Chaw (film)
Chaw (Korean: 차우), released in the United States as Chawz, is a 2009 South Korean action-adventure film directed by Shin Jung-won. It follows a mutant killer pig terrorizing a small mountain town near Jirisan, as a five-person team works to stop the beast. The team includes Chun Il-man, a villager whose granddaughter was killed; detective Shin; Kim Kang-soo, a reassigned Seoul cop; Byun Soo-ryun, a biologist; and Baek Man-bae, a hunter.
The town of Sammaeri has been crime-free for years, but bodies begin to appear ahead of an organic food fair. The crew bands together to confront the giant pig, which proves to be a deadly and hungry foe. Director Shin Jung-won said the film uses a familiar monster-movie setup to address environmental destruction, aiming for humor and a unique twist.
Filming started in Seoul, with 40 days of shooting in San Francisco for special effects. Creating the mutated, oversized pig took three years and about ₩3 billion, using animatronics, stuntwork, and computer graphics. The effects work was led by Polygon Entertainment and Stareast Digital Lab, under Hans Uhlig and Erik Jensen.
Chaw premiered at the Berlin Film Festival Market and was released in 15 countries, including Germany, Switzerland, India, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, and Japan. It was released in South Korea on July 16, 2009. The film had a budget of about $7 million and grossed around $10.8 million. It stars Uhm Tae-woong, Jung Yu-mi, Jang Hang-sun, Yoon Je-moon, Park Hyuk-kwon, and others.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 17:45 (CET).