Zombie for Sale

After proving they could up the international zombie ante with Train to Busan, South Korea certainly earned enough goodwill to try their hand at a "zom-com."  And, ironically enough, Zombie for Sale shares many surface similarities with last year's Best Picture winner, Parasite, to boot, following a family of ne'er-do-well country bumpkins who make their fortune after discovering their pet zombie is actually a valuable fountain of youth.

 

The product of a drug experiment gone wrong, Jjong-Bi rises from his makeshift grave and stumbles into the sticks looking for an easy meal.  But his zombie skills aren't quite up to snuff and, after biting the Park family patriarch, he's mistaken for an ordinary hobo and locked up in the garage where he becomes a source of fascination for the equally ostracized daughter, Hae-Gul.

 

Their budding romance is interrupted by the discovery that Jjong-Bi's bite gives his victims unexpected youth and vitality, prompting the Park family intentionally infect most of their friends and neighbors for a quick buck.  But the effect is only temporary and the side effects are even worse, creating an army of the angry undead...who all want their money back!

 

The debut feature of director Lee Min-jae, Zombie for Sale is front-loaded with humorous musical cues and forced precociousness.  But the filmmaker eventually finds his way, leaning on strong acting, colorful characters and a Warm Hearts-style romance that pays off despite its predictability.  Building off a warped sense of community, zombies are merely a convenient delivery method to tell the story of the Park family's rise and fall...and eventual resurrection.   The third-act does finally get around to the expected zombie-apocalypse, but Lee Min-jae's film wisely avoids any guts and gore that would undercut the comedy.

 

Zombie for Sale is an offbeat charmer with its roots in the small-town-under-siege films of the '50s (using the same DNA Tremors did in the '80s), but told in a slick, tongue-in-cheek modern style.  Not only does the film look fantastic, but it has its heart in the right place too.  For once, it's nice not to have to choose one or the other.

 

Arrow Video's Blu-ray is a stellar way to watch this one for the first time.  Extras include an audio commentary, Q & A, Making Of, Behind-the-Scenes footage, trailer and collector's booklet with writing on the film by Josh Hurtado.

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