Movies
[TIFF ’14 Review] ‘I Saw the Devil’ Dark and Demented!
“I could talk for hours about I Saw the Devil, but nothing I can say will ever do it justice. The film is an experience; it’s something that will have you emotionally invested in the characters, while also covering your eyes at the extreme violence.”
A challenger to Park Chan-wook as Korea’s most talented filmmakers is Kim Jee-woon, who directed such notable films as A Tale of Two Sisters, A Bittersweet Life and The Good, the Bad, the Weird. Jee-woon has been known to enjoy tackling different genres and this time takes a stab (pun intended) at horror with I Saw the Devil, a dark and demented tale of a crimson serial killer…and his hunter.
The delivered synopsis sums the film up quite well as it’s nothing original in any way, shape, or form, but what’s important is the execution. I Saw The Devil stars Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) as a psychopathic serial killer (Kyung-chul) up against Lee Byung-hun (Three… Extremes, G.I. Joe) as a special agent (Joo-yeon) whose fiancée becomes one of his victims. Lee’s cool-headed and intelligent character in turn becomes a monster in order to avenge the killing. In short, he is intent on torturing Kyung-chul by catching him, beating the crap out of him, and then letting him go. Then repeat.
A film like I Saw the Devil makes quality filmmakers stand out like a sore thumb. As cliché as the thriller is, it was captivating from start to finish, and features some of the most brilliantly directed sequences of the year. In an extremely tense moment, a beaten and wounded Kyung-chul luckily lands a cab ride in the middle of nowhere. The audience knows he’s a psychopath, but what we don’t know is he just landed in a cab with two other homicidal maniacs. The tension is cut with a vicious stabbing scene that’s directed in such a way I’ve never witnessed. As Kyung-chul stabs the living sh*t out of these people, the camera spins along the inside of the car for a good 30 seconds. It was so brilliantly executed that I couldn’t even tell you how it was done.
The version shown at TIFF was the director’s 7-minutes longer cut that we’re told will be released in the States by Magnet. Jee-woon never tones down the violence for the audience as he cuts right through an Achilles tendon, beats a person’s head in with a rock, and decapitates another. And while the gore level if off the chain, he shows restraint and never quite pushes it over the top.
What truly makes I Saw the Devil one of my favorite films of the year is that Jee-woon makes each and every frame of the two and a half hour film interesting. There’s not a single boring moment as the intensity of the situation rises exponentially until the very last frame. In fact, Jee-woon has a taste for the bizarre giving audiences an homage to classics such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In one of the crazier moments we’re introduced to Kyung-chul’s brother who has a taste for red meat, and causing pain. As the two reunite, his brother chomps down human meat as they go eye-to-eye in a psychopathic staring contest.
I could talk for hours about I Saw the Devil, but nothing I can say will ever do it justice. The film is an experience; it’s something that will have you emotionally invested in the characters, while also covering your eyes at the extreme violence. I Saw the Devil has everything a horror fan could want, and more. It easily rivals The Host, Oldboy and other Asian thrillers of the past ten years. If Magnet releases this in theaters it’s highly recommended that you take some time out and look the Devil right in the eyes.
In the wake of Backrooms and Obsession, everyone is prowling YouTube for horror shorts to adapt and horror filmmakers to scoop up, so don’t be surprised to see a whole bunch of upcoming articles about YouTube success stories crossing over into theaters. One horror short that’s already been picked up for expansion is Dolly director Rod Blackhurst’s Alone Time.
The 12-minute short was uploaded in 2014 and has amassed nearly 2 million views at the time of this article being written, and Deadline reports that it’s getting a feature adaptation.
Witchcraft Motion Picture Company & Fever Dream will turn the viral short into a feature film.
Alone Time follows Ann Saunders, a young NY professional whose carefully constructed life begins to unravel following a devastating personal loss. “Seeking refuge from a collapsing relationship, a deteriorating family situation, and mounting emotional trauma, Ann reluctantly joins her closest friend on a remote camping trip deep in the Adirondack wilderness.”
The synopsis continues, “When her friend mysteriously disappears, Ann becomes convinced that an unseen figure is stalking her through the forest. What begins as a survival nightmare slowly transforms into something far more disturbing as fractured memories, conflicting realities, and hidden truths force Ann to confront the possibility that the greatest threat may not be lurking in the woods at all, but buried deep within her own psych.”
“Alone Time has quietly followed me for over a decade,” director Rod Blackhurst said in a statement. “What began as a short film about isolation and the weight of life now feels more relevant than ever. The original short found its audience organically online long before that was considered a legitimate path for filmmakers. Bringing it to life as a feature allows us to explore those themes on a much larger and more psychologically unsettling canvas.”
Blackhurst is directing the feature length expansion.
You can watch the original Alone Time short film below.