Welcome to day three of my Horror Film recommendations. Today’s film is one of my all-time favourite films – Truck.
It is not just one of my favourite Korean films or even one of my favourite horror films; it is genuinely in my top five movies of all time. Now, if you read my post last month about general Korean film recommendations, then you might have already read about Truck then, but I’m going to recommend it for a second time.
The film starts out a little light-hearted, as we are introduced to the protagonist, Chul Min, a doting father working hard to care for his sick daughter, who makes a meagre living by driving his truck. He seems a fairly pitiable character who lives for his daughter, and always only just manages to scrape by.
With his daughter in desperate need of a life-saving operation, Chul Min lets his friend talk him into gambling what little money he has saved up to try and win the full amount of money needed. When his friend screws him over, he flies into a fit of rage and chases after him to try and get his money back, but he stumbles across something that he was never meant to see and it changes his life forever. This is the point when I realised that this was no comedy but is in fact a real thriller, as from this point onwards everything goes from bad to worse for him.
He is promised the money he needs for his daughter’s operation in return for him fulfilling one task, and his Truck is used for a purpose that it was never meant for. His situation gets more and more dire as he has no choice but to pick up a stranger not long into his task, and he struggles to keep himself together in the face of this nightmare.
This film is intriguing and compelling, and it has you rooting for the main character all the way through. I haven’t been so invested in the outcome of a movie in a very long time, and with so many twists and turns in the plot-line, you are kept interested and quite unsure of how everything will end. I was amazed at the quality of acting in this film, as the terrified anxiety and horror felt by Chul Min is practically palpable.
If you don’t enjoy gory movies then this definitely isn’t for you, because from the time Chul Min stumbles into that room, there is an incredible amount of violence and gore. But, whether thrillers are your cup of tea or not, I really would recommend that you watch this film; it will have you hooked after ten minutes, and despite being a very dark film, it is thoroughly enjoyable.
Have you ever seen this film? Planning on watching it? Let me know what you think of it! See you tomorrow for another horror recommendation.
