I Saw The Devil is another extremely gory, brutally violent, and sexually explicit shock-horror feature from South Korea. While not as exhaustingly "realistic" as The Butcher (which I reviewed earlier), it's effectively just as disturbing (probably even moreso), with a twisted undertone of (very) dark humour.
It tells the story of a misogynistic, sociopathic, serial bludgeoning rapist named Kyung-Chul (portrayed, hauntingly, by Min-Sik Choi of Oldboy fame). From the very first scene this monster violently attacks, kidnaps, rapes, tortures and dismembers a number of beautiful, young girls. But he doesn't limit himself to this preference, as he's clearly ready, willing and able to kill any and everyone he comes into contact with. The very thought alone, that such people exist in this world, is enough to make you sweat.
The remains of the girl who dies in the opening scene are discovered by a young boy; dismembered, and dispersed across a barren field. She turns out to be the daughter of the local Police Chief; and girlfriend of a spook named Soo-Hyun.
The killer's misogyny stems from a lifetime of rejection- which drives his violent rage. He's never been good enough for any woman, and now he's lashing out on the world without remorse.
When Soo-Hyun becomes privy of his girlfriend's fate he quits his job; choosing instead to walk the path of hell and seek revenge for the death of his beloved (who also happened to be pregnant with their child).
To achieve this, he utilizes his security connections to identify and track the 4 major suspects in the case. After violently vetting two of them...he manages to narrow the list down to one man: Kyung-Chul.
After following a few of leads, he is eventually able to track Kyung-Chul down and confront him with a timely intervention. During the brawl that ensues, Soo-Hyun succeeds in knocking the sick bastard out. But instead of killing him...he plants some sort of tracking device inside him. This device not only tracks his position; it also provides an unfettered audio feed directly to a smartphone application.
Soo-Hyun now has the ability to listen in on all of Kyung-Chul's conversations, while tracking his every move. And he plans to use this power to intervene in every situation where Kyung-Chul believes he has the upper hand on an unsuspecting victim. However, it is evident that Soo-Hyun is not intervening specifically to save these women; rather to punish Kyung-Chul, by preventing him from engaging in the one activity that will satiate his hunger.
By the halfway point it becomes obvious that the hunter has become the hunted. Though...for some reason this new alpha predator prefers to play with his prey...rather than swiftly put it out of it's misery...
An intense, action packed ride from the beginning to end. There is an extreme amount sexual exploitation and violence going on in this film, so if you can't handle watching people be violently molested and gorily tortured...then this certainly isn't the film for you. In the end, it's about having to become a monster in order to defeat a monster. In this way, it is thematically quite similar to HBO's True Detective. The subtle strand of dark humour threaded throughout is particularly intriguing- especially considering the disturbing nature of the content matter. However, it works (much in the same way that Kim Ki-Duk's bizarre, twisted and hilarious Moebius does). At about 2 hours and 20 minutes, it's a long film. But the awesome special effects and violent saturation make it hard to turn away. If you are looking to be simultaneously shocked, disturbed and entertained...then I suggest you check this one out.
7 out of 10.
