10.26.2010

The Chaser (2008)


In the spirit of Halloween, I am going to review an excellent thriller from Korea, The Chaser. This film isn't filled with flashy graphics or fancy chase scenes. In fact, most of its important chase scenes all develop slowly and occur on foot. Surprisingly, they were some of the most intense and suspenseful chase scenes I've seen in movies. Its simplistic style gives it a realistic gritty feel which is common feature found in a lot of good Korean thrillers.
Kim Yun Seok plays an ex-cop turned pimp. You can tell by the way he treats others that he is not a pleasant man to be around. When he suspects that someone is kidnapping and selling his girls, he relies on his police instincts to attempt to track down the creep. Little does he know that the creep he is after isn't a simple kidnapper. Ha Jung Woo plays the sadistic killer who poses as a client to lull escorts into a trap to use as his gruesome killing experiments. Some of the torture scenes are brutally real and graphic. Let's just say his main weapons of choice are chisel and hammer. (what is it with Korean movies and hammers?) Just a warning to the squeamish. When the Kim Yun Seok character finally catches up to the killer, the entertaining and thrilling chase ensues. This films features great character development and all the right ingredients that makes up a classic first class thriller.
The film rights have been bought by Warner Brothers and it will be getting the Hollywood treatment that many foreign thrillers seem to be getting these days. I doubt the Hollywood version could fully capture the suspense and the shock this film offers. So, go check this out if you are in a mood for a thriller this Halloween.

IMDB-7.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes- Critics- 81% audience-88%
Yong's Rating- 9.5/10 (Highly recommended)

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