The Chaser (Hong-jin Na, 2008): South Korea

Reviewed by Thao Huynh. Viewed at the AFI Film Festival, ArcLight Hollywood.

The Chaser is the first time for me to watch a horror Korean movie with a psycho serial killer. I am a big fan of horror movies; I enjoy watching the thrilling and every story behind the cause of massacre. Most people think that horror movie is not powerful enough to send any deep messages. It could be wrong. I am Asian so that I do believe in spirit after death. If the person died in pain cruelly caused by other people, their spirit could not go anywhere and stayed there waiting to revenge. We have seen this in a many horror American remade movies as The Ring and The Grudge. And most of Korean scary movies are that type of horror. Amazingly, The chaser is different. It is about the story of the chase of an ex cop and the serial killer, which is to me totally fresh and interesting.

In AFI FEST this time, I had chances to watch two Korean movies. However, they are absolutely good, but really different from each other. One is The Good, The Bad and The Weird is adventurous and comedy, while this one is thriller and controversial. This movie has earned more than $20 millions after 20 days release and made Na Hong-Jin’s reputation expanded. The film received six wins at the 45^th Grand Bell Awards. This movie is kind of based on the serial Korean killer Yoo Young Cheo. That is the reason why this movie has its real.

The story began when the prostitute manager Jung-Ho (Yun-seok Lee) who was also the ex-detective noticed that many girls working for him gradually disappeared. One day there was a call from a costumer, so he ordered Mi-Jin (Yeong-hie Seo) who was currently sick. However, after Mi-Jin went with that guy, Jung-Ho just realized that the number from the guy who just called matched the number from the call for the last disappeared girls. He immediately went to find Mi-Jin and got an accident with another car in the alley. When he came to talk to the guy in the car, he saw the blood in the guy’s shirt and figured out that he is Young-Min (Jung-woo Ha) is the guy who was with Mi-Jin. The chasing between two guys began. Jung-Ho caught Young-Min and handcuffed him. Unfortunately, the real cop was there and took both of them to the police station. Young-Min confessed that he killed 12 people and thought that Mi-Jin was still alive after he punished her. Jung-Ho searched every where to find Mi-Jin; meanwhile, the police was finding the evidences to arrest Young-Min. Later, Jung-Ho found that Mi-Jin has a little daughter.

The significance is that the story is like a puzzle. The audiences want to learn the reason cause Young-Min’s madness. Why were most of the victims prostitutes? Why did Young-Min confess to the police that he killed 12 people? Why was Young-Min so calm even when he was in the police station? Meanwhile, the audience would see the transition in Jung-Ho’s personality. From the person who just knew about money and was disgraced from his ex-co, to the person who really cared for Mi-Jin’s life and the destiny of the daughter if Mi-Jin died. The ending was unpredictable. There were some parts that Young-Min was slightly caught, but then he got out again. Moreover, the music in this movie definitely stands out. Every chasing part has a very strong powerful sound which affects the audiences pretty much.

This film is a recommendation to all people who love thriller and are bored of American horror, gross and boring story line movies. I am sure The Chaser is worthy to see; otherwise, The Warner Bros would not be interested in an English-language remake.