What is it about Korea, and the awesome revenge movies? From the Revenge Trilogy, to A Tale of Two Sisters…Korea delivers the goods. Now to I Saw the Devil. It’s everything you would expect, and come to love about Korean horror. The story, characters, insane situations and the way the characters act in them is paramount to why they are so fun to watch. These films mix genres and blur the line between ridiculous and just crazy enough to be somewhat true. For those who are fellow Korean horror fans, you will see some familiar faces who are still bringing their “A game” to the screen.
Now, the story. It opens on a women who is talking to her fiancée on the phone about a car problem, she is stranded on the side of a snowy dark and deserted road. A stranger shows up saying he will help. The husband, still on the phone, says to refuse. After they hang up, the stranger breaks into the car and murders the women in his house. A scene that is hard to watch, much comes from the unsettling acting coming from the killer Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik, Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance). The fiancée of the now murdered women is Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun, Three Extreme Cut, A Bittersweet Life) A specially trained special agent, with some mad moves. He vows to hunt down the man responsible and kill him in the same brutality his fiancée suffered, but not all at once. In the sweet symphony of revenge, Korean style, he tracks down the killer in no time, beats the ever living out of him and forces him to swallow a tracking device while he is passed out. He killer wakes up with money to run away with, laughing, he leaves thinking that its over. From there, the cavalcade of fun and blood ensues. I won’t say anymore then the set up, it’s more enjoyable to see it for yourself.
The movie is highly recommended along with the Revenge Trilogy. The acting, story, and characters are all top notch and pulls you into the experience. It has such a creep factor like all the others. For those who are unfamiliar with the Revenge Trilogy that I speak of, they are: Revenge of Mr. Vengence, Oldboy, and Sympathy For Lady Vengence. So, get some popcorn, or skittles, and relax with some revenge the way it was meant to be. If revenge is a dish best served cold, as Khan says so, then these movies are the ice cold servings he is referring to. I Saw the Devil, in my opinion, is the fourth installment of revenge movies from Korea.
