Face

Ranked tops in his field, facial reconstruction expert Lee Hyun-min (Shin Hyun-jun) asks the National Institute of Scientific Investigation for time off. But there's a serial killer on the loose who's been melting his prey with acid and then taunting police by dumping the skulls, which will be difficult to identify. Although the NISI is relying on Lee to help them crack the case, his priority is caring for his sickly daughter, who shows signs of rejecting a year-old heart transplant. Intent on contacting the family of his daughter’s donor, Lee badgers his daughter’s arrogant surgeon, Doctor Yoon, who hides behind hospital confidentiality rules. Adding to Lee's stress, tactless apprentice Jung Sun-yung (Yun-ah Song), shows up on the forensic sculptor’s doorstep without prior notification and badgers him to cooperate with his bosses. Told that Lee’s child has been suffering aural and visual hallucinations, Jung takes a maternal interest in the troubled child. It turns out that the little girl suffers from an uncommon Beta-allergy, a medical anomaly has recently been detected in corpses on the pathologist’s autopsy table. Could the string of murders be related to unwilling organ donors? If so, Dr. Yoon may not be as careful as he should be about obtaining raw materials for his radical surgeries. Refusing to take no for an answer, Jung galvanizes Lee to solve the mystery; at the same time, he becomes infatuated with his stubborn trainee and struggles to identify the skull she has entrusted to him. Whether his findings can derail the madman's vicious spree is another story.

Rather than focusing on the usual ballistics experts and blood analysts, this bizarre chiller features a facial reconstructionist. Although a rewrite might have sharpened the confusing screenplay, Yoo, delivers scary post-mortem mayhem in a genre picture that successfully crosses THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1947) with THE BONE COLLECTOR (1999). leave a comment --Robert Pardi