R-Point

It's a familiar trope of military movies: the one-last-mission-before-we-all-go-home that goes, of course, disastrously wrong. Only here, recast as Asian horror from South Korean writer-director Kong Su-chang, the cliché takes on a distinctly creepy tenor. Way more atmospheric than recent Hollywood horror films, R-Point is a subtle and sneakily unsettling film that builds slowly with its tale of a small military unit drawn by mysterious radio transmissions into a remote jungle territory in search of a missing patrol, where they discover a brand of...let's call it “judgment”…on their behavior as soldiers. Did I mention the year is 1972, and the Vietnam War, with its attendant atrocities on all sides, is in full swing? Comparisons to Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and Full Metal Jacket are inevitable, but this is truly a unique film with its own shocking concept of military justice. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a director's commentary track, a “making-of” featurette, a look at the special effects, and more. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a fine chiller.] (M. Johanson)