Train to Busan Horror Movie Review
Best. Zombie. Movie. In. The. Last. 10. Years. Do I have your attention, now? Good. Because you do NOT want to miss the insane ride that is “Train to Busan”, straight out of South Korea, which made its north American premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival.
Seok-Woo is the typical, workaholic, office-working man: always behind his desk, in his office, separated from his wife, and never giving the necessary attention and love to his young daughter, Su-an. The young girl has but one wish for her birthday: to go visit her mom. After much insisting from her part and hesitation from her father’s, they both embark on the train that leads to Busan. Unbeknownst to them, and everyone on the locomotive, a twitching, injured woman boards the train at the last second. It doesn’t take long before odd symptoms surface on this final passenger: bizarre, blue, bulging veins crawling up her legs, her entire body twitching uncontrollably, and a deranged, crazed look invading her eyes. As a train stewardess attends to her and calls for help, the infected individual rips into her throat with her teeth. It only takes a few seconds to see the train employee rapidly transform due to the infection and look for prey of her own. And so, the carnage begins.
We often see movies with creative, original storylines that are, unfortunately, badly exploited and don’t attain their full potential. “Train to Busan”, however, is quite the opposite: a typical story that is insanely well-exploited. We’ve all seen the classic businessman who neglects his child, but you haven’t seen anything like this film. The manner in which the zombies twitch and erratically move is truly nerve-racking and, at times, disturbing. Stress will build within you as the infected pile up over each other through the narrow train compartments from charging so rapidly and violently, reminiscing “World War Z”, only not CGI-obvious and 10x superior.
“Train to Busan” has it all: fantastic actors who will have you both adoring some and despising others with fuming hatred; absolute non-stop action; cringe-worthy, over-the-top violence, without excessive, unnecessary gore; in addition to a sensational soundtrack that will only add to the intensity of how hard you will be gripping your seat. The motion picture may even succeed in evoking radically different emotions in you, as my friend and I both admitted to each other than we each shed tears at a few instances throughout the screening. That’s saying something, from a horror movie.
It is not surprising to discover that the movie is breaking box-office records in South Korea and not only won the audience award for best Asian feature at Fantasia, but it also won the Cheval Noir trophy, rewarding the best feature of the 2016 edition of the prestigious festival, beating out over 140 other feature films.
As soon as it is available, please, please do yourself a favor and find a way to view “Train to Busan”. You will not be disappointed. Hate to hype up a movie so much, but you can’t go wrong with this one. I reward it with a perfect 5 out of 5 stars.
