I Saw the Devil (2010)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Randy T

  
  This is one Charles Bronson away from being a Korean <i>Death Wish</i>.

• Albert K

  
  "I Saw The Devil" was incredibly well made. Breathtaking cinematography that comes with extremely believable performances. The story was interesting and took me along the ride but one of my biggest things that turned me away was the incredible amount of gore and sexuality.… More
  "I Saw The Devil" was incredibly well made. Breathtaking cinematography that comes with extremely believable performances. The story was interesting and took me along the ride but one of my biggest things that turned me away was the incredible amount of gore and sexuality. It doesn't have gore that is over-the-top like "Hostel" but the idea behind the violence almost hits the taboo limit. It is definitely an entertaining and thrilling movie but it is not a movie that I would imagine watching again.

• paul o

  
  Cinematography is beautiful and genius! The story is dark and its characters are deep within their core emotions. Brutality is the norm in this revenge film and possibly makes it one of its best in contemporary thrillers!

• Luke B

  
  Korean's and revenge movies. They just keep joining forces. Here's the basic plot for I Saw the Devil, man kills woman, woman's fiancà (C)e comes after man. That's simplifying it, because this soon takes us into new, if fairly brutal territory. Our supposed hero… More
  Korean's and revenge movies. They just keep joining forces. Here's the basic plot for I Saw the Devil, man kills woman, woman's fiancà (C)e comes after man. That's simplifying it, because this soon takes us into new, if fairly brutal territory. Our supposed hero quickly and easily finds the man responsible, and after beating him senseless, he leaves him in a hole with an envelope of cash. He's also placed a tracking device upon his person and this leads to our protagonist repeatedly hunting down the murderer and beating him again and again. This really emphasises the man becoming the monster that all revenge films kind of hint at. Here it is spelled out, in what we see and the dialogue of some of the supporting characters. As Soo Hyeon continues to release Kyung Chul, Kyung Chul is able to hurt more and more people. Soo Hyeon doesn't care about this, as long as his thirst for vengeance is quenched. Making Soo Hyeon so reckless in his revenge is what keeps us apart from him. Though he never really becomes a monster, just selfish. Rather than completely criticising revenge, it at times seems to suggest that you should just get the revenge over with as quickly as possible. Like many Korean films it has a wicked sense of humour, which is used to shock and also satirise the police. Once again they are incompetent, dropping a box with a victim's head in front of journalists and photographers. The film is brutal to begin with. I kept expecting the torture to end, but then calmly, it would cut back to the murder or clean up. This calm sensibility puts us in the mind of the killer. Lee is fantastic in his kickass role. You feel the anger and emotion and do care for his safety at first, but once he becomes too self absorbed you lose your connection to the film. Choi is incredible as always. He is terrifying without becoming a lunatic. His control over those around him is perfectly believable. It's an engaging film overall, though its morals are fairly mixed up at times, which is probably the point. It's biggest problem is being too long and repetitive and using too many plot holes as escape routes to further the plot. I could have done without the cannibal house scene, as this just made it seem like some fantasy serial killer forest where they all get together for parties.

• Nicki M

  
  Absolutely horrible viewing, but a really good movie. Had to look away several times. What is it with Min-sik Choi and his yucky characters - plays an absolutely unhinged psycho here, very convincing too. This is a guy I would not want to meet out on my own at night! Extremely… More
  Absolutely horrible viewing, but a really good movie. Had to look away several times. What is it with Min-sik Choi and his yucky characters - plays an absolutely unhinged psycho here, very convincing too. This is a guy I would not want to meet out on my own at night! Extremely violent, but compelling movie that doesn't drag even though it is over 2 hours long. Good ending too.

• Taylor R

  
  An arrestingly beautiful revenge film that rises above its narrow moralistic trappings. I had no idea they made movies like this in South Korea. The cinematography is beautiful, the action is sharply edited--you could see Kim Jee-woon directing a James Bond film (and it'd… More
  An arrestingly beautiful revenge film that rises above its narrow moralistic trappings. I had no idea they made movies like this in South Korea. The cinematography is beautiful, the action is sharply edited--you could see Kim Jee-woon directing a James Bond film (and it'd probably be the best one). It's very violent, but the violence is brief and sharp--think of it as punctuation to set the tone of character and scene. Most interesting is the moral cesspool our hero slowly spirals into. It's nothing less than a deconstruction of the revenge genre. Do yourself a favor and see this film.

