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22 Best Korean Horror Movies

22 of the Best Korean Horror Movies to Watch Right Now

Did you know that a lot of American horror films are actually remakes of Korean movies? Before "The Uninvited," for instance, there was "A Tale of Two Sisters," and before "Mirrors," there was "Into the Mirror." "Train to Busan" will join the list — it's reportedly getting an American adaptation called "Last Train to New York," which is scheduled to be released sometime in 2023. While remakes often change a few details from the original films to better connect with a different audience, they mostly retain the plot and overarching themes

From death and betrayal to revenge and lust, Korean horror films deal with some pretty intense themes. You have films like "The Wrath" and "Monstrum," which focus on gore, while other movies like "The Handmaiden" and "Oldboy" have psychological twists that send you spiraling.

Other horror flicks centre around creatures like zombies and vampires, while others take inspiration from terrifying urban legends, such as the man-eating Jangsan Tiger. With such a diversity of films, there's something for every fan of the genre. Bong Joon-ho, who directed the 2006 monster film "The Host" and the 2019 thriller "Parasite," shared some wise words at the 2020 Academy Awards on this subject. While accepting the award for best foreign language film, Bong told the audience, "Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films." If you're interested in exploring a different subgenre of horror films, these 22 movies from Korea will give you instant chills.

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1. "Train to Busan"

If you love a good zombie movie, "Train to Busan" should be at the top of your watchlist. The film stars Gong Yoo ("The Silent Sea") as Seok-woo, a divorced father who buries himself in his work. He and his daughter take a trip to Busan to go see his ex-wife, and we meet a diverse cast of characters on the train, including a man named Sang-hwa and his pregnant wife Seong-kyeong, high-school basketball player Min Yong-guk and his cheerleader girlfriend Kim Jin-hee, business executive Yon-suk, and more. One of the passengers is a sick woman who turns into a zombie and bites one of the other passengers. The infection spreads like wildfire, causing complete chaos on the train.

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2. "A Tale of Two Sisters"

"A Tale of Two Sisters" is a psychological horror film based on a Korean folktale about two sisters who are mistreated by their stepmother. The film begins with a teenage girl named Su-mi being released from a mental institution and returning to her family's home in the countryside. She reunites with her younger sister Su-yeon and her widowed father, who has gotten remarried to a woman named Eun-joo.

The sisters try their best to put up with Eun-joo for their father's sake, but just when things seem to be going back to normal, strange and inexplicable events start happening in the family's home. You won't see the film's end coming.

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3. "The Wailing"

Soon after a stranger arrives in the village of Gokseong, a mysterious disease that causes people to become violent and kill their families begins to spread. The police initially believe this change in behaviour is caused by wild mushrooms, but Officer Jong-goo begins to suspect that the newcomer could be responsible for the chaos after a woman accuses him of being a ghost. After Jong-goo's daughter gets sick, the cop goes directly to the stranger's home in the mountains to investigate. "The Wailing" has ghosts, exorcisms, and demons, making it a must-see film for horror lovers.

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4. "The Host"

Fans of Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" should watch his 2006 monster film, "The Host." According to the LA Times, Bong based his movie around a real-life scandal from 2000, when a U.S. military mortician ordered his employees to formaldehyde down the drain — which eventually ended up in the Han River.

The beginning of "The Host" depicts a similar incident, with Bong putting his own twist on the story: the chemicals in the river cause an amphibious creature to mutate, become violent, and kidnap a girl. The creature is also the host of a deadly virus, causing anyone who comes into contact with it to instantly fall ill.

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5. "Monstrum"

"Monstrum" is a period film set in 1527 during the reign of King Jungjong. In the film, rumours of Monstrum, a bloodthirsty creature lurking in the mountains, run rampant. Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, King Jungjong asks general Yun-kyum to form a team of hunters — including his daughter Myung, a skilled archer; his friend Sung-han; the King's messenger, Hur; and a number of other soldiers — to find out whether the beast is real. Yun-kyum soon realises that the rumours were true, leading to a bloody confrontation with the creature.

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6. "The Handmaiden"

Based on the 2002 novel "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters, "The Handmaiden" is a psychological thriller set in the 1930s. The film tells the story of a con man named Count Fujiwara, who is determined to marry a wealthy Japanese woman named Izumi Hideko to obtain her fortune. His plan involves hiring pickpocket Nam Sook-hee to become Hideko's handmaiden and encourage Hideko to marry him. If his plan succeeds, Fujiwara will send Hideko to a psychiatric hospital so he can get her money. However, his plan proves to be more difficult than anticipated.

