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Korean cinema does it again. "The Chaser" is another great movie from the Korean film stable. The plot stems around an amoral ex-cop turned pimp who after losing some of his "working girls" decides to track down and find the client behind this. He ends up finding himself involved in more than he bargained for, with the client being a serial killer, and its then a chase to find his last girl sent to him whilst the police also try to pin him down but are hampered by legal red tape and politics.

As you'd expect from a Korean film from the cop thriller genre it can be very violent, and there's no denying that for this film, however thankfully it doesn't overshadow the rest of the movie. The chase is on, and the roller coaster of emotions following the pimp and the cops trying to stop the serial killer is nothing less than gripping, watching them go from one success to despair in short spaces of time. The tension is high and will tug on you right to the end.

Importantly there is a lot of humour. The main character (Joong-ho Eom) is incredibly dry-witted, and is a release valve for the tension in the film. As he carries the film, the acting is important, and both he and the serial killer are exceptionally good. Can't argue with either or even the general ensemble.

There is possibly an American re-make in the offing. Fair enough I guess as that's become the norm now, but I hope it doesn't dilute the central story or the action. This film is a great gem, and follows on from some of the other greats in the genre such as "Memories of a Murder" which is a classic. It will unsettle but for an intelligent thriller, it really is up there with the best in the past few years.

The Chaser revolves around an ex-detective turned pimp who's under serious stress when he finds out his girls are being sold by a mysterious client. He goes on the chase to find this guy and put an end to his missing girls...and missing money. What begins to unfold is something him, the police or anyone for that matter, were unprepared to take on.

Time and time again the film-makers from South Korea succeed and The Chaser is no different. With believable writing, fantastic acting (especially the lead who reminded me of Min Sik Choi) and an air of originality, Chaser easily became one of my favorite flicks of 2008. With side-stories aplenty, an evil villain and some brutal violence this is something any fan of darker film should enjoy.

If you enjoy serious drama, investigation films, serial killers, great acting, you'll definitely enjoy this picture. I just wished they had a different title for the film. I like my title better. :)

What a movie. When I rented this movie I didn't know what to expect. It is usually is a hit or miss for Korean movies but this was a grand slam out of the park type of movie. The film is about a former detective turn pimp trying to catch a serial killer who is killing his prostitutes. It's a big cat and mouse game between the two throughout the whole movie. The plot sounds thin but there is so much more than what meets the eye. This is one of the best thriller/serial killer movies I have ever seen and I don't want to say too much about the plot because it is very edge of your seat kind of stuff. The film never drags and it becomes more intriguing the more you watch and you feel like you know the character because the actors portray them so well. This is a very violent and gruesome film that shouldn't be viewed by the squeamish even though there isn't that many bloody scenes for being a serial killer movie. The movie achieves so much more with less, which hardly ever works in films that need violence to be a success. I wish that Hollywood or even European films would have the brass to make a film this unique and daring at the same time. The thing that this film has going for it the most is that it's wonderfully erratic. You can never guess what is going to happen next and that is the reason why Korean movies are so fantastically entertaining. I rank this movie in my top three greatest thriller/serial killer movies of all time somewhere between "Seven" and "Silence of the Lambs". The characters of this film really flesh out the story and let you jump right in. I can't help but stress the point that this film is very unpredictable and the style of the story telling is subtle but very effective. This film is a sure bet and you will not leave disappointed.

If the remake of Infernal Affairs (The Departed) won all those Oscars then a re-make of this movie will surely clean up. Its one of those movies that just doesn't let up. At any given time there are at least three threads to the story, each of which keeps you on the edge of your seat. I actually had to stop it at one point so I could calm down a bit.

The acting by everyone involved is very believable and that makes it quite harrowing at points. I don't want to give away a single thing about the story but what I can say is that its an absolutely brilliant twist on a story that has been done many times before.

If you are going to see just one foreign film this year then let it be this one.

After the two very positive comments I decided to watch this movies. At this point the movie has 59 votes. So I didn't expect much from the movie. I was asking myself the question: "How can a movie from South Korea with only 59 votes deserve a 8,9? " But after watching the movie I can say this is one of the very best movies EVER made. I have been watching movies for quite some time now. And I have seen almost all movies from the IMDb top 250. But this movie deserves to be in the top 20. No question about it, no exaggeration. Just look at my vote statistics and you will see that only gave a few movies a ten.

