Jun

22

2008

The Guard Post (GP 506)

Posted by luna6

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Movie: The Guard Post (GP 506)
Release Date: April 3, 2008
Country: South Korea
Director: Su-chang Kong
Starring: Ho-jin Jeon, Hyeon-jae Jo, Young-hoon Lee
Runtime: 123 min
Editor Rating: 6.0
Users Rating: 7.2 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars (10 votes)

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From Su-chang Kong, writer & director of the horror/war film “R-Point,” comes his second film also dealing with the military and having horror film elements. Set in a heavily fortified military base along the Korean DMZ, GP-506 weaves a gripping mystery that just may make you scream.

In the heavily fortified DMZ between the two Koreas, the South’s Guard Post 506 has experienced mystifying events on a cataclysmic scale. 20 soldiers are reported dead, leaving one sole survivor at GP 506.

Higher level military authorities scramble to uncover the mysteries behind these deaths and appoint Sergeant Noh, considered the best in the military, to lead the investigation. The deaths are particularly sensitive, because one of the victims is thought to be Lt. Yoo, the son of the Army’s Chief of General Staff. Making things more difficult for Sergeant Noh is that the Army has given him until 6 AM to finish his investigation.

The investigation group arrive at GP 506 under torrential rains, resulting in the investigative group becoming trapped within GP 506 themselves. They find a comatose Corporal Kang with axe in hand. A video tape is also discovered of Corporeal Kang stating his intentions to kill the entire unit at GP 506. Then, Lieutenant Yoo is found alive but severely traumatized. The minutes tick away, 6 AM is quickly approaching , while the investigation team at GP 506 uncover even more startlingly secrets.

What works in favor of “The Guard Post” is that spooky mystery-in-a-military-base setting. The story is also well crafted, unpredictable, and creepy enough to make you jittery at all times. The film also features another strong performance from South Korean acting vet Ho-jin Jeon (My Lovely Week/The Shim’s Family) in the starring role. There’s also Young-hoon Lee, having made quite an impression in the gay pic “No Regret,” appearing in his second ever film.

The Achilles heel for the “The Guard Post” would clearly be its production value. Visually, the film looks low budget, similar to those grade B military movies you see on late night cable TV. I found this distracting enough to become a barrier to the movie’s ability to draw you into its world. And that’s a shame, as the story and the film itself is of the type where it begs you to become completely immersed in its world. Flashbacks were also not as clearly delineated as it could have been, but it also sometimes added another layer of suspense to the movie.

If anything, “The Guard Post” almost begs for a remake with better production values. That’s not to say you shouldn’t check out “The Guard Post.” It certainly is one of the more unique horror films made to date, especially if you like your horror with lots of mystery.

buy The Guard Post from YesAsia

Cast:
Ho-jin Jeon - Sergeant Major Seong-gyu Noh
Hyeon-jae Jo - 1st Lt. Jeong-u Yoo
Young-hoon Lee - Corporal Jin-won Kang
Jeong-heon Lee - Doctor
Tae-seong Yu - 1st Lt. Bang
Kyu-han Choi
Ki-won Yang
Byung-ho Son - cameo
Won-sang Park - cameo


If you like this movie you may enjoy: The Black House


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2008 Movie Reviews, Korean Movies, Movie Reviews, Movies |

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7 Comments so far

  1. 7 free life ins coverage Says: August 8, 2008

    free life ins coverage…

    rawness relentless tastes regress:rhombic!nostrils …

  2. 6 luna6 Says: June 27, 2008

    Hey Rico,
    I do remember when the movie talked about the origins of the virus. Answer might not be satisfactory but when the soldiers went out, they mentioned the DMZ area and that its been largely uninhabited for 50 years and could have had military experiments etc…. so the answer is that the origins are unknown … just the area is conducive to the unknown… (whistle to yourself the twilight zone theme) ….mysterioussss

  3. 5 Rico Says: June 27, 2008

    I have seen it this week and i liked it but i keep wondering;

    spoiler alert

    where does the virus come from, and what was it? Was it maybe a chemical weapon to make te perfect soldier who can feel no pain ?

  4. 4 luna6 Says: June 23, 2008

    PL: as stated in the review “GP 506″ isn’t a pure horror per se. Out of curiosity let me know what you think about the film whenever you watch it. cheers..

  5. 3 PrincelyLuna Says: June 22, 2008

    hey … i also love Young Hoon Lee in No Regrets (and Lee Han too)!! i’ve been hoping that he would act in more movies. not a fan of horror movies but since he’s in it, i think i’ll watch this.

  6. 2 luna6 Says: April 4, 2008

    Heh, I’ve never seen Ki-duk Kim’s The Coast Guard, but I do see the similarities with name and poster. No idea if this one is going to be good or not, but it stands out a bit plot wise at least. Looking forwards to watching Young-hoon Lee perform again, as he was excellant in No Regrets. Cheers Frenchie…

  7. 1 elvyse Says: April 4, 2008

    For a sec I thought “Wait wasn’t this movie released a few years ago!?” and then I recall “Oh no, it was The Coast Guard”! :)