Ruptured Review: The Guard Post

Country of origin- South Korea  
Year of release- 2008  

Director- Su-chang Kong 

Stars - Ho-jin Chun, Hyun-jae Cho, Kyoo-Hwan Choi  

The film follows a team of soldiers who are sent into a guard post on the borderline between North and South Korea. Upon entering Guard Post 506 the team find only two survivors out of the last inhabitants, one of which is soaked in blood and carrying an axe. The government and the military are keen to cover up what actually happened in the guard post to save face, so the investigation team has only a night to uncover what went on and what led to the deaths of 19 of the soldiers formally stationed there, and what caused one of the soldiers to take an axe to his comrades.

The film is told in an immensely unpredictable non-linear narrative, which cuts between the team in the present investigating what happened, and flashbacks of the gradual development of what happened to the previous occupants. This does take some adjustment especially as I was expecting a standard military horror/mystery storyline with a short linear narrative. There are times in which the flashbacks and the present become muddled, which is more due to the increasing similarities they display as the film progresses than poor direction or filmmaking.

The acting is very good throughout the film, and as unit and team dynamics begin to break down as the film moves forward it would have been easy for the cast to go overboard with panic and anger, but everything was kept to a bleak grim pace, with almost no over acting. The cinematography and lighting is without a doubt what gives this film its generally chilling atmosphere, the majority of the film takes place underground within the guard post, and is shot in a very bland, washed out manor reflecting the increasing hopelessness of the both the characters in the present and the characters within the flashbacks.

In terms of gore and bloodshed, this is no slacker. Almost right from the get go there is more than enough practical gore and bloodshed to keep the hounds happy. This is a trend that thankfully continues throughout the film. There is also a considerable amount of well executed gunfights and other similar action scenes that are wonderfully shot and make full use of the practical effects. My only complaint about this film is its 120-minute run time, which does lead to some clock watching and a feeling of the plot dragging somewhat in the middle act.

Overall I really think that once again South Korean cinema shows the West how it should be done. This is a very downbeat, dark military horror/ mystery that doesn’t need tits or CGI to sell itself. I would say that this film will play well to fans of either gore, military horror or tense and mysteries Asian horror, furthermore even the most jaded horror fan (me) will get something out of this one because of the fairly unique plot devices throughout. I’m going to give The Guard Post 7.5/10, well worth seeking out!