So what's the story of the movie? A former detective who is now a pimp, thinks 2 of his girls ran away from him. So he tries to find those girls. After some research he learns the truth is a little bit different. From that point on, the movie never loses your grip. Never get's dull. Always keeps you right on the edge of your chair. For the rest, you really gotta see it. I won't spoil any of your viewing pleasure by telling you too much about the story.

The other comment said something about a horror element, and a bit gore. But in my opinion there is no horror. Sure there is some blood, but it doesn't play a big part.

So, why are you still reading my comment. Go and see where you can watch this movie!!

I wasn't sure about this film and the first ten minutes or so where not very promising, but I persevered as it was shown on BBC Four which has to mean something. Boy was I glad I hung in there. This film gets better and better and in spite of the violence, which was never gratuitous it is one of those films that will stay with me for a very long time. I have never seen a Korean film before but on this evidence it won't be the last. It's a refreshing change to see the back streets of Seoul instead of downtown Los Angeles. The cast is good and the star (a likable ex-rogue cop) turns an excellent performance. If you've got a strong stomach and get the chance, watch it but put the kids to bed first!

¨I killed them.¨ After reading several blogs about the best Korean films I decided to watch Hong-jin Na's film, The Chaser. Korea is making some great films in this decade, but I wouldn't consider The Chaser to be among their best. I had some issues with this movie, although it still left me with some great impressions. My favorite thriller of all time is Seven, and this film had a feeling similar to it, especially with the dark setting. It is a different kind of thriller because in the first 20 minutes the protagonist has already managed to catch the serial killer. The thrills come once the serial killer is interrogated by the police officers who show their complete ineptness to solve the case even when the killer has admitted his crimes. The problem is that the police officers aren't able to find the bodies and have no evidence other than his testimony to accuse him in trial. They have only 12 hours to discover the whereabouts of the bodies before they have to set him free. Why isn't his testimony enough? Because the killer is acting like a lunatic who doesn't know what he's saying. The thriller almost turns into a comedy after watching the complete ineptness of the police officials. That is where the film lost me a little bit, because it goes a little too far with this issue that Hong-jin Na is trying to point out: Korean officials are completely inept and incapable of solving a crime that has been placed right before their eyes. The crime seems like a simple one to solve, there are leads they can follow all over the place, but they keep on screwing up and get nowhere. I did however like the twist near the end of the film that you would probably never see in a Hollywood film because it's just way too dark.

Joong-ho (Yun-seok Kim) is a pimp who is worried about his business because some of his work girls have disappeared. He believes that they've left him, but what he doesn't know is that there is a serial killer who has been killing them off one by one. After realizing that his last girl left the cell phone in his car, he begins to believe that someone is kidnapping his girls and selling them abroad. He goes back and retraces the number of the person who solicited the girls when they last disappeared and realizes they all come from the same number. When the serial killer, Young-min (Jung-woo Ha), calls again he sends another girl and orders her to give him the man's address once she arrives at his place. Why? Because the killer always asks the girls to pick him up at a random location and then has them drive him to his place. The problem is that when Mi-jin Kim (Yeong-hie Seo) arrives at Young-min's house there is no signal and she can't send the message. The pimp doesn't know the exact address of the house, but he knows the whereabouts because that is where the last girl had left his car and he finds Mi-jin's vehicle there too. Young-min kills his victims by hammering some sort of stake to their head and barely hits Mi-jin with it before he is interrupted by a couple who are searching for the owner of the house. This is where we realize that Young-min has been operating from someone else's home and has to kill the visitors as well. Before burying the victims, Young-min decides to get rid of their vehicle and that is when he crashes into Joong-ho's vehicle and he discovers that he's the man he's looking for. Joong-ho beats him up and the police officers intervene and that is where the search for the bodies begins.

Some of the problems I had with the plot beside the fact that the ineptness of the police officers was greatly exaggerated (but I guess that the director succeeded in trying to point this out) was that there were too many bad decisions made by Joong-ho and too many coincidences. First of all he lets the girl go to this man's place without following them, then he accidentally crashes into his vehicle (a great coincidence here), then he goes around driving everywhere in the car that should've been in the police's hands after the accident. That car should've been their most important lead, trying to figure out who it belonged to and what Young-min was doing with it. The only person who investigates this is Joong-ho and he isn't thorough enough. Then near the end of the film there are several plot holes as well but I don't want to spoil anything for the viewers. Everything I've discussed before happens in the first twenty minutes of the film. There are just too many coincidences that take place and they felt really forced at times. The thriller does work however as a dark and violent one, and it leaves you haunted by some of the things that happen. Some of the images stay with you long after the credits begin to roll. I did enjoy this thriller, I just don't think it is amongst the best Korean films considering there are so many great ones.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com

That's another user or commentator, here on IMDb. And his last sentence is "Go and watch the movie". I fully stand behind this, because this was one of the best movies I've watched this year (at the Fright Fest in London).