• Melvin W

  
  Kim Soo-hyeon: I hope you suffer, even after you die. "Evil lives inside" I Saw the Devil is a relentless, violent, disturbing, sickening and great film from Jee-woon Kim. If you don't like movies with tons of violence and an extreme amount of gore and sickening… More
  Kim Soo-hyeon: I hope you suffer, even after you die. "Evil lives inside" I Saw the Devil is a relentless, violent, disturbing, sickening and great film from Jee-woon Kim. If you don't like movies with tons of violence and an extreme amount of gore and sickening images; this isn't for you. If you do, you won't find a revenge thriller much better then I Saw the Devil. The two lead actors, Byung-hun Lee and Min-sik Choi are simply amazing with their respected roles. Lee plays a man who just lost his wife and sets out to get revenge on the murdering psychopath who committed the crime. Choi plays that psychopath. He's a serial killer and like every other serial killer; he enjoys what he does a lot.  Jee-woon Kim spares no expense in showing the viewer all the bloody violence in it's entirety. The violence is brutal and at times pretty fucking gross. It looks realistic. The movie looks and sounds great. The music score is really good and really set the mood for the entire movie. The film clocks in at around 140 minutes and there wasn't a second in that runtime where I wished it would speed up or end. I was hooked pulled into the story and couldn't look away the entire time.  I Saw the Devil is easily one of my favorite movies I've seen this year. It's direction and acting is brilliant and leaves nothing to gripe about. I loved this movie in all it's bloody, gory glory.

• Cameron S

  
  Anything directed by Kim Ji Woon, is going to be good, for me he's the best director working in Korea at the moment, he's better then Chan Wook park (Oldboy, Thirst) and he's better then Jon-Ho Bong (The Host), infact, as well as being my favourite Korean director… More
  Anything directed by Kim Ji Woon, is going to be good, for me he's the best director working in Korea at the moment, he's better then Chan Wook park (Oldboy, Thirst) and he's better then Jon-Ho Bong (The Host), infact, as well as being my favourite Korean director he's also my joint second favourite director of all time, there's something about his film which truly makes them stand out. What I'm really trying to say is that 'I Saw the Devil' did not dissapoint. Choi Min-sik from 'Oldboy' plays a violent serial killer Kyung-chul who kills a police officer called Soo-hyun's (Lee Byung-hyun) fiancee. Instead of catching the killer like a normal police man would though, Soo-hyun decides to stalk and torment Kyung-chul by placing a tracking device on him. 'I Saw the Devil' merges the line between good and evil and is beautifully shot. The film is also very violent (just how I like it) and some of Kyul-chul murder scenes are a joy to watch (the tension is the taxi cab scene in particular was on of my favourites). There's not much else to say really without spoiling the film. I'm just happy to see a decent film after the last few pieces of garbage.

• Lanning :

  
  Two of my favorite Korean actors going head to head in this savage revenge drama. It's a bummer to see Min-sik Choi play a bad guy, but man, does he do it well. <p>Nobody does revenge better than Koreans, and as a result, nobody better understands the consequences of… More
  Two of my favorite Korean actors going head to head in this savage revenge drama. It's a bummer to see Min-sik Choi play a bad guy, but man, does he do it well. <p>Nobody does revenge better than Koreans, and as a result, nobody better understands the consequences of seeking revenge. <p>If you are not into blood and violence, then plenty of Korean films are not for you, and this one in particular will be a challenge to get through. However, nobody mixes dark humor with bloody violence like the Koreans do either.

• Aaron N

  
  Soo-hyeon: Your nightmare's only getting worse. There are a lot of revenge films that currently exist out there. While I am always up for a sweet revenge tale, it does excite me much more when it is a film coming out of South Korea. Over the course of the past decade, South… More
  Soo-hyeon: Your nightmare's only getting worse. There are a lot of revenge films that currently exist out there. While I am always up for a sweet revenge tale, it does excite me much more when it is a film coming out of South Korea. Over the course of the past decade, South Korea has continued to prove to me that some of the best, stylish, and most ambitious films are coming out of that area. Now I have gotten a chance to see one of the latest treats from South Korea, I Saw the Devil, which is a wonderfully bloody, but stylized, revenge film. This is a film that warps the idea of a cat-and-mouse thriller and benefits heavily based on the way this film handles familiar aspects of this sub-genre. The film presents a few different positions on the condition of psychopaths and is certainly violent, but beautifully made in a very bleak sort of way. read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com

• Jeff "

