Cover Kim Go-eun as shaman Lee Hwa-rim in South Korean supernatural horror film, ‘Exhuma’ (Photo: Showbox)
Kim Go-eun as shaman Lee Hwa-rim in South Korean supernatural horror film, ‘Exhuma’ (Photo: Showbox)
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From jump scares to slow-burn horror, these dark South Korean movies spell, “Scream, if you dare”
As Halloween approaches, the spooky season is upon us wherever we are in the world. Undoubtedly the creepiest “holiday” of them all, in the modern day, October 31 is largely celebrated by dressing in costumes and telling tales of witches and ghosts.
Read more: What is horror? Award-winning Filipino filmmaker explains the spine-tingling genre
For over two decades, South Korean cinema has been producing dark and moody films centred around the theme of revenge. Several films homegrown have gained so much international attention that they’ve been picked up to be adapted into English-language Hollywood films such as 2003’s Into the Mirror and 2003’s A Tale of Two Sisters.
In the spirit (pun intended) of getting into the Halloween mood, here are some nail-biting horror-thriller Korean movies to freak you out.
1. ‘Into the Mirror’ (2003)
Above The trailer for ‘Into the Mirror’
Cast: Yoo Ji-tae, Kim Hye-na, Kim Myung-min.
Be prepared to be intrigued by Into the Mirror, the 2003 Korean supernatural horror film that made such an impact that it spurred the 2008 American remake, Mirrors.
The film follows a former policeman who works as the chief of security of a department store that has been rebuilt and is about to reopen after a fire. However, after a string of gruesome and suspicious deaths, it all starts going downhill. He is then tasked to lead an internal investigation to solve the problem, believed to be linked to a ghost that uses mirrors as a gateway to the living world before it strikes again.
2. ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’ (2003)
Above The trailer for ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’
Cast: Im Soo-jung, Moon Geun-young, Yum Jung-ah, Kim Kap-soo, Lee Seung-bi, Lee Dae-yeon, Park Mi-hyun, Woo Ki-hong.
There’s no greater plot twist (no spoilers!) than A Tale of Two Sisters. Inspired by the Joseon dynasty-era folktale Janghwa Hongryeon Jeon, the film is the highest-grossing South Korean horror film of all time and the first South Korean film to be screened in American theatres. It captivated the international audience so much that an English-language remake, The Uninvited, was released in 2009.
A Tale of Two Sisters tells the story of an institutionalised mental patient who returns to her rural, country home with her sister, only to have strange events unfold. The film gets off on a slow start to allow time for it to build up suspense. Even without jump scares, this psychological ghost story is bound to grip you and get under your skin.
3. ‘The Silenced’ (2015)
Above The trailer for ‘The Silenced’
Cast: Park Bo-young, Uhm Ji-won, Park So-dam.
It’s 1938 during the Japanese occupation in Korea. A sickly girl is transferred to Gyeongseong Boarding School, an isolated sanatorium boarding school in Kejyo (known as Seoul today) to regain her health. The school is steeped in mystery, with a secret room in its basement and an old forest with a questionable pond. When some students start vanishing overnight in odd circumstances without leaving a trace behind, questions go unanswered, and the protagonist starts having strange visions and continuous nightmares, she sets out to uncover the gloomy secrets surrounding the school.
The Silenced will have you questioning if the supernatural elements are, in fact, supernatural at all.
4. ‘The Wailing’ (2016)
Above The trailer for ‘The Wailing’
Cast: Kwak Do-won, Hwang Jung-min, Jang So-yeon, Chun Woo-hee, Jun Kunimura.
A commercial and critical success for its time, The Wailing centres on a policeman who investigates a series of mysterious killings and illnesses in a remote Korean village after a stranger moves in, to save his daughter who gets sick. Simply put, think The Exorcist, complete with religious undertones. In fact, the movie opens with a quote from the Bible, Luke 24:38-40, “And he said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.”