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7. "Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum"

If you're a fan of found footage films that take you directly into the POVs of the main characters, you'll enjoy "Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum." The movie centres around a crew filming a web series at an abandoned psychiatric hospital rumoured to be the location where a number of patients were killed by the hospital's director. At first, the crew fakes scary scenarios in order to get more views for their livestream. However, the deeper they explore the building, the more disturbing and unexplained occurrences happen. According to a report from Movie Flicks, the haunted asylum is based on a real-life hospital where a director would perform experiments on her patients.

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8. "Alive"

"Alive" is another film centreing around a zombie apocalypse. It focuses on a video game streamer named Oh Joon-woo who is forced to remain inside his apartment after a mysterious infection begins spreading outside, causing everyone to turn into zombies. He tries to find help, but when he starts to lose phone and internet access, as well as food and running water, Joon-woo's hope for survival begins to waver. However, things change when he notices another survivor living in the apartment building across the street from him. The two meet up and then cook up a plan in order to make it out of the apocalypse together.

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9. "Killer Toon"

In "Killer Toon," Kang Ji-yoon is a popular artist who creates horror webtoons. Shortly after sending her latest draft to her editor, Seo Mi-sook, Ji-yoon is horrified to discover Mi-sook dead on the floor with her face slashed in a way that looks eerily similar to gruesome images in Ji-yoon's latest comic. Detectives think Ji-yoon is responsible for her editor's death due to the similarities in her story, and things only get worse when another series of murders are led back to Ji-yoon. Viewers will be on the edge of their seats throughout the film as they get closer to the truth behind the mysterious killings.

10. "Warning: Do Not Play"

"Warning: Do Not Play" is about an up-and-coming horror movie director named Park Mi-jung (starring Seo Ye-ji from "Lawless Lawyer") who is set on finding her next big movie idea. When Mi-jung hears about a cursed student film that was banned eight years ago, she becomes determined to find it, hoping it will give her some much-needed inspiration. Her search leads her to the film's director, Kim Jae-hyun, who tells Mi-jung that she doesn't know what she's getting herself into. Mi-jung ignores his warning and eventually finds the haunting footage. If nothing scares you like Mi-jung, then give "Warning: Do Not Play" a try.

11. "The Call"

In "The Call," we meet a woman named Seo-yeon who moves back into her childhood home to look after her sick mother, Eun-ae. The two don't have the best relationship since Seo-yeon blames Eun-ae for causing the fire that killed her father years ago. While she's living at her mother's house, Seo-yeon starts receiving calls from a woman named Young-sook, who says she's being tortured by her adoptive mother. Seo-yeon goes to visit Young-sook's house but discovers the woman is actually living in the past, leading her to ask Young-sook to save her father from the fire. Young-sook is successful, but Seo-yeon soon realises there's a price to pay for changing fate.

12. "Svaha: The Sixth Finger"

If you loved Lee Jung-jae's performance in "Squid Game," then you'll be sure to enjoy "Svaha: The Sixth Finger," in which the actor takes on the role of Pastor Park, a man who runs an organisation that exposes religious cults for money. One day, his character is hired to look into a group called Dear Mount, which causes him to cross paths with Police Captain Hwang, who's investigating a murder case whose prime suspect is a member the cult. The two gradually unravel the secrets behind Dear Mount throughout the film, which all ties into a huge religious conspiracy.

13. "Oldboy"

"Oldboy," which is based on the Japanese manga of the same name, stars "I Saw The Devil" actor Choi Min-sik as a man named Oh Dae-su who gets arrested for walking around drunk. His friend picks him up from the station, but as soon as he's out, Dae-su is kidnapped and imprisoned inside a hotel room. While watching TV, he learns that his wife is murdered, and he's the prime suspect. Dae-su is kept in isolation for 15 years until he's suddenly released one day. His captor calls him and challenges him to figure out the reason for his imprisonment, leading Dae-su on a wild chase to discover the identity of the mysterious figure.

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14. "The Piper"

"The Piper" is set in the 1950s after the Korean War, and centres around an injured piper named Woo-ryoung, and his ill son, Young-nam. The duo are making their way to Seoul to find a doctor for Young-nam when they stumble upon a remote village, where they decided to take shelter for the night. They realise the village is infested with rats, so Woo-ryoung volunteers to get rid of them using his pipe in exchange for money to pay for his son's medical fees. When the deal falls through, Woo-ryoung goes on a path of revenge.

The film is based on the "Pied Piper of Hamelin" legend, in which a man is hired to lure rats away from a small town with his pipe in exchange for money. When the townspeople refuse to pay him, he lure the children away in an act of revenge.

15. "The Ring Virus"

"The Ring Virus," which is based on the Japanese novel "Ring" by Koji Suzuki, is a heart-pounding story about a journalist named Hong Sun-joo (played by "Kingdom" star Bae Doona) who comes across a mysterious videotape after investigating the sudden death of her cousin. The tape contains a curse that says whoever watches the video will die within a week unless they do certain tasks. Before Sun-joo finds out what she has to do in order to survive, the tape cuts off, which leads Sun-joo on a dangerous journey to unravel the mystery behind the curse. Will she survive? You'll just have to watch "The Ring Virus" to find out.

