Retro Horror Review: Kim Jee-Woon’s ‘I Saw the Devil’ Is a Visceral Gut Punch

There is an old proverb that states “A man who desires revenge should dig two graves”. In the case of director Kim Jee-Woon’s I Saw the Devil, you’re going to need to dig a lot more than two to fill the body count of this epic tale of revenge and vengeance.

Even before the title card appears on screen, we are visually gut punched by one of the most vicious attacks that I have ever witnessed on film. A woman waits alone in her car for a tow truck as one of her tires has gone flat. The claustrophobia as snow falls, limiting visibility, and the uncertainty of a seemingly good Samaritan only adds to the rising tension.

The use of the camera works well here, placing the viewer in the passenger seat, to feel the rising fear of the stranded driver. These first ten minutes feel like a lit fuse slowly making its way to the inevitable explosion, and when it detonates, it is brutal. As introductions go, serial killer, Jang Kyung-Chul’s (Choi Min-Sik, Oldboy) is one you won’t soon be able to forget.

It turns out the woman’s fiancé, Kim Soo-Hyeon (Lee Byung-Hun, The Good the Bad the Weird), is a special agent with the police and a force of nature. After a conversation with his late fiancé’s father (Jeon Gook-Hwan), the retired Squad Chief, he sets about finding the perpetrator and make him pay for what he has done. “I will make him pay for your pain” is the vow he tells himself as the hunt begins. 

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I Saw the Devil intercuts between Kyung-Chul hunting more victims, escalating his levels of brutality (there is a guillotine in his house), and Soo-Hyeon chasing down leads to find his fiancé’s killer inevitably leading to their first encounter. After a brief fight, which Soo-Hyeon wins quite easily, we see him place a tracking device into Kyung-Chul and leave him. Thus, starting the cat and mouse game that carries throughout the rest of the film in a series of twists and characters that get more bizarre and psychotic as the lines between ‘Justice’ and ‘Vengeance” get blurred.

The corrosive nature of their feud is so potent that it begins to affect those on the peripheral in both their lives. The need to inflict as much pain as possible instead of turning Kyung-Chul in, drives a decision which will prove costly before the end. The constant catch and releases do get redundant, however, each one drives the moral descent further for our leads and keeps the tension going.

I Saw the Devil is a visceral film. The violence is gory and plentiful and mainly aimed at women. Does it in some way justify the same level of cruelty our hero inflicts throughout the journey? “He can’t become a monster to fight a monster” is uttered as friends and family fear his mania is claiming his very soul. This is a ride for sure. It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you can stomach the bloodshed, I Saw the Devil will be one that will always stay with you long after the credits roll.

You can check out director Kim Jee-Woon’s I Saw the Devil starring Choi Min-Sik, Lee Byung-Hun, and Jeon Gook-Hwan, currently streaming on Tubi. Be sure to stay tuned to ScaryNerd for more of all things horror, sci-fi and more.

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