R-Point (2004)

R-POINT is one of the recent wake of films that cross the barriers between warfare and horror to deliver a kind of startling, in-your-face type of movie in which unlucky soldiers find themselves dealing with both enemy gunfire and spirits of the dead. DEATHWATCH and THE BUNKER are two of the best-known examples, although as a film, R-POINT ably holds its own with those two and offers a highly atmospheric film with just a few flaws that stop it being perfect. I'll list the flaws first; the script, for instance, is very much mundane and repetitive, consisting of the main characters shouting at each other a lot and calling each other expletives. In fact there isn't a great deal of characterisation in the movie as a whole, with only one or two unique characters among a lot of other interchangeable ones. The main other flaw is that the film is too darn mysterious for its own good; the ghostly horror is never really fully explained, and there'll be a lot of confusion if you don't pay the utmost attention to every scene throughout the film.Now for the good stuff: R-POINT is a film that makes full use of the spooky, isolated locations. The creepy jungles are interspersed with creepy bush scenes, haunted graveyards, and a rotting Chinese temple. Best of all is an old hospital, by the looks of it, which recalls the kind of 'evil derelict building' seen in low budget US horrors like SESSION 9 and THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Fill most of these locations with rotted corpses and weird goings-on and you have a truly spooky film that, while never reaching terrifying heights, packs more than a few scares into the running time. Much is made of superstition, glimpses of people who really shouldn't be there, and one or two great shocks, such as the scene with the guy sitting on the steps who gets a literal and unexpected bloodbath. The main menace in the film is a girl in a long white dress with long black hair; yep, the cliché stock character of many an Asian horror flick in the wake of RING.The war elements of the film feel as realistic as other recent entries into the genre and there's a fair amount of bloodshed to add to the gritty appeal. The best scene by far is the finale, a bloody shoot-out on the level of RESERVOIR DOGS, in which the heroic lieutenant separates the wheat from the chaff by ordering his men to identify themselves; those who can't are clearly possessed. It's a sequence which recalls the infamous blood-test interlude in John Carpenter's THE THING, and while not as knuckle-whitening as in that particular film, it still packs an undeniable punch and ends the film on a high. Unsurprisingly, a Hollywood remake is on the horizon

excerpt, full review at my location.It almost sounds like any schoolboys dream: war and horror in one package. However, watching this supernatural Vietnam War movie is much more of a nightmare than a dream, but in the best possible way. The movie was released in Korea in 2004, with the title R-Point, and is the fourth highest grossing Korean horror film of all time. It is now being released here on DVD as Ghosts Of War, exclusively available from Sainsbury's.For any fan of Asian horror, Ghosts Of War is an absolute must - and sure to please. It has had huge success in its native country of South Korea, and when you see it, you can see why. It has enough suspense, tension, fear and paranoia to keep anyone awake for days. After watching Ghosts Of War, you will be left with no doubt in your mind that war is indeed hell, albeit good, scary fun!

It's 1972. Six months ago on an island situated south of Ho Chi Minh City and known as R-Point, nine Korean soldiers went missing. A radio transmission requesting help is still heard every evening... Now a rescue party - nine soldiers, has nine days to rescue the missing.While they are on the mission, they find shocking stuff and some see strange things like ghost in the places.This is a really good horror movie, it had great atmosphere and really creepy moments, also liked fact the fact , that they showed ghost in daylight, you don;t see that often in horror movies.I not sure, i don't think the subtitles where 100% rights, if they were, the word D***head was said a lot, which i did find unreal.Acting from everyone was really good

Vietnam,1972.A troop of South Korean soldiers are urged by a mysterious radio signal to locate a missing patrol unit in the location called R-Point.Finding far more to fear than snipers,these carefully conceived characters,each with his own involving emotional history,discover that the miseries of war aren't confined to the physical territories of the jungle-they also resonate throughout the dark depths of the unknown."R-Point" totally creeped me out.It features some truly scary moments that will linger in the memory of viewer for a long period of time."R-Point" scores most of its points in the last half hour,when the situation escalates into full-blown bloody madness and the final desperate stand-off is a perfect end to the film.Highly recommended.9 out of 10.