At this point in the zombie genre, it is more about doing something new with the idea than anything else and sadly there are tons that come out all the time that fail to offer up anything worth remembering. In 2017, Well Go USA brought one of the better films in the genre to US audiences with Train To Busan from director Yeon Sang-ho who followed it up in 2020 with the sequel Peninsula. Now he is returning to the genre with his latest film Colony starring Gianna Jun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Shin Hyun-been, Kim Shin-rock, and GO Soo. Could this zombie flick bring more of the same from director Sang-ho or will it not be worth the infection?

 

Colony follows Professor Se-jeong who is thrust into a bloody nightmare when a rapidly mutating virus is released during a biotech conference causing authorities to seal the facility. Trapped inside with no escape, Se-jeong along with a small group of survivors must fight to stay alive while the infected undergo horrific transformations.

 

This film has a simple premise that is just complicated enough to set things in motion for the chaos that is going to ensue, and it wastes no time getting there. One of the things I loved about Train to Busan is that it hits the ground running and is a gore filled marathon from start to finish and this one keeps that same formula. To be clear these are not zombies per se, but infected people more along the lines of the rage virus victims in 28 Days Later with a new spin that makes them more terrifying.

 

The whole thing reminded me of a mix of Train to Busan and Dawn of the Dead in the best possible way. Per usual despite the chaotic infected trying to kill everyone around them, it’s the humans that are always the issue. This time quite literally in every way and it’s an interesting twist to the cause of it all. There are the stereotypically selfish characters and jerks that you can’t wait to be killed but just gives you more to look forward to with the expected violence.

 

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