There's only a little thing that you should bare in mind: If you actually don't like Korean (or Asian movies for that matter), than this won't be for you. Especially if you like your movies to be according to a somewhat linear structure. While with other movies of this nature, you might foresee things happening, I was baffled (in a good way) with the directions this movie took. Very brave choices and a great script. The actors of course are phenomenal too. It all fits together in one whole perfect piece. If you like your thrillers to be ... well thrilling, than this is the one to watch!

My love for Korean cinema (like many fans) began with Oldboy about ten years ago. Now thanks to Netflix and those who purchase the rights to distribute these films in America I've gotten the chance to watch everything Mr. Park has to offer. I've since moved on to Joon-ho Bong's work and after watching his three masterpieces: Mother, Host and Memories of Murder I decided to delve into any and all Korean drama I could find. This brought me to the easily accessible Chaser on Netflix.

Chaser sports the usual gritty cinematography, conflicted anti-hero (Yun-seok Kim) and a despicable villain (Jung-woo Ha). Both of their performances are very strong, however neither truly wows, primarily because of the lack luster writing. My overall displeasure with the film lies here. Every thrilling event or spectacle seemed contrived in order to produce a scene of explicit tension. The best scenes of the film all occur out of luck (which when written, is actually just the writer deciding something is going to conveniently happen).

This same trial is faced in Bong's Memories of a Murder, though the same air of realism is not found in Chaser to support the moments of happenstance. Likewise the film is also reminiscent of Kim Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil (which in fairness came after Chaser). And perhaps the failures of Chaser needed to occur so they could go further in I Saw the Devil (which had its flaws as well). The problem is that Chaser doesn't define it's own choices strong enough. It is neither subtle and sprawling as Memories nor voracious and uncompromising as Devil. It struggles with the monotony of a overused plot without the flare of anything unique or engaging.

Summation:

Chaser has some very intense and memorable scenes, however the artifice leading up to them is poorly managed and unforgivable. Hong-jin Na is not a terrible director and there is a good film in here somewhere, though it's likely found in either Memories of Murder or I Saw The Devil.

I watched this movie after reading the great reviews on this site and on netflix.

Even though the movie is based upon a true story, the movie did not do any justice to it. All the characters are shown to be defying common sense things, creating ridiculously unbelievable situations. For example, the cops and the pimp are trying to search the victim bodies but they do not start from where the prostitute's car is parked.

Similarly, even though the killer has confessed to the killings, the cops do not find it important to pursue the leads. The killer is shown to have blood on his shirt when he was arrested. He was in possession of someone else's vehicle, did not give his details correctly.. The movie shows that the cops ignored all of this. It is too damn stupid to digest.

What a waste of time!

This is most probably the best Asian movies that i have ever seen. I did not expect much when i went to watch the movie but boy was i wrong. I was fully satisfied with this film because it had everything. The movie had suspense, action and abit of humour put into it The hero in this movie did not look like the hero that everyone is used to, he is rude,total disregard of other people's feeling and most of all he is selfish and only thinks about money and himself.But as we go along through this movie, we discover that he does have a conscience and goes out one of the girls he sent to the maniacal and psychotic killer in the movie.

The cast in the movie gave a solid and believable performance especially ha jung woo as the villain in this movie.He showed no remorse or feel any guilt in killing those people.Overall this movie is great and if you like to watch any Asian movie, than this should be the one for you

Wow! I caught wind of this through a magazine review and checked it out and was very glad I did. Some of the great stuff coming out of South Korea will blow your mind and this is no exception. The references people made to this movie being in the caliber of Oldboy and Memories of Murder are well substantiated but I would liken it more to Memories of Murder and not quite in the same league as Oldboy. The only movie in league with Oldboy is Seven. While the plot kind of reminded me of some of the classic 80s and 90s psycho-killer thrillers we have had come out of the US, it does hold up well on its own for being a foreign film. Not the most original plot but a decent twist on it nonetheless. Nothing in the plot or sequence of events stood out as unbelievable and there are some real gripping scenes that'll make you white-knuckle. There are some good character developments and reversals that I enjoyed as we see our main character, a former cop turned pimp, trying to find the guy who's been killing his girls and coming to grips with his personal responsibilities and justice. I don't want to give away the plot other than that as it would detract from your enjoyment. It does burn a little slow after the first 20 minutes of the movie as we see events unfold so be prepared for the reward in the last 30 minutes of the movie as the sequence of events crescendo. I'll be keeping an eye on this great director.

