South Korean cinema is currently enjoying a zombie movie boom. According to IMDb, these are the country's 10 best undead features.
One of the biggest theatrical releases of 2020 belongs to Sang-ho Yeon's zombie film Peninsula, the much-anticipated follow up to the superb 2016 outing Train to Busan. Released in South Korea on July 15, the film has already accumulated more than $30 million at the box-office.
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The standalone sequel continues four years after the events of the first film, as a former soldier named Jung Seok (Dong-Won Gang) is tasked with capturing a truckload of money from the Korean Peninsula. Once there, he's overrun by a rabid horde of flesh-starved ghouls. With the film continuing to do record-breaking business for a horror film, here are the10 best zombie films from South Korea, according to IMDB.
With an honorable mention given to the equally-rated American Zombie, this list kicks off the 2010 horror-comedy The Neighbor Zombie, a four-part anthology revolving around a violently infectious outbreak.
In 2010, a global pandemic ravages the globe, including the capital of Seoul, South Korea. When the government declares Martial Law in order to quarantine its citizens and trace the source of the outbreak, several heroic civilians set out to help hide and feed the inflicted while searching for a vaccine.
In yet another quartet of terrifying vignettes, Horror Stories arguably saves the most frightening tale for the final entry. Following a home invasion tale, an escaped convict story, and a cautionary parable about plastic surgery, the film ends with a mortifying zombie onslaught.
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Directed by Kok and Sun Kim, Ambulance on the Death Zone features a little girl who morphs into a mouth-foaming zombie after succumbing to an unknown infection. The little girl's mother and the paramedic she calls confront the little monster with harrowing results.
A viral zombie pandemic is given a satirical bent in one chapter of Doomsday Book, a three-part horror omnibus from directors Kim-Jee Woon and Pil-sung Yim.
In Yim's tale A Brave New World, a nerdy scientist throws a contaminated apple in the garbage disposal, which in turn makes its way into the feeding trough for local cows. The beef becomes contaminated and eaten by a man at a barbecue, setting off an infectious chain of violent zombification. It's worth noting that popular Korean filmmakers such as Bong Joon-Hohave cameos in the film.
Despite the smashing success it continues to enjoy around the globe, Peninsula is rated far lower than its breakout predecessor, Train to Busan. Both films are directed by Sang-ho Yeon, but this sequel failed to live up to the standards set by the first film.In addition to its IMDB-rating, the film currently holds a middling 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Jung Seok (Dong-Won Gang) is an ex-soldier who accepts a mission to lead his squadron into the wastelands of the South Korean Peninsula to obtain a truck full of cash. When they arrive, the squad is met by a ravenous throng of undead ghouls with an acquired taste for human flesh.
Directed by Train to Busan's Sang-ho Yeon and released the same year, Seoul Station is an animated feature-length zombie outing that serves as a prequel to the live-action horror hit.
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Set one day prior to the events depicted in Train to Busan, Seoul Station imagines downtown Seoul being overrun by legions of voracious zombies. Much of the plot revolves around Suk-Gyu (Ryu Seung-Ryong), a father desperately searching for his missing daughter Hye-Sun (Shim Eun-Kyung) prior to the zombie pandemic. When he finds her and learns she's become a prostitute, he tries to reunite with her as the undead incursion begins.
Released in South Korea on June 24, 2020, Il Cho's action-packed zombie outing #Alive is already turning heads and winning hearts. So far, the movie has amassed north of $13 million at the box-office. Netflix is set to release the film worldwide on its platform on September 8, 2020.
The story finds a densely populated Korean under siege from a vicious zombie incursion borne from an unknown virus. The fate of the city is left in the hands of Oh Joon-Wo (Ah-In Yoo), a secluded gamer who must remain hunkered down in his flat and fend off droves of home-invading zombies.
In Sung-Hoon Kim's unique period-set zombie flick Rampant, the Qing Dynasty finds itself under a ruthless attack from an army of blood-parched ghouls.
The story revolves around Lee Chung (Hun Bin), the Prince of Joseon who is kidnapped by the powerful Qing family with plans to appoint him the new Crown Prince. As Lee Chung spars with Kim Ja-Joon, the Joseon Minister of War, a relentless attack of gore-sodden "night demons" threatens to annihilate the entire region.
One of the funnier zom-coms to come out of South Korea isThe Odd Family: Zombie for Sale, directed by Lee Min-Jae. The film was released in South Korea in February of 2019 but did not hit the U.S. until July 1, 2020.
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The Odd Familyrevolves around the Park family, the lives of which are upended when the elderly patriarch suffers a sudden zombie bite. When the family learns the zombie was created due to an illegal experiment conducted by a corrupt pharmaceutical company, the Park family attempts to use the experiments for their own financial gain.
While Hong-jin Na's masterful horror/thriller The Wailing is much more than a one-track zombie effort, there's no denying the terror conjured by the zombified, demonically-possessed ghouls in the film.
More in the vein of the dark cop-thrillerSe7enthan a zombie romp by George A. Romero, The Wailing tracks a series of supernatural occurrences that plague a small fishing town upon the arrival of a mysterious stranger. A viral illness begins to spread throughout the hamlet, thought to be a result of an evil spirit in the region. It's up to local police officer Jong-g00 (Do-wan Kwak) to solve the mystery while protecting his family.
According to IMDb, the highest-rated South Korean zombie film ever made belongs to Train to Busan, the runaway smash hit that inspiredPeninsula. In addition to its IMDb rating, the film currently holds a 94% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 72/100 Metascore.
The film follows a father who, against his better judgment, allows his disgruntled daughter to ride the train to Busan all by herself. As soon as they separate, the subway is overrun by salivating zombie hordes who rip and chew through anyone who gets in their way. As the zombies close in, Seok-woo must find and rescue his daughter Soo-An (Su-An Kim) before it's too late.
NEXT: 5 Zombie Movies That Are Way Underrated (& 5 That Are Overrated)
Next Hamilton: Which Character Is Your Soulmate, Based On Your Zodiac?
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10 Best South Korean Zombie Movies, Ranked According To IMDB - Screen Rant
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