Zombie for Sale is about how drugs can make your afterlife better than whatever it is you’re doing now. That’s right, kids…it’s a post Romero societal allegory with cannibalism. A Korean pharmaceutical makes a bunch of zombies. One escapes, bites an old man and we’ve got the best commercial for Cialis ever made. Screw old people holding hands in tubs, we got chompers.
Korean cinema really has a way with horror. Flipping out around a tale about too many pharmaceuticals being society into a Korean family exploiting a relative for personal gain feels familiar. If they went with a People Under The Stairs vibe, they could’ve won Best Picture.
When it comes to foreign horror releases, something hits my eye weird. The Korean Cinema market loves their bright colors and that’s cool. However, the juxtaposition of a lot of the kinetic scenes throws off my gaze. It’s not that big of a problem, but it defeats the benefit of momentum when watching a film.
Horror thrives when you can get swept up in the action onscreen. Between Zombie for Sale never knowing when to go for the laugh or for the gore, the momentum shifts kinda felt deflated. If that’s the worst thing to happen in Zombie for Sale, then we’re doing OK.
The Blu-ray comes with a new commentary, video essay, featurettes and a Q&A as the special features. I love it when foreign genre releases come loaded like this. However, it still didn’t make me totally love the movie. It’s worth giving a shot and I’d love to hear others try to sell me on the ending.
