Reed Alexander's Horror Review of 'Train to Busan' (2016)

You know, I have to say, I was expecting this to be the next movie on the zombie bandwagon with a typical "cookie-cutter plot." I was expecting just your typical zombie movie in another language. That, in of itself, would have been fine. But I'm just so fucking sick of the typical zombie movie. Nothing has really impressed me since the remake of Dawn of the Dead. Which, by the way, is my all-time favorite zombie movie and number five on my all time favorite horror movie list. I needed Train to Busan to deliver in a serious way... and it fucking did.

Damn, this movie was good. And here's the thing, it didn't necessarily deliver anything new, just better. The acting was straight up amazing, not just for horror, but for Hollywood. I can’t speak for the dialog, of course. It was in another language and I was reading subtitles. There were a ton of characters so they had to be pretty trope-y but that’s okay. The plot was simple yet deeply relatable. The atmosphere was down right gripping. Every train car has its own unique and deadly scenario.

SPOILERS!!!

Here's the most important part. Once this movie gets rolling, it doesn't fucking stop and it only intensifies. They introduce you to two dozen characters, and after the first 10 minutes, they've killed off about half. This movie is oppressively relentless with its gut-wrenching horror. And here's the thing, it's not even over the top gore. It's just what you would expect from a zombie flick.

But god damn, it's a hard watch. They set you up so you really get invested in the characters, regardless of the fucking ridiculous number. It's not like most horror films where you hate the characters so much you want them to die, and wind up taking odds on who goes next. You're really rooting for everyone to survive and I found myself genuinely disappointed when some died. And again, there are DOZENS of these fucking people, and the beginning is just pure slaughter. Do you know how hard it is to invest the audience on some random conductor with less than three minutes of screen time? It’s a fucking feat!

I want you to understand, you're going to get attached to certain characters who seem like they’re going the distance... don't! A bunch of extras lasted longer than actors who were given real speaking rolls.

What I found good about this movie in general is that they established a good zombie. They were runners, which are scientifically the least accurate, but cinematically the best for horror. They didn't rely on cheap jump scares, they were just this ominous, ever-looming threat, which acted as a tormentor. The characters are all divided up by train cars with zombies between them, so you can be certain it's only a matter of time until the zombies somehow breach that very tenuous safety buffer. The pure agony of it bleeds through in every scene. Outside of that, they establish fair rules to their unfair zombies, and the plot just unfolds by itself. In this case the zombies are purely visual. If they don’t see a human, they don’t react.

Besides the kill count, there are no real surprises with the movie. It really is the bare bones of the classic zombie scenario done right. You don't need anything more than that. I must give this movie my recommendation. You know what? I went back and forth on this for a while, but I consider it a must watch.

PS: Try not to cry like a little bitch at the end.