Korean cinema has developed certain genre expectations over the years, and those external pressures seem to dictate a lot of what gets made and distributed internationally. Violent revenge and romantic comedy seem to be the two areas that encompass much of people’s perception of Korean films thanks to break-out hits like Old Boy and My Sassy Girl having spawned dozens of hopeful imitators. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as numerous quality films have released under these generic genre banners, but it’s still nice to see Korean filmmakers moving outside those comfort zones. Ryoo Seung-wan‘s The Berlin File doesn’t necessarily break new ground within the action/spy genre (thanks to predecessors like JSA and Shiri), but for one of the first times the action and drama takes place entirely outside of Korea. The film follows a North Korean spy stationed in modern-day Berlin who is framed by his own agency when a deal turns deadly. He and his estranged wife, who’s also been implicated, are forced on the run with agents from both sides of the Korean peninsula chasing after them. The plot grows ever complicated, too much so unfortunately, but the action set-pieces including gunfights and hand-to-hand combat are impeccably done and exciting as hell.

When you are taking on the production of one of the most popular anime series ever, Blood: The Last Vampire, there is understandably some pressure. The man feeling the bulk of that pressure, producer Bill Kong, tells us all about it.

There’s no way to be sure about all of you — save for the fact that we do, in fact, have a ‘comments’ section on the site — but I know that I am personally jazzed about Blood: The Last Vampire.

The folks at Samuel Goldwyn Films were kind enough to send us over a copy of the new one-sheet poster and the first trailer for the upcoming sci-fi actioner Blood: The Last Vamire this afternoon.