Korea Killer

Zzikhimyeon jukneunda

aka The Record

(2000/Korea)

When a final grade teenage student is constantly picked upon in class, due to his allergies, an attractive female class mate stands up for him, and later invites him along with her friend for the weekend at a secluded summer house retreat.
Their break is disturbed in violent fashion as they are attacked by a group of fellow class mates, who break into the residence and stab the poor young man whilst video taping the events.
What appears to be an unprovoked and vicious attack by the group of males is soon revealed to be an elaborate hoax that the girl was in on, but when the victim of the hi-jinks is discovered to be dead the group of friends are left in a state of shock, and the body along with the taped video evidence has to be disposed of.
There is an incredibly well done visual effect as a coin is thrown into the air to decide upon where it lands, in a pre designated pattern of chosen methods of getting rid of the body, before it hits the ground revealing the course of cremation. The body is laid to rest in a freshly dug open grave, and the video tape is slipped into the trouser pocket of the teenager. Gasoline is poured over the inert form and then set fire to, but in true The Burning (1981) fashion the boy leaps out of the grave, clearly still alive, and runs past the screaming group only to fall off a cliff face, plummeting ablaze into the river below.
In classic horror folklore a year goes by and the sister of the unaccounted for teenager is asking around the school for information, when one of the females responsible for his disappearance evades an attack by a mysterious knife wielding figure, sporting an orange cagoule, a note is left which details a web site that plays the film from the tragic night.
The themes of many western horror stories are played out to recognisable celluloid notables such as, I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) & Friday The Thirteenth (1980) but it is with a pleasing variation in recognition in finding a Korean made outing which doesn’t just plagiarize its predecessors, but actually emulates them as well as injecting several elements of conceptual identity all of its own.
When the almost self advertising near fluorescent orange garbed stalker seeks revenge these teenagers aren’t the normal sit back and be picked off one by one variety, as they go about finding the oppressor in the manner of attack being the best form of defence. This leads to several encounters that actually do not culminate as you might expect. With a juicy smattering of bloody moments and some genuinely well set up sequences, along with the young array of down to earth and non irritating actors on display, as well as several shapely and attractive Korean hotties, The Record is actually an enjoyably rewarding viewing investment worthy of your time.
The expected finale with double end sequence is typically silly, yet in a fun way as the killer is unmasked, but it is the closing moment that delivers the true fan reward in delightfully over the top nonsensical fashion, leaving you with that corny self satisfying sigh of non committed appreciation for such audaciousness. Just for The Record go discover this disc for yourselves, and don’t be discouraged by the so called groovy brigade who dismiss this as just another stalk and slash film, because beneath its obvious veneer is another low budget Korean Killer movie that dares to be a cut above.


Movie Rating: 6/10

The Record (2000)
Review: Paul Cooke / Source NTSC Region Free DVD
Director Gi Hun-Kim & Jong-seok Kim
With Seong-min Kang, Eun-hye Park, Jae-hwan Ahn,
Min Jung, Dal Bae, Jun-Hyeong Bae & Chae-young Han