I Saw the Devil main backdrop
I Saw the Devil main poster

I Saw the Devil

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7.8/10 • 2.7K

2010-08-122h 22m

ThrillerHorror

Abandon all compassion.

Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. Soo-hyeon, a top-secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to take vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself.

Directors
Kim Jee-woon
Editors
Kim Mi-young

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Lee Byung-hun

    Lee Byung-hun

    Kim Soo-hyeon

  2. Choi Min-sik

    Choi Min-sik

    Kyung-chul

  3. Jeon Kuk-hwan

    Jeon Kuk-hwan

    Squad Chief Jang

  4. Cheon Ho-jin

    Cheon Ho-jin

    Section Chief Oh

  5. Oh San-ha

    Oh San-ha

    Joo-yeon

  6. Kim Yoon-seo

    Kim Yoon-seo

    Se-yeon

  7. Nam Bo-ra

    Nam Bo-ra

    Section Chief's Daughter

  8. Lee Jun-hyuk

    Lee Jun-hyuk

    NIS Agent

  9. Yoon Chae-yeong

    Yoon Chae-yeong

    Nurse Han Song-i

Reviews1

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LastCaress1972 Avatar

LastCaress1972

Aug 11, 2013

Brutal South Korean film about a serial rapist/killer (Min-sik Choi, Oldboy) who picks on the wrong girl when he kills and chops up the pregnant fiancee of a government secret agent (Byung-hun Lee, A Bittersweet Life, The Good, The Bad, The Weird) who proceeds to track him down, beat him to a pulp, place a tracking device on him, give him some money and release him. The idea being that he wants the killer to suffer and suffer and suffer, again and again, until his fear is as great as that of his victims, before he kills him. I Saw The Devil is not without its faults; at almost two-and-a-half hours, it's too long, the brutal nature of the characters threatens to slide into absurdity especially when our killer takes refuge with a cannibalistic mate who doesn't mind his wife being raped (she doesn't mind, either; I guess your standards slip when your old man eats people for shits & giggles), and the concept of getting this serial rapist/killer to a point of sheer terror, like his victims - is flawed; this guy, as played by Min-sik Choi, is NEVER going to feel any fear. And so it is, by the end, rendering the whole catch/release premise redundant. That said, it's gripping, it's tense throughout much of the runtime, the lead performances are superb, it's astonishingly violent and gory, but it's meted out just right; more Seven than Saw, and it is photographed exquisitely. A serial killer movie bordering on torture porn, set in Korea in the snow, shouldn't logically have a colour palette this vivid, but every frame is just beautiful.

Media

  • I Saw the Devil poster
  • I Saw the Devil poster
  • I Saw the Devil poster
  • I Saw the Devil poster
  • I Saw the Devil poster
  • I Saw the Devil poster
  • I Saw the Devil poster
  • I Saw the Devil poster
  • I Saw the Devil poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
Korean
Budget
$6,000,000.00
Revenue
$12,966,357.00
Keywords
psychopathcemeterypolice chiefsecret agentrevengemurderserial killermercilessnesssevered headbrutalitycannibaltracking devicesouth koreasadistic killeradmiring