I’m guessing you’ve probably heard movies described as “genre mashups”, “genre stews”, or “genre blends”. Few fit the bill quite like “Project Wolf Hunting”. From writer-director Kim Hong-seon, this wild and kinetic South Korean romp has action, horror, thriller, science-fiction, and survival elements all rolled into one ultra-violent and blood-soaked experience.

Sometimes we may use words like “blood-soaked” simply to describe a really violent movie. But with “Project Wolf Hunting”, you can apply it in a near literal sense. Hong-seon drenches his film in the red stuff – sprays of blood, pools of blood, splatters of blood, you name it. Slashed jugulars, crushed skulls, and severed limbs come by the dozens. So needless to say, this isn’t a movie for the squeamish. But if bloody, gnarly, proudly over-the-top action is your thing, Hong-seon has you covered.

To give you a better idea of what you’re in for, “Project Wolf Hunting” is what you’d get if you took “The Raid”, mixed it with “Con-Air”, and sprinkled in a little “Predator”. Most of the film takes place aboard a massive cargo freighter called the Frontier Titan, where a group of hardened violent criminals are being transported from the Philippines to Busan, South Korea. But deep in the belly of the ship lies a gruesome secret. One that takes the story in a direction you’ll never expect.

Seok-woo (Park Ho-san) is the officer in charge of the prisoners, and he accompanies the slew of police detectives, including Da-yeon (Jung So-min) who volunteered for security detail during the transport. Among the inmates is Jong-du (Seo In-guk) a full-blown psychopath with a following and the quietly mysterious Do-il (Jang Dong-yoon) who keeps to himself but clearly has history. As the Frontier Titan leaves harbor, back home in Busan a government agency takes command of the control center tasked with monitoring the transport.

As you might expect, the freighter is doomed from the very start. Once the ship hits international waters, criminals posing as crew members let loose Jong-du who leads the inmates in a brutal revolt against the police officers. The cops versus cons scenes are intense, and for a while we feel like we know exactly the kind of movie we’re in for. And then Hong-seon wallops us with a unexpected right turn.

Below, on the ship’s bottom deck, lies something far more grisly and violent – a grotesque super-soldier-like experiment labeled Alpha (Choi Gwi-hwa). But trust me, it’s no Steve Rogers. And when the action on the top decks inadvertently awakens it, “Project Wolf Hunting” catapults into full-blown slasher territory. The blood increases by the gallons, the savagery intensifies, and the body count soars. It’s a wild and crazy twist that gives a jolt to a movie that was already pushing things to the edge.

It’s hard to believe, especially in a movie like this, but a few things are simply too gratuitous and it’s clear they’re thrown in solely to push the envelope and grab attention (one that has absolutely nothing to do with violence). They’re the only times the movie feels gimmicky and lazy. Otherwise “Project Wolf Hunting” sticks close to its rabid, uber-gory, and undeniably fun vision. It’s a veritable ballet of blood-drenched brutality, choreographed with an unbridled ferocity. I won’t be for everyone (just ask my wife), but fans of no-holds-barred action are going to have a blast.

VERDICT – 4 STARS