I knew nothing about Na Hong-jin's "Chugyeokja" ("The Chaser" in English) when I started watching it, and that made it even more intense. This story of a detective-turned-pimp who decides to look into the disappearance of his prostitutes makes Seoul look like one gritty polity. All manner of nasty things take place throughout the movie, but none of it is gratuitous. Quite the opposite, everything is there to show the unpleasant existence that the characters lead. And boy are there some unpleasant things here! This movie has no place for subtlety.

The movie reminded me of another South Korean crime drama that I saw recently: "A Hard Day". What I conclude is that the bottom half of the Korean peninsula turns out some of the most intense movies in the world (I suspect that the upper half only makes propaganda movies). There are lots of intense movies made throughout the world, but South Korea's crime dramas are possibly the most extreme. I doubt that you've seen anything like "The Chaser". I recommend it.

When it comes to thrillers, no film industry around the world has done even half as great a job as Cinema of South Korea has since the dawn of this new millennium. Inspired from a real-life Korean serial killer, The Chaser tells the story of an ex-detective turned pimp whose girls have been disappearing lately without clearing their debts, leading to financial losses in his business. While tracking back, he finds out that all girls had vanished after meeting the same client whom one of his girls is meeting right now & decides to find him before it's too late, not knowing that the client he is dealing with is a sadistic psychopath.

For a film that presents such an expert level of craftsmanship in nearly every filmmaking department, it's even more surprising to find out that this is director Na Hong-jin's debut effort. He has filmed it amazingly well, kept it very grounded & emotionally layered, portrayed imperfect characters perfectly & retained the story's cruel intensity from start to finish. The screenplay also deserves a praise for the little humour its writers were able to infuse in the film's appalling nature. Cinematography & editing set an ideal tone for its plot and the performances by its cast is very impressive, sturdy & spectacular.

By approaching the story as realistically as possible & paying extra attention to small details that most films skip over, The Chaser effortlessly manages to avoid falling into its genre's clichés. And for a film that has 'chaser' in its title, it's astonishing & heartwarming to see how brilliantly those chase sequences are executed by not giving in to silliness like absence of fatigue, leaping over a 10-foot wall etc. On an overall scale, The Chaser is a deeply unsettling, mercilessly violent & unflinchingly brutal cinema from South Korea that paints a disturbing portrait of a serial killer while also making a subtle statement against the jurisdiction and, in my opinion, is one of the finest thrillers ever made.

A genre masterpiece. Not for the easily distressed. Strongly recommended.

Ful review at: cinemaclown.wordpress.com

Based on a true story, with the ultimate goal of highlighting the flaws of the South Korean Police Force and the story of one of South Korea's most brutal serial killers

The basic premise of the story; a few prostitutes go missing, their pimp-a former detective-goes out in search of the girls, and it becomes a race against time to get the killer behind bars.

30mins of the movie in, I was mesmerised. The mood had been set and the story was ready to unfold, but it just didn't, and started to become farcical.

This was supposed to be a dark grizzly thriller and it created that setting perfectly, shooting it almost entirely at night, the grizzly cut scenes to the killers house, the blood and brutality. But this was its only success.

The South Korean Police Force maybe flawed, but in this movie they were portrayed as bumbling clowns. The director tried to get a laugh out of them, and this didn't fit with the nature of the film, a true story about a brutal serial killer and an inept criminal justice system.

The film itself is filled with so many unexplained mysteries and so many implausible situations. Whilst they may have really occurred, the director fails to transfer this honestly to the screen.

The film leaves you with more questions than answers, I know some critics will say, "It's a true story, its what really happened". But this isn't enough. If you're going to make a film there has to be a satisfactory resolution to the questions asked in the film, and that can only be answered by the film.

The film itself does contain mystery and suspense, enough to stop you from switching it off, and at times it does draw you in, but the excitement fizzles out slowly.

