I Saw the Devil (dir. Kim Ji-woon) was a 2010 film you might have missed last year, but you’ll want to find. The film highlights the kind of stylized violence and gore audiences raved over when director Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy hit the scene (it even features Oldboy lead actor, Choi Min-sik) Prepare yourself for a bloody good time.
The film’s synopsis reads:
Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik) is a psychopathic serial killer who is the embodiment of pure evil. His attacks on his victims are horrifying and senselessly cruel; he has so far successfully eluded capture by the police.
Ju-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief and pregnant fiancée of elite special agent Kim Soo-hyeon (Lee Byung-hun of The Good, the Bad, and the Weird) is brutally murdered by Kyung-chul on a dark snowy night. Obsessed with revenge, Soo-hyeon decides to track down the murderer, even if doing so means becoming a monster himself.
The film boasts a 86% rating over at Rotten Tomatoes and, according to Meta Critic, will be releasing early next month. However, it is not stated if this is just a theatrical release across seas or if the film will show up in the U.S. I Saw the Devil played at last years Fantastic Fest and had a run at the Sundance Film Festival. For now we can only wait and hope that the film is released in the U.S.
What do you think, though? Does this film tickle your senses in the best kind of way or will you choose to avoid it? Leave us your thoughts below.
— Aaron Faulkner
The Filmsmith 