NYAFF 2008

It's that time again, guys. The NY Asian Film Festival is upon us. Not a single movie that I saw last year disappointed, so I'm thrilled.


I started this year off with a movie that I would not have ordinarily seen. On Saturday night, I was minding my own business, reading at home, when my phone rang at 10.45pm. "Want to see a Korean horror film at midnight?" I was so excited to hear the words "Korean" and "film" in the same sentence that all I could think about was NYAFF as I walked out my door. Halfway to IFC, I thought "Oh no, did he say horror?"


The Butcher (Korea, 2007) could not have been a more terrifying movie. In Igor's words:

The movie is about a man, who with his wife and two other people, has been captured to be tortured and killed in a snuff film. He wakes up in an abandoned factory farm to find himself tied up with a video camera mounted to his head. The entire film is made up of shots from his helmet cam, and the torturers cameras.

There were times that I was buried so far underneath my hoodie that I couldn't even hear the sounds. I had problems falling asleep afterwards (if it had not been for my new pillows, I wouldn't have slept at all). It was the most screwed up movie I've ever seen. I am not even going to embed the trailer here, but here is the link if you dare. Don't watch around mealtimes.