Summary

Plot – 5
A special ops agent tracks his wifes murderer down. Sounds simple enough, but the delivery was unreasonably brilliant. I believe however that the plot falls to peripheral guide rails next to watching a good man turn into a monster. The plot was a delivery system for a long horrific tale, just as it should be. Five stars.

Characters – 5
This is not a two man show. Even the supporting cast seems so fleshed out that I expected everyone to return for a big reveal near the end. I was half right. But in the end, I wanted to watch our hero turn into a horrible man, and I wanted to watch the monster pushing him along be the evil fucker he is. And I can’t get enough of it. Perfect score.

Audience retention – 4
Oh I am sad I have to give this movie a four anywhere. But if I had to it’s for retention. This isn’t a thrill ride like most people perceive one. I think of this movie like the tide. It raises, it falls, and all at it’s own time. This movie will ask you to wait for it sometimes, but it’s only because it knows the payoff is well worth the simple patience. I don’t expect many people to look at the three hour run time without giving at least one ‘oof’ at the thought of that much of their life taken up in one sitting. Even I did. As much as I think the time it took was necessary, can’t help but feel like it’s going to be the one pock mark on this review.

Re-watch-ability – 5
I’m not joking around when I say this is one of my favorite in the Horror genre, maybe even Action too. And i love it because It’s not only a play on film, it is a character study, an action film, a horror film, an old school good versus evil story, and frankly it succeeds so well at all of these that some days I leave this movie on in the background just so I can think of great things while I clean. I would watch all three hours of this movie again any day someone asked me.

WAS I ENTERTAINED = Dear god, More. All the more of this picture.
I can say without a doubt that “I Saw the Devil” is one of the greatest horror experiences to be created in a very, very long time. It’s so damn good I’m almost unsure if I can word my critique properly, having seen this movie three times and finding myself loving it each and every viewing a bit more. It has so much to enjoy I could almost call my review biased. This film was such a breath of fresh air I don’t want to see the things I wouldn’t like. But in retrospect, even if I did open my eyes a bit wider and look for errors, I really don’t think I’d find any big enough worth really focusing upon.

So. I’m going to be as succinct as possible as I attempt to explain why you, as a fan of horror films, need to see this hidden classic straight out of Korea, while simultaneously giving as little as possible away as not to remove anything from your first watch.

I spent a long time gushing about characters in my previous piece discussing Splinter,  and i feel like it’ll be a recurring rant coming from my blog. Characters are what make and break horror films to me, so obviously I like gushing about the ones I enjoy. But enjoy and hold in esteem are two separate things, and this movie does far more than simply lay out the players and allow you to witness. This is a horror movie that allows us a glimpse into the life of a good man with an extremely violent set of skills being turned into the monster he so hates, like Captain Ahab fervently seeking his revenge upon the great whale Moby Dick.

Our lead character is a special operative with a lovely wife who has just found out she is pregnant. And after only a brief moment of showing affection between the two, she’s ripped from the story as a victim in what can be called a cliche. However, even a cliche can be entertaining. And despite how many times I feel like I’ve seen this part of the movie before in other movies, I do not consider it a fault. It was entertaining and brutal enough that I couldn’t bring myself to care about this one trope. It gave us our main chess pieces and immediately set up their relationship to each other.

The villain is a certifiable monster of modern times. A rapist, murderer, pedophile and butcher of humans, we witness this man murder 2 women and attempt the rape of a third before our lead ever comes close to exacting his vengeance. The film makes it extremely clear to us that this man is unrepentant, will not stop, and finds pleasure in the suffering of others wherever he goes. All of these pieces of evil, packed away in what at first appears to be an unassuming wrapper. The man does not look like much at first, but the more time spent watching what this man is capable of, the easier you can imagine how dimly the light of what’s left of his humanity shines. A mortal vampire, a wolf in sheep’s clothing preying on the weak. And in that regard, i love him. I love to hate this man. And at some point during this movie, as you watch our ‘hero’ unrepentantly hunt this man that took his love from him, you realize he will not stop, and that he finds pleasure in the suffering of just one other.

And here’s where I need to be careful with what I actually say. More than any other occasion I do not want to give anything away in this film. Indeed, i want you all to close this window and go watch this movie right now with as few spoilers from me as possible. So, here’s what really made the movie a top 10 favorite of mine, without spoiling the best parts.

We are all familiar with standard storytelling, and many of us love the formula that we grew up with. A hero and a villain, one black and one white, one Yin and one Yang. And the actions of our hero are righteous and pure, and all the villain does is an evil unto the world itself. And in many ways these standards hold true to I Saw the Devil. But as with any movie we interpret it as a whole, And it is in this action that we are forced to ask whether or not we can truly stand behind a man willing to go as low as those who wronged him. We are left to watch the descent of a good man giving chase to a monster, and doing so with a level of cruelty that a hero should not have. Many will watch our lead and cheer him on, shake our fist in pride as we watch him fight the good fight in the name of his lost love, but at what cost? After nearly three hours of watching this man play with the monster who took everything from him, I believe even the most hardened of vigilantes might take a step back and wonder just who the seen devil is. But while we’re on a kick of playing with the title, I have a theory. I believe the title ‘I Saw the Devil’ not to refer to an individual, but instead a state of being, where hedonism and anger are the sole driving forces of an individual, allowing one to easily explain away his crimes with their own moral blindfold. After seeing this film I believe that The Devil fell upon these men equally, showing us a portrait of the worst of humanity, and how evil can indeed spread like a cancer to all it touches. It will be a confusing decision I believe for reasons I refuse to voice out of worry I’d take something from the presentation, but even if you do not watch movies for the deep implications of it’s story and characters I think anyone can find a happy median here. The horror fans will certainly love it’s gritty realism and gore, and the horror aspects of the film regularly take back seats for very well choreographed action and fighting. All in all whether or not you came for the screams of rage or the screams of terror, I can guarantee that you will enjoy having sat through this movie of nearly 3 hours. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll be sad it wasn’t 4.

Have a lovely evening, Ladies and Gents, and go see this movie. do it now. Stop reading and go watch this movie. If you’re wondering where, I personally saw it on Shudder.com.