Kim Ji-woon, the South Korean writer-director that brought you 1998's The Foul King, 2003's A Tale of Two Sisters, and 2005's A Bittersweet Life, is back with a most familiar recurring theme in Korean cinema: Vengeance.

True to the point, the subject of vengeance, best served bloody fucking cold, has been a long recurring theme in Korean cinema. From Park Chan-wook's The Vengeance Trilogy ( 2002's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, the incredible dramatic tour de force in 2003 and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance in 2005), we have already experienced the intricately twisted fortitude Korean cinematic culture had for the topic.

Premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, "I Saw the Devil" marked the return of prolific South Korean writer-director Kim Ji-woon, whom last effort, the 2008's pseudo Western, "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" received generally positive reviews and were screened at numerous film festival across the globe, including the Cannes Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008.

Once again working with long-time collaborator Lee Byung-hun (AKA Storm Shadow in Stephen Sommers's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra as well as its upcoming sequel), Kim offered an intriguing new take on the old subject of vengeance with a perfectly capable elite special agent on a quest for a desired perfect serving of payback against an extremely sadistic serial killer who has brutally killed his fiancee. The point of the tale is not the chase but rather the payback.

For a quick preview of the film, hit the jump to check out the Red Band trailer. Warning: It certainly is grisly.



Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

I SAW THE DEVIL is a shockingly violent and stunningly accomplished tale of murder and revenge from Korean genre master KIM Jee-woon (The Good, The Bad, The Weird and A Tale of Two Sisters). Oldboy’s CHOI Min-sik plays Kyung-chul, a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. The embodiment of pure evil, he has committed horrifying and senselessly cruel serial murders on defenseless victims, successfully eluding capture by the police.

On a freezing, snowy night, his latest victim is the beautiful Ju-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief and pregnant fiancée of elite special agent Dae-hoon (The Good, The Bad, The Weird’s LEE Byung-hyun). Obsessed with revenge, Dae-hoon decides to track down the murderer, even if doing so means becoming a monster himself. And when he finds Kyung-chul, turning him in to the authorities is the last thing on his mind.

The lines between good and evil fall away in this diabolically twisted game of cat and mouse. Pushing the concept of revenge to its most extreme limits, KIM Jee-woon brilliantly transcends the police procedural and serial killer genres in surprising and thrilling new ways.

I Saw the Devil is available in Blu-ray and DVD in the US, and is currently in the theaters in some parts of Asia.

Below are some of the posters released thus far for the film.









In commemoration of the film's Blu-ray and DVD release in the US back in May, Mondo released a special commissioned poster designed by artist Kevin Tong. It is of course no longer available by now, but you can check it out right after the jump.