Project Wolf Hunting

"If you look at my previous films, you will notice that I am often influenced by societal events. Here, I wanted to show the journey of criminals extradited from the Philippines to Korea, while at the same time dealing with the Korean victims of Japanese colonization. I wanted to combine these themes into one project. However, Project Wolf Hunting remains a purely original creation. However, there are two elements of the film that are based on historical facts: I am thinking in particular of the prologue in front of the Seoul International Airport, when the criminals are extradited. This type of mass extradition really happened, even though the bombing was completely fictional. Moreover, scientific experiments on "guinea pig" subjects really took place during the Japanese colonization of Korea. These are historical facts, from which I have constructed my story. - Kim Hong-Seon

Certainly director Kim Hong-Seon has managed to make a name for himself in South Korea with landmark films like The Chase (반드시 잡는다) (2017) and Metamorphosis (변신) (2019) and his new film after conquering many festivals (Toronto (Canada), the Strange Festival (France)).....) and released in the U.S. last October is finally getting ready to conquer the French audience. We have to admit that we have here a film of a formidable efficiency juggling between the action thriller, the horror film with its practically invulnerable monster before turning to science fiction. This perfectly balanced mix of genres gives Project Wolf Hunting a very special aura served by a perfect cast, many memorable scenes and numerous references to classics of the genre (Predator, Friday the 13th, ..).

After a striking introductory scene that will have an impact on the story of the film immediately puts the audience in the mood and shows them that anything can happen here and the many twists and turns reinforce this idea. Thus we follow a group of dangerous criminals who unite to organize a coordinated escape attempt during the sea transport from the Philippines to South Korea. What starts out as a thriller with many fight scenes takes a very special turn when a human creature transformed by scientific tests is unintentionally released and gradually decimates the people on the ship. 

If director Kim Hong-Seon has cleverly divided his film into three parts, going from what could have been a simple thriller to a muscular horror film worthy of the films of serial killers such as Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers or Ghostface, and finally turning after two striking flashbacks to pure science fiction, it is certainly to show the audience that he masters the mixture of genres with perfection. Project Wolf Hunting could almost appear as a mix of Con Air, The Raid and Predator, as it pays tribute to these films in its own way. While the current cinema presents us with some rare surprises when it comes to horror and action films, Project Wolf Hunting is almost like a film directed by John Woo in which the director manages to constantly surprise us and despite a tight budget to offer us a real blockbuster of perfect efficiency and which instantly makes its director a master of horror. One suspects that such a film should allow him to have an international career.

Winner of the Special Jury Prize and the Best Special Effects Prize at the Sitges International Film Festival, Project Wolf Hunting, despite the absence of an international star, proves to be an excellent surprise that reminds us of Hong Kong action films as well as American horror films that don't shy away from any excesses and the blood flows here in a continuous stream. Definitely one of our favorite movies we've seen recently.

Project Wolf Hunting
Written and directed by Kim Hong-Seon
Produced by Gu Seong-mok
Starring Seo In-guk, Jang Dong-yoon Choi Gwi-hwa, Park Ho-san, Jung So-min, Ko Chang-seok, Jang Young-nam, Sung Dong-il
Cinematography : Yoon Ju-hwan
Edited by Shin Min-kyung, Lee Ga-ram
Music by Kim Jun-sung, Jo Ran
Production companies : Contents G, Cheum Film
Distributed by The Contents ON
Release dates : September 16, 2022 (Toronto), September 21, 2022 (South Korea), October 7, 2022 (United States), February 15, 2023 (France)
Running time : 112 minutes

Seen on February 11, 2023 (press screener)

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