'Seoul Station' (2016)

After finishing 'Survivor' the other day, there's no way I'll be reading anything, that's not a comic book, any time soon. 'Survivor' is just too intense for me to be able to just click my fingers and be on to the next book without a second thought; sometimes you just have to sit and let those 'book feelings' just work their way through you.

So, what's a Graeme to do in the meantime? Well, last night saw me get started on a 're-watch' that I've been wanting to do for a while. Nothing too major or long-term, I enjoy a good zombie film (and several bad ones too, I'm 'equal opportunities when it comes to zombie films) and thought it was way past time that I gave 'Seoul Station' and 'Train to Busan' another watch. So I did, kicking it off with the prequel to 'Train to Busan', 'Seoul Station'...

As the sun sets around Seoul Station, an old man thought to have died sinks his teeth into the warm flesh of a homeless person. Soon, the streets are filled with vicious zombies desperate to feed.

Hae-sun, a runaway, witnesses the frightening sight while her father Suk-gyu and boyfriend desperately search for her. As the attacked become the attackers, the government declares a lock out of the station, leaving the uninfected to struggle desperately against the dangerous undead. With zombie numbers exploding, people without a home to return to, now have to flee without a place to run to, in order to survive.

It always sounds slightly weird saying this but I spent quite the enjoyable hour and a half, last night, watching people being chased around a city, trying their hardest not to the eaten by the ravenous hordes of the undead. I'm really hoping that you know what I mean... ;o)

The funny thing is though, while I enjoyed watching 'Seoul Station' it's a very lightweight film that doesn't leave much of a lasting impression. Tense and scary it may be (it is, very much so) it's just not particularly memorable. People die, others run, zombies chase them; rinse and repeat.

The animation looks lovely and there is a twist, right at the end, which was worth the price of entry by itself. There's also a sweet little theme running through the book) says that basically, we should all be a lot nicer to each other so we run less risk of caught up in an infestation of the hungry undead... While I agree with that message, it felt like it was being jammed into the plot when perhaps a little more if a subtle approach would have been useful here.

It's not all bad though. Like I said, there are moments of real tension and for every jump scare that you see coming, there are four or five that you don't anticipate and then it's far to late. I had fun watching 'Seoul Station', I just can't remember anything about the plot. I'm not sure if that's the film's fault, or mine, but it's not a good look for the film as a whole.

Oh well, on to 'Train to Busan' it is then...