Spook Out! Day 4 ~ #Alive (in Korean w/English subtitles, 2020)

Netflix Says...
"As a grisly virus rampages a city, a lone man stays locked inside his apartment, digitally cut off from seeking help and desperate to find a way out."

I Say...
I got the sense he was more an older teenager than a grown man (he lived with his parents and sis and apologized to his probs-dead-dad for tapping into his liquor), and he didn't so much try to "find a way out" as he was just trying to survive till help arrived. Actually, none of the summaries I saw did a great job...

Horror Type...
Zombies, Siege-Movie

Main Players...

Yoo Ah-In as Oh Joon-woo (Gamer Boy)

Park Shin-Hye as Kim Yoo-bin (Girl with Gumption)

Lee Hyun-Wook as Sang-cheol (Nuanced Neighbor)

I liked...

• the creepy af zombies, from their Thriller-dance-like transformations, to their bleeding eyes, to their speed (they're runners, y'all), and ingenuity (they can open doors and freaking CLIMB STUFF!)
• Joon-woo's sweetness, from missing his fam, to his relief at discovering a living girl in his apartment complex, to how he managed to get some Nutella over to her--super adorbz kid who really wasn't ready to be a hero but became one anyway
• the moments of humor that lighten the tension (like, when there are still news broadcasts, Joon-woo's annoyance at the commercial breaks--for realz, kid, you'd think advertisers would chill during a zombie apocalypse)
• the synthy soundtrack, especially over the gorgeously terrifying opening credits
• that both kids kept it together enough to make use of all forms of tech available, from low (walkie talkies) to high (social media which, as it happens, proves not to be the villain, for once)

The Meh...
I feel like the theatrical poster gives the wrong impression. Like, you see that image of the guy and girl swarmed by zombies and you think it's going to be action-packed like the extraordinary Train to Busan, but it ain't. In fact, it drags in places and (I hate that I did it, but) I reached for my phone a few times while screening this. There's a better image on #Alive's Rotten Tomatoes page, showing Joon-woo taking risky action as he tries to get a cell-signal, that I think represents the film much better.

Would I recommend it...?

Sure! The tender-hearted may squirm at some of the zom-gore but the dramatic elements throughout are worth it.

Miscellany...

I actually expected social media to be more prevalent throughout the film, with #Alive cropping up among survivors regularly, however that wasn't the case (freaking cell-signals getting gobbled up within apartment complexes, dudes, I totes have felt that pain). Note to self: buy some walkie talkies, a crank-to-power radio, and a drone, just in case. (Hmmm...given the surreality of 2020 so far, I probably shouldn't joke about that, huh?)

Ratings...

My Grade: B+

Rotten Tomatoes Scores: Tomatometer=89%, Audience Score=60%

Details, Schmeetails...

Watch #Alive on Netflix

Check it out on IMDb

Learn more about it on Wikipedia (Contains Spoilers)

This concludes Day 4 of

Thanks for reading and come back tomorrow...

IF YOU DARE