PULGASARI / North Korea - 1985

Here's a wild and weird one from North Korea of all places! Tagline sez... Banned for a decade! The story goes like this... In feudal Korea, an evil King becomes aware that there is a peasant rebellion being planned in the country and has his men take all the iron farming tools and cooking pots from them so they cannot defend themselves! An old blacksmith is imprisoned and starved to death, but, his last creation is a tiny figurine of a monster... Pulgasari, a creature that eats iron! The blood of his daughter brings the creature to life, and, it fights on the side of the peasants to overthrow the corrupt monarchy.

Although the film is a North Korean production, director Sang-ok Shin is South Korean. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il was a huge fan of Shin's and since North and South Korea have technically been at war since 1951 and have no diplomatic relations, Kim had him kidnapped! Shin eventually escaped back to South Korea, but, not before he had been forced to make this movie for the North Korean leader!..

The original title card is not available, so, we get this one from the recent release!

After Pulgasari is hatched, well, he's cute as a bug and loved by his new parents. They let the little guy play in the sewing drawer, then, they tuck him in for the night!.. So freakin' cute!!

When the King's men try and decapitate our hero, Pulgasari jumps in to save the day! After the monster bites a hunk out of the sword, the men run like Hell, and, our hero is saved!

The peasants find a cave to pursue their training against the King, wish I had a cave!

The good guys are tricky! This time, they drop a big pile of logs onto the King's men when they try to attack from a river!.. Horray!!

This still simply speaks for itself!..

Well, you can see that Pulgasari is all growed up, and, he's on the attack, big time!

The King has some strange allies... A bunch of these women fan sleeping gas around the monster until he faints and falls into a giant hole! Then, many tons of rocks come tumbling down on him... Don't worry, he's not dead!

Back at the King's ranch, well, I guess they're working on weapons to defend themselves against Pulgasari with some sort of polluting nuclear domes in the background, what the?!

The big guy just keeps on coming! Eventually, the King's domain is decimated by Pulgasari.

Problem is, the monster now turns on the peasants after their victory against the King. You have to admit, the details are stunning on the creature! In fact, some of the scenes are absolutely amazing, it would be worth your time to check this one out if you get the chance.

So, the blacksmith's daughter has to cast a spell on the monster that causes him to crumble into a million pieces! Kinda sad.

But, guess what?.. There's a baby Pulgasari somewhere on a mountain in North Korea, just see for yerself! Check back on Wednesday for more, from... The Dungeon!!