CHRONICLES OF EVIL (****1/2)

(2015) A highly-respected and honored detective due for promotion, Chief Choi celebrates his success with his squad one night and is into a taxi home after a night of drinking ... when the taxi driver suddenly changes course, driving to an isolated location, where he informs the Choi that he has to kill him in order to live himself.  When it's the cab driver who is killed in the ensuing fight, Chief Choi flees the scene after cleaning up any evidence of his being there - but the next day, when the cabbie's corpse is found hanging from some scaffolding at a construction site near his precinct, it's the start of what Choi realizes is someone's determination to see him dead.  As police discover the original crime scene and Choi - overseeing the case - nervously watches them gather evidence, ready to try and divert any possible leanings toward him, he also finds himself in a race to find who it is that wants him dead, even as the killer comes closer and closer and Choi's reputation grows more tarnished as his fellow officers get nearer to the truth.  Chronicles of Evil is a real adrenaline rush, nail-biting suspense as you sympathize with Choi's trying to uncover the truth, even as you wonder just how tainted this "perfect" cop might really be.  A strong, tense thriller from South Korea, complete with a twist at the end that also lends great poignancy to all that went on before.  I loved it.  (not rated)

CHRONICLES OF EVIL trailer