Bedevilled (2010)

“Creating a truly affecting revenge film is difficult. By design, you are taking a character and turning him/her into a cold-blooded murderer, which makes that character essentially impossible to relate to. To truly convince the audience that the bloodshed is warranted, something truly horrific needs to happen, but that’s not even enough. You may cheer on Camille Keaton’s character in I Spit on your Grave, or the parents in Last House on the Left, but their brutal tactics of revenge, again, make it hard to actually sympathize with them. Watching Bedevilled, I realized two things:

1) Korean directors understand revenge better than any American director ever could.
2) Never watch a revenge film with an audience.

Bedevilled is unlike any other revenge film I have ever seen. The only films that even come close in terms of quality are those in Park Chan-Wook’s Vengeance Trilogy, but even those pale in comparison. This film is a testament to the idea of vengeance, and it does absolute justice to the genre in a way I have never seen from an American film.” – Flixist

“BEDEVILLED is a powerful South-Korean film from 2010 about a disastrous reunion between childhood friends on the tiny, barely populated island of Mu-do. From the cover I expected something more gothic and intensely gory, and maybe supernatural? But it’s not like that. It’s all leading up to a bloodbath, so I wouldn’t deny its horror credentials. But it mostly plays out as a very involving character drama. So keep that in mind if planning a Halloween celebration.” – Outlaw Vern

“Introducing Jang Chul-soo’s Bedevilled before its first showing at the New York Asian Film Festival, co-founder Grady Hendrix promised it would offer “catharsis!” for anyone in the audience having problems with their boss, etc. That it certainly does, and in a way that genre fans will find more satisfying than, say, Horrible Bosses, though the movie ultimately tries to have its catharsis and eat it too.” – Fangoria