Very well executed

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Admirable film.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The fact of the matter is this. Just because a film is released under the Tartan Asia Extreme banner, that's no guarantee that it'll be "extreme," or even particularly good. Mind you, I've seen far worse films than H. It's better than America's similarly themed "Copycat," for instance. Then again, what isn't? H is a decent nod to superior serial killer films (Manhunter/Red Dragon, Se7en, to name a couple), but is essentially just a popcorn film. I usually take a chance on anything that flies the Tartan Asia Extreme banner, and I don't regret seeing this film, it's just that it needs to be said that not all films made in Asia are masterpieces.

When I found this at the video store I thought this looked & sounded amazing. Oh what a disappointment. The film starts off, with a young girl's body being found in a garbage heap along with her newborn baby. From there, you are lead on a journey that looks promising but fails miserably. The Hannibal-Esq character is unconvincing & has no emotion. He spouts Nietzche/ German-Esq philosophy, meaning he speaks in hidden meanings. The film take forever to get "started" and by the time the all too expected plot twist happen, you don't care about any of the characters & just want the movie to end.*SPOILER You find in the end, that the Hannibal-Esq character has used hypnosis to force people to copycat his killings. Even thought, it makes no sense. Yeah, don't bother.

The frame is a thriller with victims and chasers. Yet, the content is richer. The description of females vs. males is especially intriguing. The main female characters Detective Kim Mi Yun and Dr. Chu Kyung-sook are both more intelligent than their male counterparts and they both stay cool while the males are either easily aroused or do not understand. It is true that all the victims are females. Yet, the killings are connected with the reproductive capacity of the females that the males do not possess and can not control. A main motive is the pregnant women's ability to kill their (male) foetuses. The most influential male character, Shin Hyun, murderer now in a prison, has a non sexual foetus like aura. The killings are carried out as revenge on the women for this ability, obviously and totally in vain. Thus, the film describes a core dilemma true for all males. However, I am not aware of a comparable open description in European literature of film. Yet, I have seen it in Japanese films (e.g. Shindo's Onibaba). – A most interesting film.

"H" tells the story of two cops who encounter a series of gruesome murders. The victims were pregnant women - which leads the duo to a young killer who awaits his death penalty. Is another killer copying his crimes? Did the guy order someone to to it?There are many clues that connect the film to "Silence of the Lambs" (imprisoned killer, cops hoping for help from the killer), but as the story progresses, there are more connections to "Seven": It's gritty, it has a serial killer who has some John-Doe-mannerisms. The female cop is the Morgan Freeman character, the impulsive male cop is Brad Pitt. Even the ending (no spoiler!) fits this line of thinking because of what happens to the "Pitt"-cop. This is vague enough so it won't spoil anything for you.Because this ending is not what you might expect. The final reel of the film leaves the path of its American predecessors and follows an Asian film I'll mention below. Before that, I'll conclude that "H" is a suspenseful, gory, gritty, well acted thriller which is strongly directed by newcomer Jong-hyuk Lee. It steals a lot from other movies but better well stolen than badly invented.My rating: 8/10And now some spoiler: The film in the end resembles the Japanese thriller "The Hypnosist" - this also explains that the "H" of the title doesn't stand for heroin or something else you might have expected, but for hypnosis. The end credits even see the "H" move to the left and reveal the "full title". It's a nice twist for a nice film. But again: This ain't new, "The Hypnosist" or Kiyoshi Kurosawas "Cure" come to mind.