I Saw the Devil – I got this… eventually

I’ll admit it that it took me a little while to fully ‘get’ ‘I Saw the Devil.’ Perhaps I’ve been watching too many ‘classic Hollywood’ films lately and forgot that other countries do things differently.  

It’s no easy ride and you’re going to need a strong stomach to watch it all the way through.  A serial killer, already wanted by the South Korean authorities, abducts and murders a young pregnant woman.  However, this time he’s gone one step too far, as the woman in question is related to South Korea’s top secret agent.  Okay, it was about here when I wondered how much I was going to enjoy this film.  But, I overlooked the sheer convenience of this plot point and simply went with it.

It doesn’t take long before our South Korean James Bond has located his man, but he doesn’t just kill him – too easy.  He decides it would be much more fun to generally torment and torture him in a series of dangerous ‘cat and mouse’ games.

Again, I did wonder why the secret agent didn’t just kill the killer.  Of course this would shave about 80% of the film’s runtime off its total length!  But, again, I overlooked that and went with it.  And, I’m glad I did.  Yes, it is a horrible film and full of very nasty moments, but it is certainly atmospheric and the serial killer is certainly someone you’ll be dying to get his comeuppance.  There’s even a few moments of social commentary thrown in there to show that it’s not just a mindless revenge flick.

Naturally, it has subtitles, so you’ll have to be okay with that if you’re going to watch it.  But, if you’re in the mood for something dark, sadistic and violent, stick with it.  It’s a bit longer than most similar films, but you may just find it’s worth it.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that