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I Saw the Devil

악마를 보았다

  • Status: Released
  • 12-08-2010
  • Runtime: 142 min
  • Score: 7.798
  • Vote count: 2738

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.

Lee Byung-hun

Kim Soo-hyeon

Choi Min-sik

Kyung-chul

Jeon Kuk-hwan

Squad Chief Jang

Cheon Ho-jin

Section Chief Oh

Oh San-ha

Joo-yeon

Kim Yoon-seo

Se-yeon

Nam Bo-ra

Section Chief's Daughter

Lee Jun-hyuk

NIS Agent

Yoon Chae-yeong

Nurse Han Song-i

Choi Moo-seong

Tae-joo

Kim In-seo

Se-jung

Kim Kap-soo

Planning Team Deputy Head

Um Tae-goo

Detective

Choi Jin-ho

Planning Director

Mi-nam Jeong

Gangster in Taxi

Jo Deok-jae

Detective Kang

Jang Jeong-won

Kyung-chul's Son

Park Seo-yeon

Woman at Pension

Lee Seol-gu

Gangster in Taxi

Kim Yeong-chan

Young Pharmacist

Goo Yong-wan

Corporal

Kim Dae-hye

Hospital Worker

Kim Jae-geon

Old Doctor

Park Ji-yeon

Teacher

Son Young-soon

Kyung-chul's Mother

Nam Hyeon-joo

Section Chief Oh's Wife

Han Chul-woo

Detective Park

Sin Jeong-hoon

Policeman at Stream

Han Se-joo

Woman on Bus

Park Jeong-gi

Sergeant

Jo Myeong-yeon

Detective

Kim Bong-soo

Kyung-chul's Father

Kim Kang-il

Park Han-gi

Sin Sin-Beom

Old Pharmacist

Seol Chang-hee

Detective

Yoon Byung-hee

Jang-goo

Jung Tae-sung

Hotel Agent

Jang In-seo

Student

LastCaress1972

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.