While the Western half of the world (and Hollywood in particular) was still focused on making torture-porn horror movies with as sole purpose to show as many sickening, repulsive and shocking sequences as humanly possible, the Eastern part of the world (with South Korea as the usual pioneer) evolved to the next level already with "I Saw the Devil". In this fantastic film, perhaps one of the 10 best since the year 2000, the extremely explicit and uncompromising violence is only secondary to the character development and to writer/director Ji-Woon Kim's main message that revenge - contrary to popular belief - doesn't taste sweet at all, but sour instead, and that it leaves a horrible aftertaste in you mouth. You won't see that intensity and genius in a random "Saw" or "Hostel" sequel anytime soon...
Both Choi Min-Sik and Lee Byung-Hun give away stupendous and almost unsurpassable performances. The former as a mad dog serial killer of the cruelest and most disturbing kind. The latter as a special agent turned avenging angel, and at least as cruel and disturbing as the killer. The difference between them is that young Soo-Hyun is driven to blinding rage when his pregnant fiancé falls victim to the sadist serial killer Kyul-chul. Her death so agonizingly painful that Soo-Hyun pledges that her tormentor will suffer just as much and just as brutally as she did. And so, an unspeakably tense game of cat and mouse ensues.
"I Saw the Devil" isn't entirely without flaws, though. The script often requires an enormous dose suspension of disbelief, and according to all laws of human anatomy and pain-endurance, Kyul-chul should have been dead 2 or 3 times. Personally, I really don't like it when horror/thriller movies have running times of more than two hours (which is also why it took me 10 years to finally see it), and even though the film is never boring, it wouldn't have hurt if it was 30-40 minutes shorter. Still, based on the numerous amount of powerful sequences, the nail-biting suspense highlights, the pure evilness of the lead character and the realistic (and often downright nauseating) gore effects, "I Saw the Devil" is one of the most unique films out there, and an absolute must-see for genre fanatics with nerves of steel and a stomach of concrete.
