115 minutes, 35mm, in Korean with English subtitles
Directed by: Kim Dae-Sung
Starring: Cha Seung-Won, Park Yong-Woo, Ji Seong

Showtimes: June 17, 5:00pm at the Anthology [Buy Tickets]; June 24, 6:00pm at the Anthology [Buy Tickets].

Like a Korean version of Umberto Eco's THE NAME OF THE ROSE, this flick is a murder mystery set in Korea 's past with a lone scholar holding the line against the forces of superstition and gruesome bloodshed. In 1808 an island famed for its paper-making is preparing its annual tribute to the king when a series of horrible murders begins. Everyone goes bonkers and a group of officials, including Lee Weon-Gyu (Cha Seung-Won who's more familiar to Western audiences from his comic roles in films like KICK THE MOON) are sent to wrap things up and put a tidy bow on top. But as homicide spreads like a virus the locals revert to shamanism to reveal the killer and the rumor that they're all being punished for a long-ago wrong whips them into a vindictive frenzy. Unraveling this bloody ball of clues, Lee is determined to find out what's happening but the deeper he digs the more rotting secrets he pulls out of the ground until everyone is up to their waists in sin. And even worse, it looks like a long-forgotten crime committed by his father is the bloody nougat center of this rancid bonbon of criminality."

The sophomore film from Kim Dae-Sung, whose BUNGEE JUMPING OF THEIR OWN was a critical and film festival favorite, BLOOD RAIN is a gorgeous, plush excursion into the bowels of human depravity. With its plot as twisted as a roller coaster, and laced with beautifully-realized set pieces of murder and mayhem, this plush, summer blockbuster has a high IQ, talent to burn and it's dishing out the kind of satisfying summer fun you won't find in Hollywood's bland hot weather fare.