fertilecelluloid Review of The Chaser

The Chaser (2008)

Grim, disturbing, and my favorite horror film of the year

[9/10 · 29 December 2008]

Another serial killer movie? Yes. A great serial killer movie? Absolutely. It's a rare thing for me (obviously I've seen too much!), but this Korean flick got me all tensed up with its freaky narrative and disturbing depictions of violence. A scene with a hammer got me squirming for some reason (yes, a jaded f**k like me!); I guess director Hong-jin Na's refusal to stage most of the violence conventionally really paid off. The film is long but fascinating. It plays like a crime thriller, but it qualifies as horror because it's so damn bloody and vicious. If you're looking for redemption, steer well clear of this -- it makes no concessions to the mainstream, except for the fact that its production values are top notch. A pimp, who used to be a cop, is starting to worry about his girls because they go out on jobs and never come back. Convinced that a particular client is selling them into slavery, he begins a clumsy, one-man investigation into their whereabouts. What he finds is not exactly what he was expecting. Because I deal with idiots and incompetents on a daily basis, I had no trouble believing the actions of the police in this movie. That they fail to cotton on to what's really happening -- until it's all too late -- just felt like business as usual for me. "Edge of your seat" is a well worn cliché, but I'm happy to apply it to "The Chaser", easily the best horror film I've seen this year that was made this year.