Albeit slow-paced, the riveting film takes its time to unpack the intricacies of the plot, which has a wide range of genre mishmash–drama, comedy, melodrama, horror. The Wailing delivers when and where necessary, making it a suspenseful and terrifying piece of masterful storytelling.
5. ‘Metamorphosis’ (2019)
Above The trailer for ‘Metamorphosis’
Cast: Bae Seong-woo, Sung Dong-il, Jang Young-nam, Kim Hye-jun, Cho Yi-hyun, Kim Kang-hoon.
Metamorphosis combines great visual storytelling with a theme centred on an all-time horror classic–possession and exorcism–except, it focuses more on the antagonist than the victim. The film tells the story of an evil spirit who infiltrates the troubled family of a Catholic priest, placing one brother in danger while the other tries to save him.
From the get-go, it’s made clear that the demon will destroy the family at any cost but it’s not any ordinary evil–it’s a shapeshifting devil that’ll keep you guessing as it moves from person to person. The constant sense of foreboding and suspense makes Metamorphosis the perfect slow-burn film for a chilling, creepy experience so hang on to the edge of your seat!
6. ‘The Medium’ (2021)
Above The trailer for ‘The Medium’
Cast: Narilya Gulmongkolpech, Sawanee Utoomm, Sirani Yankittikan, Yasaka Chaisorn, Boonsong Nakphoo.
Co-written and produced by Na Hong-jin and directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun, The Medium is a terrifying Thai-South Korean mockumentary supernatural folk horror flick that follows a shaman who’s possessed by a local deity in Northeast Thailand. Filmed in found-footage format (think Paranormal Activity or The Blair Witch Project), the setting itself is eerie and bone-chilling, enough to knock you out without the overuse of jump scares throughout the two-hour-long ordeal.
The Medium doesn’t hold back as it boasts everything that makes an unsettling but engaging horror film–beliefs, legacy, faith, family, culture, curses, and superstitions. It’s not for the weak-hearted so brace yourself and perhaps don’t watch this one with the lights out.
7. ‘The 8th Night’ (2021)
Above The trailer for ‘The 8th Night’
Cast: Lee Sung-min, Park Hae-joon, Kim Yoo-jung, Nam Da-reum.
Right off the bat, this film is not for everyone–you either love it or hate it. The 2021 horror-thriller tells the story of a disgraced archaeologist who awakens a 2,500-year-old demon eye, releases a millennia-old spirit that possesses humans, and unleashes hell on Earth, and a monk who attempts to hunt it down.
The 8th Night incorporates Buddhist mythology and theology into its plot, which is somewhat refreshing considering that most horror films depict Christianity. It even opens with a legendary tale narrated in Sanskrit. It’s one of those films that gets better as it progresses and it has enough creepy scenes to create unease, get under your skin, and wriggle around.
8. ‘Exhuma’ (2024)
Above The trailer for ‘Exhuma’
Cast: Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hae-jin, Lee Do-hyun.
The highest-grossing South Korean movie of 2024 and hailed as one of the best horror movies, second only to The Wailing, Exhuma has earned praises for seamlessly blending supernatural mystery, horror, and occult elements. The cinematic journey centres on a wealthy family in Los Angeles who engages two famous young shamans when they experience bizarre events and a disturbing illness that affects only the first-born children of each generation. The shamans investigate the cause which traces the origin to an ominous grave of the family’s ancestor. They set out to exhume and relocate the remains but something much darker emerges, unleashing dreadful consequences that will send shivers down your spine.
In summary, mess with the wrong grave and be prepared to be petrified like never before.
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Lainey was the Digital Director of Tatler Malaysia. When not whiling away the hours watching documentaries, the latest K-drama, or reruns of Friends, she can be found indulging her wanderlust by stalking travel platforms or feeding her obsession with music. She loves animals, running, all things social media, a good conversation over coffee or soju or wine (often rambling on if nobody pulls the brakes on her), and is an avid fan of bursting-at-the-seams laughter.
