2018 ‘창궐’ Directed by Kim Sung-hoon
Ancient Korea, 17th century. While the paranoid King Lee Jo of Joseon, vassal of the Qing dynasty, feels surrounded by conspirators and rebels, a dark evil emerges from the bowels of a merchant ship and the exiled Prince Lee Cheung returns to the royal court, ignoring that he will have to lead the few capable of defeating the ambitious humans and the bloody monsters who threaten to destroy the kingdom.
Hyun Bin Jang Dong-gun Jo Woo-jin Jeong Man-sik Lee Sun-bin Kim Eui-sung Kim Tae-woo Jo Dal-hwan Park Jin-woo Seo Ji-hye Han Ji-eun Heo Sung-tae Baek Soo-jang Heo Joon-seok Gong Jeong-hwan Jang In-ho Im Chul-hyung Song Wook-kyung Jung Yoo-ahn Park Ji-a Kim Dae-gon Min Kyung-ok Kim Seul-woo Won Tae-san Mandic Jure Jo Deok-hyeon Lee Jae-gu Jo Yoon-seo Sim Ryeo-jin Show All…
Jeong Seong-ho Jeong Bong-yeon Kwon Tae-ho Choi Seong-kyum Lee In-Seop Yang Hae-gil Choi Dong-hun Lee Tae-ho Kim Yong-ho Kim Tae-kang
尸杀帝国, 尸落之城, 猖獗
I'm seeing a ton of wasted potential here, it's hastily written and put together with little to no regard to plot coherence or continuity. Still, at the end of the day, we got what truly matters -- zombies, it's going to take a lot of effort to actually dislike these rabies-infected fuckers, two times more interesting if you place them in medieval korea (heard there's a similar netflix series coming out soon, I'm very excited) when the heads start rolling and the swordsman goes sling sling evasive maneuvers sling you know I'm already spinning on my chair yelling CERTIFIED FRESH. Stamped, approved and signed by yours truly.
A Joseon period zombie film whose production started after Netflix announced they were ordering a season of the similarly themed Kingdom, that was released theatrically a few months before that series debuted. Given the budget that the streaming giant committed to the show, it wouldn't be overly suspicious to look at this cynically as a potential cash-in, but there is no clear indication that one inspired the other. It is just as possible that the massive success of the undead transporting Train to Busan coupled with the ever booming popularity of historical dramas of South Korea, naturally created this example of similar cinema. Unfortunately for Rampant, even if this was a case of simultaneous invention - the larger international market…
My comprehension of this Joseon era biological warfare epic from Korea wasn't aided by the subs, which yielded such gems as "dog faeces the streets" and "basic shucks". Linguistic riddles aside, it's the (unnecessarily convoluted) story of a rebel's attempt to overthrow Chinese rule and the tyranny of the Qing Dynasty by spreading an infection he found on board a junk when buying arms from a Dutchman. The infection runs R.A.M.P.A.N.T, turning everyone into zombies and threatening the security of the current king and king-in-waiting, Crown Prince Lee Chung, who is there to avenge his dead brother and reluctantly assume the title of king himself. Maybe. I'm probably making a lot of this up as at no point could I…
↓ English version below ↓
Rampant spult eine verzweigte Mischung aus Dynastie-Kriegen und Dämonen-Action ab. Dabei liegt der Fokus streckenweise extrem auf erstem und führt viele Charaktere, deren Hintergründe, Beziehungen und Intrigen ein. Dem zu folgen erfordert ordentlich Aufmerksamkeit. Gebrochen wird das immer wieder durch dämonisches Gemetzel. Nachtaktiv und damit einer Mischung aus Zombie und Vampir gleichend, fallen diese mit fiesen Fratzen über die Lebenden her. Mit ordentlich Schwerteinsatz wird die teuflische Brut niedergestreckt. Die Masken der Dämonen können mit ihren toten, weißen Augen und Fangzähnen überzeugen und generell setzt der Film größtenteils auf handgemachte Effekte. Auch geht es recht körperlich und blutig zur Sache, ohne aber den Splatter-Hammer zu schwingen.
Das sieht dann auch alles gut aus, die Setpieces…
Come for the terrific zombie attack scenes, stay for the tepid political intrigue, I guess?
What might be my favorite poster of the year got me pretty pumped up for a blend of my two favorite genres. The final product is sadly not the show stopper I'd hoped it be, due to some choppy pacing, and over abundant melodramatics for poorly characterized supporting cast members. The film does have some gorgeous set and costume design though, and the actions scenes are plenty exciting, particularly the claustrophobic ones, with corridors clogged by frenzied undead. The surprisingly compelling political drama in the first half or so of the film was interesting, and honestly the movie might have even been better without the zombies, ironically enough, considering that they were merely a tool for a political uprising that…
There's palace intrigue over Qing ruled Joseon as the war minister makes a play to wipe out the royal family. Returning Prince Ganglim must navigate this danger in the midst of a zombie outbreak.
Very Evil Dead-flavored zombies mixed with Korean medieval court intrigue and action. I usually don’t care for Korean period pieces because they tend to be turgid as fuck (and I’ve seen more than a few of them) but this one is pretty dumb fun, and at least it's taking the genre in a slightly different direction.
[Shocktober]
Added to my Zombie films, Ranked list here:
boxd.it/2G3Pu
"I'm sure you've heard rumours of all the demons. They're all true. Gather all the guards in the palace. If we do not stop them, the palace is finished."
An overlong zombie flavoured 17th century Joseon dynasty sageuk - Korean historical drama - that seems to think that the overwhelming popularity of Train to Busan will convince anyone to check out Korean zombies. Unfortunately, its 2hr runtime feels like a mid to low tier Game of Thrones episode, not quite managing to successfully blend the superficial political aspects and the horde mode threat. There are glimpses of entertainment with the occasional wide aerial shot showcasing the sweeping scale of the nocturnal zombie hordes - at times making me think of…
Rampant feels like a bad night out with some friends. A lot of good ideas, but none of them really come off right and at the end of it you feel like maybe it would have been better if you stayed home.
Compare it to The Great Battle which also featured thinly sketched characters but drew them in far better ways and made the stakes clear and ever increasing. Instead, Rampant suggests at many good ideas but never really executes it. A disappointment.
Kim Sung-hoon, what happened? After his satisfyingly "Rush Hour"-esque buddy cop flick "Confidential Assignment," the director returns with the somewhat underwhelming period zombie film "Rampant." If you're patient, the second hour rewards with some large-scale zombie action, but too much of the movie suffers from an inconsistent tone, nonsensical motivations, and attempts to wring pathos from the deaths of characters who've barely been afforded screentime.
Zombie flick set in 17th century Korea with a weirdly monarchist message. Zombies aren't really my thing, although historical Korea certainly is—I think this movie pretty much lived up to the premise. Featured a swordfighting zombie, which may be a first.
