With a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes, I was eager to give this South Korean zombie-fest a go despite my laziness with subtitles of late. I am so glad I did! Train to Busan is a bullet-train of a ride–with fabulous acting by Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, the young Su-an Kim, and many, many others–as well as great suspense and special effects all combining to make a top-notch zombie movie I rank right up there with World War Z.
Gong Yoo is Seok-woo, a business-driven father in Seoul whose has custody of–but little time for–his daughter, Soo-an. All Soo-an wants for her birthday is to spend it with her mother in Busan. Reluctanly, Seok-woo agrees to accompany her on the bullet-train for her birthday visit. The timing is both very good and very bad: outside, a new infection causing people to turn into white-eyed/pop-locking/blood-sucking/fast-running zombies is spreading like wildfire; inside, an infected woman has managed to board at the last second. Both occurences are unbeknownst to those on the train.
But soon, word spreads via media outlets about the zombie apocalypse in Busan, and the train riders are both shocked and relieved they are safe. We get to know many of the key passengers: a pregnant woman and her snide husband, a teenage baseball team and a young woman who is infatuated with one of the players, two elderly sisters, a homeless man who has made it onto the train, an older, egocentric businessman, and three of the train’s crew. But, of course, the riders aren’t really safe: the infected woman on the train only needs to infect one more before the train cars become crazed blood baths. Father and daughter are soon fighting for their lives along with their fellow passengers…some of which are new friends; some, new enemies.
With plenty of twists and turns, suspense, non-stop action, full-on emotion, and an ending that is both heartbreaking and hopeful, this movie was a fantastic addition to my 31 Days of Horror. Don’t let the subtitles scare you away!
- Top Scare: Fellow Passengers
- Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
- Gore Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
- Scare Factor: 2 3/4 out of 5
- Recommended for: 15 and up, mostly for gore