Pulgasari

It's hard to believe that this was made in 1985. It looks like something out of the sixties. It reminds me so much of the "Daimajin" series of movies released in 1966. There are peasants who are depressed and brutalized by an evil dictator, just like in "Daimajin". The giant beast Pulgasari is created by an old blacksmith just before he dies as a way to get revenge on the dictatorship. The monster quickly grows to enormous size by eating iron, which is a pretty cool idea, especially at the end of the movie when it becomes a problem. It leads the peasant army to many victories against the evil empire. I really like the look of the beast. It's very original and while the effects aren't so great, it's quite an imposing threat and looks pretty frightening at times. The oddest thing about "Pulgasari" is that it's a North Korean movie made by a South Korean director who was kidnapped by order of Kim Jong-il.