| Review by: Devon
Bertsch |
| Date:
3/1/06 |
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Director: In Soo Kim
Starring: Hyun-Jung
Kim, Dong-kun Yang, Seung-chae Lee, Jeong-jin
Lee
Screenplay: Seung-jae
Baek, Jin-soo Noh
Music: Jun-Seok Bang,
Young-ook Cho
Country: South Korea
Year: 2000
AKA: Haebyeoneuro Gada
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| I got a bit obsessed with Korean films after having
a particularly good streak with them, seeing great
flicks like Attack the Gas Station,
Volcano High, and Nightmare
in a row. Then I hit The Record,
and decided I didn't need to see everything
coming out of South Korea. A step up from The
Record, but still not great, and further
affirming my choice to not buy everything from Korea,
is Bloody Beach.
The film opens with a bit of flair as we see
a girl from a computer monitor's point of
view. While the movie retains a strong visual
presence, Bloody Beach never
really becomes anything interesting.
A chat group focused around beaches has decided
to get together for a lil' vacation. Just
like in real life, all the chatters are young,
good-looking people. They all seem surprised when
one of them starts killing the others, because
evidently, unlike real life, not all online geeks
are psychotic. Could the murderer be the maladjusted
guy they kicked out of the group? No, it couldn't
be, because he committed suicide. Or did he? Or
didn't he? Or did he? Or who gives a fuck?
Unfortunately, Bloody Beach just
goes on to repeat about 8,241 other teen slasher
flicks.
The film looks good and is sharply done, and
features an attractive cast, but the characters
and story are less engaging than counting the
specks in the film print. Nothing more than a
bit of Korean fluff, it is. There is some splashy
gore like a nice knife though the neck effect,
an interesting 'bloody beach' murder,
and a squirty leg stabbing. Actually, that's
most of the gore, but it is Category III. Not
a HEAVY Category III like, say, Untold Story,
but a Category III nonetheless.
Watch for the girl who just hides and lets a
guy get chopped up like she was in The Texas Chain
Saw Massacre remake. Actually, don't watch
for that 'cause then you'd be watching
a silly movie. |
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| Video |
| Bloody Beach is a newer film,
so the print and transfer are sharp, but there are
a few specks. The movie is presented virtually full
frame (1.40:1). It's a shame that the Chinese
releases of so many Korean films were pan and scan,
as they were often the only way to see a particular
film with English subs. |
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| Audio |
| The film is in Korean with simplified or traditional
Chinese or English subs. The subs are pretty good,
but have a few mistakes, and lack a space after
punctuation, which makes some lines read funny.
The mix is decent, but didn't utilize my stereo
too well. |
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| Extra Features |
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| The Verdict |
| A visually interesting film, where I guess the
intent was style over substance. The style isn't
strong enough to pull that off, which leaves Bloody
Beach very forgettable. If you're
interested in the movie, at least try and track
down a widescreen copy, as there's bound to
be more options available now. |
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| User Comments |
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0 user comments have been posted so far |
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| Regional Coding |
All |
| Format |
NTSC |
| Aspect Ratio |
1.40:1 |
| 16x9 Enhanced? |
No |
| Audio Options |
Korean DD 2.0 |
| Subtitles |
English
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese |
| Country |
Hong Kong |
| Distributor |
Deltamac |
| Running Time |
88 minutes |
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