I Saw the Devil

"Abandon all compassion."

2010 2h 24m KO

🙌

7.8

BANGER

★7.8TMDB · 3,186

ThrillerHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Abandon all compassion.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

PhiloSubscription

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

Cast

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-hyeok
NIS Agent

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Kim Jee-woon
Writers: Park Hoon-jung, Lee Yoon-ho, Kim Jee-woon
Languages: Korean
Countries: South Korea

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 16 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Kim Jee-woon, shot by Lee Mo-gae. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mowg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Nam Na-young shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik and Jeon Kuk-hwan carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Abandon all compassion.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1588170 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kim Jee-woon directs. Lee Mo-gae behind the camera. Mowg scores. Nam Na-young cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in South Korea. Dialogue in Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 16 years ago.
2Directed by Kim Jee-woon, shot by Lee Mo-gae. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Mowg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Nam Na-young shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik and Jeon Kuk-hwan carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Abandon all compassion.".
7IMDB entry: tt1588170 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 13 themes, including "psychopath", "revenge", "serial killer", "mercilessness".
9Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Lee Mo-gae
Original score: Mowg
Editing: Nam Na-young
Production design: Cho Hwa-sung
Costume design: Kwon Yoo-jin
Makeup / hair: Lee Hee-eun
VFX supervisor: Jung Sung-jin
Sound: Park Yong-ki
Runtime: 144 min · 2h 24m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,000,000
Box office: $12,966,357
Return: 216% of budget
Original language: KO
Certification (US): R
IMDB: I Saw the Devil (2010)

Awards

San Sebastián International Film Festival
Asian Film Awards
Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer
Fantasporto
Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Kim Jee-woon

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

LastCaress19722013-08-11
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.

Production companies