There’s that old line about needing to fight fire with fire…that to defeat evil you must become evil yourself. Seldom has that notion been better told than in I SAW THE DEVIL, the latest film from Korean director Kim Ji-Woon.

The film focuses on a killer – a man named Kyung-chul played by Oldboy himself, Min-sik Choi. He kills randomly, with no pattern or purpose, and one night kills a young women just moments after she hangs up the phone with her fiancee Joo-Yeon. Unfortunately for Kyung-chul, this was the wrong move, since Joo-Yeon is so devestated by her murder, that he comes looking for him to reap his own brand of justice.

Joo-Yeon isn’t just looking to find Kyung-chul and kill him – an eye for an eye as it were. No, he wants Kyung-chul to feel every ounce of pain that he and his lost love felt and continue to feel. Thus the two become involved in a wickedly vicious game of catch-and-release.

As I mentioned in the podcast, this could easily be the most violent movie I have ever watched. Kim Ji-Woon makes you feel every stab and slice, and employs some of the most painful tricks imaginable. While the cut I saw is likely not going to be the cut that plays to the masses, it’s still gonna be a tough go – so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Violence aside, its the story of I SAW THE DEVIL that’s so enticing. This is not just a manhunt, but a game between two twisted men who seem to have lost all regard for society’s rules. They find themselves playing a twisted game of cat-and-mouse, and neither one really seems all that interested in actually winning so much as they want to see how long they can keep playing.

dark and demented as it all is, it has a certain poetry about it that keeps you with the movie when you might otherwise walk out/turn off the dvd. It is perfectly constructed and even keeps the viewer engaged past the point where it feels like the film should end…but it doesn’t end because there’s still one more step to take.

Quite simply, the film is an amazing watch…just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I SAW THE DEVIL plays TIFF once more -Today at 5:30pm