THE GUARDPOST (aka GP506) movie review

Guardpost, The (aka GP 506) (2008) (1st viewing) d. Kong, Su-chang

When the titular South Korean Army bunker falls incommunicado, an investigative military team is sent in to assess the situation, only to discover a pile of hacked, dismembered corpses and a single deranged survivor. With only a single rainy night to get to the bottom of things and the clock ticking, team leader Cheon Ho-jin (with gravitas to burn) digs through tattered records and gore-streaked remains for answers; rest assured when they ultimately reveal themselves, it ain’t pretty.

Kong, who impressively served up 2004’s military-minded R-Point, works overtime with his flashback-laden narrative, dropping viewers into past/present scenes with little or no warning. Unfortunately, this disorienting effect only manages to confuse more often than not, as the underdeveloped, similarly clad characters seem interchangeable, especially when factoring in the hallucinatory supernatural forces at play. Despite oodles of claustrophobic atmosphere, and an energetic ensemble whose enthusiastic shouts and screams fill the soundtrack as bunker walls run red, the amount of head-scratching elicited during the excessive two-hour run time ultimately proves a little painful.

Fool's Views (5/14 – 5/20)

Greetings, comrades!

Well, surprisingly enough, I’ve managed to stay just ahead of the game in terms of finishing up the previous week’s Views for the past month or so – posting a nanosecond or two prior to the current week’s closing bell. I know, it shouldn’t seem like such a monumental accomplishment, but for longtime Fool followers, you know that it is not out of the ordinary to see a month go by with nary a peep from the Doc. So, I’m going to give myself a little virtual pat on the back here, in the hopes that positive affirmation leads to more of this pleasing punctual behavior. With, of course, the threat of whips and chains lurking just around the bend should productivity fall off.

Glancing back, it looks like we’re tracking slightly ahead of last year’s stats. Not terribly surprising with the BIFFF factor in place (which certainly accounts for 2012’s disproportionate cinema tally), but still pleasing to see. Have to see if we can keep up the posts along with the pace.

Anyway, it’s significant that I invoke my recent Belgian excursion as this week was a veritable travelogue (thanks in no small part to Jon Kitley of Kitley's Krypt), with pics climbing in the player from India, Russia, Italy, Spain, Korea, England, Africa, two efforts from our northerly Canadian neighbors as well as a number of home team efforts. My cinematic passport runneth over, and you, faithful readers, are the bemused benefactors of my toils. Hope you find a few underviewed gems below to add to your respective to-see lists.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!