Review of Train to Busan (2016) by Nbfc — 09 Jan 2018

Imagine the fast fire-ant-like zombies of World War Z combined with the Die Hard-on-a-train setting of Under Siege 2: Dark Territory and the grittiness of The Walking Dead. Except you know, actually good unlike WWZ and without the non-acting of Steven Seagal….

Horror and action can be very tricky genres to mesh together since the former is reliant on tension from the protagonist being powerless and the latter draws thrills from showcasing a protagonist being powerFULLY triumphant over an obstacle. Probably one of the best example of action-horror that immediately comes to my mind is Zack Snyder’s 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.

However, this South Korean entry in the over-crowded zombie apocalypse genre manages to stand out with it’s lean-mean pacing, diverse cast of characters, committed performances and nail-biting intense sequences while still managing to have a touching emotional core. There is also a clever subtle subtext of class warfare in the vein of another train-centric action film (Snowpiecer).