March 26, 2021

Road Kill: Really Evil Real Estate

Indeed, there are evil real estate developers who have done as much harm as evil doctors, evil lawyers, and evil cops. And their actions impact whole communities, not solely individuals and/or the land. What a pity then that these shysters don't get more prominent screen time as movie villains! When they do, they're far from boring. I can think of few unsavory types as savory as the sadistic wheeler-and-dealer in Psychokinesis. As for Road Kill's simpering super-sleazy agent Oh-gwang (Lee Cheol-min), he's definitely vile. ((He's rapist, childmolester, and hit-and-run driver as well as being a nasty businessman.) The trouble is he's also a buffoon. The best bad guys are smarter than this.

Which isn't to say his victims are likely to outwit him. Road Kill is populated with dimwits: a simpleton stepdad (Oh Gwang-rok), an airhead mom (Kim Yoon-ji), a hypersexual daughter (Kwon Ye-yeun), and a son (Shin Won-ho) who's got a stare that indicates not too much is going inside outside murderous rage. In truth, none of them register as fully formed characters. They're vessels. Or inbred. Or lost souls. Or ghosts. Whatever they are, they don't create a lot of drama even when the movie turns violents and people are picking up knives and axes and weed whackers as the plot takes a Darwinian turn. Splatter may jar some out of a braindead state. As for me, with Lee Soo-sung's Road Kill, I welcome death.

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