Moviegoers are about to get two more horror films to watch in Philippine cinemas this May.
Lee Sang-Min’s Salmokji: Whispering Water will be screening in select cinemas nationwide starting May 13. The film, which follows a film team that encounters a supernatural entity at a water reservoir, has sat at the top of the South Korean box office since its release last April. It has amassed a cumulative gross of $13.9 million and surpassed three million viewers.
Colony, directed by Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan), will begin screening in Philippine cinemas starting May 27. With Yeon revisiting the zombie horror genre, Colony centers on Professor Se Jeong (Jun Ji-hyun), who attends a biotech conference only to watch as a rapidly mutating virus is unleashed on attendees. The film will make its world premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival as part of its Midnight Screening section.
“Zombie films are a great genre for revealing the latent fears of society,” said Yeon in a press conference held last April. “Just as Train to Busan tried to capture the fears of its time, I hope audiences will see Colony as the fear I feel now, 10 years later.”
Both films are being promoted locally by Viewers’ Choice Philippines, which has made some… interesting choices with its promotional materials. The platform has shared a poster for Colony that features the question, “If the devil wears prada… What do zombies wear?” (complete with a red stiletto cropped next to a horde of the undead wearing Chanel and Christian Dior). Salmokji has yet to receive the same type of treatment, but let’s wait and see.
