Movie Review - I Saw The Devil(2009) Kim Jee Woon

Hello, Crazy Movie Lovers!

The movie I'm going to introduce today is one of my favourite Korean Movies, "I Saw The Devil". 

This movie has become one of my favourites not just because the movie is well-made, but my favourite two Korean actors, Choi-Min-Sik and Lee Byung-Hun are acting in this movie! For some of you might be familiar with these names as they acted in some Hollywood movies such as "Lucy"(2014) Luc Besson and "G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra"(2009) Stephen Sommers. Although the movies weren't quite successful in the U.S market, I'm happy to see some of the Korean actors to be seen in Hollywood movies and hopefully more Korean actors take important roles in Hollywood movies in the future. 

I think you heard enough of my personal opinions, so let's get back to "I Saw The Devil". 

Please be advised that the movie contains violent scenes, so if you do not wish to be exposed to such contents, please go back to home page and enjoy other non-violent movies listed. 

http://www.easternkicks.com/?s=i+saw+the+devil

The official synopsis:

On a dark road, taxi driver Kyung-chul (Min-sik Choi) comes across a scared female motorist stranded in a broken-down vehicle. He pulls over -- but not to help her. When the woman's head is discovered in a local river, her devastated fiancé, Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hun Lee), a trained secret agent, becomes obsessed with hunting down her killer. Once he finds Kyung-chul, things get twisted. After brutally beating the murderer, Kim lets him go free, and a demented game of cat and mouse begins.

http://www.easternkicks.com/?s=i+saw+the+devil

At the beginning of the movie, it may look obvious who the devil is. The psychopathic murderer, Kyung-chul (Min-sik Choi). The ways of how he kills his victims shocks viewers and make them doubt that he is a human being like us. I was actually getting sick while I was watching his cruelty and merciless ways of killing the victims. On the other hand, a trained secret agent, Kim Soo-hyeon(Byung-hun Lee) who lost his fiance by Kyung-Chul, has lived a normal life like everyone else. However, his life changes entirely after he loses his fiance.

As the story goes on, people may think that it's a typical movie which a good guy punishes a bad guy, end of story. However, if you watch it more carefully, you will find that the movie is hiding a message about the nature of human. As Kim Soo-hyeon repeatedly chases Kyung-chul and let him go, the ways how Kim Soo-hyeon punishes Kyung-Chul becomes more cruel and cruel until the point viewers get confused who the real evil was. 

http://www.easternkicks.com/?s=i+saw+the+devil

http://www.easternkicks.com/?s=i+saw+the+devil

   

Who do you think the evil in this movie? The psychopathic murderer, Kyung-chul(Min-Sik Choi)? or the innocent guy who wants his revenge for her fiance, Kim Soo-hyeon(Byung-hun Lee)? 

You may find a devil inside you. 

                                    

                                     

The Visit (2015) - Movie Review

 

The Visit - Promotional Poster
Universal Pictures

The visit is the new “comedy-horror” film directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan. It follows the story of two kids - Rebecca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) – as they go to visit their estranged grandparents – John (Peter McRobbie) and Doris (Deanna Dunagan) - while their mother is away on a cruise. As this will be the first time the kids meet their grandparents, they want to document the whole thing, resulting in the entire film being shot “found-footage” style.

As the story progresses, the kids start to notice more and more disturbing behaviour from their grandparents as their chances of ever leaving their grandparent’s house alive become less and less likely. This is really when the creepiness and the wackiness of the movie starts to set in. True to any Shyamalan film this movie does have a twist ending but do you want to know the biggest twist? This movie didn’t suck. 

No on can deny that M. Night Shyamalan has been on a streak of throwing out terrible movie after terrible movie in the last decade. Going into this movie people's expectations were super low but I've got to admit there were moments in "The Visit" that I found legitimately creepy.

Grandma's Rules Universal Pictures

The small casting of mainly unknown actors really helped in creating a sense of “realness”, with the performances – especially of the two children - being on point. One of the best things about this movie was that it didn’t take itself too seriously and there were a few great comedic moments intertwined between the horror story.

"There's something wrong with Nana and Papa" - Kids "They're just OLD!" - Mum
 Universal Pictures 

This “found-footage” filming style in horror movies has really been done to death in recent years and it can become annoying very quickly, although as the movie started to progress it got to be a bit more bearable. But with a production budget of only $5 million, this was definitely the cheapest way to shoot.

Overall, I got what I wanted from this movie – to be entertained. It is by no means a ‘great’ film but it has enough suspense, scares, and laughs to make it an enjoyable night at the movies. 

 

3 Stars

Thomas S