Chugyeokja (2008) Reviews

• Based on the true story

  catalyst1232008-06-21

  Few years ago Korean society was shocked by a horrible serial killer mayhem. Dozen of call-girls are disappeared and never returned when they visited unknown customer. The serial killer also murdered innocent old men and women on his loose. After caught of serial killer the revealed fact was beyond one's imagination. He killed girls with hammer, chisel and amputated the victims. Some of them were cannibalized. He mashed victim's liver with food processors and drank it. Now the serial killer is sentenced to death and his existence throw serious questions about execution of death sentenced prisoner to the Korean society. For ten years Korean government never executed prisoners and now UN approved Korea as a No Execution country. This movie is a product of these social circumstance. Of course any modernized country can have notorious serial killers. But this is most brutal and abominable criminal act as reported to the public. Another phenomena described in this movie are the inactive police act and ugly politician. Koreans are very disappointed at this and this movie is quite accurately visualized the situation. Whether or not crime is the best motif for movie and this movie successfully hold the breath of viewers. I am waiting another movie from this director. Good work.

• I rank this movie in my top three greatest thriller/serial killer movies of all time somewhere between "Seven" and "Silence of the Lambs"

  logangiese2010-03-23

  What a movie. When I rented this movie I didn't know what to expect. It is usually is a hit or miss for Korean movies but this was a grand slam out of the park type of movie. The film is about a former detective turn pimp trying to catch a serial killer who is killing his prostitutes. It's a big cat and mouse game between the two throughout the whole movie. The plot sounds thin but there is so much more than what meets the eye. This is one of the best thriller/serial killer movies I have ever seen and I don't want to say too much about the plot because it is very edge of your seat kind of stuff. The film never drags and it becomes more intriguing the more you watch and you feel like you know the character because the actors portray them so well. This is a very violent and gruesome film that shouldn't be viewed by the squeamish even though there isn't that many bloody scenes for being a serial killer movie. The movie achieves so much more with less, which hardly ever works in films that need violence to be a success. I wish that Hollywood or even European films would have the brass to make a film this unique and daring at the same time. The thing that this film has going for it the most is that it's wonderfully erratic. You can never guess what is going to happen next and that is the reason why Korean movies are so fantastically entertaining. I rank this movie in my top three greatest thriller/serial killer movies of all time somewhere between "Seven" and "Silence of the Lambs". The characters of this film really flesh out the story and let you jump right in. I can't help but stress the point that this film is very unpredictable and the style of the story telling is subtle but very effective. This film is a sure bet and you will not leave disappointed.

• One of the best thrillers I have ever seen

  Ata-22008-06-30

  If the remake of Infernal Affairs (The Departed) won all those Oscars then a re-make of this movie will surely clean up. Its one of those movies that just doesn't let up. At any given time there are at least three threads to the story, each of which keeps you on the edge of your seat. I actually had to stop it at one point so I could calm down a bit. The acting by everyone involved is very believable and that makes it quite harrowing at points. I don't want to give away a single thing about the story but what I can say is that its an absolutely brilliant twist on a story that has been done many times before. If you are going to see just one foreign film this year then let it be this one.

• Korean thriller on the chase to stop a violent serial killer

  joebloggscity2008-09-20

  Korean cinema does it again. "The Chaser" is another great movie from the Korean film stable. The plot stems around an amoral ex-cop turned pimp who after losing some of his "working girls" decides to track down and find the client behind this. He ends up finding himself involved in more than he bargained for, with the client being a serial killer, and its then a chase to find his last girl sent to him whilst the police also try to pin him down but are hampered by legal red tape and politics. As you'd expect from a Korean film from the cop thriller genre it can be very violent, and there's no denying that for this film, however thankfully it doesn't overshadow the rest of the movie. The chase is on, and the roller coaster of emotions following the pimp and the cops trying to stop the serial killer is nothing less than gripping, watching them go from one success to despair in short spaces of time. The tension is high and will tug on you right to the end. Importantly there is a lot of humour. The main character (Joong-ho Eom) is incredibly dry-witted, and is a release valve for the tension in the film. As he carries the film, the acting is important, and both he and the serial killer are exceptionally good. Can't argue with either or even the general ensemble. There is possibly an American re-make in the offing. Fair enough I guess as that's become the norm now, but I hope it doesn't dilute the central story or the action. This film is a great gem, and follows on from some of the other greats in the genre such as "Memories of a Murder" which is a classic. It will unsettle but for an intelligent thriller, it really is up there with the best in the past few years.

• Stunning, gripping, amazing. Wow, what a movie.

  tskeffer2008-06-28

  After the two very positive comments I decided to watch this movies. At this point the movie has 59 votes. So I didn't expect much from the movie. I was asking myself the question: "How can a movie from South Korea with only 59 votes deserve a 8,9? " But after watching the movie I can say this is one of the very best movies EVER made. I have been watching movies for quite some time now. And I have seen almost all movies from the IMDb top 250. But this movie deserves to be in the top 20. No question about it, no exaggeration. Just look at my vote statistics and you will see that only gave a few movies a ten. So what's the story of the movie? A former detective who is now a pimp, thinks 2 of his girls ran away from him. So he tries to find those girls. After some research he learns the truth is a little bit different. From that point on, the movie never loses your grip. Never get's dull. Always keeps you right on the edge of your chair. For the rest, you really gotta see it. I won't spoil any of your viewing pleasure by telling you too much about the story. The other comment said something about a horror element, and a bit gore. But in my opinion there is no horror. Sure there is some blood, but it doesn't play a big part. So, why are you still reading my comment. Go and see where you can watch this movie!!