Tag Archives: Serial Killing

I Saw The Devil

I Saw The Devil – is a South Korean psychological thriller released in 2010. A psycho serial killer Kyung-chul kills the fiancé of a secret service agent Soo-hyun. Soo-hyun takes a painful revenge on Kyung-chul by injuring him and then let him get treated to get well and then again injuring him.

The film is strictly for those who can with stand gory movies and is not suitable for kids. The movie is shot boldly with very explicit violent scenes. Director Kim Jee-Woon has given a different genre of movie after his star studded The Good The Bad The Weird. Choi Min-sik has performed the role of a psycho killer very well and is very scary. Lee Byung-hun is very convincing as a secret agent out to take revenge. The scene where he sees the body of his fiancé and tries to control his emotion is a notable performance. He has maintained the mood throughout as he is on the run to chase the killer. He is good at playing negative shade character and as this character has the negative shade it had aptly fitted him very well.

The recent Bollywood movie Ek Villain is very similar to this plot. Although the makers have denied that it was adapted from this.  There are lot similarities between the two although the Bollywood version is a mellowed down version of this movie. The Bollywood version goes into giving a reason for the serial killing which is not there in this movie.

Watchable – for psychological thriller fans

Memories of Murder

Memories of Murder – is a South Korean crime thriller released in 2003. The movie is based on true incidents of serial killing that occurred between 1986 and 1991 in  Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province in South Korea. In a small city, a woman is raped and murdered. Soon the detectives realize it is just one of the many serial killings that occur. A local detective and a detective from Seoul with conflicting personalities have to team up to track down the killer and stop future murders.

This movie is directed by Bong Joon-ho prior to The Host. If you are fan of crime thrillers and serial killings this would be a must watch for you. The story is so intriguing and plots open up with even more complicated knot as the movie progresses. You might have seen similar plots in many movies in the recent times (I will leave that for your guessing :)) . But still this one is class apart from all those I have seen. As you see in The Host even in this movie there are some strong social takes. Weaving the current state of affairs into a script is brilliance of Bong Joon-ho. The lead actors Song Kang-ho and Kim Sang-kyung have given very engaging performances and the transfer in their personalities as the movie progresses is brilliant. 

Overall this movie is one of the best movies made on serial killing. This one is a must watch for all movie buffs.

Must Watch