  
  I Saw The Devil was voted as the horror/thriller to see for the last year. Finally decided to see it, and was surprised at what I saw. Usually Asian horror films tend to be great, good or decent. I Saw The Devil for me is a good film, and I thought it was well acted, paced and well… More
  I Saw The Devil was voted as the horror/thriller to see for the last year. Finally decided to see it, and was surprised at what I saw. Usually Asian horror films tend to be great, good or decent. I Saw The Devil for me is a good film, and I thought it was well acted, paced and well directed. However I didn't think it was that great of film. The film was certainly good. But it was a tad overrated. I wouldn't call it the best film of the year. I think it's too early for that. The things that separate this film among other films of this type of horror genre is that it includes a fair amount of drama in it's story. I was surprised at that. The film is not that gory as what many people have said about the film. Director Ji-Woon Kim has definitely crafted a memorable Horror/drama film and it's much better than what you'd expect from this genre. But I Saw The Devil is not the greatest film of the year. The film is good for what it is, and theres plenty of horrifying, tense and thrilling moments here. The film is brutal, tense and graphic. I Saw The Devil is not for the faint of heart, and it's really a grim, dark film where the main character carries out a game of cat and mouse on the man who killed his wife. A memorable addition to the horror genre, and one that delivers a solid story. However the film is too long, and it could have been cut done slightly.

• Ariuza k

  
  This movie is not for the squeamish, or the faint of heart. Censors claimed it was offensive to human dignity. These were the kinds of things they told the audience at the world premiere screening of the Uncut Version of I Saw the Devil at the Toronto International Film Festival last… More
  This movie is not for the squeamish, or the faint of heart. Censors claimed it was offensive to human dignity. These were the kinds of things they told the audience at the world premiere screening of the Uncut Version of I Saw the Devil at the Toronto International Film Festival last week. I had heard the movie was pretty graphic, but I never expected that it would push any boundaries. I turned out to be only half right. After finding out his fiancée has been brutally murdered, secret agent Dae-hoon (Byung-hun Lee) is at a loss. With the help of his father-in-law, he sets out on a revenge plot to find the man who did it. He quickly finds the culprit, Kyung-chul (Min-sik Choi). He beats him pretty badly, but instead of killing him, he leaves him alive. He wants to stalk his prey, and exact his revenge slowly and increasingly more painfully. Going in with very few ideas of what I was about to see, I was startled and thrilled at the tenacious audacity on display from the opening scene all the way until the final frames. The film is a gritty, merciless experience that could never be truly recreated in North America. This is the kind of hard-boiled revenge thriller you could only find in Korea. And to hear that even the censors there could not handle Kim Ji-woon's complete vision makes the film all the more uncompromising and astounding. It has taken me well over a week to try and come up with the words to describe and review the film, but never once have I forgotten anything I saw. It is quite simply, unforgettable. I was right in assuming the film would not push the boundaries of what can be shown in regards to graphic violence and gore. But it comes really close. It makes Park Chan-Wook's entire Vengeance Trilogy look about as violent as the Toy Story Trilogy. Blood sprays, flies, drips, gushes - every verb or way blood can possibly flow out of the human body occurs over the course of the film. It relishes in it no matter if the shot is raw, unflinching and real, or hyper stylized and completely over-the-top. One sequence involving a brutal double murder as the camera swoops around the scene in a circle is simply magnificent to watch, both to see how much blood is spilt and for how wicked and incredible a shot it is. The revenge tale at the core of I Saw the Devil is not all too original, but it is the story and idea around it that is. Very rarely do we see a film with two characters that start off completely different, but very slowly become all in the same. Dae-hoon and Kyung-chul are both very stubborn individuals, who will not back down from each other. They just keep at each other, and even as Kyung-chul is continually beaten, abused and victimized, he never once lets up. I keep coming back to a comparison with Batman and The Joker in The Dark Knight, and how those two menaces push each other to their physical limits, and that is exactly what happens in this film. While it was easy to pick sides in Dark Knight, Ji-woon makes it increasingly difficult for the audience to figure out who they should sympathize with here. It is a haunting and blatantly moral-defying story, and its raw and emotional undertones are more than difficult to swallow. But the key problem I found with the film is Ji-woon's lack of ability to know when to cut. There are easily twenty minutes that could be chopped right out of the film, and none of its edge would be lost in the process. I was glued to the screen for the majority of the film, but found myself checking my watch more than once because I was totally baffled as to why it runs over 140 minutes. There is only so much revenge one can take and comprehend, and having the film run so long makes it all too easy to call out as being self-indulgent. I respect the film, and I respect Ji-woon as a filmmaker (I wanted to seek out the rest of his film catalogue immediately after the lights came up), but it just makes such an incredible movie feel a bit sloppy and weakened as a cohesive package. Another inconsistent element is Lee's Dan-hoon. We never learn much about him outside of his being a secret agent and wanting to inflict as much pain as he can through his revenge scheme. So how are we to assume he was not a sick and twisted individual in the first place? How are we to know this is not his first time inflicting such a painful revenge? He rarely speaks, and his cold, calculating eyes never once give us a hint of any further development. It is a great performance by Lee, but it is one that feels very underdeveloped - outside of some rather obvious sequences. But then, anyone would look underdeveloped when standing next to Choi. The man gives a performance that is the stuff of legend. He was incredible as the lead in Oldboy as the man who was wronged, and is even better as the wrongdoer here. He brings out the monster in Kyung-chul all too easily, and his riveting performance is unmissable. The transformation into this disgusting, psychopathic creature is nothing short of amazing. He chews up scenery at every turn, and is magnetic on screen. Nothing even comes close to equaling the power, intensity and dare I say authenticity he puts into this character. He is the stuff of nightmares.

