While being investigated for corruption and mourning the recent death of his mother, Lieutenant Cho is suddenly assigned to this intriguing mystery. A mixture of macho stoicism and keen attention to detail, Cho makes an interesting movie cop. His scenes with dialogue seem limited. He's more introspective than most big screen constables. At times, he almost vanishes into the scenery, but that is not to say he lacks screen presence. It is indeed an odd mixture.

One could label the majority of this film's performances as cold or plain, but that would be too simple. I believe this to be purposeful. Director Chang Youn-hyun paints a world of subtle gloom where its inhabitants seem to have given up on hope. This bleakness may bother some.

Cho's investigation eventually leads him to Chae, a lonely museum curator. As it happens, Chae has been romantically involved with each of the victims. Because Chae has seemly blocked out her past mentally, Cho chooses keep her under round-the-clock surveillance. Suspects begin to pop up everywhere as one murder scene leads to another. One of the real treats of this film is the logical way the narrative proceeds. Oh there are twists a'plenty, but there is always a path that leads to them.

Reminiscent of the American film Seven, Tell Me Something is eerily dark and methodically moves at its own pace. High on gore, low on action. TMS replaces gunplay with graphically amputated limbs and car chases with exploding garbage bags. Director Chang Youn-hyun tells his story with creepiness to spare. Like a two-hour episode of the X-Files, this film features plenty of flashlight and umbrella moments. Plus, the use of music and sudden sound FX creates more that a few uneasy pangs of dread.

It seems that the director understands this genre very well. He uses some of the serial killer cliches to lull the viewer into a false sense of security. Then during the last third of the film uses your own preconceptions to beat you senseless, dropping your jaw to the floor. But if you beat him and figure it out beforehand, you'll still be rattled by the near flawless execution (so to speak) of plot, character, setting, and mood.

Twisty ties anyone?

The poster art for "Tell Me Something" says it all - dark, mysterious and the two leads' faces don't exactly look like they're having the best day of their lives. In a sense, this art foreshadows the type of film you're getting into.

A cop, played by Han Seok-Kyu ("Shiri" and "Christmas in August") is currently being investigated for possible police corruption. Just when he thinks this is the toughest situation he's ever faced as a working-cop, things start to get worse: plastic bags filled with freshly cut bodyparts begin popping up in streets, elevators and playgrounds and he's just been assigned to the case. Some of the bodyparts found are soon linked to a beautiful, but estranged, woman played by Shim Eun-ha ("Interview" and also "Christmas in August"), who seemed to have had some type of relationship with the victims in the past. This instantly makes her an accountable suspect - but as we know, this would be way to easy for the cop and the audience to endure.

Trust me folks, this is way cooler than it sounds. From this point on, the suspense and intrigue piles on. Suspects become victims and victims becomes suspects. More and more bodies, less and less answers. It's apparent that the makers of this film wanted to shock people with gore and realistic images of autopsy scenes, some of which reveal some of the best make-up work I've ever seen - especially for a Korean film that's 1/16 the budget of an average Hollywood film.

One crucial element that really modifies certain scenes is the use of it's soundtrack. Of course, this is the case with many movies, but with "Tell Me Something", it has some real inspiring music that's almost unfitting but oddly fits well - especially during one of the last scenes of the film before the credits roll. Also, surprisingly in this soundtrack, is the presence of a creepy, great song called "The Crawl" by Placebo which plays a during a crucial part of the film.

"Tell Me Something" pulls no punches, and talk about a terrific ending. Han Seok-Kyu, Shim Eun-ha and the entire cast are excellent.

Tell Me Something is about a detective named Cho who was assigned to one of the most puzzling murders in the summer of 1999. Garbage bags filled with dismembered body parts started appearing all over Seoul and the clock is ticking as the race to catch the killer before he or she kills again is on. Pretty simple plot, but its how this film was put together that made it one of the best suspense thriller I have ever seen in a long time – not to mention the best ending in a movie.

And the best part about this film is the gorgeous DVD print. Man, I take my hat off to Edko, Asia's own version of Criterion Collection. I am now constantly wishing that they release films worthy of this kind of quality. I was blown away when they released SHIRI, and upon opening the DVD for Shiri and seeing a catalogue of some of their upcoming releases – Tell Me Something being one of them, I was just ecstatic. Tell Me Something got the same treatment as Shiri. Incredible print and the sound is right up there with some of the best DD5.1 films in Hollywood. The opening logo from the Production Company was obviously not the same print as the movie itself. But when the opening credit starts just sit comfortably and enjoy.