Ever since Old Boy wowed audiences worldwide back in 2003, South Korean cinema has flexed its own reel muscles with distinctive and edgy films. Gruesome portrayals of reality? Check. Absurd plot twists? Definitely. Not giving a fuck about animal rights? Sure, why not?

Of course, stuffing all of South Korea's movies into one specific hole would be preposterous. Beyond violence and shock factors, there are many Korean flicks that exhibit more common portraits of life, but for a while, at least, it seems like we’ll be presented with more thrillers than romantic comedies.

Case in point: I Saw the Devil, which received a limited theater release last week. Directed by badass Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-woon (A Tale Of Two Sisters, The Good, the Bad, the Weird), I Saw The Devil deals with back-and-forth torture games, pitting a serial killer (Min-sik Choi) and an agent (Byung-hun Lee) whose fiancée was murdered by the slayer. It’s a bloody and intense experience that left us feeling uneasy and queasy, similar to many other Korean genre flicks.

With that said, broaden your horizons with our list of the 15 Most Disturbing South Korean Films. Allow us to share our traumatized joy.