Move over Godzilla. There’s a new giant monster on the loose in Asia that’s bound to become a classic and it’s Memories of Murder director Bong Joon-ho’s mix of Toho-style mayhem and zesty Alien scares done in the politically aware pulp style of Larry Cohen’s Q—The Winged Serpent.
Formaldehyde dumped years ago into the Han River causes a humungous tadpole mutation that unfurls under South Korean bridges to attack Seoul natives. A distraught but gormless father somehow manages to avoid military capture and survive a lobotomy before entering the cavernous sewers to locate and save his missing daughter. High drama combines with Jaws-style shocks from the terrific CGI monster (supervised by Kevin Rafferty of Star Wars fame) in this corker of a Korean creature feature that will set the pulse pounding the heart racing. A festival highlight.
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THE FAIRIES OF BLACKHEATH WOOD
director Ciaran Foy
IRELAND, 2006. COLOUR. DOLBY
STEREO. 4 MIN.