Say Yes (2001)

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

That scene where C. Thomas Howell falls asleep in the police station and awakens to find dead cops? It's here. A villain who goads the hero into attempting to kill him? He's here. The love interest (in this case wife) who doesn't end up in a very nice way? She's here, too. And don't forget the vehicular carnage. Gotta have that if you're gonna remake Robert Harmon's THE HITCHER (1986). This thriller about a couple (Kim Ju-hyuk, Chu Sang-mi) menaced by a (mostly) motiveless psychopath (Park Joong-hoon) during a road trip to a small resort town owes a great deal of its existence to the superior American cult thriller. As such, it's very well made and hits the right shock and gore buttons even as it goes through the motions and director Kim Sung-hong adds almost no new ingredients outside of a somewhat difficult-to-swallow twist ending that doesn't really square with the the hero's character up to that point, but DOES suggests that both he and villain Park are just part of an ongoing cycle of senseless violence. Comedy and action-comedy mainstay Park fills Rutger Hauer's shoes with the same mix of sotto voce menace and unstoppable (and seemingly unkillable) force of nature, but he doesn't bother with the sparkle of bemusement in Hauer's eye that made his grim acts all the more hissable. Not sure the reason — beyond the difficulties most Korean filmmakers have getting sophomore efforts off the ground in such a small and competitive market — but director Kim didn't direct again until 2009's MISSING, a rather disappointing gap considering the potential demonstrated in this remake.

There's nothing worse than renting an Asian movie and getting an American movie experience instead.It's only my opinion, but a good thriller is dependent upon the establishment of likable, intelligent characters. As far as likability is concerned, the protagonists in Say Yes are a quaint married couple. Nicely done. Unfortunately, they are stupid beyond belief. Let us count the ways they mishandle being terrorized by a stalker.1. After a hitchhiker threatens to kill you, be sure to tell him what hotel you're staying at when you drop him off.2. Beat the hell out of the stalker in broad daylight and in front of dozens of witnesses, thereby allowing him to press charges of assault.3. Don't bother telling the police about the stalker and simply assume (for no apparently good reason) that the cops were bribed by him.4. While trying to escape, let your lady out of your sight as much as possible to ensure that the stalker kidnaps her.5. After getting help from someone to find the stalker after kidnapping your wife, be sure to send them away as soon as possible so you can face him one-on-one. No point in being unfair, right? Now, I'd never expect that any person would be immune to making a few mistakes under these stressful conditions, but the characters in Say Yes are so dense and make so many unbelievable mistakes that it's effectively impossible for the viewer to care about their safety, since they are victims of their own doing. This kills the enjoyability of the entire film. In case you were wondering, the scriptwriters didn't stop with dim-witted characters. Since they themselves are surely dim-witted for writing this crapfest, they decided to make situations so absurdly unrealistic that all sense of reality goes out the window.1. The stalker kills a cop inside a police station – while the protagonist is asleep no more than ten feet away.2. The stalker engages in all sorts of dubious activities in broad daylight and around tons of people, yet no one other than the married couple seems to notice his odd behavior.3. The stalker survives an absurd amount of violence that would have killed any human being.4. The "suspense" scenes had no imagination whatsoever. In fact, some scenes were direct rip-offs from American movies.The only positive is the decapitation near the end, which was a pretty brutal scene since it was inflicted upon the wife. It's too bad the filmmakers followed it up with an outrageously stupid ending that comes out of left field.Truly, the Koreans behind the making of Say Yes should be ashamed of themselves. Better yet, they should just move to California and take employment with people who make movies with a similar disregard for quality and intelligence.

This technically well made but highly sadistic thriller is basically an inferior Korean remake of The Hitcher with a bit of Seven thrown in. While the film is different enough from The Hitcher to not qualify as a remake, there's no doubt at all that the filmmakers here saw the 1980's Rutger Hauer film--there are two scenes, one in a restaurant where the psycho tries to taunt the hero into killing him, in The Hitcher with a gun and this film with a knife, and a second where the hero falls asleep in a police station only to wake up and find the cops murdered--that are too similar to be a coincidence. As dark as the American film was The Hitcher was still entertaining because the movie moved quickly and had numerous well-directed action set-pieces. Say Yes, in contrast, is largely lacking in action besides the sadistic torture scenes late in the film.

This movie begins well as the young couple are tricked into giving a ride to a sullen, brooding man. Tension mounts as the man is apparently stalking them after they finally get him out of their car. However, once it has been established that the passenger is dangerous--which happens within the first 30 minutes of the film, the movie is unable to maintain any real suspense. In lieu of suspense, we are given graphic violence. The torture scenes are extended, disturbing, and unnecessary and the battle that should have been the climax of the film comes 30 minutes to early. Everything that happens after that, which is meant to be shocking, comes across as anti-climactic and predictable. The final scene also seems so out of character for the person involved that it is ridiculous and should have been omitted. I left the theater with a headache.