The zombie horror goes back to 1932’s White Zombie, directed by Bela Lugosi, though most would consider the mainstream beginning to be George A. Romero‘s 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead. Throughout the decades, there have been many interpretations of the subject, as the idea of a slowly moving, unintelligent monster doesn’t terrify once you become comfortable with the premise, with movies like Zombieland aiming at these tropes. This has led to a diversification of how one can define a zombie and an increased focus on how they affect humanity, with The Walking Dead and World War Z being key examples.
Enter Dark Hole, a Korean horror that follows detective Lee Hwa Sun (Kim Ok-bin), who searches for the serial killer who murdered her husband, and ex-police officer Lee Jun-hyuk (Yoo Tae Han), as black smoke is released from a massive hole in the ground, which turns people into rageful mutants hellbent on eating everyone in their path. Dark Hole not only creates its own interpretation of what many would consider to be a zombie but also uses the idea of a greater antagonist controlling these creatures to further its exploration of love and hate. Despite this intriguing and unique interpretation of the genre, Dark Hole‘s focus on how a shift from civilized to post-apocalyptic unleashes society’s worst keeps the viewer thoroughly engaged in the characters’ journeys.
‘Dark Hole’ Provides a Twist on the Traditional Zombie
Most would consider the zombies shown in Romero’s Living Dead films to be the archetypal zombie, a mindless creature who wants to eat humans and can infect you. Typically, it isn’t known what causes the outbreak, and the focus is merely on survival. Dark Hole‘s definition of their mutants is similar, yet certainly set apart from this definition. The mutants are created by inhaling black smoke and don’t lose all consciousness. Instead, the smoke causes them to hallucinate, seeing everyone around them as the people they hate or fear most.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Scenes such as Lee Hwa Sun becoming infected and seeing this smoke talk to her mind, causing her to see Lee Jun-hyuk as her husband’s murderer in a void within Hwa Sun’s mind, make the process of turning far more visceral than the objective views we normally get of people becoming infected. Compare this to 28 Days Later, where the mutants are also created by a virus, and the infection scene of Brendan Gleeson‘s character is played through the actor’s physical transformation, whereas Dark Hole gives us a psychological one.
Furthermore, the mutants themselves aren’t the biggest danger in Dark Hole. Instead, through Hwa Sun and other characters, such as an expelled student who turns into a larger antagonist as the series progresses, we learn that the smoke is being controlled by some kind of tentacled monster. It tells Hwa Sun that a lot of what it is doing is for “fun,” like giving the humans brief moments of rest after an attack by commanding mutants to leave the area. By making the origin of the threat sentient, Dark Hole gives us an exploration of how hate can derail society. The smoke tells people to kill what they hate, but Lee Hwa Sun only resists when she thinks of her late husband, who wouldn’t want her to become vengeful. It’s a fascinating exploration of how love can conquer hatred.
‘Dark Hole’ Embraces the Post-Apocalyptic Setting To Disturbing Effect
Typically, post-apocalyptic shows like The Walking Dead focus on how ordinary people can be turned into villains. However, Dark Hole gives us the opposite and shows how such an explosion of society could release those who would cause great harm. We see a power-hungry school chairman who only becomes more extreme in his focus on control when the outbreak occurs, threatening to expel anyone who disobeys him into the deadly smoke. We are also given the serial killer Lee Hwa Sun is searching for, but this article won’t spoil that identity.
Through this serial killer, we are shown how their murders would become easier for them to commit in the chaos, as more bodies with smiley-faced bags — the killer’s calling card —over their heads appear. Though characters like Sun and Jun-hyuk do not give up on their morality, protecting a little girl who lost her mother, Do-Yoon (Lee Ye-Bit), as well as fighting through hordes to save strangers, the presence of the human antagonists strikes a great deal of fear into us, as we are being shown what kind of people already exist in society and how they could be unleashed.
Overall, Dark Hole‘s greatest strength is its ability to both embrace and twist archetypal traits of a zombie or post-apocalyptic narrative. The mutants are close but cannot be defined as zombies. Yet, the context that they create is certainly one you would find in a classic zombie piece. The way Dark Hole then uses this context to expose the good and evil within humanity already existing in society is a further unique trait of the show, keeping you engaged with the protagonists’ journeys throughout the 12-episode season.
Dark Hole is available to stream on Viki in the U.S.
