Tell Me Something (1999)
"Telmisseomding" (original title)

In Seoul, parts not matching of severed copses of three men are found in cars and bags left in public spaces. Detective Cho, who is under investigation of the Internal Affairs, is assigned ... See full summary »

Director:

Youn-hyun Chang

Writers:

Youn-hyun Chang, Eun-Ah In,

Stars:

Suk-kyu Han, Eun-ha Shim, Hang-Seon Jang

Cast

Cast overview:
Suk-kyu Han	...	Detective Cho
Eun-ha Shim	...	Chae Su-Yeon
Hang-Seon Jang	...	Detective Oh
Jung-ah Yum	...	Seungmin Oh
Seok-Hwan An
Cheol-Ho Park
Jun-Sang Yu	...	Kim Ki-yeon
Hwan-Jun Lee

Storyline

In Seoul, parts not matching of severed copses of three men are found in cars and bags left in public spaces. Detective Cho, who is under investigation of the Internal Affairs, is assigned to lead the investigation with his team. When the identities of the men are discovered, the police finds that the artist Su-Yeon Chae, who lives with her friend Seungmin Oh, had been lover of the men. Detective Cho and his force protect Su-Yeon and follows the leads based one the information she tells, while the killer executes other victims. However, Cho discloses very dark secrets in the end, finding the real motives of the murderer.

---

Plot Keywords:

detective | police | internal affairs | bag | telephone call | 

---

Genres:

Thriller | Horror | Crime | Mystery

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence and gruesome images, some language and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Nifty [jp] (japanese)

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

13 November 1999 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Tell Me Something

Company Credits

Production Co:

Koo & Cee Film, Kookmin Venture Capital

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References StarCraft (1998)

---

Soundtracks

"The Crawl"
Performed by Placebo

User Reviews

Horrific thriller

This South Korean thriller undoubtedly belongs to the most impressive genre films of the last years and stands in one line with classics like "Seven" or "The Silence of the Lambs". In a way, it even tops both American movies, even though it's not really comparable to them, because the story goes in another direction as the movie proceeds.

"Tell Me Something" starts of as a serial killer thriller clearly influenced by "Seven", but it becomes much more Giallo-like in the second half to become some valid social comment with its downbeat climax.

The acting is also remarkable, just as the sublime black humor that surfaces once in a while and the outrageously gory moments that will leave You gasping for breath even if You've seen many gorefests before. The last point is particularly interesting considering that the film never tries to outdo some notorious Italian horror movie of the early 1980s or Category-III-romp from Hongkong's 1990s.

The diversity of interesting aspects make this top-notch thriller interesting for hard core horror buffs as well as moviegoers that normally don't pay for such violent movies. Astonishingly as it may sound, it's a very sensible movie in a way. Nevertheless, it surely is nothing for the easily offended or faint hearted. It's just demanding cinema which makes no compromises, which most really good films are.

Highly recommended.