Things hit the ground running, as the loony lead character Lee Byeong-Gu gives a frantic slideshow detailing his plan to save the world from hostile aliens. The target of his mission is business tycoon Chairman Kang, Lee’s former boss and supposed invader-in-disguise. Lee and his simple-minded girlfriend suit up in homemade Ghostbuster gear and kidnap Kang to a spirited punk soundtrack of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” It’s pretty clear that Lee is prone to paranoid delusions, fed in part by a pill-popping habit. What begins as a comical romp soon turns dark, as we see how serious these nuts are about torturing their captive for their cause. The film is as schizo as its “hero,” which works better than I anticipated. Many scenes are simultaneously hysterical and horrifying, and the mood constantly snaps from giddy to dramatic to suspenseful. Somehow we maintain sympathy for Lee, as we learn about incidents in his past that left him unhinged. Imagine Saw or Se7en from the perspective of the psychos, portraying them as lovable losers just trying to work through some personal issues. It’s a fun and bizarre thriller that successfully mixes multiple genres to become something highly original.

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