Gangnam Zombie - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Gangnam Zombie



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
The world of zombies and flesh munching undead has been pretty much saturated the last 20 years or so, with the downward decline of the genre once more sloping faster and faster as time goes on. Shows like The Walking Dead are still shambling on, while The Last of Us sort of used a unique twist on the genre to keep some spice in the formula, but the South Korean film Gangnam Zombie pretty much doesn’t even try to stand out from the crowd. In fact, the flick is so derivative that I could see literally a half dozen bigger films influences running through the core, as well as a weird comedy vibe that seems to almost vibrate at an opposite frequency to the rest of the film’s tone, creating an odd sort of “wait? What?” sensation to emanate from the audince.

Keeping the budget low, Gangnam Zombie is a single location horror film revolving around the typical “infection out of control “scenario that makes up the world of zombie films. The movie opens with Hyeon-seok (Ji Il-ju) and Min-jeong (Park Ji-yeon) fighting off a swarm of zombies with a baseball bat, only for the film to sharply segue into an earlier section of the day where we see two criminals robbing a truck full of high end goods. One of the criminals gets attacked by a strangely aggressive cat, only for him to soon show signs of turning into the undead.

Once more we fast forward into the future where Min-jeong and Hyeon are working as collaborators for a local youtube channel that is struggling quite a bit due to their goofy boss. Their landlord is after the rent (that is 3 months behind) and the duo are barely keeping up with their work. However, things turn tops turvy for everyone involved when the afore mentioned criminal starts chomping on everyone in sight in the gigantic office building which they rent a top floor room, effectively turning the entire populace of the building into an army of flesh eating mindless corpses who are doing their best to make sure Min-jeong and Hyeon don’t make it out alive.

Gangnam Zombie relies heavily on the scared nature of a post Covid-19 world (actually referencing it in the film’s opening) and setting forth a rather bleak and depressed tone to the film. This makes it very easy for the flick to shift straight into the terror of flesh eating undead, but also manages to be strangely humorous at the same time. I honestly am not sure what to think of this one. It tries to be many things at once (sometimes to the detriment of the film), combing self deprecating humor, martial arts action, horror, and a sort of air South Korean soap opera feel all at once. Each of these genre tropes seems to be more at odds with each other rather than making something fresh and exciting, leaving the audience feeling like they’re being tugged in different directions based upon the next scene being shown. Personally I found it odd and off putting, especially since Gangnam Zombie fails to have anything captivating to hold onto. It’s just your typical zombie movie, with our hero and heroine fighting off the undead and hopefully making their way to freedom, only for the ending to be open ended enough to set itself up for an unnecessary sequel.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

IMDB (nor the rest of the internet) has much information on the filming style and the resolution of the master used for What’s Love Got to do With It?, but the end credits of the film have Arri Alexa cameras listed as well as a digital DCP used for the film. With that in mind, this is a VERY nice looking image with a slightly warmer hue than normal, showcasing brighter primary colors in the Indian weddings, and stunning visuals in London’s damp and dreary looking cityscape. Fine details are more than amenable, with fantastic close ups and amazing black levels. I noticed a teensy bit of banding in the night sky when Zoe gets dumped, as well as some minor crush when Zoe and Kaz view the prayer ceremony, but other than that, this is an amazing looking digital picture.









Audio:

The Korean 5.1 DTS-HD MA track fares about as well as the video score, providing a very stable and robust action soundstage for much of the film. There’s some definite quiet and talky moments throughout, but there’s more than it’s fair share of action and rock music score to provide impactful kicks, punches, and slamming into other bodies in a fight to get out. Bass is a bit light I noticed, but overall the immersiveness of the track is not affected and overall is a very pleasant listening experience.












Extras:

• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score:
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I liked bits of Gangnam Zombie, and disliked more. I really wanted to enjoy this as I’m a huge fan of early 2000s and classic zombie movies, but what we’re left is an awkwardly weird mishmash of genres that can’t seem to add up past the sum of its parts. The Blu-ray looks and sounds good though, but we have the typical anemic extras that were expected. Personally this is a low rental in my opinion.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Il-Joo Ji, Park Ji-yeon, Kyoung-Hoon Jo, Min Choi
Directed by: Soo Sung Lee
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Korean: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Korean DD 2.0
Subtitles: English
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 81 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: September 26th, 2023

Recommendation: Rental