Monthly Archive: March 2021

Train To Busan: Peninsula (2020)
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho

In 2016, Train To Busan exploded onto the movie scene, taking the world by storm and establishing itself as an instant classic in the process. It was the highest-grossing movie in Korea and the highest-grossing Korean movie ever in several other countries, and there’s already an English language remake in the process (because the Oldboy remake turned out so well). It’s not hard to see why, as Train To Busan’s simple story, colorful characters who tug on your heartstrings, and utterly terrifying interpretation of rage-zombies all come together brilliantly to go above and beyond the typical zombie fare. As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of Train to Busan, and I was pretty pumped for this sequel, I’m pretty into zombie fiction generally and zombies done right are a wonder to behold. So let’s get into the big question; does Train To Busan: Peninsula live up to its predecessor? Keep reading and find out!

The Hunt (2020)

Directed by Craig Zobel

Do you know what’s great for art? Controversy! That magical quality that gets people talking about a movie regardless of anything else about it, controversy can be a magic wand for movies that people would otherwise not give a crap about. There are of course real provocateurs, John Waters comes to mind, who produce shocking art that pushes boundaries, even if that’s just the boundaries of good taste, but controversy doesn’t have to be planned. For example, when you take a story concept that predates movies with sound, like people hunting others for sport, you may not think it would be particularly controversial, especially considering how many movies and books and television shows have come out with that same story. So it is a bit suspect when some groups got riled up following the release of the early trailers for The Hunt. I’m not accusing anyone of acting in bad faith, but it seems like these people would have to be pretty ignorant about movies and stories that are traditionally told in them. Why am I spending so much time talking about this controversy? Because it is far and away the most interesting aspect of The Hunt.

PG: Psycho Goreman (2021)

Directed by Steven Kostanski

This is the first new movie of 2021, and I’m so happy that we started with something that is so totally within my wheelhouse. I’ve already covered one of the previous movies from this director, it’s called The Void and you should check it out, so I was pretty confident that I was going to enjoy this as long as it stuck to the same themes and tone of his earlier work. Going in, I knew that Psycho Goreman was supposed to be more of a horror-comedy than a straight horror movie and that gave me a little pause because I generally find horror-comedies hit or miss. That was one of the most foolish thoughts I’ve ever had, because I will be shocked if this movie does not at least end up in my top 5 movies for the entirety of this year. I recommend this movie so much that I’m putting in the opening paragraph. If you’re interested in a bit more of what the movie is actually about or why I think it’s good, then by all means, please keep reading.

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

Directed by E. Elias Merhige

When Nosferatu premiered in the early 1920s, it changed horror movies, and pop culture, forever. So great was its influence that some eighty years later, the film was still culturally relevant enough for a feature-length film to be made about a fictionalized version of the production of the original film. I’ve been meaning to watch this movie for years, but, because of reasons I’ll get into it a little later, that didn’t happen until recently. Did these years of hype build up Shadow of the Vampire more than it could pay off? Or was it all worth it? Let’s get into it!