This film has developed a following not because of anything in the film as such but because it was made by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il after he kidnapped some South Korean filmmakers. The guy loved films and the “Godzilla” series was one of his favourite franchises so this is sort of his tribute to those films.

Set in feudal Korea, we see a band of rebel try to overthrow the government. They get help from an unlikely source. They have Pulgasari, a giant monster that is made from rice and blood and feeds on iron. As time goes on, Pulgasari arguably becomes more trouble than he’s worth. The film is surprisingly interesting compared to lots of the “Godzilla” films in terms of storyline but due to its historical setting and lack of other monsters, “Pulgasari” fails to deliver the same kind of humorous destruction seen in movies such as “Godzilla”, “Mothra” and “Infra-Man”.

The creature itself looks hilarious (as do pretty much all monsters that are played by guys in rubber suits). He eats metal to make him bigger, which is also funny, but he lacks any superpowers that other creatures from the “Godzilla” series have and physically he’s quite standard (there’s no circular saws on the belly or radioactive tentacles). The characters are fairly dull and spend a lot of time screaming.

It’s not too bad as far as giant monster movies from Asia go but it’s certainly not something for casual movie fans. Really, the only reason you’re going to see this is because you want an insight into the mind of Kim Jong-Il. He was a very eccentric man and interesting to read about. This movie is merely another whacky example of his works. As I mentioned, the film is set in the past, I assumed this was done because it might be somewhat crippling to the North Korean regime’s image of itself if Pulgasari was destroying a modern Pyongyang.