To celebrate all things Halloween, we’ve put together a list of the best Korean scary movies to watch this month! Considering that South Korea didn’t start churning out stellar horror films until the late 90s, their genre domination is nothing short of remarkable and well-deserved.
Here are 10 of what might be the best Korean horror movies out there:
“The Red Shoes” (2005)
Who doesn’t love a nice pair of heels, especially when they’re available for free? In the movie “The Red Shoes” Sun Jae discovers a pair of gorgeous red high heels on the subway and she takes them home with her, only to find out that they have a very dark secret.
Based on the old fairy tale from Hans Christian Andersen, it’s a dark and twisted modern story about vanity and beauty, which turns into a classic haunting.
Starring: Kim Hye Soo, Kim Sung Soo, Park Yeon Ah
Running time: 103 minutes
“The Quiet Family” (1998)
“The Quiet Family” is a movie that will teach you one life lesson. There’s nothing scarier than living in near-total isolation from the rest of the world and the Kang family is about to discover just that.
As the entire household moves to a remote mountain location for a business, they’re elated to finally get their first customer. However, as their first visitor commits suicide, the family decides to bury him without a fuss to spare themselves from bad publicity.
Starring: Park In Hwan, Na Moon He, Choi Min Sik
Running time: 99 minutes
“A Tale Of Two Sisters” (2003)
“A Tale of Two Sisters” isn’t the newest Korean horror movie, but it’s certainly one of the best. The movie follows two sisters who, after one of them returns home from a mental institution, find themselves surrounded by a cruel stepmother, vengeful ghosts, and unexpected revelations about their family’s dark past.
The movie became the highest-grossing Korean horror film of its time, even landing itself an American remake that was renamed “The Uninvited” starring Emily Browning and Elizabeth Banks.
Starring: Im Soo Jung, Moon Geun Young, Yum Jung Ah
Running time: 114 minutes
”Death Bell” (2008)
School is scary enough without high-achieving students disappearing at random and dying in grisly ways but that’s exactly what happens in “Death Bell.”
As the only Korean horror movie to be released in the summer of 2008, it did very well at the box office and was described by Derek Elley of Variety as having a “neat concept” with “enough shocks and gore to keep genre addicts contented.” This movie also marks the acting debut of Nam Gyuri, a former singer with SeeYa.
Starring: Lee Beom Soo, Yoon Jung Hee, Nam Gyu Ri
Running time: 88 minutes
“I Saw The Devil” (2010)
“I Saw The Devil” has one of the most brutal scenes of movie vengeance out there so prepare yourself emotionally before you watch it.
The movie is about a secret service agent whose fiancée is brutally murdered and dismembered by a serial killer, and his decision to take his revenge through the relentless pursuit and torture of the killer.
Starring: Lee Byung Hun, Choi Min Sik
Running time: 141 minutes
“Cinderella” (2006)
Plastic surgery is a major topic in many Korean movies but in “Cinderella,” it’s treated as an aspect of horror. A successful plastic surgeon and her daughter soon begin to witness strange things when her patients commit suicide before her daughter.
Another tale on vanity and body image, for those afraid of body horror and gore this might be a rough one but it’s worth watching all the same.
Starring: Shin Se Kyung, Do Ji Won
Running time: 94 minutes
”Whispering Corridors” (1998)
Although “Whispering Corridors” is over two decades old, it’s one of the cornerstones of the Korean horror genre. It came out during a time when free expression was brand new in the country and not only serves as a chilling story but also as social commentary.
Taking place in an all-girls’ school which is reportedly haunted by a ghost, staff and students start to disappear into thin air following the suicide of a teacher. This is the story that started it all in Korean horror, but whether it not its mystery is solved, is for the viewer to see.
Starring: Choi Kang Hee, Kim Gyu Ri, Lee Mi Yeon
Running time: 105 minutes
“Train To Busan” (2016)
“Train to Busan” at first glance seems like just another basic zombie movie: a virus breaks out and people struggle to get away before they become lunchmeat.
Nothing special, right? WRONG. Unlike in other zombie flicks, the character development and the acting in the movie are quality and the cinematography is top-notch. There’s a reason it’s gone on to become one of the highest-grossing Korean movie of all time.
Starring: Gong Yoo, Ma Dong Seok, Jung Yu Mi
Running time: 118 minutes
“The Wailing” (2016)
After raking in nearly $50 million at the box office, scoring a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, and appearing on many “Best Horror of 2016” lists, is it any wonder that Ridley Scott is chomping at the bit to do an English re-make of South Korean horror film, “The Wailing.”
For those who haven’t seen it, residents of a South Korean mountain village get hit with a deadly and mysterious disease and it’s up to a local policeman to get to the bottom of it with the help of a powerful shaman. Given that the storyline is packed full of Korean culture, toe-curling terror, and unexpected comedic relief, it’s unclear whether a remake could hold a candle to the original.
Starring: Kwak Do Won, Hwang Jung Min, Chun Woo Hee
Running time: 156 minutes
“The Silenced” (2015)
There are a lot of underrated horror movies out there, and “The Silenced” is one of them. When a new girl transfers to a boarding school, several of her fellow students go missing, and her attempts to reveal the mystery behind the disappearances put her own life in danger.
A bonus: this movie is packed full of Korean history, as it’s set in 1938 during the Japanese occupation. The movie has been described as “visually stunning” and “a quiet, eerie movie, with all kinds of horrific twists made imaginable by its Japanese colonial period.”
Starring: Park Bo Young, Uhm Ji Won, Park So Dam
Running time: 99 minutes
Would you recommend another scary Korean horror movie? Let us know your thoughts by tweeting to us @whatthekpop1 or leaving us a comment on Facebook and Instagram!
Polina has been recognized as an Honorary Korean Travel Ambassador since 2013. She always makes an effort to share the many aspects of Korea throughout the world and to express her affection for Korea. She graduated with two qualifications: Organizer of Tourism and Leisure and Management of Hotel and Restaurant.
Media: As Credited