The hit Korean movie The Chaser was one that I haven’t seen yet and it was recommended by some readers after listing my Top 10 Korean Movies of the Decade list.  So I decided to go ahead and check the movie out.

The Chaser is directed by Na Hong-jin who I haven’t heard of before and when I looked him up he does have a small resume.  However, despite the light resume the movie was actually pretty good.

Na Hong-jin

The movie stars Kim Yun-seok as Jung-ho who is a down on his luck pimp who used to be a police detective.  When his prostitutes start going missing he launches his own investigation to find out what is going on.  The serial killer named Young-min acted by Ha Jung-woo actually makes his identity known very early in the movie.  So there is no mystery on who the serial killer is like the movie Memory of Murder; the theme of this movie is the chase to catch him before he kills again, thus the title of the movie The Chaser.

Kim Yun-seok

Along the way Jung-ho’s efforts to catch the killer continue to be hampered by the bumbling police.  Something else that may turn viewers off is the extreme level of violence, which doesn’t reach the level of Old Boy, but still pretty bad.  The movie of course ends with the final showdown between the pimp and the killer, but will the person chasing the killer catch him in time before he kills again?  You will have to watch the movie to find out.

Like I said before this was a pretty good movie, but after seeing it I would not add it to my list of the Top 10 Korean Movies of the Decade.  This movie was definitely influenced by Old Boy and other Park Chan-wook films, which really takes away from its originality.  Nevertheless still a good flick worth renting some weekend and checking out.  Just make sure no one squeamish is watching with you.