It seemed that zombies had, if you’ll excuse the pun, been done to death on the big screen in these modern times, with the horror icon seemingly appearing in every other movie causing audiences to gradually become sick and tired of the shuffling, brain-eating monsters. Then 2016’s Train to Busan came along, and suddenly everyone remembered how terrifying zombies can be when they’re done right. Well, director Yeon Sang-ho is returning to the same zombie-infested world with the upcoming sequel Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula and we now have our first glimpse at what we can expect from the undead sequel.
The trailer promises the same intensely gripping, action-packed survival as its predecessor as we delve deeper into the inner workings of this now post-apocalyptic peninsula. Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula looks to be furthering the zombie subgenre even more so than the first movie as we leave the confines of the train and head out into the big, wide, terrifying new world. The movie looks to be paying homage to the zombie icon George A. Romero, particularly 2005’s Land of the Dead and the Mad Max universe. The undead chaos looks to be non-stop as Yeon Sang-ho combines the kind of brutal action and stark imagery that made Train to Busan such a raging success. This may have become this year’s most anticipated horror movie.
Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula picks up four years after South Korea’s total decimation in Train to Busan, Jung-seok, a soldier who previously escaped the diseased wasteland, relives the horror when assigned to a covert operation with two simple objectives: retrieve and survive. When his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the best-or worst-of human nature prevails in the direst of circumstances.
Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula stars Gang Dong-won as Jeong-seok, Lee Jung-hyun as Min-jeong, Lee Re as Joon-i, Kwon Hae-hyo as Elder Kim, Kim Min-jae as Sergeant first class Hwang, and Koo Kyo-hwan as Captain Seo. Actress Lee Jung-hyun who plays one of the survivors, alongside child actress Lee Re, has said previously that he thinks that child character Joon-i will become “more [popular] than Ma Dong-seok [aka Don Lee] in Train to Busan“. Judging by the trailer, it is very possible that the sequel will surpass the first movie in many, many different ways.
The movie will also feature several Train to Busan alumni working on Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula, including cinematographer Lee Hyung-deok, visual effects supervisor Jung Hwang-su, and art director Lee Mok-won. The sequel reportedly has a budget that is double that of its small-scale predecessor so expect things to get bigger, louder and much scarier.
It is also very possible, should Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula prove to be as popular as Train to Busan, that this won’t be the last time we revisit this zombie-riddled world with director Yeon Sang-ho saying “There could be many stories that could keep coming out of that world.”
Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula is scheduled to hit cinemas later this year. This comes to us from KinoCheck International.
