Meanwhile four inexperienced thieves achieve to rob a jewelry store. They now have to meet with a band of yakuza at a supposed abandoned factory to complete the deal, which consists of exchanging the jewels for a big sum of money. Unaware that the yakuza have their own plan, that zombies are crawling in the factory and that 2 soldiers are on their way to blow up the facility.

Review: If there is a particular genre of horror that has the most cult followers, it is probably the zombie type movies. I still remember the time when I first saw "Damn of the Dead" and "Night of The Living Dead." But after those, zombie films didn't work very well for me, except for some very minor exception like "Brain Dead" and "Delamorte." I had to wait a long time before getting my hands on a good recent and decent zombie movie. But now the biggest new trend in Asian cinema is probably the zombie movie genre so I can finally satisfy my zombie appetite. What is particular with the Asian zombie movies is that each of their successful zombie movies has their very own specific styles. Versus, Stacy, Bio-Zombie, Wild Zero and now Junk, are all zombies flick but they all have a complete different approach. Some mixed zombie with crazy fantasy while other used a more serious approach to the genre, emphasizing more on the action aspect of the movie. I would say that "Junk" falls in the latest categories, as least it tries to be a serious zombie movie with your regular zombie type: stupid, slow and cannibalistic. But it also includes a lot of great action scenes as well. But does Junk succeed to pass for a serious movie? I would say that in general "Yes." It succeeds on some aspect but completely fails on others.

The biggest problem of Junk is probably the story. Right from the beginning, you know that all the events will connect exactly like you expected. Even the relation with the Japanese scientist and the zombie woman leader are not a surprise when they clarify the background of the scientist. I can't say that much about the story since there was not a lot of development on that side in the movie, but I ask you, "Are we really watching a zombie movie for the story?" Of course a good scripted story is always a welcome, but if the movie succeeds to deliver what people are expecting such as good gory scenes, then the movie is a success. You are probably expecting that Junk may fall in the B categories movies and yes it does, but I would say that it's a B movie with a lot of style. I was really impressed by the approach of the director for the visual aspect of the movie. Each action scene was very well choreographed and it is really easily noticeable right from the beginning with the jewel robbery scene. With that special look and a decent soundtrack, it really give a quality look to the movie that give it a chance to get away from that general B-movie level.

The thing that I found missing in most of the Asian zombie movies is probably the appreciation of good characters, characters that you care for and you can associate with. I mean, that most of the Asian zombie movies that I saw, I didn't feel anything special for the characters. Unlike in Romero's classics, Asian zombie movies most of the time have their characters well designed and stylish but lack the emotional hold. I just want them to get into some serious action or creepy scenes and "Junk" is not different on that side. It's true that it leaves more space for the development of the action scenes, but a little more character development would have been nice.

The scientist was an interesting character, until he begins to speak English with the other English actors. At first, I thought my English was bad, who is not perfect I admit, but when I noticed that even all my other friends could not understand what the actor was saying, and English is the first language for some of them, we just could not stop laughing at the sheer incoherence of the film. So much for a main character, it's really hard to appreciate an actor when you can't understand what the hell he is saying. At least the female lead in the thief group was great; she was believable and could pass for a woman who can kick some serious ass without too much problem. As for the other 3 robbers, they were only there to die in a gruesome ways just like you would expect. So I also think that they succeeded greatly at that.

But the most annoying characters of them all were without a doubt the two English actors. I don't know why, but I just can't dig English people in an Asian movie, it's just not right. I'm not racist at all, but 98% of the time, these characters are usually stupid and the roles are acted horribly. I don't know if it's a kind of revenge that Asian filmmakers are taking because American movies also like to stereotype Asians, but still they could at least try to make them look convincing. On the other hand, I liked the Yakuza band, except that they were the worst shooters in the whole movie. They had that usual Yakuza look and looked impressive; I wish they could have given more screens time to these characters because again, you know that they were there to finish like most of the characters in the movie.

The strongest selling point of Junk is the action for sure, like I said before, the director really took care to give a special look at the action and gun fights scenes who are very well spread during the whole movie. The director didn't use a lot of new stuff and borrowed most of his main idea from other HK and Japanese movies, but it was used in an effective way. Maybe not as spectacular as lets say "Versus," but since "Junk" was made before "Versus," maybe "Versus" even got some of his inspiration from "Junk".

But every great zombie movie has to have some gory scenes, and I'm glad to say that again "Junk" doesn't disappoint at that, too. Most of the special effects are on a low budget level; so don't expect ultra realistic gore. But I can confirm you that the zombies of "Junk" have the most convincing make-up I have ever seen in an Asian zombie movie. The make-up is very realistic and effective. It really gives you the creeps when you finally see all these monsters in action. I don't want to spoil too much but I can say that fans of blood and cannibal scenes will be please with the movie. I know that some people are always asking for more gore and more blood, maybe those fanatics will be disappointed but I consider "Junk" to have enough gore to be considered as a good zombie movie.