Chang-gwol (original title)
RUN TIME 127 mins / Korean with English Subtitles
Out Now On Blu-Ray/DVD & VOD
DIRECTED BY Kim Sung-hoon
STARRING Hyun Bin / Jang Dong-gun
SYNOPSIS:
Darkness looms over ancient Korea: murderous creatures known as Night Demons have overrun the country. Returning from long imprisonment abroad, Prince Ganglim discovers that it will take the strength of his entire kingdom to stop the bloody rampage spreading across the nation in this fresh new take on zombie horror from the studios that brought you TRAIN TO BUSAN.
I am very excited to share that through Taro PR I now am also reviewing some films from Well Go USA Entertainment. The studio that brought you the IP Man series, the 4th installment due later this year.
They have had some great action titles like The Villainess, Paradox & most recent on VOD & DVD/Blu-Ray Iceman: The Time Traveller.
This is one of the best-filmed zombie movies I have ever seen, takes it to a whole new level as far as zombie films go.
As mentioned this is from the studio that brought us Train To Busan and that has done really well for the studio and one of the better zombie films in quite some time.
I am not too big on the zombie films, I will watch them but I can't say that I am a huge fan overall.
They call them night zombies in this film so I will call them that for the rest of this review.
This is more than just the night demons chasing after everyone, there is a whole backstory here and quite a well told one as well. Many are wanting to overthrow the others by greed and dislike for the other groups.
These night demons are quite a lot like vampires-as they hide when the sun comes out and come back at nightfall.
The big difference maker for me on this movie, after a few of their own, are bitten by the night demons, there is an actual grieving period in the film which shows the human aspect in the film and they are given their humanity back for a few minutes before the killing has to continue.
The end of the film plays out so cinematically, so much of it looks so good the cinematography, direction & editing just to name a few really help bring this vision to light.
I have provided the DVD/Blu-Ray order page for the film below.
Rampant(Blu-Ray/DVD(click here)
The key parts of the film are the two leads of the film, without strong characters and actors that can convince the audience of their roles, then you really have nothing.
Lee Chung (Hyun Bin-right)is so very convincing as the Prince, who is not coming back home to take the throne as many feel he is. He is instead trying to save his brother's wife and unborn child from the terror that is going to take over the village he nows swear to protect.
Kim Ja-joon (Jang Dong-gun-left)is so good in this role, nothing over the top here. As many action films when the villain is established and the known battle at the end of the film with the lead character, they talk for days. Not here, he lurks in the shadows -attacks when you least expect it. Silently watching Lee Chung tire himself, like a predator waiting for his prey to tire and move in for the kill.
I wish more writers, directors knew that quite often less is more.
It sure works for this film.
This is also the least bloody zombie film I think I have ever seen, so if you are not a fan of gore like some of them have, this may be more to your liking.
Thank you for reading this
Anthony Nadeau
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