User Reviews

Never having heard about this 2012 South Korean thriller titled "Dak Teol" (aka "Doctor") before 2023, as I stumbled upon it by random chance. And given my fascination with the Asian cinema, then of course I opted to watch this movie without knowing anything about it.

Writer and director Sung-Hong Kim managed to churn out a script that was watchable. But that was about it really. "Dak Teol" just wasn't an outstanding thriller. It was running fairly much in low gear for way too long, and when it started to get into a proper pace, it simply was too little, too late.

Throughout the entire movie, I was just waiting for either Corbin Bernsen (from "The Dentist") or Larry Drake (from "Doctor Giggles") to show up and take over the helm. And the reason for that is that "Dak Teol" very much felt like a movie at the same length of entertainment and contents as those two movies.

It was a movie with a relatively small cast ensemble, but it should be noted that the actors and actresses carried the movie well enough despite of having a bland script to work with.

Visually then "Dak Teol" was okay. There were a couple of bloody scenes and a little bit of gore, but nothing to get excited about. A shame really, because it might have lifted up the overall impression of the movie.

While I managed to sit through the entire 97 minutes that the movie ran for, I was only slightly entertained. This is hardly a movie that I would recommend for thriller fans.

My rating of "Dak Teol" lands on a four out of ten stars.

THE DOCTOR is a deeply average psycho-thriller from South Korea, clearly made on a tiny budget which takes away much of the enjoyment right from the outset. It's one of those films with half a dozen actors and a couple of locations and limited scripting which means long sections play out with little to no dialogue. The main character is a plastic surgeon who snaps one day when he discovers his wife having an affair with a gym coach. After a very long time he goes completely off the rails and begins torturing patients and butchering those around him. There are a few gory moments but for the most part I was thinking how much better Brian Yuzna's similar THE DENTIST is by comparison.

Movie: Doctor (18): Action/Horror/Thriller - Korean

Positives:

• Kim Chang-wan's performance is excellent, while Bae So-eun's performance and dialogue delivery are impressive as well.
• The film is quite scary and creepy in various portions and stays true to its genre.
• The action scenes are very neatly executed.
• The climax is excellent.
• The basic story and screenplay are both gripping. The first half is very thrilling.
• The background score is excellent.

Negatives:

• The film has too much of obscenity which makes it hard to watch it at times.
• The film loses its momentum slightly in the second hour though it regains it very well.

Repeat value: Fine

DOCTOR is a well scripted action-horror thriller which could have been even better had it avoided its over-vulgar and obscene nature.