Zombie shows and movies like The Walking Dead have come and gone, and people love them. While The Walking Dead has been around for ages now, it’s still fun to diverge from the franchise and find other zombie projects that are just as good, if not better.
For me, there has always been one film that has stood out among the rest of the zombie flicks. From the moment I watched it, I knew I would be forever changed by it. It’s one of the best zombie horror films of all time, and it's Train to Busan.
What is Train to Busan?
If you’ve lived under a zombie-sized rock over the last 10 years or so, let me tell you what Train to Busan is about.
The premise is that a young man traveling on a high-speed train in Korea to another city is suddenly faced with a brutal reality: a zombie apocalypse has begun. The outbreak has spread to the train. Now, he must somehow keep himself and his young daughter alive while protecting her from civilians who would rather sacrifice others for their own lives.
Honestly, from the premise, there’s nothing here that sounds relatively different from most zombie films. It features a main character trying to protect a younger character and doing whatever it takes to get there. Yes, the train aspect is good, but what makes it better than others?
The story is so well-done
I truly believe that because we have been around the block once or twice with heartbreaking deaths in The Walking Dead, someone important dying in a zombie movie doesn’t surprise us. This is a zombie movie, of course, and people are going to get bitten, torn apart, or mangled. That’s just how it is.
The way Train to Busan paints its characters and presents them to the audience somehow hits harder. Maybe it’s because we have less time with them, so we get close to who they are and what they stand for very quickly.
When someone dies in this film, it hurts. Usually it’s through protecting someone else. Other times, it’s through a satisfying death that rivals those of The Walking Dead. You truly come to care for these characters in such a short timeframe.
What also makes this story stand out is the single setting — the train. We don’t see many other locations throughout the film. Keeping all the action and gore in this one spot is perfect.
And the last thing? The relationship between the father and daughter. Actor Gong Yoo and the little actress who plays his daughter, Kim Su-an, are perfect. Seok-woo (Yoo’s character) portrays that utter devotion that goes into loving someone more than yourself and the sacrifice that it takes. And it’s just such a beautiful thing in a film that is filled with so much pain and destruction. And the ending is just killer.
The gore is also amazing
This is just a side note, but I must admit that the gore in this film is top-notch, out of this world. I’m not a super big gore girl, mainly because sometimes it’s almost too much. Body horror, for me, is an “eh” subject because even though I can get through the films, that doesn’t mean I necessarily enjoy it all the time.
That said, the zombies in Train to Busan are terrifying, vicious, and so well done that I am confident I wouldn't survive in this world whatsoever. With the walkers in The Walking Dead, I think I’d have a fighting chance. But here? Nah, it’s zombie dinner.
I can’t get over this film. The director, Yeon Sang-ho, has another zombie film releasing later this year, so you might as well check this out first. Trust me, you won’t regret a single second of it. This is the type of zombie horror film you will recommend to others for years to come — and be responsible for the change in their lives, too.
And if you happen to love this kind of film, check out the Netflix South Korean zombie show Kingdom. The gore is similar, but it's just a great story, and it's perfect for fans of The Walking Dead, just like this film is.
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