Na Hong-Jin’s directorial debut, this film is loosely based on the real-life serial killer Yoo Young-chul. Named Korea’s first serial killer.
After watching The Raincoat Killer documentary on Yoo Young-Chul and his crimes, this film feels surprisingly tame. The scariest kind of serial killer: one who doesn’t stick to the same pattern. At one point Korea was afraid there were two active serial killers on their streets. This film focuses on his last pattern. Luring prostitutes to his apartment and killing and dismembering them. These deeds only hinted at in the film. Nothing as jarring as the descriptions of the real acts.
And where Yoo Young-Chul, a true serial killer with no empathy or remorse was quoted as justifying his actions with “women shouldn’t be sluts…,” Je Yeong-Min is seen laughing at the police, cowering under a raised fist, eating chocolate. He does not evoke the spine chilling terror of a serial killer so much as a bored, teenage boy.
I think one of the most important moments of the real serial killer case was when Yoo Young-Chul was covered with a hat, a mask, and a raincoat, walking through a mass of reporters and civilians who had, only just the day before, been terrified. That moment was lost here, and with it the world building terror, the chill that runs down our spine.
But, this was just a movie.