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Vietnam - 1972. A radio signal to Butterfly from Donkey 30
is received several times over the period of a month. The
message comes from a soldier who died in action six months
before. A platoon leader with a reputation for bad luck, which
normally culminates in people getting killed, leads a group
of young and untested soldiers to Romeo Point - the origin
of the signal - on the the promise of extended leave when
they return. They are told it is not a combat zone so they
will be completely safe. After being fired upon by a lone
woman, the unit finds a carving on a rock which says, "Those
who have blood on their hands will not return." After
a war years before, in which many people died, the area is
said to be haunted. The soldiers discover this the hard way.
One of their men goes missing overnight and is found dead
from mutilation and hanging the next morning. When the incident
is reported by radio they are called crazy by their superior.
The dead man is one of those they'd been sent looking for,
and only nine men - not ten - were sent on the mission...
You'd
be excused for assuming this was an American film, but it
isn't. Riding in on the wave of successful Japanese and other
Asian horror comes this wartime ghost story offering from
Korea. As the central actor says on the documentary, R-Point
places more of an emphasis on the inner struggle carried
by the soldiers than explicit horror itself. I would say he's
hit the nail right on the head, because although this is undoubtedly
a horror flick it's more about how unexpected events seem
to conspire to endanger a bunch of frightened men with guns.
Very
loosely speaking, this reminds me of a cross between Dog
Soldiers and Agatha Christie's Ten Little
Indians scenario, without ever reaching the heights of
either of those. I'm not a fan of war films (I'm admittedly
short-sighted in being of the opinion that if you've seen
one you've seen them all), but even a hint of the supernatural
keeps the plot interesting. It's not very scary, and perhaps
a little too long for its limited content, but R-Point
does its best within the confines.
As with many films I've reviewed, the extras are much more
interesting than the main feature itself. Tartan Asia Extreme,
who have released some excellent titles, seem to be confused
in this instant about exactly what special features are included
on the disc. The packaging lists only sound options, a trailer
and a director's commentary. Not mentioned but included on
the disc is Mission R-Point (an interesting behind-the-scenes
featurette, showing cast and crew filming in temperatures
of 40 degrees and above), Broken Radio (describing
the sound effects and their impact on the movie), and 1972
Vietnam (investigating the authenticity of clothing and
equipment).
Ty
Power
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