Colony

I’m a sucker for Korean cinema. I obviously can’t speak for all genres, but when it comes to action and especially horror, Korea really has no issue going with bonkers storylines and against the grain plot elements. Colony is not necessarily the best representation of that, but the way certain characters behave and evolve throughout the movie kept me guessing instead of simply following the usual horror movie tropes. The actors are all solid and the characters they portray are believable, you know, for the setting that is. Nobody feels especially wasted and the performances do their job without getting in the way. The plot works too. Look, it’s a zombie movie. We don’t need Shawshank Redemption levels of depth here. Give me a decent outbreak, some characters worth following and enough carnage to keep things moving and I’m generally happy. I’m not necessarily a fan of the slime mold fungal jizz aspect of it, but I get what they were going for. The infected share information and learn from each other through this fungal network, which is a pretty interesting idea. I just think some parts of it could have been executed better. There are a few scenes where zombies start sticking to each other, seemingly trying to reenact something they have seen or learned, but that whole aspect gets introduced and then kind of forgotten about. Having them actually physically merge into some horrible zomboid cum monstrosities would have added some great body horror. Maybe the budget was the issue. Look, I’m not an accountant. That’s above my pay grade. The setting works well too. Most of the movie takes place inside the Doongwoori Building, but between the stores, hallways, elevators, parking areas and control rooms, it never really feels like everyone is just running around the same place for two hours. Once the movie moves out to the research compound and city streets, it gives the whole thing a little more breathing room. The zombie makeup is great as well. I understand why the slime mold looks like bodily fluids since it is basically the communication highway for the infected, but it was honestly just distracting and not in the arousing way. It just wasn’t for me. Maybe you love it. You take after your mother after all. I’m also personally not a fan of the twitchy spazz style of zombies, but I’m not going to count that against the movie because that is a highly subjective preference when it comes to zombie behavior. The makeup itself looks good and the infected are nasty enough to sell the outbreak. Overall, Colony is a solid Korean zombie movie with an interesting central gimmick, good effects and enough unpredictability to keep things moving. I just wish it had pushed some of its stranger ideas further and maybe dialed the bukkake down a few gallons.