Project Wolf Hunting
This South Korean sci-fi/action/horror import is insubstantial, but definitely not gutless.
Film Yap is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
“Project Wolf Hunting” (available on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD beginning Tuesday, Feb. 14) most assuredly isn’t for the faint of heart. The South Korean sci-fi/action/horror import is certainly one of 2022’s bloodiest and gnarliest flicks. I don’t think it’s quite as extreme as “The Sadness” nor “Terrifier 2,” but it ain’t far off. Imagine “Con Air” transported to a cargo freighter with elements of the “Resident Evil” video games and the “Universal Soldier” movies thrown in for good measure and you’ve got the general idea.
A group of fleeing criminals have been apprehended and are being transported from Manila, Philippines to Busan, South Korea. There’s tattooed serial killer/rapist Park Jong-doo (Seo In-guk), quiet loner with a secret Lee Do-il (Jang Dong-yoon), husband murderer Choi Myeong-joo (Jang Young-nam) and roly-poly gangster Go Geon-bae (Ko Chang-seok) amongst many others.
Overseeing the prisoners’ transport and well-being are police officers Lee Seok-woo (Park Ho-san) and Lee Da-yeon (Jung So-min), cowardly doctor Lee Kyeong-ho (Lee Sung-wook) and beer-thirsty nurse Song Ji-eun (Hong Ji-yoon).
Things get bloody quickly when Jong-doo slips his cuffs and starts killing cops, but he’s hardly the biggest threat on the boat … that’d be Alpha (Choi Gwi-hwa), an ageless genetic experiment dating back to World War II with stapled eyes and the strength of five men looming in the lower decks.
“Project Wolf Hunting” has more characters than it does plot and neither of ‘em are especially well-developed. All these folks are grist for the grinder. This movie has arterial spray for days (rumor has it 2.5 tons of fake blood was spilled during production). It’s the sort of flick where someone rips off another man’s arm and beats him to death with it. This ain’t for the “80 for Brady” crowd.
Writer/director Kim Hong-seon definitely shows promise. I’d love to see his showmanship grafted to something more substantive. There’s very little here besides grody grandiosity - albeit capably captured grody grandiosity - but it becomes repetitive after a bit … especially with a 2-hour-plus runtime.
I must admit I probably didn’t watch the film under ideal circumstances … solo in bed on a laptop with headphones. “Project Wolf Hunting” is probably best enjoyed with buddies and brewskies whooping and hollering at the biggest screen with the loudest sound possible. Fans of Gareth Evans’ “The Raid” pictures or Timo Tjahjanto’s “Headshot” or “The Night Comes for Us” will likely glom onto Hong-seon’s boat of brutality … even if it’s not as accomplished as those movies. I’m open to a revisit under the circumstances described earlier. I’m also open to the rumored prequel and sequel. Here’s hoping Hong-seon’s got some other tricks up his sleeve for these outings however.