Don’t be alarmed that the hero in the new Korean thriller “I Saw the Devil” finds the killer less than midway into the feature.
The hunt has only begun.
“Devil” spins the serial killer film in bold and shocking directions, and while the sprawling story could use some, ahem, slicing, the feature offers enough thematic layers to delight gore hounds and indie film lovers alike.
Assuming the latter group has a very strong stomach.
A serial killer (Choi Min-sik) takes out a beautiful – and pregnant – young woman in the film’s opening sequence, a bitter taste of what’s to come. The woman’s fiance, a stern secret agent type police agent named Soo-Hyun (Lee Byung-hun), decides to take the law into his own hands. Soo-Hyun has connections with local law enforcement, and he finds a quartet of suspects who could be tied to her disappearance.
He eventually meets the killer and gives him a proper beating. But Soo-Hyun has no interesting in bringing the madman to justice or finishing him off for good. This revenge will take some time to complete.
Director Kim Ji-woon displays a mastery of the horror conventions, which makes it all the easier to upend them as he sees fit. The kills take us by surprise and hold nothing back. When the serial killer massacres two men in a moving car it’s about as shocking as anything you’ll see on screen.
The first half, while adroitly executed, feels a bit mundane, as if we were witnessing another revenge saga with little new to share. But our flawed hero’s vengeance sullies his soul, while leaving the killer free long enough to strike again … and again.
Min-sik doesn’t seem like the right choice to play the killer. He’s not physically imposing and looks as ordinary as the guy you might meet at the supermarket fumbling over overripe bananas. But that flat appearance makes him more frightening. The actor’s dialed-down performance never lacks intensity, and by making him human it renders his actions all the more inhumane.
“Devil” could have shared more about Soo-Hyun. He’s a trained fighter who moves with a feline grace. He never once looks afraid. That makes him a formidable adversary, but his implacable spirit keeps us separated from his deteriorating mental state.
“I Saw the Devil” is not for the faint of heart, or for those who prefer their horror stories by the splattered book. It’s a horrifying experience not soon forgotten, and a lively jolt to a genre that desperately needs it.
(Photo: Choi Min-sik in “I Saw the Devil,” a Magnet Release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing)
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Looking forward to seeing it this weekend.