From director Kim Hong-sun comes Project Wolf Hunting, an ultra-violent horror action thriller from South Korea. Korean criminals are being expedited from Manila, Philippines to Busan on a large cargo ship due to a past disaster in an airport. On board are the most dangerous criminals known to the state that include mass murderers, gang members and serial rapists, as well as the South Korean police force tasked with their care and two medical professionals from the Philippines. Unbeknownst to the law enforcement on the ship, there is another prisoner being transferred, one that will take a lot more than just handcuffs to constrain. As the above-board prisoners stage a violent coup against the detectives, the prisoner from below is awoken and sets out to act on his savage and brutal apex predator instincts to a bloody and devastating result.
Project Wolf Hunting fuses science-fiction horror with the action thriller sentimentalities that South Korea is infamous for and produces a blood-thirsty and out-of-control movie that rivals Taiwanese The Sadness (2021) for extreme viscera and gut-punching madness. The plot is nothing ground-breaking, yet is honestly highly entertaining with a secret organisation attempting to fuse human DNA with that of a wolf to create super soldiers whose ageing process is delayed. The final sequence does fall into silly territory, however, this is extremely forgivable due to the practical effects employed being the highlight of the film.
Between crushed and imploding skulls spurting blood with comical force, necks being squeezed like clay and rib cages being ripped out of bodies, Project Wolf Hunting is gleefully graphic, with the camera never once cutting away from the viscera being displayed on-screen. The design of the genetically mutated creature is part resuscitated corpse, part Frankenstein-like science project gone wrong complete with crudely sewed-together limbs and stapled eyes culminating in a horrifying monster that wouldn’t look entirely out of place in a Jason Voorhees-style slasher movie.
Project Wolf Hunting is a thoroughly entertaining gore-fest, ideal for fans of the extreme and continues the tradition of South Korea being a shining beacon of horror and violent thrillers.
Project Wolf Hunting debuts on ICON FILM CHANNEL on January 30th before hitting Cinemas on March 10th
