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Gam Woo-seong, Son Byeong-ho, Oh Tae-gyeong, Park Weon-sang, Seon-gyun Lee

A mysterious radio signal prompts a troop of South Korean soldiers to set out in search of a missing patrol unit, only to find that the horrors of war aren't limited to the human realm in director Su-... read more read more...Chang Kong's tale of supernatural terror on the battlefield. As the Vietnam War rages, a South Korean army base begins receiving radio contact from a patrol unit that has been missing in action for nearly six months. With resources dwindling and the battle taking its toll on the fatigued troops, the determined but shell-shocked commanding officer leads his unit on a brave rescue mission to the source of the signal - a war-torn parcel of land known only as R-point that is seemingly devoid of human presence. But there is a presence there, and when it finally makes itself known to the weary soldiers, the one-time rescue mission quickly becomes a harrowing struggle for survival against a force more deadly than any war. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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63% liked it

4,981 ratings

Critics

60% liked it

10 critics

R, 1 hr. 47 min.

Directed by: Su-chang Kong

Release Date: June 10, 2005

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DVD Release Date: February 14, 2006

Stats: 343 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (343)

  • garyX
    September 21, 2010
    garyX
    A team of soldiers are sent to "R-Point" where a platoon of soldiers went missing six months earlier to try and ascertain what happened and rescue any survivors. R-Point is another Predator clone with ghosts instead of a sense of humour. It goes through all the usual motions as t... read morehe protagonists receive mysterious transmissions, sight ghostly figures and trip over corpses on a regular basis (two left feet I guess) as one by one they are picked off by an unseen force right through to the rent-a-twist conclusion. The setting of the Vietnam war gives its J-horror sensibilities a slightly different spin, but there have been plenty of haunted soldier films and this has little to differentiate it from them. Solidly directed, shot and acted but its all so generic it all adds up to just another case of "So what?"
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    April 3, 2010
    DragonEyeMorrison
    A well made genre pic, no twists, no pointless gore, no big "boo!" loud noises or other stupid bullshit gimmicks. Just a straigh and well paced narrative, acceptable performances and a wise use of the camera. The movie takes it's time to build the suspense, the tension. Most of t... read morehe characters are interchangable, and the script is full of familiar places, but the movie is made well enough to make you forget that. This is what asian horror has been known to do best, when they are at their best. No noisy quick cuts to "scare" the audience, just a sense of desperation that slowly builds up and catches you off-guard. Atmosphere done right in other words, a movie that actually thinks of it's audience as grown adults and not hyperactive ADHD teens that can't keep their attention on anything for more than 3 seconds. This is no masterpiece, but it doesn't have to be. Considering how rare is these days to find well made genre movies, when hollywood's idea of "fun at the cinema" is just filling everything with CGI, this type of movie is more than welcome.
  • skactopus
    November 30, 2008
    skactopus
    R-Point is a Korean film that is sort of a cross of the horror and war genres. Notice that I say "sort of" because director, Su-chang Kong, is going for an "antiwar" movie. This makes sense because the plot revolves around military soldiers, but not around them fighting ... read morea war.

    The plot is slow going because there isn't much action. The bulk of this 105 minute film is spent on buildup, with some back story, and a bunch of suspense. With the exception of a quick fire fight as the soldiers arrive at R-Point, there is nothing else really explosive in the way of action.

    The part of the film that most people may find disappointing is that most of it is pretty monotone. The scares aren't that many, at least in the earlier parts, and as I previously mentioned there is a lot of story buildup. This isn't a bad thing because you do get to see each soldier sort of transform before your very eyes as the paranormal element kicks in. Now, because of all the buildup, it just makes the "R-Point: Day 4" and "R-Point: Day 5" segments that much more satisfying.

    The violence and gore is a little on the bloody side, but I wouldn't say it is over the top. Does it need more of it? Maybe in the earlier parts of the film.

    The acting isn't too bad. The Korean soldiers are great to watch, especially when they start losing it. There are a few minutes where American soldiers appear on screen and they just stink it up. Seriously, they were just reading from the script. As usual, the American actors don't fit well in another Asian movie.

    While R-Point may not be the scariest of horrors, it does have a good enough story, albeit a bit confusing one, to make this a decent watch.
  • kiriyamakazou
    March 22, 2008
    kiriyamakazou
    Part war, part ghost story. R-Point finds the perfect mix between the two. A slow and unnerving pace may not be best for high speed gore fans but it's all worth it for the final terrifying scene.
  • BlueTorch
    June 28, 2008
    BlueTorch
    As a rule, I am not generally a fan of horror movies.

