(1991)
Dir - Chun-Ku Lu
Overall: MEH
Typical Category III Hong Kong silliness, Holy Virgin vs. the Evil Dead, (Moh soen gip), comes from director Chun-Ku Lu, who adds supernatural mysticism into his usual mix of kung fu action. This one is a part police procedural as well, with a college professor, (who can kick anybody's ass with his fists or a machine gun as well as the cops, let alone far better than an army of bad guy henchman who never so much as graze him with a single bullet), joining forces with detectives and a lady shaman who is granted a sword that is the only thing which can kill a Moon Monster. What is a Moon Monster one may ask? Just a sometimes naked guy with long hair who shows up when the moon goes all red and proceeds to rip people's limbs off or bite them while being impervious to gunfire or electrocution via swimming pool. There is plenty of nudity and plenty of laughably implausible action scenes that go on for ages and are not played for laughs, but the movie does start to feel its length under such a barrage. The story's specifics are hardly important and one could probably follow along without reading subtitles if need be, but it delivers all of the wild ingredients that anyone venturing in would hope for.
(1995)
Dir - Park Chul-soo
Overall: GOOD
Taking inspiration from the Jang Jeongil poem "The Cook and the Anorexic", 301, 302 is an odd duck of a thriller, spotlighting two apartment neighbors with conflicting neurotic disorders who find some semblance of disturbed connection, (to say the least). Partly told in lengthy flashbacks, we can make an educated guess early as to the fate of one of the two central tenants whose disappearance is being investigated in the first scene. The inevitable reveal transpires in such a gradual and increasingly unhinged manner without the tone suffering from any schlocky bombast, even if the concept of a woman who is obsessed with food and sex, and another who is repulsed by both is something that could easily be played up for black comedy chuckles. Instead, director Park Chul-soo keeps the material tongue in cheek to the point where no camp is detected. Bang Eun-jin is a stand-out in the comparatively showier roll; dancing, cooking away, and getting flustered when people do not gush over her never-ending stream of exotic dishes. Surreal in its heightened subject matter, but its extremes illuminate the frustrating status quo that women often face in contemporary cultures, pushed to the point of self-isolation in a world whose expectations seem overbearing.
(1999)
Dir - Shim Hyung-rae
Overall: WOOF
What can fairly be described as the worst South Korean film of all time, Yonggary, (Yonggari, Reptilian), brings together the laziest kaiju disaster movie cliches, acting and dialog that is so horrendously awful that it needs to be seen and heard to be believed, plus digital effects that are only a notch or two above those found in Birdemic or The Amazing Bulk. This is one of those confounding trainwrecks that gallons of money was spent on, making it the country's most expensive production before even more time and finances were spent on it two years later in an "upgraded edition" which featured a different plot, new footage, and further CGI shots. For anyone coming in uninitiated, the first set piece where several not-Korean people, (the cast is entirely Caucasian BTW), enter into a cave while overacting like cartoon characters sets a tone that never lets up. One then either has the option to suffer through the entire thing while uncontrollably laughing at it or simply cutting their losses and fleeing before the suffrage goes any further. There is no point in describing a single element to the plot since it has some of everything that giant monster films have long made hack, but the high-octane production mixed with horrendous performances and effects makes this something of an unintentional anomaly of misguided schlock.
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