Zombie movies, bloody hell there is alot of them. From the utter masterpieces like Night of the Living Dead and Shaun of the Dead to the pile of warm pulsating shite like Bong of the Dead, there is a distinctive divide in the ever popular sub-genre. Train to Busan is in the masterpiece category, and one of the best Zombie films I have seen since the previously mentioned Shaun of the Dead. 

Following a work obsessed father Seok Woo and his daughter Soo-an, on their way to visit Soo-an's mother in Busan. While the pair jump on board they are unaware that a deadly virus is starting to spread around the local Korean towns and cites and it isn't long before they, and a array of other passengers, find themselves  trapped on a train of the infected with only one destination, Busan, in site. Is the City save? or are then heading into a zombie filled trap?

While some questionable effects at times, as a whole Train to Busan is one of the best zombie films if have seen in a VERY long time, and with so many zombie film about nowadays this is a turn up for the books. Remove the zombie threat however and we get a touching story of the relationship between a father, who we see is only working so hard to provide a life for his daughter and a child who just wants the love and attention of her dad. This leads to a touching and heart breaking finale (which we will not talk about) for these two and the other characters we get to meet on the way. But lets face it we are here for a shit load of zombie action, and we get it in buckets.

The zombie action is gory, over the top at times and it is awesome. This is the type of gore fest you want with a zombie film. There are two major moments I enjoyed the most action wise, one being the first train stop where the passengers think they are safe, only to be chased by a shit ton of zombies, getting separated from each other in small groups in the process and the part of the film which sees Seok Woo, Sang Hwa and two other passengers going carriage to carriage trying to get to their loved ones.

This is a must for all zombie fans, and not only those fans but fans of horror and film in general too. Train to Busan is a film to set atop the mantle of zombie films to come, showing the sub-genre what you need to aim for. 

THE STORY:
Maria, played by Sarah Wayne Callies, is a grieving mother who cannot get over the horrible death of her son, Oliver.  Until a friend tells her of an ancient temple where she can go with her son’s ashes, lay them at the door and say a final goodbye to his spirit, but the door must remain closed.  Deceived by the voices she hears there, Maria opens the door, setting something evil free into the world of the living.
 
Without a doubt the most frustrating thing about this movie is that with the right director and editing it could have been absolutely terrifying.  But no!  God forbid we have a camera shot longer than 7 fucking seconds so that we don’t lose our precious meme watching vine making audience!  The potential that has been wasted here is just jaw-dropping.
 
And what are we left with?  A long series of recycled “freaky” moments and overly loud noises supposedly put in place to pass as jump scares.  The imagery is enough!  The imagery is haunting, sometimes even scary and disturbing.  The jolts aren’t needed!  I mean, what the fuck is it?  Laziness?  A lack of confidence? - aka - studio interference?
 
Sarah Wayne Callies turns in a sympathetic heart-breaking performance.  But then again if this movie is what came after being killed off one of the most talked about TV shows of 2016, you’d cry your fucking heart out, too!  Hopefully returning to Prison Break will cheer her up.  Strangely enough, the usually reliable and engaging Jeremy Sisto as Sarah/Maria’s husband, Michael, doesn’t feel all that present in this role.  It’s not really a great part for him, and he must be getting bored of playing all these ‘Dad’ characters lately.
 
LAST WORDS:
Another potentially spine-tingling classic destroyed by tampering studio exec hands it seems…

​THE STORY:
George Eastman returns to play killer for this infamous Joe D’Amato-directed slasher.
 
Apparently some have criticised this movie for its similarities to John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), and I can’t really blame them.  They are quite evident, even in the film’s soundtrack.  But then again, without movies like Absurd, Halloween wouldn’t have its “highly influential” reputation.  Plus, if it hadn’t drawn so much inspiration from the Carpenter classic, it would be an even bigger pile of senseless shite than it already is.
 
But…that said, if you’re looking for a slasher flick that has very little to it, that you can just switch your brain off to, that isn’t one for the 700 million Friday the 13th sequels, then I guess Absurd is one of those notorious titles you’ll want to check out.  It doesn’t go easy on its kill scenes either.  It’s got drills.  It’s got pick-axes.  People are cooked to death.  People are decapitated.  It even has a nasty bone saw machine sequence that could rival the director’s cut of Intruder (1989).  If only the movie as a whole was more clean-cut…
 
Some of the cutaways that show all that gratuitous gore are a little clumsy.  During the hospital murder scene, for instance.  Despite the fact that Eastman clearly drills into the side of a careless nurse’s head, the gruesome close-up shot shows the drill enter what looks like the back of the neck of a man with short, curly hair???
 
The English dubbing works well enough.  However, anyone familiar with Italian horrors such as Lucio Fulci’s The House by the Cemetery (1981) will know that dubbed children are as annoying as fuck and Absurd is most definitely no exception!
 
Some scenes take too long.  The oven kill and blind man stalking sequences can really drag.  The performances aren’t great but they’re not terrible.  The real trouble is that this movie makes no fucking sense whatsoever. 
 
LAST WORDS:
Give thanks to Carpenter, people.  It could’ve been a shitload worse!