H

H (2002)
Written and directed by Jong-hyuk Lee
Starring Jung-ah Yum, Jin-hee Ji, Seung-woo Cho, Sun-kyung Kim

Marketing geniuses have decided Americans are devoid of intelligence so they plainly state “Se7en Meets Silence of the Lambs” on the front of the box. Astonishingly, in this case they’re quite correct that these two American stalwarts of the psycho-killer thriller genre are the reference points. However the bold statement stops short and should have read “Se7en meets Silence of the Lambs but not nearly as good.”

It’s raining, we’re in a city dump and a worker has just unearthed a corpse. The police arrive on the scene and Jong-hyuk Lee, who looks to be an actor making his first movie, throws more chips on the table when a detective stumbles over the blue body of a newborn. Lead homicide detective Mi Yun Kim (Jung-ah Yum who was made famous on this continent via her role as the Stepmother in A Tale of Two Sisters) is joined by her insolent new partner Tae-hyun Kang (Jin-hee Ji) who, through his inappropriate behavior and arrogant demeanor, quickly irritates the entire squad. Will they reach an understanding and be able to coordinate their police abilities to catch the brute who has left these mangled bodies?

Quick on the heels comes another grisly murder, as brazen as it is horrifying; a young pregnant woman and her fetus have parted ways with life. The crimes mirror those perpetrated by Shin Hyun (Seung-woo Cho), a serial killer who committed six inhumane acts before turning himself in to police and now waits for his reward on death row. Has he paid someone to continue his murderous rampage or is some inspired copycat killer loose on the streets of Seoul?

What follows is a convoluted series of twists and turns snaking down well worn paths. Detectives Kim and Kang pay a visit to Shin Hyun and find their questions rebuked by mysterious, mystical ramblings. They question Hyun’s psychiatrist (Sun-kyung Kim) who hides behind her ethical wall, smiling at the police’s defeat. Leads are uncovered and pursued but at times it’s not at all clear how these clues have been discovered. I found myself frequently wondering if the subtitles were poorly written, if the plot was full of holes or if I was too stupid to understand what was going on. The story continues bumbling down the rutted road heedless of my inability to follow the intricacies of police investigation.