{"id":20986,"date":"2020-08-01T23:20:16","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T06:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=20986"},"modified":"2020-08-01T23:20:16","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T06:20:16","slug":"blu-ray-review-zombie-for-sale-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=20986","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray Review: ZOMBIE FOR SALE (2019)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Special Edition Blu-ray is currently available from\nArrow Video (www.arrowvideo.com<\/a> \u2013 <\/strong>www.facebook.com\/ArrowVideo\/<\/strong><\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Most of the planet is now familiar with Bong Joon Ho, the South\nKorean filmmaker behind the Academy Award-winning Parasite<\/em> (not to\nmention other great titles like The Host<\/em>, Snowpiercer<\/em> and Okja<\/em>).\nHowever, it\u2019s important to note that the entire country is filled with cinematic\ntalent. While Zombie for Sale<\/em> aka The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale<\/em> has\na more comedic slant and didn\u2019t receive a wide release in this part of the\nworld, it was another recent hit in its homeland that adapts a well-worn genre\nand adds in a sprinkling of humor and satire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, Arrow Video premiered the film on Blu-ray in North America. This debut feature from Lee Min-jaw is a very fun horror\/comedy and an excellent disc that will provide plenty of thrills and entertainment to genre fans, in addition to those who would simply like to enjoy more cinema from other parts of the globe. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie opens with news that scientific experiments by a big pharma company have resulted in the mysterious deaths of several test subjects. When one experimental-figure-turned-zombie (Ga-ram Jung) climbs out of a grave and wanders into a rural village, he is initially taunted by children and called a hobo. However, the disheveled corpse eventually finds his way to a gas station\/garage owned by an eccentric family of scam artists, including a pair of bickering brothers (Jung Jae-young and Kim Nam-gil) and a pregnant, tough-as-nails spouse (Uhm Ji-wo). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When the protagonists determine that the visitor is undead\nand the family patriarch (Park In-hwan)is nibbled on, they become fearful\nof what will follow (and even watch flicks like Train to Busan<\/em> to find\nout more about zombies). However, instead of the old man turning into a\nmonster, he becomes a picture of health and feels revitalized. Even more strangely,\nthe walking corpse seems to prefers cabbage to human flesh. In fact, the clan decide\nto keep him and name him Jjong-Bi. Word soon spreads around town about what has\nhappened to the elderly figure and the family see a financial opportunity. They\nbegin to charge elderly locals to be briefly nibbled on in order to feel\nyounger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Early on, the movie takes great strides to differentiate itself from other undead features. As they become aware of the danger and the fact that their dad might turn violent, it also presents plenty of comic situations. Despite being charlatans and crooks, these characters have a hard time doing harm to people, even when their lives are threatened. The zombie itself is a little unique as well. He\u2019s initially treated like a mere nuisance. Gags like an irritated family member swatting the zombie with a plunger are fun to watch. As the story progresses, he almost comes across as sweet. In fact, he develops a crush on younger family member Hae-gul (Lee Soo-kyung) and follows her around like a puppy when he isn\u2019t devouring cabbages (it\u2019s assumed that the walking corpse must have been a vegetarian when he was alive). The town cops are also entertainingly baffled by the situation and even charge one of the leads with kidnapping after finding the living carcass tied up and incapacitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Overall, the screenplay gets a lot of comedic mileage out of\nthe dynamic between the relatives, as well as their varied takes on how to deal\nwith the unusual predicament. The idea of this condition desirable and\ntherefore marketable is a fresh take on the genre and it results in some great\nmoments, particularly as the zombie becomes welcomed like a new family member\nsimply because of the money he\u2019s bringing to the household. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, things do get out of hand and events begin to\nveer closer to a traditional genre film. In fact, there are obvious and direct references\nto Shaun of the Dead<\/em>, Land of the Dead<\/em> and a few other famous zombie\npictures. It\u2019s all well-handled and fun to watch, even if these later bits aren\u2019t\nquite as sharp and original as earlier sections of the feature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Horror fans will also be impressed by the photography. This\nis a great-looking widescreen feature with scenic locations. After the gas\nstation gets gussied up due to the sudden cash flow and threatening zombies\narrive, there are plenty of impressively lensed gags at night involving lights\nand fireworks. It\u2019s also hilarious to see family members run from packs of the\nundead, all captured using slow-motion tracking shots (at one point, the characters\nexpel subtitled comments out of their panicked, slow-moving mouths). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the film might have been better off not paying homage to\nso many other familiar flicks during its final act, Zombie for Sale<\/em> offers\na very enjoyable take on the undead that presents enough new material (especially\nin its first two-thirds) to entertain and make a lasting impression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Because this is an Arrow Video release, the Blu-ray arrives\nwith plenty of extras. It includes a festival Q&A featuring director Lee\nMin-jae in which he describes how the idea for the film came to him and discusses\nworking with his wife (who wrote the screenplay). There is a making-of\nfeaturette and behind the scenes footage that details aspects of the production,\nas well as a commentary featuring film critics who discuss the movie in detail and\nhow it fits into the South Korean film model. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most helpful bonus for viewers in this part of world\nis the video essay about South Korean cinema and the common motifs found in\nthese pictures. It\u2019s explained that many of these features satirize authority\nfigures and focus on leads on the fringes of society who are struggling to make\nends meet. The approach allows the filmmakers to subtly comment on the\nsuffering of the lower classes and how hard done by many families are by the government\nand upper classes. The segment includes discussions and examples of the family-in-peril\/anti-authority\nfilms like The Host<\/em>, Going by the Book<\/em>, Castaway on the Moon<\/em>,\nTrain to Busan<\/em> and Parasite<\/em>. It does an excellent job of detailing\nall the familiar themes and satirical elements of South Korean cinema. If films\nfrom this nation are new to you, this is an enlightening piece.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zombie for Sale<\/em> is another effective title from the region. It delivers plenty of laughs as well as some deeper subtext that leaves one with more to think about after the credits roll. It\u2019s an excellent debut feature and one looks forward to future titles from this filmmaker. Arrow Video\u2019s release is wonderful as well, with a beautiful transfer and some excellent extras that may even inspire viewers to seek out more titles from this part of the world. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Special Edition Blu-ray is currently available from Arrow Video (www.arrowvideo.com \u2013 www.facebook.com\/ArrowVideo\/). Most of the planet is now familiar with Bong Joon Ho, the South Korean filmmaker behind the Academy Award-winning Parasite (not to mention other great titles like The Host, Snowpiercer and Okja). However, it\u2019s important to note that the entire country is filled with cinematic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[197,3067,3073,4660,7283,8031,9319,11338,11748,12213,12216,15735,17693,18754,24791,24794,24795,24796,24797],"class_list":["post-20986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-197","tag-blu-ray","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-comedy","tag-family","tag-ga-ram-jung","tag-horror","tag-jung-jae-young","tag-kim-nam-gil","tag-lee-min-jaw","tag-lee-soo-kyung","tag-park-in-hwan","tag-satire","tag-south-korean","tag-zombie","tag-zombie-for-sale","tag-zombie-for-sale-blu-ray-review","tag-zombie-for-sale-film-review","tag-zombie-for-sale-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}