"It Lives To Eat!"	Year of Release: 1985 Directed by: Chong Gon Jo and Shin Sang Okk Running Time: Approx. 97 minutes Rating: Not Rated Listing on the A.K.A. Page: Nope! A Second Opinion: Stomp Tokyo Buy it on VHS at: Amazon.com or Movies Unlimited.com. My Rating:

Takse- Old blacksmith who is thrown into prison after a good beating. Before he passes on he creates a miniature Pulgasari from some rice and dirt, and with his last breath asks the gods to punish the king.

Inde- Leader of the local force of rebels. He stages several battles against the king's army. Ends up getting captured and hung near the films end.

Ami- She's supposed to marry Inde, but never gets around to it with all the happenings and goings on. After pricking her finger with a sewing needle, a drop of her blood falls upon the miniature Pulgasari that Takse made, thus bringing it to life. She ultimately sacrifices her life to destroy the creature she gave life to.

Ana- Ami's high pitched brother. Just sits around and cries a lot.

Inde's Mother and Brother- Beaten to death.

General Fuan- General who's called in to specially handle the "Farmer's Army." He fails to do his task because of Pulgasari.

Governor- Sniveling ruler of the Korean village. He always gives the king and other military officials bright ideas.

The King- Ruler (of Korea?) who harshly controls his nation. Stomped on by Pulgasari.

Pulgasari- Takse created this bull horned monster with some rice and dirt. After being splashed with a drop of Ami's blood, Pulgasari comes to life and begins to eat all the metal and iron in the entire area. After he serves his purpose, he becomes somewhat of a nuisance. To get rid of the metal-munching monster, Ami tricks Pulgasari into eating her (I'll explain later on), causing Pulgasari to turn into a statue and crumble.

"Banned For 10 Years!" That's the main tagline for this Korean monster flick. Unfortunately it wasn't banned forever. The movie is subtitled, but I prefer subtitles to dubbing in some instances. Twas the sheer boredom it caused along with the bad effects and laughable costumes (and plot) that made the mighty Pulgasari fall. In a small village in Korea, a rebellion is brewing against the ruling monarch. Takse's son, Inde turns out to be the leader of the huge rebel force. One starry evening, the Governor of the village arrives at Takse's door with all the villagers' farming tools. With the iron tools, Takse must make armor and weapons for the King's army. Instead the kind hearted blacksmith returns all the tools to their rightful owners. When the disappearance of the tools is discovered, Takse is arrested and put into jail (after receiving a nice long beating of course) and is deprived of food and water.
Also in jail is Inde and some other rebels. They got arrested for interfering with the collection of the farmer's tools. Ami and Ana try to see their ailing father but are chased off by guards. They still manage to get some food to Takse, and what does he do with those dirty clumps of rice? He creates a tiny figurine of Pulgasari that's what! Takse dies soon after but not before vowing vengeance against the King. On the evening after their father's death, Ami and Ana are mourning. In a (failed) attempt at cheering up her brother, Ami mends his tattered shirt. She pricks her finger on the sewing needle causing a drop of (very dark and watery) blood to land on her father's last creation, Pulgasari. The tiny creature then comes to life and begins munching on all things metallic. It isn't long before the mini monster wanders off into the Korean countryside in search of more food.
During this, the rebel forces have been continuously sparring with the King's Army. After a daring raid on the Governor's palace, the "Farmer's Army" takes to the mountains to ambush their foes. Soon it is discovered that Pulgasari is under the control of Ami (kind of like a "blood brother" relationship). So the "Farmer's Army" feed iron to Pulgasari and use the huge beast to strike terror into the hearts of the King and his army. At this point General Fuan has been called in to both eradicated the "Farmer's Army" and Pulgasari. After many failed attempts to do so (since Pulgasari is immune to swords, spears, fire, cannonballs, and rocket powered ballistas), they come up with one last plan. Pulgasari is lured into a huge hole dug by the King's militia and is then buried. This works for a while until Ami sneaks to Pulgasari's whereabouts and resurrects the fallen beast (with more of her dark watery blood). With Pulgasari back in action, the "Farmer's Army" now leaderless (Inde was strung up at this point), charges in behind their "savior."
The King's army is completely demoralized and defeated, and the King himself has been crushed under the righteous foot of Pulgasari. But what the hell do you do with a giant monster who has an insatiable hunger for metal? Ami comes up with a plan. She goes to the center of the King's Palace and rings a huge bell. The sound brings Pulgasari running (hehehe... monster sized dinner bell) and the huge creature greedily eats the bell... with Ami in it! She climbed into the bell... wow... that is truly a novel way to commit suicide! For some reason this action causes Pulgasari to turn into a statue and crumble away into dust. And so, the Koreans are free of tyranny, Ami is now dead, and in a "surprising" twist, Pulgasari has shrunk back to his miniature size and begins wandering off again.

Takse: "But these are farming tools! Even a cooking pot!"

General Fuan: "So that was the strength of the government's elite force?!"
Army: "We are ashamed!"

Old Man: "I raise my hands to that appetite!"