• Reid V

  
  One hell of a mean spirited spectacle. Woon certainly knows his way with a camera. Some of the shots are so intriguingly executed that you are constantly wondering how thought the sequence up. Yet, the content isn't really there. There is very little character development and… More
  One hell of a mean spirited spectacle. Woon certainly knows his way with a camera. Some of the shots are so intriguingly executed that you are constantly wondering how thought the sequence up. Yet, the content isn't really there. There is very little character development and even after the two hour mark I kept asking myself, "so why do I care about anything that is happening on screen?" The movie is worth the watch for the spectacle, but so insufficient in content that you most likely won't come back for more.

• Cynthia S

  
  Holy crap! Asian violence, and gore to the max!!! A revenge movie that never seems to end..but in a good way (if that is possible). This film could have simply become just another pointless blood splatter movie, but the direction, story, visuals, camera work, drama and fine acting… More
  Holy crap! Asian violence, and gore to the max!!! A revenge movie that never seems to end..but in a good way (if that is possible). This film could have simply become just another pointless blood splatter movie, but the direction, story, visuals, camera work, drama and fine acting make this film a step above the rest. Not for the squeemish!

• Lewis C

  
  "Don't act so weak. This is just the beginning." I Saw the Devil is a fantastic South Korean revenge flick. It's relentlessly dark, violent, suspenseful, bloody, and brutal. Not for everyone, but an excellent ride for those who can appreciate it. The movie is… More
  "Don't act so weak. This is just the beginning." I Saw the Devil is a fantastic South Korean revenge flick. It's relentlessly dark, violent, suspenseful, bloody, and brutal. Not for everyone, but an excellent ride for those who can appreciate it. The movie is basically a cat and mouse game between a police agent and a sadistic serial killer. The agent loses his wife to the killer at the beginning of the story, and wastes little time tracking him down. But instead of taking him into custody or simply killing him, the agent has a much more elaborate plan for revenge. He lets the killer go and catches him repeatedly, inflicting more and more damage each time. Unfortunately, though, collateral damage quickly spirals out of control as the killer becomes more dangerous than ever as a result of the chase. I Saw the Devil isn't flawless. The performances are perfect (especially from Min-Sik Choi, the guy scared the crap out of me), and the cinematography is memorable, but the plot takes a few infuriating twists for the sake of drama that hurt the movie much more than helped. With that said, this is still probably the best serial killer horror/drama flick that I've seen. It's just relentless, and often immensely satisfying.

• Lee ?

  
  Intensely brutal revenge movie about a detective who embarks on a ruthless hunt for revenge against the remorseless serial killer responsible for killing his pregnant fiance. Created quite a bit of controversy in its native South Korea where it was twice refused a theatrical release… More
  Intensely brutal revenge movie about a detective who embarks on a ruthless hunt for revenge against the remorseless serial killer responsible for killing his pregnant fiance. Created quite a bit of controversy in its native South Korea where it was twice refused a theatrical release before 90 seconds of cuts were made to cannibalism. The violence is savage and realistic and during its 140 minute duration it has a fair bit of it to endure. Along with the bloody violence there's a couple of scenes of sexual threat that may disturb. The acting is great, especially by Min-sik Choi as the psycho killer who really was a loathsome monster. It's a film that won't be for everyone, but for those that enjoy serial killer and revenge movies with a no-holds-barred approach this is a must see!

