- Directed by: Khom Kongkiat Khomsiri
- Written by: Khom Kongkiat Khomsiri
- Stars: Thawatchanin Darayon, Akkarat Nimitchai, Seigi Ozeki
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 50 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7B9fnl3LFQ
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Early in WWII, the Japanese bring an experimental biological weapon to their frenemy Thailand. We can’t fault how it’s made, the acting and effects are all great. And there is a complete and kind of poignant story. But it was too long and drawn out, we both thought, and we found ourselves bored for some of it.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open in Thailand during World War II. The Junior soldiers all get their photos taken and introduce themselves. They sneak up on a tent where another junior soldier is having sex with a prostitute they pay their fee and go in as well. The captain shows up and catches them all in the act. They all run away, but he catches them and they all have fun at the beach.
Mek, one of the soldiers, hears from his girlfriend, Pen, that he’s going to be a father. He asks her to marry him; he’s already got a ring and everything. Suddenly, a man runs up and says he’s seen a bunch of iron ships with guns just over the horizon. The enemy is about to attack.
The leadership discusses war strategy and talks about a special weapon they’ve been developing. We see grainy footage of what appears to be a man becoming a zombie. They will use it as a last resort.
Mek and his brother Mok are called to duty; their father has already been killed. Mok wants to run away to a friend’s house, but Mek wants to serve his country as a patriot.
There’s a pretty major battle. Afterward, we see a crate on the shore with a zombie inside. Mok did go to fight, and now he’s regretting it. After avoiding the zombies, he dies in quicksand– Nope– he’s rescued by the zombies, who eat him.
The Japanese soldiers come ashore and survey the area. There sure are a lot of bones in camp. They soon spot some zombies, shoot some, and pursue the rest into the jungle. These are fast zombies, and it doesn’t take long for them to turn the tables.
Mek is on patrol and comes into the now-deserted camp. He finds another soldier down in a pit and descends to help. He soon finds that the man’s got no face; it’s been eaten off. He burns up the man and then reports what he saw.
Mok wakes up with the other zombies, and we see things from his point of view. At the hospital, another soldier tells Mek that Mok was with his unit. Elsewhere, the scientists involved with the experiment kill themselves for honor. The soldiers are told about the infected man who escaped, but that’s not who Mok saw in the woods, so it must be spreading. Captain Nakamura has been assigned to apprehend them– alive.
Elsewhere, Mok remembers eating a child. He puts a pistol to his head, but then gets a flare-up that makes him self-combust. He bursts into flames. “The Fumetsu is flammable, but will it continue to evolve?”
Mok wakes up in a cave later; he’s hard to kill. Not far off, Nakamura cuts himself to allow the blood to draw in the zombies. Mok hallucinates a woman who sings to him.
The colonel has one of the Fumetsu in a cage and tortures it for the location of the others, which he gets. He then shoots it repeatedly, but it won’t die. They pump him full of cyanide, and Mek objects to that. It still doesn’t die.
The “zombies” sit in their cave and complain about what they’ve become. Yes, they can talk and communicate with each other. Mok sings to them, and they’re all very sad.
In the village, a shaman is doing a prayer dance but falls down in a seizure. The zombies come out of the woods and attack the villagers. Mok and Mek’s mother prays for her sons, not seeing one of them shambling toward the house. Mek shows up and explains that Mok is still alive, sort of. Mok is hiding in the woods and hears all this.
One of the zombies, Sak, runs into his wife and daughter in the woods, and they all recognize each other. He doesn’t hurt them, but the army does, which really gets him angry. This results in a shootout. Mek arrives just in time to see all the non-infected men die.
Mek shoots Mok, who falls off a cliff. Another zombie jumps out of nowhere and attacks Mek who also becomes infected.
The chief scientist explains that the infected will all eventually self-destruct, and then the ash will help nature renew itself. He doesn’t seem to think the soldiers will be able to beat the Fumatsu.
Nakamura and the Japanese plan to kill all the villagers to eliminate all the eyewitnesses.
There is much roaring and debate amongst the zombies in the caves. Saks comes in and tells the others of Nakamura’s plan to kill their families. Mek and Mok argue about what to do to save their mother.
Soon, the zombies come to the villagers, and they all recognize each other. Nakamura orders them all to be shot. Mek watches as the pregnant Pen dies and raises a counterattack. The undead start to bite Pen and the other dying people so they can “survive.”
Mek makes a plan to lure all the Japanese to the cave and kill them all. Nakamura kills the head scientist and reads the part in his notes about how the Fumetsu are flammable. He calls for a flamethrower.
Mok gets a vision of his dead family, dissolves into dust, but then re-forms, looking much healthier now.
There’s a drawn-out battle in the caves, and most of the soldiers die. Nakamura paints himself with mud, thinking the undead can’t see him. They do see him, and he doesn’t last long after that.
Mok stumbles in and picks up the flamethrower. He waits at the cave’s entrance and blasts them all on the way out. The flaming zombies then run back inside to tackle Nakamura’s zombies, and they all burn. Mok runs into the flames as well, so basically, everyone dies and the infection is eradicated.
Brian’s Commentary
We don’t see many views of WWII that aren’t from the viewpoint of one of the major powers, so this Thailand film was interesting for that alone.
These are definitely the brain-eating zombie variety, and fast ones at that. Even more important, these zombies can talk and organize, which is pretty unique. It’s got some pretty good gore effects as the zombies eat through people’s heads.
On the other hand, it’s very long and drawn-out. I literally caught myself dozing off at a couple of points.
Kevin’s Commentary
I’m sure I’ve never seen a Thai WWII film before.
This was kind of interesting how the zombified soldiers can still sort of talk and think and remember. But the movie started feeling long after the infection kicked in and things dragged on a bit in the middle. Okay, it drags a lot. The gore is over the top when it happens, and it’s technically well made, but it ended up being on the dull side overall, I thought.
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