Hot Picks

- Ready for My Close Up 2019

- Talk of the Dead 2016

- Bittertooth 2023

- 4 Minutes of Terror: Night Slasher 2024

- Apart 2024

- The Abandoned 2006

- Becky 2024

- The Evil Fairy Queen 2024

- The Black Guelph 2022

- Followers 2024

- Silence of the Prey 2024

- Battle for the Western Front 2024

- Beware the Boogeyman 2024

- Subject 101 2022

- Driftwood 2023

- The Legend of Lake Hollow 2024

- Black Mass 2023

- Skinwalkers: American Werewolves 2 2023

- The Manifestation 2024

- Spirit Riser 2024

- Garden of Souls 2019

- It's a Wonderful Slice 2024

- Caleb & Sarah 2024

- The Thousand Steps 2020

- The Desiring 2021

- When a Stranger Knocks 2024

- Quint-essentially Irish 2024

- Son of Gacy 2024

- Saltville 2024

- The True Story of the Christ's Return 2024

- Whenever I'm Alone with You 2023

- Jurassic Triangle 2024

- Midnight Peepshow 2022

- Offworld: Alien Planet 2024

- The Swiss Conspiracy 1976

- Sex-Positive 2024

- Here for Blood 2022

- All Over Again 2024

- The Color Yellow 2023

- Des Töchterleins Leid 2024

- I Am a Channel 2024

- The Hermits 2023

- Murdaritaville 2024

- Inheritance 2024

- The Devil's Partner 1960

- A Stranger in the Woods 2024

- Underground 2023

- A Nashville Wish 2024

- molkipolki 2023

- The Ghost is a Lie - Take Two 2024

- Return to the Theatre of Terror 2023

- The Ghost is a Lie - Take One 2023

- First Impressions Can Kill 2017

- A Killer Conversation 2014

- Star Crash 1979

- Strangler of the Swamp 1946

Beasts That Cling to the Straw

Beasts Clawing at Straws
Lucky Strike / Beasts Clinging at Straws

South Korea 2020
produced by
Billy Acumen, Kin Jin-Sun for B.A. Entertainment, Megabox Plus M
directed by Kim Yong-hoon
starring Jeon Do-yeon, Jung Woo-sung, Bae Sung-Woo, Youn Yuh-jung, Jeong Man-sik, Jin Kyung, Shin Hyun-been, Jung Ga-ram, Park Ji-hwan, Kim Jun-han, Heo Dong-won, Bae Chin-Woong, Kwon Hyuk-bum
screenplay by Kim Yong-hoon, based on a novel by Keisuke Sone, music by Kang Nene

review by
Mike Haberfelner

Available on DVD!

To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned)

Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!


Three at first sight totally unrelated stories:

Joong-man (Bae Sung-woo), a lowly cleaner at a sauna, finds a bag full of money in one of the lockers, a bag that remains unclaimed for several days, and even though he really could use the cash, he at first resists temptation to just grab it, just in case the rightful owner comes to claim it. But then his superior (Heo Dong-won), an arrogant upstart half his age, fires him on a whim, upon which he decides to grab the money after all, feeling he deserves it. And then when his problems really start ...

Tae-young (Jung Woo-sung), an immigration officer, owes half a fortune to loan shark Park (Jeong Man-sik), money that he can't pay back since his girlfriend Yeon-hee (Jeon Do-yeon) skipped town with his dough. Now he makes up scam after scam with his pal Carp to scam people out of their money just to pay Park back, but none works, and Park's getting restless and has Tae-young and Carp followed. And then, out of the blue, Yeon-hee returns and tries to get on his good side again - but she has an unexpectedly homicidal side to her ...

Prostitute Mi-ran (Shin Hyun-been) can't bear being beaten up by her husband anymore, so she uses one of her johns, Jin-tae (Jung Ga-ram), to kill him - but make it look like an accident so she can collect the insurance money. Thing is, Jin-tae kills the wrong guy, then loses his nerve and wants to go to the police, so Mi-ran has to kill him. However, she finds an unexpected ally in her boss, who helps her kill her husband for real and get rid of the body. But her boss, who just happens to be Yeon-hee from the story above, isn't exactly in it for altruism but for the insurance money ...

 

Even if Beasts Clawing at Straws is based on a Japanese novel, the story has something unmistakingly Korean to it, as it seems South Korean filmmakers (and I know I'm over-generalizing here) have long made an artform out of thrillers throwing everyday losers into situations much too big for them without identifying any clear heroes or villains (actually a popular ploy in film noir cinema of old as well), and this is a very good example for this. That's not at all to say Beasts Clawing at Straws is an at all formulaic movie though, as its story is full of very surprising twists and turns, down to the point how the three stories are tied together, and the way the stories are told in an only seemingly parallel manner is quite masterful, though without drawing too much attention to the narrative device, instead focusing on the actual story. And a strong cast and subtle directorial effort really help make this one pretty awesome thriller.

 

Quick Links

Abbott & Costello

The Addams Family

Alice in Wonderland

Arsène Lupin

Batman

Bigfoot

Black Emanuelle

Bomba the Jungle Boy

Bowery Boys

Bulldog Drummond

Captain America

Charlie Chan

Cinderella

Deerslayer

Dick Tracy

Dr. Mabuse

Dr. Orloff

Doctor Who

Dracula

Edgar Wallace made in Germany

Elizabeth Bathory

Emmanuelle

Fantomas

Flash Gordon

Frankenstein

Frankie & Annette Beach Party movies

Freddy Krueger

Fu Manchu

Fuzzy

Gamera

Godzilla

Hercules

El Hombre Lobo

Incredible Hulk

Jack the Ripper

James Bond

Jekyll and Hyde

Jerry Cotton

Jungle Jim

Justine

Kekko Kamen

King Kong

Laurel and Hardy

Lemmy Caution

Lobo

Lone Wolf and Cub

Lupin III

Maciste

Marx Brothers

Miss Marple

Mr. Moto

Mister Wong

Mothra

The Munsters

Nick Carter

OSS 117

Phantom of the Opera

Philip Marlowe

Philo Vance

Quatermass

Robin Hood

The Saint

Santa Claus

El Santo

Schoolgirl Report

The Shadow

Sherlock Holmes

Spider-Man

Star Trek

Sukeban Deka

Superman

Tarzan

Three Mesquiteers

Three Musketeers

Three Stooges

Three Supermen

Winnetou

Wizard of Oz

Wolf Man

Wonder Woman

Yojimbo

Zatoichi

Zorro

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned)

The links below
will take you
just there!!!

Find Beasts Clawing at Straws
at the amazons ...

USA  amazon.com

Great Britain (a.k.a. the United Kingdom)  amazon.co.uk

Germany (East AND West)  amazon.de

Looking for imports?
Find Beasts Clawing at Straws here ...

Thailand  eThaiCD.com
Your shop for all things Thai

Something naughty?
(Must be over 18 to go there!)

x-rated  find Beasts Clawing at Straws at adultvideouniverse.com


Thanks for watching !!!

 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
Amazon!!!