Colony

Posted on October 6, 2026 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Do you remember the last times vampires established a colony?

Vampire Bat: In the shadow world? That was an outpost to keep an eye on shadow demons.

Vampire Owl: Nobody knew about the existence of creatures of shadows then.

Vampire Bat: The northern witches had foretold the existence of such creatures.

Vampire Owl: I feel that they were the nightcrawlers, the vampire half-breeds.

Vampire Bat: The vampire half-breeds have always lived among us.

Vampire Owl: They are not allowed within the boundaries according to the laws.

Vampire Bat: You can say that we have been a little too tolerant than others.

Vampire Owl: This is exactly what Dr. Frankenstein warned Uncle Dracula about.

Vampire Bat: Dracula does not need Mr. Frankenstein’s pseudo-vampire advice ever.

[Gets a wheat porotta and three cups of Wayanad tea].

What is the movie about? :: Seo Young-cheol (Koo Kyo-hwan) warns the police that he would launch a bio-terrorist attack at the Dongwoo-ri Building, then injects himself with the supposed vaccine to the virus which he intends to unleash on the unsuspecting people who are attending a science conference there. Meanwhile, a former professor in the same field, Kwon Se-jeong (Jun Ji-hyun) who had just recently lost her job is attending a conference dealing with the same in the targeted building with her former husband Han Gyu-seong (Go Soo) who is determined to help her. Gong Seol-hee (Shin Hyun-been), a biotechnologist and current wife of Han also hopes that he could help Kwon at a time of need. Meanwhile a security guard Choi Hyun-seok (Ji Chang-wook) is also at the building with his mobility-impaired older sister, Choi Hyun-hee (Kim Shin-rok), when something seems to happen in the building with the CEO who has planned and led the event being injected with something by Seo who infiltrated the building.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It is seen that one after the other, all the nearby employees of the building and people attending the conference are infected, triggering a strange viral outbreak. Counter-terrorism team which gets the information about the bio-terrorist attack arrives in the building and tries to capture the man who is responsible for the same while expecting backup, but they end up finding only the infected with no clue of the bio-terrorist, with the building is placed under lockdown by the authorities to prevent further spread outside, thus trapping them inside. The infected quickly turns into zombie-like creatures with one bite and seems to have a collective mind having information shared from others who become the same type of infected creature without individual minds. Many civilians become trapped in the building which also hosts a shopping mall with restaurants, cinema halls and different branded stores. During their escape attempt, Gyu-sung dies saving a confused female student who becomes stuck all of a sudden.

And what more is to happen here as the bio-terrorism brings more of the infected to the scene creating further chaos? :: It is revealed that the infected possess a certain amount of advanced swarm intelligence, as they share sensory information between them like ants and would quickly evolve and get better as a group after each failed attack on humans. Using perfumes, anti-freeze and sprinklers to confuse the infected, the small group of survivors led by Kwon, decides to get to the top as instructed by the security, but ends up finding the bio-terrorist on the way, who has other plans for everyone. He is connected to each of the infected, and they all hear what he hears and sees what he sees, making it difficult for them to keep him with them in hope for a vaccine. They would need to blindfold him and none of them could talk when he is around. It is revealed that the man who caused all of these have even bigger plans, with the infection spreading all over the world, and his idea is that it only makes humans better with a shared connection and no selfish individual needs – this would be his idea of perfect humanity. Can he achieve the same or the people inside building, government, scientists or armed forces put an end to this?

The defence of Colony :: This one would forever be called a zombie movie by many people, but instead of having the mindless undead, the infected network that keeps developing has us more interested with the innovation. As the creatures communicate and coordinate tactics, as well as adapt to the human escape plans in real time we have them as smart and strong antagonists in one way or the other. With the outbreak within a sealed high building which has moments within elevator, narrow passages and parking lots has us connecting more, and with tension only increasing as time passes. Jun Ji-hyun leads the way with the performance as she stands strong as a character that we all would admire in her fight against all odds; in a supernatural movie in the dark, she would make a fine scream queen, and once again the final survivor among them all. Koo Kyo-hwan makes a fine menacing antagonist whom we all remember for how well he unleashes himself out of vengeance as much as the evil desire for the weirdest of changes – the cool determination that we see around him is very much memorable.

