Bedevilled

Bedeviled is a decent revenge drama with a gory reckoning in which you will cheer enthusiastically for the scythe-wielding female executioner for all that she has been through. And you will empathetically wish that you could join her in the bloodbath. The well-managed continuous building of psychological pressure in a remote place from which there is no escape is effective, but the friendship between the girls doesn’t work at all, even though the protracted ending tries to explain it and give it some meaning. (21/10/2018)

I can’t blame the protagonist (the darker one), the conditions of rural Korea would also drive me insane. Years of oppression by gossiping hags, horny yokels and, on top of that, a selfish “friend” that could help but doesn’t want to… there’s only one way to solve that, with slashing and stabbing weapons :-) I liked a lot more the first half, when the protagonist is subject to mostly psychological terror. The second half brings in a red tide, but none of the murders are good enough for me to say “That was cool!”. The ending of Bedevilled is a bit over the top, but the film still made a good impression. (31/01/2011)

Asians, in this case Koreans, and their urge to produce something nasty and disgusting. In this case it was supported by a nice Korean countryside, one inconspicuous village and a family with more skeletons in the closet than anyone would have guessed. An interesting thematic small-scale film. (11/04/2016)

Kim Bok-Nam's story moved me incredibly. I actually don't even know where to put a movie like this. The first part is mainly a drama that evokes a tremendous amount of emotion, disgust, and a desire for justice in the viewer. Once the water glass overflows, the old familiar "revenge" comes in and the film becomes a very decent thriller. I probably don't need to tell you whose side I was on and that I have full sympathy for her actions. It kills me that there are women "living" in the world who experience the same hell as Kim Bok-nam, but never get their revenge. It's obvious that people who care about this situation worked on this film. They put the appropriate anger into it, and with the second part they kind of fulfilled a dream that for many abused women remains only in their heads. The cast got me as much as the story. All the characters played their parts so convincingly and with such insight that at times I forgot they were actors. I wish this wasn't happening anywhere in the world, I wish they were just acting. I didn't think for a second about a lower rating, 5 stars. (18/06/2014)

At first, I thought this was a look into the life of a self-centered bitch, which proved to be true with the unfolding events, only the self-centered characters grew in number. I've always liked strong female protagonists, so when Kim Bok-Nam decided to take action, I suddenly had someone to root for, and I immensely enjoyed her work with gardening tools. (10/01/2020)