Quarantine Binge: "Train to Busan" (2016) Review
Editor’s Note: With no new theatrical releases for the foreseeable future, we will be reviewing a variety of old and new films that are available to stream on popular services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. For a full ranking of films in this series and to find our other reviews, please follow this link.
Plot synopsis courtesy of IMDb.com: “While a zombie virus breaks out in South Korea, passengers struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan.”
Directed by: Sang-ho Yeon (The King of Pigs)
Written by: Sang-ho Yeon
Starring: Yoo Gong (Finding Mr. Destiny), Yu-mi Jung (Our Sunhi) and Dong-seok Ma (The Ganster, the Cop, the Devil)
Train to Busan is rated TV-MA.
Train to Busan may not be a familiar title to moviegoers in the United States, but the South Korean horror film still has the third-highest opening weekend gross of any South Korean film. While it made fewer than $3 million domestically, Train to Busan made more than $92 million worldwide — a significant haul for a film of its size. Following its release on Netflix and Amazon Prime, Train to Busan has gained a sort of cult following among horror fans in the U.S.
Having read a lot about it, I was surprised that Train to Busan felt more like an action film than I expected. Was it scary? Sure. But not in a way that threatened to keep me up all night. When the white-knuckle thrill ride was over I was trying to calm my racing heart and not glancing over my shoulder out of fear or paranoia. Horror is more subjective than most genres, so I am sure many will find this absolutely petrifying. I think zombies are likely not the spine-tingling trigger that other things are for me.
With all that being said, Train to Busan is a blast. It doesn’t try to reinvent the genre or innovate a new plot structure, it knows what audiences want it to be and lives up to essentially every expectation (aside from the fear factor, see previous paragraph). From the direction on down, everyone involved seems to be pulling their weight and it pays off.
Depending on your preferred coping mechanisms, Train to Busan is a perfect late-night watch in the middle of a pandemic. Though anxiety-inducing, it offers a ghastly escape and accompanying sense of comparative relief that our world — at least so far — has been spared from zombies.
Train to Busan feels like it belongs in a boxed set of classic date-night horror movies. Its blend of humor, heart, and horror put it on par with popular scream fests of recent decades, even when forced to overcome the “one-inch barrier of subtitles.” This one is well worth the added reading involved — and feel free to leave a light on.
Reel Rating: 7/10
Train to Busan is available to stream now on Amazon Prime and Netflix.
