Sean Parker
South Korean horror films have been blowing up in recent years. From 2016’s Train to Busan, its 2020 sequel Penninsula, last year’s isolation zombie film #Alive, and Oscar-winning 2019 thriller Parasite, the genre has been one worth noticing. The recent success of Netflix shows Squid Game and Hellbound have also demonstrated that this trend is not about to fall off anytime soon. Welcome to your next obsession: All of Us Are Dead.
The revealed synopsis for All of Us Are Dead is as follows: a group of high school students are faced with an extreme crisis when they become trapped in their school, while a zombie virus spreads like wildfire. Not much else has been said about the upcoming show. But, if the show stays faithful to its source material, webtoon Now at Our School, then we’re in for a shadowy science teacher conducting strange experiments in a locked school laboratory.
When a student is exposed to a fast-spreading deadly virus, the science teacher takes them hostage. After two days tied to a chair and experimented on, the student escapes. But things quickly take a turn for the worse. After visiting the nurse and biting her classmate, the student is sent to the hospital for further evaluation. When the staff approaches the teacher about the abduction, he acts cagey, insisting that he has to alert the hospital, but it becomes pretty clear that the school has become ground zero for a zombie breakout.
Reading the English version of the webtoon is relatively quick. Only nine episodes have been translated and will likely serve as only a portion of the first episode of the upcoming show. Twenty-nine episodes are available on the Korean Naver site if you want to venture further than I did using a translater.
Let’s dive into that trailer. Filled with compelling images over techno-goth-rock music reminiscent of Stabbing Westward’s “Save Yourself” or something from the Spawn soundtrack, All of Us Are Dead considers its haunting effects and eerie monsters sufficient enough in teasing the show. And they’re right. The less I know, the more I’m intrigued. The zombies are jumping over taxis in the tunnel, their faces are chipping in the sunlight, and the hooded monsters seem to attack with a definitive purpose. I have more questions than I have answers at the moment, but I am absolutely captivated.
If the series tries to blend the ideas of violence in schools to horror themes, similar to the way Spontaneous did, we could be looking at something potentially more than just your regular zombie horror thriller. Though, if the series curves into The Faculty territory, I wouldn’t exactly be heartbroken either.
According to My Drama List, All of Us Are Dead‘s first season is expected to be eight episodes long, running around forty-two minutes each. Netflix plays a lot close to the chest in terms of when we can exactly see the new zombie thriller. For now, you can expect the first season sometime in January.
So what do you think of the trailer for All of Us Are Dead? Do you agree with Sean that it looks intriguing? What are your favorite Korean film titles? Let us know in the comments! And if you’re looking for more trailers, we’ve got you covered!
