Remy – Kim Soo-hyeon from I Saw The Devil
Man, this movie is amazing. Like AMAZING amazing. Perhaps the best revenge movie ever? I know that is lofty, and Oldboy should take it, but I Saw The Devil is THAT good.
You want to talk about turning the tables? The main character Kim in this movie finds the guy who murdered his pregnant wife, and instead of just killing him, he follows him and strikes at random times, doing to him exactly what he did to most of his victims. The idea here (and with most South Korean revenge movies) is that revenge makes you into the very monster you hate so much. It brings you from your human level down to the monster’s level, and once you are down on eye level with monsters, the only way to survive is to become one.
Anyone who has seen this movie knows just how much Kim Soo becomes the monster, thus the AMAZING title of the film. Also, people who know the movie know that becoming the devil does not always play out how you want it to, and this dark tale of (almost) redemption reminds us of that. But for 80% of the film, Kim IS the monster, and the monster is running scared, and it is a powerful dynamic to see.
Nato – Marybeth from the Hatchet Franchise
Although she’s played by two actresses (Tamara Feldman in Hatchet, Danielle Harris in Hatchet II/Hatchet III), Marybeth is terrorized by Victor Crowley in each movie of this franchise, and she has to kill him not only once, but twice. She sees countless people die, including family, and gets beaten by Crowley himself, but she still manages to end the curse by the end of Hatchet III – or so we think?
Marybeth first appears in Honey Island Swamp while participating in a “ghost tour” that foolishly ignores the legend of Victor Crowley, as everyone dies but her. Escaping the swamp, she gathers a group of hunters to go straight back in and kill Victor Crowley, which again ends in absolute bloodshed, but Marybeth is able to beat Crowley’s head to a pulp, and then blast the remains away with a shotgun for good measure. Horror over, right? Nah, of course not! Getting dragged back into the swamp in an attempt to end Crowley’s curse once and for all, she covers the monster with his father’s ashes, melting him down to a skeleton, then explodes the leftovers with a final gunshot. Wounded herself, it’s left open whether she lives or dies, but over the course of three movies, Marybeth turns the tide each time, possibly ending Crowley forever.
Probably not though. Hatchet IV, anyone?