I Saw the Devil - Car Stabbing Scene

If you haven’t seen I Saw The Devil yet, stop whatever you’re doing and go watch it(after reading this post of course). The movie is simply amazing. The film stars two of Korea’s most successful actors, Choi Min-sik and Lee Byung-hun, stars of the aforementioned films Oldboy and A Bittersweet Life respectively. The movie is directed by Kim Ji-woon and his resume speaks for itself: A Tale of Two Sisters, The Good, the Bad, the Weird, The Quiet Family, and The Foul King. The movie is a breath of fresh air from the predictable rehashes of Hollywood films. Do yourself a favor and watch it. This is probably one of the coolest scenes in the film, our antagonist turns a couple guys into human pin cushions.

The Host - Monster Attack

Either you've already seen The Host and loved it, or you've never even heard of the movie and are wondering what language they're speaking.....well, it's Korean. The Host is directed by one of my favorite Korean directors, Bong Joon-ho, who wrote and directed Memories of Murder, one of the best Korean films ever. The movie stars one of the most talented actors in the world, Song Kang-ho. But you know what sets this monster movie apart from the others? The monster itself. Unlike many other monster-themed films, the creature is fully visible from early on in the film, sometimes for large stretches of time and even in broad daylight. Yeah, take some freaking notes Cloverfield...

In this scene, the monster attacks some innocent people near the Wonhyo Bridge in the daytime.

Thirst - Super Throat Punch

You can always count on the great Park Chan-wook for a fantastic death scene. In his newest film Thirst, there are several, but the one that stood out the most was the throat punch delivered by Tae-ju near the climax of the film. If you haven't had the pleasure of watching this film, do yourself a favor and do it immediately.
DEATH SCENE IS AT 2:30

DEATH SCENE IS AT 2:30

Tsunami - Close Calls

A scene from the 2009 South Korean disaster film Tsunami. After a megatsunami hits the city of Haeundae, Dong-choon finds himself under a cargo ship stuck on the Gwangan Bridge. A cable snaps, narrowly missing Dong-choon, sending a bystander flying through the air (we see her faintly in the background falling back down). Dong-choon runs around in panic as cargo containers fall violently around him, crushing people. A handful of good death scenes from an above average disaster film with heart and one of the best actors in the business, Kyung-gu Sol. Can't go wrong.

Memories of Murder - The Only Witness

In this scene from the Epic film Memories of Murder, local detective Park Doo-man (Kang-ho Song) and big-city detective Seo Tae-yoon (Sang-kyung Kim) attempt to extract information from the village idiot Kwang-ho (Park Noh-sik). When they realize that the retarded boy witnessed one of the crimes and try to speak to him, they frighten him so badly that he runs in front of an oncoming train and killed before he can identify the murderer, leaving only his fake Nike sneaker. If you are after an intelligent and thrilling emotional rollercoaster ride of a film, I'd highly HIGHLY recommend Memories of Murder.

C.O.D. - Hit by oncoming train

Victim - Kwang-ho (Park Noh-sik)

Famous Last Words - "Stay away, go...." --Kwang-ho

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance - Revenge on the Black Market

Park Chan-wook's newest film Thirst finds Korea's leading man, Song Kang-ho(pictured center), as a much-loved priest who turns into a vampire after a failed medical experiment and becomes a tortured and depraved soul. The title refers to a craving for sex, blood and love. As we all know Park is no stranger to the movie death, as you can see from this scene from Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance he's also not afraid to show a little blood (or a lot).

C.O.D. - Major blood loss from a screwdriver to the neck

Victim - Chulseung (black market dealer)

Assailant - Ryu (Ha-kyun Shin)

Famous Last Words - "It's in an artery Chulseung. Don't take it out!" --Chulseung's Mom

Ryu seeks revenge on a group of black market dealers who ripped him off.

Guns and Talks - Slow-mo Sniper Headshot for the WIN

What the hell is more entertaining than a slow motion headshot? The answer is nothing, nothing is more entertaining than watching a bullet pierce through the air in all its skull-busting, instant-killing, brain splattering glory. From Johnny Tapia in Bad Boys 2 to Mr. X in Wanted, the slow-mo headshot will always be a visual treat.

Take this scene from the Korean film Guns and Talks for example. Jae-young (Jung Jae-yeong) takes out his target with a sniper shot. Boring! Am I right?! Now let's see that......in super slow-mo.

Now that's fucking entertainment!

C.O.D. - Headshot

Victim - Target #1

Assailant - Jae-young (Jung Jae-yeong)

Korean movies for the WIN

I'm addicted to Korean movies....Korea has done a great job in the film industry for a long time, but in 1996 a new generation of directors began to take over.
The average American audience is used to linear plots and closure when watching movies. Korean films say "fuck that." In this scene from Shiri, an antagonist is cornered with no place to go. So she decides to goes out with a bang. Welcome to the world of Korean cinema.

If you really want to explore Korean movies more, here are some of my personal favorites...

Martial Arts/Sci-fi :

- Arahan (Awesome fight sequences with a Matrix flavor)
- Volcano High (The story is crap but the martial arts sequences are classic)
- City of Violence (Awesome action movie a la Warriors)
- Natural City - (Great Sci-fi film)

Action/War/Period :

- TaeGukGi (One of the best War movies ever, period, some believe it's better than Savings Private Ryan)
- Joint Security Area (From Chan-wook Park, learn the name)
- Silmido (Based on historical event in South/North Korea)
- Shiri (Just watch the clip)
- Friend (A tale of friendship, gangster movie at its best)
- Musa (Period realistic martial arts tale)
- Fighters in the Wind (A real story about Mas Oyama, founder of Kyokushinkan Karate)

Drama/Comedy :

- The Classic (Son Ye Jin is just awesome here)
- My Tutor Friend (Korean romantic comedy....with action)
- Sex is Zero (Korean version of American Pie, hilarious)
- Failan (Great cinematography, superb ending)
- My Sassy Girl (The most famous Korean Romantic Comedy movie)
- Untold Scandal (Korean version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses set in the ancient time)
- No.3 (Funny gangster film)
- Crying Fist (Hardcore boxing drama with Min-sik Choi, greatest Korean actor ever)
- I'm a Cyborg, but that's OK (The Korean One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest)
- Attack the Gas Station! (A true breath of fresh air)

Horror/Suspense/Thriller :

- The Tale of Two Sisters (Amazing psychological thriller)
- Memories of Murder (One of the best murder mystery movies ever)
- Tell Me Something (A more hardcore version of Seven, Silence of the Lamb, etc)
- Scarlet Letter (The last movie by Lee Eun Joo before she committed suicide, rumor said it's because of this movie, the last 20 minutes is like you've never seen before, very disturbing)
- Oldboy (Greatest movie ever)
- Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (From the same director of Oldboy, 'nuff said)
- Lady Vengeance (The final chapter of Chan-wook Park's vengeance trilogy