Positives and negatives :: The movie could have made the situation scarier for sure, as there was always scope for some unparalleled frightening scenes and situation. People transforming into part of a hive like ants have been nothing less than unlimited terror, and we see that during these moments, characters keep making some strange choices too. Despite the idea being so good, there is no further development with the same, and sometimes we feel that there is not enough thought regarding the same. Some more darkness, and people turning into something terrible and scary due to the scale rather than the looks could have also done wonders here. Ji Chang-wook as Choi Hyun-seok also has his moments, but the character could have been provided more to do in the end. Kim Shin-rok as Choi Hyun-hee also had more potential, as the skills were already there to be seen. Most of these characters do not seem to reach their best potential when we look at them. The work as the infected is quite nice, as we see how they go around and deviate from the usual zombie world.

How it finishes :: South Korean movies have been good with zombies, and we remember the same with Train to Busan and Peninsula within the chaos of horror. This one with a deviation in zombie-mode makes it interesting in the same scale, but the divergence keeps it different. We have all appreciated vampire movies with difference as the creatures kept changing in from, and this is the chance for zombies to have different forms – Warm Bodies did that long ago and World War Z had its own voice, but Resident Evil kept it moving in the exact same direction with sequel attacks. This variety and the detailed science fiction model surely works, but the characters and the emotional depth are on the struggle for sure. The predictable horror and a climax which never really elevates the movie can always try to bring it down, but one would feel that whenever there is a low, there is a journey that goes higher, and this one surely manages the whole thing well. Let us answer to the call of the zombies yet again here.

Release date: 28 August 2026
Running time: 122 minutes
Directed by: Yeon Sang-ho
Starring: Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Kim Shin-rok, Shin Hyun-been, Lee Dong-hwi, Park Ji-hwan, Kim Sung-cheol, Lee Re

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Battle of Jangsari

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I hope that it would be like the battle we had with the zombies.

Vampire Bat: We had a battle with the zombies last year?

Vampire Owl: Yes, the one which was fought near the meeting point of two rivers.

Vampire Bat: Wan’t that a battle with the werewolves?

Vampire Owl: Yes, they looked like wolves, but technically, they were zombies.

Vampire Bat: I do not understand the idea which you are talking about.

Vampire Owl: See, these werewolves were bitten by zombies. Therefore, the are former werewolves who are now zombies.

Vampire Bat: So, you are taking out the werewolf qualities out of them, and saying that the zombie characteristics will takeover.

Vampire Owl: Yes, if you are bitten by an undead, you are no longer alive. The werewolves will acquire the qualities of the undead which bit them.

Vampire Bat: Okay, I guess the only problem will be if a werewolf is bitten by a zombie and a vampire. One has to wonder which characteristics will be taken by the wolf.

[Gets a chocolate cake and three cups of masala tea].

What is the movie’s background about? :: As the Second World War ended, the Allies lead by the Soviet Union and the United States of America liberated Korea from Japanese control, days after the dropping of atom bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With two major powers set to on a Cold War for many years after the defeat of Germany and Italy as well as the weakening of Great Britain and France due to war, Korea was divided into two zones of occupation, as the Soviets were in control of the northern half while the Americans administered the southern half. As different governments having exactly opposite ideologies were established on both sides, there was continuous tension, and each group proclaimed ownership of the whole of Korean peninsula, but didn’t launch a full-scale attack until then. But on the 25th of June, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea, it had marked the beginning of the Korean War, fought completely in the Korean peninsula.

