One of the country's first prolific genre directors, Lee Yong-min initially started his career in the 1940s and 50s directing traditional dramas and comedies before turning to horror in the 1960s. Churning out titles like “A Flower of Evil”, “The Gates of Hell”, and “Bride from the Grave” before this title, he soon became one of the first names in the country's genre scene at the time, spearheading a lot of the work done in the rest of the 60s and 70s with quite a few films to follow in his footsteps despite a vast majority of his own work not getting the credit it deserves. As one of his most widely-available titles, this classic ghost story still stands up to the day.
Arriving at a strange art gallery, Shi-mok (Lee Ye-chun) is shocked to find the exhibit closed and needed to be updated when a mysterious painting of his late wife Ae-ja (Do Geum-bong) is spotted in the facility. Leaving to visit a friend of his, he finds himself in possession of a copy of the same painting which he takes home to his second wife, Hye-sook (Lee Bin-hwa), mother (Jeong Ae-ran), and three kids which soon launches the family into a never-ending series of ghostly and unexplained encounters. Realizing the source of the activity is related to the treatment of his first wife and that her vengeful spirit is behind everything, he tries to stop the deadly grudge from consuming his family.
There's quite a lot to enjoy in “A Bloodthirsty Killer.” What makes this one quite fun is the rather enjoyable storyline from director Yong-min that provides a densely-plotted tale of old-school ghostly revenge. The initial incidents surrounding Shi-mok make this feel like a series of strange events surrounding a mysterious painting and the continued sightings of his seemingly long-dead first wife running around the community. As time goes on, it gradually becomes clear that the events are based on a form of revenge from beyond the grave as Ae-ja, his first wife is slowly revealed to have been the culprit of a conniving conspiracy involving his family. That the truth comes about rather slowly with the revelations coming out in the latter half involving what really happened to Ae-ja gives this a strong overall feel. Combined with a strong visual flair that helps to make the scares look somewhat surreal at times in addition to the steady plot, there's quite a lot to like here.
On top of this, “Bloodthirsty Killer” manages to incorporate quite a bit of strong action throughout. The opening encounter in the art gallery is a solid setpiece with the desolate exhibit space, eerie ghost laughter in the distance, and the startling effect of the painting's face melting in front of him. This all starts the film on a strong note and gets everything set up for later. Likewise, the confrontation with the painter that results in Ae-ja returning to settle the score with him, Shi-mok getting framed for the murder, and leading to a chase through the countryside that uncovers her body buried in a secret basement has some thrilling moments. The first scenes of Ae-ja's ghost tormenting the family, from the encounter at the waterfalls to snatching the daughter out of the bedroom under the mother's eye, are quite startling and eerie enough to shock as well.
This leads to more fun with the possessed grandmother trying to tear the family apart using the ghost of Ae-ja as an instrument to help facilitate her plans. Realizing that the ghost has taken hold through a generally impressive setup that involves the grandmother acting out of character, provides “Bloodthirsty Killer” with some fun sequences. While starting with the licking of the sleeping children, it soon delves into more fully-fledged genre ideas including commanding several cats to attack Hye-sook and eventually overpower her, with the frantic hissing and incessant cat-like grooming that takes place whenever no one is observing her, and the fantastic confrontation in her room. This sequence brings about her unnatural behavior including jumping onto the ceiling, turning her limbs into a cat, and eventually transforming into the feline demon that was possessing her all along for a rather shocking encounter. With a full-on finale that includes the big battle with the ghost and getting to understand her need for revenge, this section ends everything on a fine note.
There isn't much wrong here but “Bloodthirsty Killer” does have some issues. One of the only real issues is the downward spike in momentum this goes through in the second half. Rather than carrying on with the established tempo and mood that had been at play until that point, “Bloodthirsty Killer” drops instead into a prolonged backstory on Ae-ja's reasoning to become a ghost. This melodrama-heavy backstory focusing on the initial circumstances that brought about this ghostly origin story that delves deep into infidelity, forbidden lust, and deception is placed at the wrong point in the running time. As well, it also brings about the other issue in the rather formulaic ghost-revenge storyline at play here. Dozens of other efforts have come out taking this set up of a ghost taking revenge for their death as a setup for their own work since, in that way, it can feel quite familiar. Beyond that, though, there's not much to dislike here.
A highly enjoyable classic ghost story that feels inspirational for many genre efforts to come, “A Bloodthirsty Killer” has a lot of positive aspects and remains one of the better genre entries in the style. Fans of old-school ghost stories, revenge pieces, or Asian horror, in general, will have a lot to like here.
