Review: ‘Zombie For Sale’ is a genre-bending riot. Now playing on the Arrow Video Channel!

 

Synopsis:  When the illegal human experiments of Korea’s biggest pharmaceutical company go wrong, one of their “undead” test subjects escapes and ends up in a shabby gas station owned by the Park family – a band of misfits spanning three generations who hustle passersby to make ends meet. When the Park family uncovers their undead visitor, he bites the head of their household, who instead of transforming into an undead ghoul becomes revitalized and full of life! The family then hatch a plan to exploit this unexpected fountain of youth, allowing locals to pay to be bitten too… until things go wrong.

Boasting moments of Shaun of the Dead-like physical comedy, this film is beyond hilarious. Outstanding editing and cinematography add to the overall greatness. The filmmakers did not cut corners in storyboarding. The quick takes are all part of the film’s success. I’ve never found a zombie film more charming. A score that is reminiscent of anything composed by Danny Elfman for a Tim Burton movie, Zombie For Sale has more elements of genre fun than you thought you’d need in a single film.

Our zombie friend has a higher than usual self-awareness, as his ability to understand love, fear, and pain feature prominently in the storyline. He is being used for a “get rich quick” scheme and your empathy is with him. I’ve never wanted to put a zombie in my pocket before, and yet here we are. This absurdity makes it all the funnier. When our clueless family looks up a clip from Train to Busan, I literally guffawed. Each member has a distinctly different personality, besides being con artists. It’s safe to say that our two female leads wield the most power in this screenplay. Outside of the typical “final girl” scenarios, this was refreshing as hell. This is a true ensemble cast. You will not know what’s coming next. It’s safe to call this a genre-bending film. It is a zombie apocalypse redemption rom-com. These performances are laugh out loud funny from start to finish. Zombie For Sale is colorful and zany and it’s one of my favorite zombie films of the year.

The Arrow Video Channel is available on Apple TV in the UK and US, as well as on Amazon in the UK.

ABOUT THE ARROW VIDEO CHANNEL

The ARROW VIDEO CHANNEL gives cult movie fans the opportunity to watch a wide selection of movies that the ARROW VIDEO brand has been famous for – personally curated by members of the Arrow team. From horror to sci-fi, thrillers to westerns, the ARROW VIDEO CHANNEL is home to cutting edge cult and undiscovered gems such as Takashi Miike’s “Audition,” Wes Craven’s seminal masterpiece “The Hills Have Eyes,” George A. Romero’s contagion classic “The Crazies,” Edwin Brown’s slice-and-dice staple “The Prey” and so much more. In the coming months, the ARROW VIDEO CHANNEL will be adding more cult classics from East Asia such as Shinya Tsukamoto’s “Tetsuo: The Iron Man” and “Bullet Ballet” and a collection of the Japanese classic “Gamera” movies.  In addition to crowd-pleasing cult movies on the service, the ARROW VIDEO CHANNEL will continue to give you an exclusive platform to brand new genre as part of a new global strategy.

The ARROW VIDEO CHANNEL also hosts a growing collection of documentaries, interviews and never-before-seen content from the Arrow Video archives, as well as newly produced material. These documentaries will breathe new life on the ARROW VIDEO CHANNEL, giving movie fans an immersive look into the creation of many cult movie classics such as “Donnie Darko” and “Hellraiser.” The service will be updated regularly with new content, new curation focus and never-before-seen content, all hand-picked by the Arrow Video team.

 

 

Jeremy’s Review: Kim Seong-Hun’s ‘A Hard Day’ Is an Adrenaline-Fueled Thrill Ride Worthy of Your Attention

hard dayLet’s just say this – Korean film is on a roll. From the works of Chan Wook Park to Bong Joon Ho, South Korean is churning out some of the most inventive and interesting films since the turn of the millennium. Kim Seong-Hun‘s A Hard Day is definitely welcome in this same group. A white-knuckler for sure, A Hard Day doesn’t waste any time getting into the action, raising the pulse of the action steadily from the opening scene to the perfect last shot.  That it is able to sustain a level of high intensity for almost two hours is commendable, if not exhausting for the viewer. But it is highly rewarding. This is a film that many thrillers aspire to but rarely achieve.

hard day - ko 1

The story is simple – Detective Ko (Sun-kyun Lee) is in mourning for his mother, who has just passed. As he sits with his family as he receives a call that something has happened at the police station where he works that requires his attention. As he is driving to the station, he accidentally hits and kills a man in the road. This leaves him in a dilemma – does he turn himself in or does he cover it up? Take a guess which one he chooses. This decision continues to haunt him for the remainder of the film. When he gets to the office, he finds out that they have been raided by Internal Affairs for taking bribes and now his job is at risk…and he has a dead body in his trunk. He disposes of the body in a perfect way, which leads us to think that we haven’t seen or heard the last of it. When Ko gets a phone call from a man purporting to know that he has killed the pedestrian, a whole host of new problems open up for Ko pushing him (and his family) to the brink.

hard day - chase

This movie is so kinetic, so heart-pounding that you rarely get a chance to come up and breathe before Ko falls into one more twist that draws him (and us) back into some deeper shit.  Jin-woong Jo, who plays Ko’s formidable opponent Park, looks every bit of a villain. Park’s cunning and planning push Ko to stay on his toes and adapt quickly. So often villains telegraph their moves making it easy for the protagonist to succeed. Not in this film, though. Park is one step ahead of Ko at seemingly all times and just keeps coming back for more.

hard day - cho

While the ending sequence between Park and Ko dragged on for a bit too long, it had such a satisfying end and one that the film earned. The final shot of the film is just perfection. Credit goes to Seong-Hun‘s script throughout for really giving the viewer the proxy ride, via Ko, on this adventure. It’s one that you won’t easily shake for a while after it’s done. I could easily see this film getting an American remake (although I hope it doesn’t as it’s perfect as is) a la Scorsese‘s remake of Lau & Mak‘s Infernal Affairs. This is a film that American audiences crave as is evident that there have been three (THREE!!!!) films made in the Taken series and all three combined don’t give anywhere near the amount of thrills and suspense that A Hard Day gives.

hard day - ko 2

With respect to the great number of blockbuster films that have come out this summer, none that I’ve seen engaged me or thrilled me as much as A Hard Day. That said, you should RUN, not walk, to see this film if you get the chance. It has all you could want in an action film and more.

A Hard Day opens today at Village East Cinemas in New York with a national release to follow and is brought to you by the good people over at Kino Lorber.