16. "The Wrath"

In "The Wrath," which is a remake of the 1986 Korean horror film "Woman's Wail," Apink's Son Na-eun portrays an orphaned young woman named Ok-bun, who is sold to a rich and powerful family in order to become a wife. The household is run by a high-ranking officer of the Joseon Kingdom named Lee Gyeong-jin. Ok-bun discovers the family is cursed after two of Gyeong-jin's sons mysteriously die. The third son impregnates Ok-bun in hopes of breaking the curse, but his plan fails. Ok-bun is then forced to navigate the haunted house while also dealing with her evil mother-in-law Lady Shin. "The Wrath" is not for the faint of heart, as it gets really gruesome.

17. "Thirst"

Fans of director Park Chan-wook who love his works like "The Handmaiden" and "Oldboy" will likely enjoy his horror film, "Thirst," as well. The movie centres around a respected priest named Sang-hyun who volunteers to participate in an experiment in order to find a cure for a deadly virus. The experiment goes wrong and Sang-hyun ends up catching the disease and dies. However, he's miraculously brought back to life after undergoing a blood transfusion, but the procedure turns him into a vampire. Sang-hyun questions his faith as he deals with this newfound bloodlust, as well as his attraction to a woman named Tae-ju (who also happens to be his friend's wife) despite his vow of chastity.

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18. "Bedevilled"

"Bedevilled" follows a woman named Hae-won who decides to travel to the island of Mudu in order to visit her childhood friend Bok-nam. We quickly find out Bok-nam is living in an abusive household, and the only thing that keeps her going is her love for her daughter, Yeon-hee. When Bok-nam begins to suspect her husband, Man-jong, has been sexually abusing Yeon-hee, she begs Hae-won for help. However, Hae-won refuses to get involved, forcing Bok-nam to try and escape with Yeon-hee on her own.

Bok-nam sadly gets caught by her husband, who attempts to punish her. Yeon-hee tries to intervene, but is accidentally pushed and killed by Man-jong, who pins Yeon-hee's death on his wife. Bok-nam snaps and begins killing everyone on the island and even goes after Hae-won, who she blames for Yeon-hee's death.

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19. "Into the Mirror"

"Into the Mirror" is one of the most chilling Korean horror films you'll come across. It centres around a former policeman named Woo Young-Min who quits his job after inadvertently causing the death of his partner during a hostage situation. As a result, he begins working for his uncle as the head of security of a shopping mall. However, things take a turn when a number of the mall's employees are found dead. The police suspect a serial killer could be on the loose, but Young-Min does his own investigation and discovers the deaths may actually be linked to a parallel word inside mirrors.

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20. "The Mimic"

"The Mimic" is based on the Korean urban legend of the Jangsan Tiger, which is described as a man-eating creature with sharp teeth and white fur that lives near the mountain of Jangsan. The creature lures people to their deaths by making a sound that resembles a woman's scream.

In the film, people begin disappearing in the woods after hearing the voices of their dead loved ones. The movie centres on a woman named Hee-yeon, her husband Min-ho, and their daughter Joon-hee. The couple also had a son named Jun-seo, but he mysteriously disappeared five years ago. Still traumatized by their loss, Hee-yeon thinks she sees Jun-seo walking alone at night, but the kid turns out to be a mysterious girl, who says her name is also Joon-hee and even sounds just like her.

21. "I Saw The Devil"

"I Saw The Devil" is a 2010 thriller starring the seasoned actor Choi Min-sik, who you may recognise from "Oldboy." In this film, Choi takes on the role of a bus driver named Kyung-chul, who is secretly a serial killer. One night, he offers to help fix a pregnant woman's flat tire after she's stranded on the road, but he ends up beating her, decapitating her, and throwing her remains into a river. After her head is found, the woman's fiancé, Soo-hyun, who is an agent for the National Intelligence Service, becomes determined to find her killer and make him pay.

22. "The Red Shoes"

"The Red Shoes" is based on the classic fairytale of the same name that centres around the theme of vanity. In this adaptation, we follow a divorced mother named Sun-jae, who moves into an apartment with her daughter, Tae-su. While riding the subway one day, Sun-jae finds a pair of bright pink heels and decides to take them home, but she's unaware the shoes are actually cursed and cause those around it to become greedy. Sun-jae's best friend, Kim Mi-hee, becomes affected by the shoes and steals them, but she ends up dying shortly afterward. Sun-jae tries to get rid of the shoes, but she soon discovers that they follow her wherever she goes.

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