Deliver Us From Evil: Film Review

Cast: Hwang Jun-Min, Lee Jung-Jae, Park So-Yi

Director: Hong Won-Chan

Building simply on an assassin (Jun-Min) gets sent to Thailand to solve a missing child's case, Deliver Us From Evil soon becomes a case of a slickly polished narrative that ties nicely together.

Things are further complicated when a revenge story is thrown into the plot, with the sadistic brother (Jung-Jae) of a yakuza killed by the assassin seeking vengeance for his kin's death.

There's a case of an extremely slow build to Deliver Us From Evil. 

While it starts with a thrilling execution set piece, the next few scenes bring the film's energy down to almost catatonic levels as the narrative sets out its stall. But patience is rewarded as the usual grimy story of assassins, child-kidnapping, organ harvesting and bloody revenge gears up for its conclusion.

Won-Chan delivers some kinetic action pieces that use style to slow down the action, speed it up and then play it at normal speed, rendering moments like a car windscreen shattering almost poetic in their execution.

Equally, the martial arts is balletically filmed, with close range action shots delivering more than a visceral punch to the face. 

Deliver Us From Evil may lack some of the emotional edge and character development you'd perhaps expect and hope of the storyline, but its commitment to taut action, thrilling moments and sheer bloody-mindedness means it's a Korean movie worthy of a watch.