Hwang Jung-min, Lee Jung-jae team up for 'Deliver Us From Evil'

Actor Hwang Jung-min, left, speaks during an online press conference for the film “Deliver Us From Evil” held in Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of CJ Entertainment

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Actors Hwang Jung-min and Lee Jung-jae are reuniting for a hardboiled action film “Deliver Us From Evil,” seven years after the two starred in 2013 hit crime drama “New World.”

“Deliver Us From Evil” follows a story of hitman In-nam, played by Hwang, who plans to retire after carrying out one last hit. However, he gets embroiled in unexpected incidents as ruthless villain Ray, played by Lee, chases after him.

Both lead actors said they were drawn to the large-scale action scenes in the film, compared with “New World,” which was a crime drama filled with mystery and suspense.

“Deliver Us From Evil” was filmed in several different locations ― Thailand, Korea and Japan, according to director Hong Won-chan. His debut feature “Office” was invited to the Midnight Screenings of the Cannes Film Festival in 2015.

The filmmaker explained that about 80 percent of the film was shot in Thailand.

“Since In-nam is an unusual character, we needed to find some exotic locations that reveal his character. I also wanted to capture the uniqueness of the city of Bangkok,” Hong said during an online press conference for the film in Seoul, Friday.

Hwang added that each country sets a different tone for the character. “When the movie is initially set in Japan, it features an overall gray tone. It becomes darker when In-nam is in Korea, but suddenly turns red when he arrives in Thailand to carry out his last mission. The red color best represents his true personality,” he said.

A poster for the film “Deliver Us From Evil” / Courtesy of CJ Entertainment

Lee, who plays a despicable villain in “Deliver Us From Evil,” shared that the film is full of pulpy violence and pulse-pounding action scenes.

“There are a lot of fight scenes and wild action scenes in our movie,” Lee said. “The action sequences in Thailand were more spectacular than I expected, so I had to familiarize myself with a seamless sequence of moves and practice with our martial arts team for weeks.”

“I remember the most challenging scene was the one filmed at a shabby hotel in Thailand. Its narrow hallway made staging action scenes very difficult. The warm weather made the work much more exhausting,” Hwang said. “But we exchanged ideas with the martial arts director and cinematographer and rehearsed the actions several times to prevent injury.”

Hwang also praised cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, who previously filmed “Parasite” and “Wailing,” for his remarkable work ethic and talent.

“Hong is the most passionate and hard-working person I've met in the film industry. The production team also did their best to create an unprecedented large-scale action film,” Hwang said.

“Deliver Us From Evil” is set to hit local theaters in July.