Review of I Saw the Devil (2010) by Legitsalt — 25 Feb 2020

Old-Boy star, Min-Sik, returns with an extremely haunting performance. In a way, this film is a Korean adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs in the sense that it revolves around a detective’s interactions with a cannibalistic serial killer.

However, if you couldn’t stomach The Silence of the Lambs then this is certainly not the film for you as it jumps right into it with graphically grizzly scenes. Min-Sik’s character lures a young woman into his van and knocks her unconscious.

She wakes, fettered in an impromptu shelter located in a sewer, to her assailant looming over her. He makes quick work of her, chopping her up, but not before her hand, with her engagement ring on it, is carried away into the sewer system.

We find out that she had been engaged to a high-ranking detective, as played by Byung-Hun. What follows is a vindictive game of cat and mouse between the detective and killer, ending in the killer’s associate’s lair, wherein the associate keeps a store of young women for his and his dogs’ later consumption.

The detective is successful in his capture of the killer; however, the tables soon turn as the killer escapes and seeks to get even for the pain the detective has inflicted upon him. As the battle of brains and brawns draws to a close, the detective eventually gets vengeance, but at a cost.

The film’s cinematography is unique and well-composed. However, the most notable elements of the film are the fight scenes and grotesquely real effects. This film manages to accomplish what many Hollywood films fail to do: provide a constantly engaging narrative and good choreography in a horror or horror adjacent film.