Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Rampant Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 24, 2019

Today’s exciting example of “genre mash up” is Rampant, a fitfully engaging Korean outing which combines the sort of “feudal history” aspect that has informed many an Asian film with the ever popular (undead?) marauding zombie motif. Now Korean filmmakers and zombies are no strangers, of course, as the rather prominently featured “from the studio that brought you Train to Busan” at the top of the cover of this release should probably more than adequately demonstrate. That said, the film begins with what almost plays like an Asian version of an American pirate film, with a bunch of (non zombie) marauders attacking a sailing ship which is already in flames. One of the attackers spies something of value hidden in a little nook, which he attempts to retrieve, only to suddenly be set upon by some kind of feral being who seems to have a thing for chomping on necks. Suffice it to say, the guy with the bite soon turns feral himself, taking out his child and wife once he returns home.

The disconnect between the historical aspect of Rampant and its zombie element is of course kind of inherently fascinating, but it also leads to a kind of weirdly disjunctive feeling, since the political machinating that’s part of the “history” side of things tends to play out in fairly slow moving, often very talky, scenes, while the zombie side of things can just suddenly erupt at times, seemingly out of nowhere. That means that the overall “tempo” of the film tends to lurch forward in fits and starts, arguably without much in the way of consistent momentum. What may also interest fans of zombie films in particular, though, is how the "demons" (as they're repeatedly referred to in the film) in the story manifest some traits more normally associated with vampires, including a thirst for blood and an aversion to sunlight.

The political infighting that informs part of the film will be familiar to anyone who has seen any number of other Asian films (not necessarily Korean) that document the roiling feudal history of the region. Lee Chung (Hyun Bin) is what might be termed a “prodigal Prince”, having perhaps been a prisoner of war for years (this part of the story was frankly a bit unclear to me, despite rewatching sections of the film to hopefully clarify), but who has now been recruited to return to the Joseon kingdom to help his father fight not just political intrigues within the palace, but the frightening demonic forces that have been unleashed as well. In a plot convenience that may strike some as too convenient, Lee Chung is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, martial artists in the world, which of course plays into the wuxia aspect of the film.

These so-called “genre mashups” are often kind of inherently interesting, and that’s the case with Rampant as well, but at times the interest stems almost more from a “are they really going there?” response than from how the intertwined (and obviously pretty disparate) plot elements are actually handled within the film. In fact, Rampant may strike some as downright slow at times, at least for a supposed “horror” outing featuring “The Walking Dead”. The film benefits from an appealing production design, and some of the set pieces are engaging, including some generally artful wire work, but this is a case where déjà vu may kick in for some, although in a kind of weirdly refracted way where for some the “been there, seen that” aspect may pertain to the historical epic, and for others it may pertain to the zombie story.

Rampant Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rampant is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The closing credits roll* contains a "captured by Alexa" listing, and this often quite handsome production looks great in high definition. Kind of interestingly, at least for both historical epics if not for zombie films, the palette can be rather desaturated looking at times, with only pops of primaries like red providing much in the way of bright color. I'm not sure if perhaps somewhere along the way someone was dissastisfied with either makeup or CGI, but quite often the zombies are photographed in less than fulsome lighting conditions, and so fine detail can be a bit less evident in some of those moments. There's quite a bit of outdoor material here, and the brightly lit scenes can definitely pop with more authority than some of the less saturated moments. Some of the outdoor shots also feature exceptional depth of field. The production design in terms of costumes and props is quite opulent, and fine detail on fabrics and the like is also consistently precise looking.

*The closing credits roll also contains a long set of pictures of people, with some kind of explanatory text. I'd love it if anyone reading this review who is fluent in Korean and picks up this release could let me know what that's about via private message (unfortunately there are no subtitles for this text).

Rampant Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rampant features a very effective DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix in the original Korean. From the opening sequence aboard the ship going up in flames, there's consistent engagement of the surround channels, and with both hand to hand and sword combat entering into the fray, there are often a glut of combat related sound effects that dot both the side and rear channels. Bursts of LFE can also be impressively forceful, and many of the outdoor scenes have lifelike ambient environmental sounds in abundance. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout.

Rampant Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (1080p; 1:38)


• Behind the Scenes (1080p; 00:34)


• Character Trailer (1080p; 1:48)


• Teaser (1080p; 00:57)


• U.S. Teaser (1080p; 00:55)


• Trailer (1080p; 1:21)

Note: As is almost always the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored so that the supplements follow one another automatically. After the last supplement plays, the disc then moves on automatically to trailers for other Well Go USA releases. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Rampant Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rampant may attract the same sort of people who were kind of almost subliminally drawn to films like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter simply because they offer such a patently odd combo platter of genres and ideas. However, kind of like that cited example offering a fanciful "history" of our 16th President, Rampant also struggles to deliver really consistent engagement on either the historical epic or monster elements in the story. This is still a rather interesting effort, and it benefits from a very handsome production and generally above average SFX work, but it ends up being more of a curiosity than an entertainment. Technical merits are first rate for those considering a purchase.