www.rpoint.co.kr
Dir: Kong Su-chang
Cast: Kam Woo-seong, Sohn Byung-ho, Oh Tae-kyung, Park Won-sang
Soldiers go missing
they follow broadcasts from ghosts
soldiers go missing
As regular readers will know I'm a big fan of Far-Eastern horror, but even I am beginning to tire of Asian ghost stories these days. I had hoped that R-Point might offer something a little different, with its Vietnam war setting involving a platoon of haunted soldiers, but no, they still manage to squeeze in the all-too-familiar image of the long-haired young lady somewhere along the way. The film begins with the solitary survivor of a group of soldiers who went missing on an island south of Ho Chi Minh City. He claims they're all dead, yet HQ keep receiving mysterious radio broadcasts from the missing soldiers. A decision is made to send out a second platoon headed by Lt. Choi (Kam) and they duly embark on their mission to seek out their fellow compatriots. Needless to say there's an ancient curse on the island and this latest bunch of soldiers encounter some spooky goings on, and one by one turn against each other... Let's just say that after the first five minutes of this movie you'll have predicted the ending, and you'll be right. The main interest is in seeing how this is accomplished, but even then director Kong isn't quite sure whether he wants to make a straightforward ghost story or just rip off some ideas from The Thing. The story unfolds at a slow pace and is hampered by a cast of characters that are just too interchangeable for you to really make any connection with. It doesn't help that they're supposed to be tough guys, yet as soon as there's a drop of blood spilt they're crying like a bunch of babies! On a more positive note some of the cinematography here is very accomplished, with some great swooping shots over the advancing platoon as they head towards their impending doom, yet the director tends to focus too much on long shots, rather than intercutting with close-ups of the individual characters. In the end it was Matt who summed it up best with his comment, "R-Point? More like R-Pointless!"
soulmining rating: **
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