Seoul Station (2016)

Life is full of difficult decisions. Some more difficult than others. I have been lucky enough to attend the Edinburgh International Film Festival annually for the better part of the past decade, and often with a press pass (thanks to my time writing for Flickfeast). And it was an absolute treat for me, despite trying to cram in five or six movies a day for ten days. I would get the schedule and pick films, often based on nothing more than the timings. This allowed me to enjoy some very pleasant surprises, but also led me to some disappointments. One of those disappointments was me missing out on a chance to watch Seoul Station, an animated zombie movie that I thought sounded interesting. That disappointment was compounded over time when I saw Train To Busan, an excellent zombie movie that many horror fans immediately fell in love with. Seoul Station is a prequel to that movie, although it takes a very different approach to the zombie epidemic framework of the narrative.

The film focuses on Hye-sun (voiced by Shum Eun-kyung), a young woman who has run away from her pimp and is currently struggling to make a better life with her boyfriend, Ki-woong (Lee Joon). The two get separated during the start of an outbreak of zombieism (with Seoul Station the point of origin for the infection), and Ki-woong ends up on a search for Hye-sun, accompanied by her daddy, Suk-gyu (Ryu Seung-ryong). 

Written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho, Seoul Station is a very interesting take on the zombie movie. Not only is it a very different beast from Train To Busan, it's also very different from many other modern zombie movies that seem to have the social commentary in the mix by accident. This is a very pointed film, shining a bright light on the class divide and the problems that can affect the most unfortunate citizens of South Korea. And it's done in a way that perfectly balances the personal stories with the zombie carnage.

The voice cast do well enough, although they're part of a very effective audio tapestry that complements the animation throughout. Horror fans may be disappointed by the fact that things aren't as wild and gory as the format could allow them to be, but there's a decent amount of bloodshed, although the style is realistic and restrained throughout much of the runtime. 

There's not too much else to say about the film though. It's a solid bit of entertainment, it's a good little slice of animated horror, and it nicely kicks off what would become a trilogy of diverse and interesting zombie movies. Worth a watch. And if you don't like it, or have little time for animated horror movies, . . . the next instalment will reward your patience.

8/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews