| Director | Kim Sung-hoon |
|---|---|
| Genre | action film, zombie film |
| Country | South Korea |
| Budget | ₩17 billion |
| Box office | $12.4 million |
In the Joseon period, King Lee Jo is considered by the Joseon nationalists as puppet to the Qing dynasty. His son, Crown Prince Lee Young, plots to buy European arquebuses to drive away the Qing. War Minister Kim Ja-joon, who holds influence over the king, discovers the plot and frames it as a rebellion. Kim meets the Europeans and learns that they have a crewman locked in a cell, slowly turning into a "demon".
Lee Young begs the king to oppose the Qing, as they now have firearms, but the impotent king refuses to listen. The prince commits suicide as penance so that his subordinates will be spared. Joseon forces destroy the European ship and retrieve the arquebuses, but a Joseon soldier is bitten by the zombie. He returns to his village, where he turns and spreads the infection. The zombies crave human meat and blood, are attracted by sounds, repelled by sunlight. They can be killed by decapitation, piercing of the heart, or the separation of spinal vertebrae; other methods of killing have limited success.
Lee Young left a request that his wife Gyeong-bin and unborn child be raised by his younger brother Lee Chung in China for their safety. Lee Chung, who had previously been left out of Joseon's order of succession, grew up abroad in the prosperous Qing. Lee Chung returns with his companion Hak-Su, landing in Jemulpo, but is attacked by Joseon assassins sent by Minister Kim and other ministers, who are plotting a coup. The noise attracted a mob of zombie villagers. Lee Chung and Hak-Su are assisted by local partisans, including Park Eul-ryoung, Lee Young's former lieutenant, and archer Deok-hee. The Jemulpo partisans ask Lee Chung to become crown prince, but he declines, wanting to return to China. Lee Chung awkwardly flirts with Deok-hee.
The only survivor of the would-be assassins is captured by Kim because he is infected. The ministers let the assassin infect a concubine, who later infects the king. Lee Chung arrives at the king's court, where he requests an army to crush the zombies. The paranoid king initially agrees as long Lee Chung does not want the throne, but the ministers instigate him to rescind the order, claiming no zombie outbreak, only a civil rebellion. The Jemulpo partisans are arrested, while Lee Chung and Gyeong-bin are ordered to attend a banquet for a visiting Qing delegation.
At the banquet, the king fully turns into a zombie. Kim slays him and unleashes zombies in an attempt to kill the opposition along with the Qing delegation. However, Kim is bitten by a zombie and cornered by the other ministers. Kim slays them all, chops off his hand to slow the infection, then madly declares himself king.
Gyeong-bin convinces Lee Chung not to flee but to protect the people, so Lee Chung, the royal guard and his Jemulpo allies freed from prison proceed to fight to prevent the zombies from escaping the palace and attacking the capital. Lee Chung and his allies plan to draw the zombies together into a gigantic fiery explosion at the palace, but Kim kills Hak-Su and an infected Park, preventing the explosion. Lee Chung continues the plan, battling a horde of zombies and Kim, and scatters oil on the floor of the palace. Deok-hee fires a flaming arrow into the palace, which Lee Chung uses to ignite the oil, burning the palace down.
Lee Chung retreats to the roof of the palace, only to find that Kim also climbed the palace. They duel each other, with Lee Chung being the victor, and reinforcements of soldiers and commoners arrive soon after to exterminate the rest of the zombies .
Lee Chung recognizes that through the power of the people, the ruined Joseon still has hopes for existence. He chooses to stay to lead his people as the new king rather than go back to China. Lee Chung leads his troops to eliminate the remaining zombies at the port where they first appeared.