If you're a fan of Asian cinema then I would recommend it, I'm sure some fans will love this movie, I loved it it for about 40% of the time. It will become an important part of Korean cinema & culture. For fans it is worth a watch. But if you don't watch many Asian films, steer clear

My Favs/Recommends 1. Twilight Samurai (Japan) 2. Infernal Affairs (China) 3. A Bittersweet Life (S.Korea)

Chaser gets a 6/10...So much promise, but fails to deliver.

Na Hong-jin's *The Chaser* is a gripping, nerve-wracking thriller that reinvents the serial killer genre with brutal realism and emotional weight. Based loosely on real-life events, the film follows a disgraced ex-cop turned pimp, Joong-ho (played brilliantly by Kim Yoon-seok), who stumbles into a horrifying mystery when his girls start vanishing without a trace.

What sets *The Chaser* apart is its refusal to play by the usual genre rules. It reveals the killer early on - a chillingly calm psychopath portrayed by Ha Jung-woo - shifting the suspense from "who did it?" to "can anyone stop him in time?" That choice turns the second half of the film into a high-stakes race against bureaucracy, indifference, and time itself.

With tight direction, raw performances, and a script that never lets you breathe, *The Chaser* feels both grounded and relentless. It's violent, but never gratuitous. Dark, but never sensationalized. And above all, it's deeply human - showing not just the horror of violence, but the system's failure to stop it.

Film is masterclass in tension and storytelling. One of the best thrillers to come out of Korean cinema.

"Based on a true story, with the ULTIMATE GOAL of highlighting the flaws of the South Korean Police Force and the story of one of South Korea's most brutal serial killers.." great quote... but not convincing... this movie made me suffer.. A LOT!! not because of violence, but of sheer stupidity.. and yeah of course: the police was stupid and that was one of the movies messages.. but come on, everyone involved is so damned stupid especially the useless hero.. it's unbelievable. and painful.

kind of sad as the movie could have been quite good apart of being complete irritating nonsense...

still a fan of korean flicks though.. i'll forgive this one.

Before watching this film, I had doubts in my mind whether to watch it or not.. the reason being, it's not in English. I thought why take trouble in watching a Korean film. I've checked IMDb and was stunned to see a 8.1 rating. Then I thought again.. this film must have been really good. I highly doubted that most of the films that are rated high didn't rhyme with my taste.

Anyway.. I started watching this film. It started off slowly and as it progressed, I was amazed by the way the story unfolded, the way the director portrayed the characters. Everything was amazing. Acting was excellent and I just can't seem to find any shortcomings in the film.

The climax was superb and I must say that Yeong-hie Seo, Jung-woo Ha & Yun-seok Kim deserve much of the praise for excellent acting.

I'm sure that this film will be a good contender for the next Oscars. I highly recommend this film to everyone (above 15).

The Chaser is yet another example of the excellence of South Korean cinema. Since the millennium there have been several absolute standout movies from this country. Often what makes them so good is that they have materialised from a culture hitherto sparsely represented in the movies, meaning that we in the west often find their films less predictable than we are normally used to. The Chaser is quite a good example of this because what we have is a staple of the thriller genre – the serial killer film – presented in ways that go against expectations. Structurally, it's unusual in that not only is the killer's identity revealed very early on but he is also caught near the start. This means that the focus then switches to the police bureaucracy that hinders everything bar the maniac himself. But even with this switch of direction, the plot-line still retains a high suspense narrative whereby an abducted girl remains in the killer's lair, a place totally unknown the police.

The story-line itself has an ex-policemen turned pimp apprehend a man whom he believes has kidnapped one of his girls. This man then confesses to police that has murdered this girl but without any direct proof he is set to be released in 12 hours by the powerless authorities, leading to frantic detective work. This story results in a cat and mouse standoff. But with a hero who is hardly whiter than white – he is after all a pimp who is distrusted by his former police colleagues; who themselves are shown to be fairly incompetent. So the dynamic between the characters is fairly complex and leads to some unpredictable results. The two main characters are especially good here and very well played by the actors. There is great use of the back streets of Seoul too. Especially in the case of some high octane foot chases which unusually show the sheer exhaustion of such an endeavour, equally the several frantic and messy fights have a similar realism. This approach is distinctive and adds a lot. The violence is often so realistic it offers little distance to the audience, particularly horrible is the hammer and chisel sequence which made for extremely grim viewing. This grit and grime adds a further dimension to a film which has already taken a genre film to unpredictable places. It ends in a way that is neither happily wrapped up not one dimensionally nihilistic, it's something in between. In a film of many contrasts and surprises, it feels right that it does so.