Edinburgh International Film Festival

Seoul Station (2016)

Starring: Seung-ryong Ryu, Joon Lee, Eun-kyung Shim

Directed by: Sang-ho Yeon

Rating: 1 2 and a half

Having woken up to find that Britain has voted to leave the EU, I didn't really think my day could get any worse. I was wrong. Because the Korean zombie film I signed up to see at Edinburgh International Film Festival only turned out to be an effing cartoon. Yup, peopled by pasty-coloured, plasticy characters who can't walk properly and make weird panting noises when they breathe. And no, folks, that ain't the zombies...

Zombie in Seoul Station

To be fair, Seoul Station is not the worst zombie film I've seen. (It'll take something pretty special to wrest that accolade from Colin.) At least, with its none-too-subtle messages of 'homeless people are treated with the same degree of contempt as the undead' and 'when it comes to the crunch, the government is more evil than the zombies' (hmmm...), it is at least trying to score some Romero-esque political potshots. And the twist at the and, if overly drawn out, is at least unexpected (but then again, I didn't see the Leave vote coming...)

But in the end, oh lordy, it's a cartoon, and it's really not my bag. Two and a half stars because I stayed awake and didn’t leave. If only I could say the same for Britain.

  • Share on Tumblr