Before I review this I want to say this: If watching women be preyed upon bothers you (sexually, violently, or otherwise) then don't watch this movie. You won't enjoy it. Probably. If this sort of thing doesn't bother you, and you're reading reviews before watching, then let's get started:

This movie felt clumsy to me. I think that's the best way to describe it: clumsy. And unrealistic. There comes a point where it's difficult to suspend disbelief and just go along for the ride, and this movie managed to cross that point. What should have been a fun and wild ride was simply overdone, and at times nonsensical. It had almost everything it needed to be good, but just fell short of the mark. Wildly short.

Now, the acting is pretty darn good (for the most part), and the story starts off promising. Unfortunately the good acting can't save the mess that comes later, as the story unravels into an inconsistent mess. I've watched other movies that have similar failings and which I have enjoyed, unfortunately I Saw The Devil doesn't manage to pull it off. One or two of the coincidences are a little tongue-in-cheek (and you will either like them or groan at them), a few of the scenes display an amazing level of incompetence/idiocy, and the actions of the protagonist haven't been managed well enough to show what they were meant to show (I feel).

Honestly the film would have been better with some drastic editing. It feels repetitive at times, and I was rather bored by the time we were approaching the end. And I really shouldn't have been with all that violence going on, because there is a lot of gore to enjoy. Basically it was too long, and could easily have been parred down. It would probably have been less absurd, too. I get that this can be a tool used, but in this context it just doesn't work.

But hey, the camera work, lighting, and all that jazz is done pretty darn well. It looks good, basically. Parts of it are enjoyable to watch (like, insanely well shot) but the plot is pretty thin, and fairly unbelievable. Certainly, the ending hammers home just how far the protagonist was willing to go.

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Audition was mentioned a few times to me as a worthwhile watch, but I can't stress enough that this movie is anything but (in my opinion, obviously). If you're going to watch it then the less known about it the better - in fact, the unsuspecting watcher is the one who'll get the "most" out of the movie.

I did not go into the movie expecting a straight up horror. I'd read the summary, and a couple of spoiler-free reviews first, so I knew the movie was a) slow starting - in fact the first half to two-thirds of the movie is something completely else, and b) from there it was meant to get intense, and a little bit weird. Fine by me, on both counts. I am neither bothered by slow starts nor by gore/disturbing content/jump-scares/etc;. Weird can be good, it can be bad, but I'm willing to give the weird a try.

In all honesty I was bored at just past the halfway point. I was bored at two-thirds in. And I was bored throughout the "graphic" climax. Actually, I have to say, that was when I was the most bored. And when the movie ended? I was annoyed that I'd bothered to watch the entire thing. No matter which way you want to interpret this movie (and there is more than one) it doesn't overcome the fact that it didn't entertain. For some this will be a thought-provoking film, but for me it was simply an exercise in stubbornness. My stubbornness. I feel that might be one of the reasons so many people do get to the end though - stubbornness. Because something has to happen soon, right?

I did like the opening of the movie, the slow build really works for the first forty or so minutes, but after that things start to slowly deteriorate. The slowness helps to build tension and set the mood but again, becomes overdrawn. By the time we're learning more and being given more, the tension just drains away. The acting is fairly good, however, which certainly helps the movie.

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