• Drew S

  
  South Korea's cinematic star has been on the rise for the last decade, thanks largely in part to the stunning international success of Park Chan-Wook's revenge trilogy. I Saw the Devil is obviously Ji-woon Kim's attempt at taking a cue from these films, and though he… More
  South Korea's cinematic star has been on the rise for the last decade, thanks largely in part to the stunning international success of Park Chan-Wook's revenge trilogy. I Saw the Devil is obviously Ji-woon Kim's attempt at taking a cue from these films, and though he doesn't explicitly fail in his goal, the question of redundancy is unavoidable. This movie looks great, sounds fantastic (what a soundtrack), and is acted sharply and convincingly. Min-sik Choi is totally unrecognizable when placed alongside his warped man of faith from Thirst; Lee Byung-Hun brings a surprising emotional dimension to an otherwise totally blank character; their folie a deux is a series of constant climaxes, all motion and very little contemplation. The movie is not uneventful, to its credit, and its greatest strengths lie in a handful of kinetic action sequences. This approach might have worked if I Saw the Devil was forty-five minutes shorter, giving us a little less time to acclimate to the violence or become aware of the dearth of substantive characterization or message. This movie is simply not complicated or original enough to warrant its brutal run time. Crippling it further still are the head-scratching implausibilities (a GPS capsule that picks up voices and no other sounds?) and the arbitrary focuses on unimportant material. South Korean films have flourished via their piecemeal structure, but I Saw the Devil makes the mistake of conflating a story of one man's high-energy rhinoceros charge for revenge with a collection of characters and subplots that have absolutely no payoff. A structure that worked so beautifully in a more quiet movie like Mother seriously bogs this film down. The director behind the helm is very talented, and certainly not lacking in drive, but his ambition outstrips the material he's working with. For all of my problems with Oldboy, there's no denying that that film did glossy, overworked revenge action ten times more efficiently, and unless you're really hounding for another film in this genre there's nothing here that makes it a must-see.

• familiar s

  
  Another South Korean "desperate for vengeance" themed flick with generous dose of violence. I am not a fan of action films per se, but I was amazed by the action sequences in this movie. I guess I found it to be so amazing owing to the actors involved in those scenes. If… More
  Another South Korean "desperate for vengeance" themed flick with generous dose of violence. I am not a fan of action films per se, but I was amazed by the action sequences in this movie. I guess I found it to be so amazing owing to the actors involved in those scenes. If Min-sik Choi was outstanding as a psycho who doesn't know what fear and pain is; Byung-hun Lee was no less competent. On the flipside, the movie is out and out predictable. Besides, the concept of making your enemy suffer instead of letting him die easily, was done just recently (in El Secreto De Sus Ojos). Surely, the treatment is as diverse as chalk and cheese, but it still managed to serve as a con for me. Anyways, the movie is still worth a watch for its breathtaking action scenes and power-packed performances. Nothing unique here, but it's a cool vengeance movie that succeeds in holding your interest for 2+ hours (pardon the exaggeration, but I hope you'll get what I'm trying to convey here), despite being outright predictable.

• Kevin C

  
  Hardly torture porn, I Saw the Devil is a crime thriller we've seen before, but with some added twists. Ultra-violent? Absolutely. But this isn't violence to cheer for. This film is a horrifying depiction of the vile scum of this earth that dives into absurdity as much… More
  Hardly torture porn, I Saw the Devil is a crime thriller we've seen before, but with some added twists. Ultra-violent? Absolutely. But this isn't violence to cheer for. This film is a horrifying depiction of the vile scum of this earth that dives into absurdity as much as it does complete, terrifying realism. The meat and potatoes story of the film doesn't tap in until the final 40 minutes, with the preceding near 2 hours focusing on a rinse and repeat process of Lee torturing Choi and then allowing him to heal. Headed by two captivating performances, especially a stellar Choi (from Oldboy fame) as the appalling murderer, this film is an epic in the revenge genre that, despite being empty and delivers only one unsubtle message, still deserves viewing.

• A.D. V

  
  Incredibly brutal and dark crime drama. Kim is a great director and features some amazing cinematography (i.e. the taxi scene), the actors are all quite convincing and the violence/gore is pretty intense. It's a little too long for a crime-drama but I can't exactly say I was… More
  Incredibly brutal and dark crime drama. Kim is a great director and features some amazing cinematography (i.e. the taxi scene), the actors are all quite convincing and the violence/gore is pretty intense. It's a little too long for a crime-drama but I can't exactly say I was ever bored just got a little antsy by the 2 hour mark. Well worth a look for fans of extreme cinema.

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