Korea, perhaps it’s best not to cross The Incheon Grand Bridge after watching Project Silence. One may never know what mad science is happening nearby!

Talchul- Project Silence Poster Capelight Pictures

Sometimes, the best kept secret can’t stay quiet for long, and in what Tae-gon Kim‘s Project Silence does is go bark raving mad to deliver a disaster type film that can be blamed because of some crazy mad science done onto canines. They are this film’s villain and are effective killers if you can believe the CGI to get them to perform the needed actions to scare the humans they are stalking.

Not only is Cha Jeong-won, portrayed by Lee Sun-kyun, affected, but so must his daughter survive. They are trapped along with others on The Incheon Grand Bridge, but also; they have to face these dogs guarding both sides! I won’t ruin the reason this structure is “falling apart,” but it makes for an amusing scenario of where can you go? Unlike a video game where you can shoot all those zombies down, this pair and others have no weapons! Continue reading “South Korea’s Project Silence Needs to Listen Up!”

Just How Dazzling can Alienoid 2: Return to the Future (외계+인 2부) Get? It’s Not Just About Saving the World.

All anyone needs to know about Alienoid 2 is that whoever possesses the Divine Blade can control all the time and space.

Coming to theatres, Jan 26

The sequel to Alienoid is coming to North America, and I don’t think what’s presented will end here. In Alienoid 2: Return to the Future (외계+인 2부), what’s produced feels like an MCU film directed by Michael Bay. Thankfully, those moments are limited to the CGI heavy moments rather than the story at hand.

To expose the aliens masquerading around as humans is tough, no matter what the century, but to make sure they don’t get their hands on the Divine Blade makes for an amusing watch. In order to figure out who is working for whom, it’s best to pay attention.

Honestly, I had to revisit the first film (review can be read here) just to remind myself about what’s important. That way, I wouldn’t feel as lost. Ultimately, the story is really about how Lee Ahn (or Ean) (Kim Tae-ri) will save Korea from an alien threat which pretty much exist throughout much of this country’s history. Her quest to locate this weapon and keep it away from the wrong hands defines this work.

And along the way, she’s not sure if she can fully trust the friends she has made. When they include those who kept her safe when she was young, namely Guard and Thunder (voiced by Kim Woo-bin)–where one of these two robots need repair–life is not easy. And now there’s Heug-seol (Yum Jung-ah) and Cheong-woon (Jo Woo-jin), two magic users who spend their screen time offering up comedic relief. As a result, it’s easy to lose interest with maybe a character or two.

Continue reading “Just How Dazzling can Alienoid 2: Return to the Future (외계+인 2부) Get? It’s Not Just About Saving the World.”

The Ghost Station. Sometimes Hopping on Board the Last Ride Isn’t The Best Way to Get Home.

Sometimes, it’s best not to hop aboard any train when the stop is identified as The Ghost Station. Although South Koreans are superstitious, there’s not a lot of folklore attached to this take.

Well GO USA
Release Date: Dec 19

Not every major metropolis’s rail system is haunted, and if they were, I’d be thinking twice about where I’d want to board and disembark. In Seoul, South Korea, The Ghost Station directed by Jeong Yong-ki takes place at the Oktsu stop (a fictional location), and during the course of this narrative, fewer and fewer people are deciding not to use it lest they get scratched!

And when reporter, Na-yeong (Bo-ra Kim) and her friend U-won (Jae Hyun Kim), are tasked to look into what’s going on, not even they are safe from the forces lurking here. That’s because of what happened in the past, and what her boss knows doesn’t get disclosed.

Continue reading “The Ghost Station. Sometimes Hopping on Board the Last Ride Isn’t The Best Way to Get Home.”

In Search for Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman, A South Korean Horror Fantasy

It’s not just supernatural hijinxs that’s going on in Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman but also there’s a past this good doctor must confront if he’s to save the day.

Well GO USA
Release Date: Oct 6, 2023

In South Korea, the belief in ghosts is very real, and it’s best not to annoy them. In Dr. Cheon and The Lost Talisman (천박사 퇴마 연구소: 설경의 비밀), this spiritualist better be on his A-game if he’s to best them. But when he’s mostly a huckster, preying upon others’ fear of the unknown, what he discovers awakens memories he’d rather forget.

That’s because this individual (wonderfully played by Gang Dong-Won) lost a brother and his grandfather to an evil sorcerer. This individual wants the gift of true vision since he can’t do it himself. He wants to look into the spirit world and that isn’t easy. In this film, they are referred to as seolgyeong. As for what they are, lost souls or the divine, it doesn’t matter. And unless Cheon is willing to save others from losing their eyes to a dark mage (Joon-ho Huh), they will die. Continue reading “In Search for Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman, A South Korean Horror Fantasy”

Gangnam Zombie Has Some Style in Time for The Season of the Witch

Although Gangnam Zombie is nothing like other films in this subgenre produced in South Korea, the metaphors aren’t totally lost to anyone watching.

Gangnam Zombie blu-ray case — Available on VOD and to purchase on Amazon USA

Well GO USA

The best part of Lee Soo-sung’s movie Gangnam Zombie is the stylish opening credits which outlines everything viewers need to know about the creation of the virus that can turn people into the walking dead and why it got contained. Had that been the movie, I’d rank it as the best part than the actual story that’s presented.

After two robbers break into a freight container to steal some random goods, presumably from the lab that made the mutagen, they encounter a cat who attacks one of them! The other is concerned but before he can take his pal to the hospital, gets attacked and presumably bitten! After rolling unconscious into the river and coming too much later, that’s when the opening credits roll and somehow, the covid-19 pandemic is to blame!

Continue reading “Gangnam Zombie Has Some Style in Time for The Season of the Witch”

Don’t Fly Me to “The Moon” (더 문) in 2023, Because it’s Dangerous!

Ultimately, The Moon does a better job at recognizing the dangers of space flight given where our current technology is at. We don’t have fancy shields common in futuristic sci-fi yet.

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Now Playing at Select Theatres
(Please check local listings)

Yong-hwa Kim‘s The Moon blows Ridley Scott’s The Martian right out of the water because once I got invested in Hwang Sun-woo’s plight through the flashbacks, all I can hope for is that he’ll survive! After a solar storm strikes the spacecraft and kills the pilots, he’s alone! This astrophysicist will have to make moonfall somehow if he’s to survive and Doh Kyung-soo (from South Korean-Chinese boy band Exo) is actually quite good at looking scared, when he attempts the impossible. Not only are the odds are against him at being able to pilot a sophisticated craft, but also get to get rescued is another story altogether.

Continue reading “Don’t Fly Me to “The Moon” (더 문) in 2023, Because it’s Dangerous!”