So, what happens with the events here? :: North Korea, had the support of the major Communist nations of China and the Soviet Union while South Korea, had the support of the United States of America and its allies. The United Nations Security Council itself had approved the sending troops in support of South Korea against what was a full scale military invasion without provocation. A total of twenty one nations are supposed to have provided support to the United Nations defence of South Korea, but United States of America was the leader with ninety percent of the troops provided for the purpose. After the first two months of war, South Korean Army and the United States forces Korea were almost defeated. But in September 1950, an sea-based United Nations counter-offensive was to be launched at Incheon, to cut off many North Korean troops in South Korea. A group of seven hundred and seventy two student soldiers has the task of staging a diversionary mission at Jangsari Beach in South Korea.

And, what is to follow here, as this is war, and a case of final defence for the South Koreans :: This particular attempt at landing would trick the the North Korean forces into thinking that the opposition forces would be soon launching a decisive invasion there would distract the North Koreans from Incheon. But the waves are very high and there is a shortage of landing boats. The student soldiers have no idea what they are doing, and the only thing they has done since getting into the ship, is vomitting. This seems to be a strange and impossible mission on the beach for the students who are trained at nothing except a little boot camp time, while highly trained North Korean defence await on the shores. Can they succeed in this, or will they at least dare to try, as North Korea is very close to making its dreams of one Korean peninsula under them? How long can the South’s resistance at the Nakdong River in the southernmost region stand, and how good is the United Nations in stopping this?

The defence of The Battle of Jangsari :: As you might have expected, there is war written on it right from the beginning, as far as The Battle of Jangsari is concerned. With a thunderstorm seemingly around, we know that there will be no smooth sailing in the movie for the troops, and it is certainly a kind of foreshadowing. The movie is full of some nicely worked out scenes of war, with battle tanks, guns and landmines never ceasing to come up on the screen, as one battle follows the other. There are also those emotional sequences, as some of the soldiers even have a tale to tell, and we also come to know that this is a hopeless situation, from where an escape seems to be too distant. The area where the battles are fought is perfect to provide those nice visuals too. The performances are all good, especially considering the fact that we have a young cast here. Lee Ho-Jung plays the only female among the soldiers, and she does a fine job too.

The claws of flaw :: With a premise and an idea like this, the movie could have achieved a lot more for sure. As it gets near the end, things begin to get more and more predictable, even though there is no certainty about who all will be the ones to survive. The battles could have been more, and we needed to see more of the battles happening in other parts of Korea, at least as a quick reminder. Megan Fox’s character is underused, and there is not much being done to create a change there. The movie also suffers from the absence of female characters, both on the battlefield, and also outside. With Megan around, there could have been more, maybe even with the help of a flashback that goes far behind before the North Korean invasion started. For someone who is coming from outside countries like Korea, Russia, United States of America, Japan, United Kingdom and China, maybe people could use a little bit more of information on this war which hasn’t been known much at this part of the world.

How it finishes :: As far as The Battle of Jangsari as a war movie is concerned, there was lot more to be taken, but it doesn’t do that. It is still a fine film with a forgotten episode of war, which will always be something of interest. As we are not that familiar with this particular war in comparison to the World Wars and the Cold War, this could a fine new experience for us, as the Korean perspective only becomes more interesting. The war with some extraordinary deeds of courage, and an emotional touch which keeps getting stronger towards the end, makes The Battle of Jangsari a movie which needs to be watched. As we take a look at a movie on Korean War which might be the first film most us around here watch based on a war from that side, this might be a war movie you will recommend to many others. After all, there is some history around here, and most of the war movies teach you that, mostly from one side of the battling nations. They have surely kept this one simple and enjoyable.

Release date: 25th September 2019
Running time: 103 minutes
Directed by: Kwak Kyung-taek, Kim Tae-hoon
Starring: Kim Myung-min, Megan Fox, Choi Min-ho, Kim Sung-cheol, Kim In-kwon, Kwak Si-yang, Jang Ji-Gun, Lee Ho-Jung, Lee Jae-wook, Dong Bang-Woo, George Eads, Jeong Jong-Jun, Kim Min-Kyu