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Plague has "plagued" the country for years now, but general
Yun Kyum (Kim Myung-Min) has long retired to deep deep in the woods in the
middle of nowhere with his right hand man Sung Han (Kim In-kwon) to raise
his foster daughter Myung (Lee Hyeri), whom they have once saved from a
plague pit when she was a mere toddler. But then King Jung Jong (Park
Hee-soon) requests his services again, as a monster is roaming the
countryside, killing people and spreading the plague, and that nobody has
ever seen the monster and lived to tell makes it all the more horrific. So
the three of them, accompanied by royal court officer Hur (Choi Woo-sik)
set out to investigate - and soon run into heavy opposition as it seems a
rival of the King has only made up the whole story of the monster to take
over the throne at an opportune time. But then the actual monster shows
up, and it sure is vicious - and it's more than doubtful that our heroes
(or anyone) will survive the encounter ...
Above everything else, Monstrum is just great fun as it
seemlessly blends horror, martial arts, period drama and comedy and walks
through all of it light-footedly, thanks to an intelligent script that
focuses on more than just mainstays and brings intrigue what could in
lesser hands been mere spectacle, an elegant directorial effort with a
focus on pace and tension, fun characters embodied by a competent cast,
and last but not least a pretty cool creature. Should be entertaining for
every genre fan for sure.
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