    A horror movie set in the heart of the Vietnam War, R-Point builds the tension throughout the movie, as the story behind "Romeo Point" gets unraveled further and further by the platoon sent to extract survivors. There are n... read moreo "cheap thrills"; most everyone has a reason for not wanting to be there, and those stories unravel further as the movie progresses.

    More time is spent on build and backstory than a Hollywood horror film; thus, the key horror scenes get maximum payoff when they occur. Can the platoon hold out until help arrives? The last 15 minutes were a transfixing payoff and, yes, I was legitimately scared half to death.

    The one minor quibble; the girl in white. Way too "Japanese horror" (this isn't even a Japanese movie!) and just seemed out of place.
  • alanjayh
    June 1, 2008
    alanjayh
    effective ghost story..a bit confusing which took away some of the more eerie moments..but delivers on atmosphere aplenty
  • monkeybobbob
    May 7, 2008
    monkeybobbob
    A chilling,Vietnam war set Korean horror.When a group of soldier's are sent to R-point to track down another team of soldier's that have been missing for six months they get more than they were expecting when members of the team start seeing and hearing things and begin to think... read more the place is haunted.The longer the team stay the more strange things become until they are all scared and paranoid of everything around them.This has plenty of creepy moments and a few twists and turns along the way to keep you interested and has a decent ending to.A good story,as with alot of K and J-Horrors,some nice twists along with some good acting make this an enjoyable film.Although i think the writer has got some sort of ass fetish;the number of times people are called asshole's is unbelievable,i'm doing a count next time but there's more asshole's in this film than at a BNP convention.That aside,this is another add to the long list of cool asian horror movies.
  • FanGirl
    March 25, 2007
    FanGirl
    Creepy, with an interesting, weird sort of time loop aspect.
  • cacutshaw
    February 11, 2007
    cacutshaw
    Disappointing. After hating a bunch of the new war/horror hybrids (Deathwatch, The Bunker, Below, etc) I was really looking forward to seeing this one, that I've heard a lot of great things about. Sadly it fits right in the list of the films I hated. Sure it had it's moments, ... read moremost horror films do, but this one is pretty boring and lifeless, and it seems once again to be directed by someone who doesn't even want to be making a horror film.
  • youngnastyman88
    November 8, 2011
    youngnastyman88
    I see a lot of people comparing this to such movies as Saving Private Ryan and Apocalypse Now. These people must suffer from open head wounds. For most of the running time R-Point works, as a good but not great thriller. There is a slowly building sense of dread as it goes on tha... read moret thankfully never becomes overwhelming. It's not perfect as most of the men blend together and you really have no idea who is who. The real problem is that around an hour or so in the film starts to not make sense. Events become disjointed and there are some turns that seems out of left field. Granted this is a film that asks you to pay attention as little things early on show up later or give clues to what's going on, so if you look away you may feel lost. Which I did and I was lost but was pretty much able to piece it all together in the end. The pace was really slow moving and the scares just didn't happen. There were some really good scenes and moments though. I'd like to go back to it one day and hopefully it'll be better with multiple views but for now it's staying a good attempt that just didn't make it.

View All R-Point Reviews

Critic Reviews

Derek Elley
January 13, 2006
Derek Elley, Variety

A fresh spin on the Korean horror genre after a summer which saw the usual haunted-schoolgirl template reach burnout. Full Review

Anton Bitel
August 6, 2007
Anton Bitel, Eye for Film

serves as a thoroughgoing allegory of the fears, suicides, inhumanity, rage and murder doomed to repeat themselves in any and every conflict, and to haunt generations to come. Full Review

Don Willmott
July 3, 2006
Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com

the style doesn't compensate for a lack of substance Full Review

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
June 26, 2006
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies

One of the best of a sub-genre I'm going to christen 'warror': war horror films. Full Review

MaryAnn Johanson
March 19, 2006
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher

[A] subtle and sneakily unsettling film that builds slowly to its unique idea of what constitutes scary. Full Review

Jeremiah Kipp
February 13, 2006
Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine

While it's refreshing to see a war film veer into the supernatural so quietly, R-Point lacks the much-needed dramatic tension to get us through its slow-moving 110 minutes. Full Review

James Emanuel Shapiro
January 13, 2006
James Emanuel Shapiro, Reel.com

A mediocre genre film that fails in both genres.

Jeremy Knox
December 6, 2005
Jeremy Knox, Film Threat

If you've been worn down a bit by all of the J-horror movies having to do with spooky ladies in blue makeup, this will serve as a refreshing change of pace. Full Review

Jamie Woolley
September 18, 2005
Jamie Woolley, BBC

By the time the grand finale rolls around, you're more baffled than terrified. Full Review

September 16, 2005
Empire Magazine

Click to read the article Full Review

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