Director Lee Dae-han’s feature debut Debone, shot on a $ 23,000-or-less budget, is a punishing, pitch-black entry into South Korea’s rich tradition of uncompromising crime-thriller horror. The film is the tale of Gyutark (Lee Gyu-tark), a young man whose life is derailed by an initial act of primal self-preservation: killing his abusive father to protect his mother. After serving time in a youth detention facility, Gyutark returns to a small community that refuses to forgive, forget or look at the actual facts of what happened.
Instead, the villagers treat both Gyutark and his ailing mother (Lee Eunjung) with casual, suffocating cruelty, sending them away from town to work at a distant warehouse. Yet this offers no real escape. When his mother collapses from a severe medical emergency requiring expensive surgery, Gyutark’s meager earnings fall woefully short. Pushed past the brink by a society that has already painted him as a monster, he takes a harrowing descent into the criminal underworld to secure the cash.
Following its world premiere at the Kanazawa Film Festival in Japan, Debone traveled the global genre circuit—picking up the Best Foreign Language Film award at the Romford Horror Film Festival and making North American waves at Panic Fest and HorrorHound Film Festival. Debone is the major feature-length tentpole for Zaqsal Films, an indie creative collective founded by Dae-han, which celebrated its 5th anniversary alongside a special retrospective screening in Seoul.
Just know that this isn’t a party. It’s dark and only gets more mean by the end.
The GenreBlast Film Festival is a one-of-a-kind film experience created for both filmmakers and film lovers, celebrating genre filmmaking in an approachable environment. Described by Movie Maker Magazine as Summer Camp for Filmmakers, we screen the latest in independent, cult, niche and underground films that aren’t easily accessible. Other events include filmmaker Q&As, special guests, giveaways, after-parties, and an awards ceremony. The GenreBlast team is hard at work creating a destination event that will have the independent film industry talking about it all year long. GenreBlast is a festival for filmmakers, by filmmakers, that strives to become one of the best independent film festivals around. We celebrate the finest in true genre cinema, and we look for the best features, shorts, animation, music videos and screenplays you have to offer. For more info and tickets, visit the site.
