The Chaser (Choo-gyeok-ja) 2008

Ex-cop pimp Jung-ho is irritated because his girls keep disappearing without clearing their debts. One night, he gets a call from a customer and sends Mi-jin. Jung-ho realizes the phone number of the customer matches that of the calls the missing girls got last. As something smells fishy, he searches for her. During his search, Jung-ho dents a car in the alley. When Jung-ho spots blood splattered on the driver’s shirt, he senses the man, Young-min, is the suspect. After an intense chase, Jung-ho catches Young-min. But because of Jung-ho’s pretense as a cop, they are both taken to the police station. At the station, the man bluntly confesses he has killed the missing women, and the last girl, Mi-jin, may still be alive. As the whole police force is obsessed with a random search for corpses, Jung-ho is the only one who believes Mi-jin is still alive. With only 12 hours left to detain the serial killer without a warrant, Jung-ho’s hunt begins, searching for Mi-jin entrapped in a place nobody knows.

Director:Na Hong-jin

Stars: Kim Yoon-seok, Ha Jeong-woo, Song Yeong-hee

JDramaMama's Rating: D-

I can describe this film in one word: GROSS! I can't think of any films about serial killers that aren't gross but in this film, unlike "I Saw the Devil", there is no justice and that is why I gave it such a low rating. The film is bloody, gory and frightening. All the more frightening is the fact that one can just imagine real life serial killers doing to their victims what's done in this film. There is no explanation for such violence and cruelty. Seems the writers tried especially hard to make certain scenes turn your stomach! The main character is an ex-cop whose new career is pimping women. To his credit, he desperately tries to find his missing girl, Mi-jin, but the murderer is always one step ahead, smarter and more devious, as it seems in real life with these sorts of crimes. The murders are overkill, bloody, sickening (I found myself closing my eyes on too many scenes) and the bad guy is SUPER bad. Mi-jin is the only one of his victims to escape....or does she? Watch at your own risk.

#SouthKorea #thriller #crime #horror #violence