Thanks to Netflix's wildly successful Squid Game and Parasite's numerous Oscar wins a few years ago, Korean cinema and television have been garnering more and more attention and rightfully so. Korean films often have stellar production and set designs and some downright inventive frights. Whether it's a bloody revenge tale, such as I Saw the Devil, or a creative take on possession tropes, such as The Wailing, Korean horror films frequently offer audiences new and interesting scares. Here are some must-watch Korean horror films available to stream right now.
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018)
- Streaming: Peacock, Tubi, Plex, Prime Video
Director Jung Bum-shik's found footage film Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum follows a team of YouTube influencers. They break into an abandoned asylum, and well, unleash more than they can handle. That's an understatement. The last 20-30 minutes of this film are generally creepy, filled with black-eyed possessed characters, ghosts, and other ghouls that linger in the corner of the frame.
Yet, before the scares, Bum-shik takes a great deal of time establishing the characters. Like The Blair Witch Project, we really get to know the cast before anything bad happens to them. Even if the team of influencers are obsessed with likes and drawing new subscribers to the channel, they're still pretty likeable for the most part. Bum-shik doesn't rush the scares, allowing the character development to make the chilling conclusion that much more impactful.
The Wailing (2016)
- Streaming: Peacock, Tubi, Plex, Pluto TV, Prime Video
The Wailing is unlike any modern possession film. It also contains one of the most memorable exorcism scenes of the last several years. Though the runtime is a bit long, this film features so many twists, turns, and scares, that it's tough to look away. Initially, The Wailing plays with a familiar narrative set-up: a stranger comes to town. In this case, the stranger arrives at a remote village in the mountains, and soon after, killings, mass hysteria, and illness follow.
Though The Wailing is certainly a horror movie, it's also an unsettling police procedural. Kwak Do-won stars as Jong-goo, a local policeman and father to Hyo-jin (Kim Hwan-hee). After Hyo-jin falls ill, Jong-goo commits to figuring out what the heck is going on in the village and whether or not the mysterious stranger is responsible.
Exhuma (2024)
- Streaming: Shudder
Like The Wailing, Exhuma has a bit long of a runtime, but it's definitely worth a watch. It's one visually-striking and engrossing film. Utilizing South Korean folklore, the film unravels a slow-burn narrative about buried secrets and a wealthy family that employs a shaman and her protege to investigate a mysterious illness plaguing their baby.
Exhuma, at least in terms of its visuals and narrative turns, draws some resemblance to The Wailing. That said, the film's heavy reliance on folklore makes it stand out from the rest of the films on this list. While writer/director Jang Jae-hyun's work does require patience, the payoff is worth it.
I Saw the Devil (2010)
- Streaming: Peacock, Tubi, Prime Video, Pluto TV
South Koreans have a tradition of bloody, violent, and entertaining revenge films beyond just Old Boy. I Saw the Devil is one nasty bit of work. Directed by Kim Jee-woon and written by Park Hoon-jung, the film stars Lee Byung-hun as NIS agent Kim Soo-hyun. He seeks retribution and vegeance after his finance is brutally murdered by the psychotic and terrifying Jang Kyung-chui, played by Choi Min-sik.
The two leads carry this film and turn in harrowing performances, making for quite the grisly face-off. Because of the film's level of violence, I Saw the Devil was initially banned from public theaters in South Korea upon its release. This is indeed one twisty and depraved revenge thriller. It's not for the squeamish.
#Alive (2020)
- Streaming: Netflix
Who wants to relive 2020? Probably not many people. #Alive dropped on Netflix months after initial shutdowns and the spread of COVID-19. It's very much a film of its time, focused on the spread of an unknown infection that turns people into zombies, thus unleashing chaos within Seoul. The film stars Yoo Ah-in as Oh Joon-woo, a gamer who lives with his parents. Really, he could be a stand-in for many young men.
That said, while Oh Joon-woo initially seems cliche, his character evolves into a survivor. Though #Alive may resurrect unpleasant memories associated with COVID-19, it's a wildly entertaining zombie flick with a relatable leading man.
Train to Busan (2016)
- Streaming: Tubi, Pluto TV, Prime Video
Speaking of rad zombie movies, writer/director Yeon Sang-ho's Train to Busan is one of the best zombie films of the last several years. The film primarily takes place on a train from Seoul to Busan at the outset of a zombie apocalypse. The film also centers on a troubled relationship between a workaholic father Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) and his estranged daughter, Soo-an (Kim Su-an).
Train to Busan was so successful that it spawned the animated prequel Seoul Station (definitely worth a watch) and the subpar, standalone sequel Peninsula. Be forewarned: Train to Busan has a gut-wrenching ending.
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
- Streaming: Prime Video, AMC+
A Tale of Two Sisters is one unnerving psychological horror movie. After her release from a mental hospital, teen Soo-mi Bae (Lim Soo-jung) reunites with her sister, Soo-yeon Bae (Moon Geun-young), at their remote country home. The sisters' father (Kim Kap-su) has remarried, and the siblings are not too happy. As the sisters try to resume life as normal, a series of strange events befall the family, leading to quite a shocking ending.
Word of advice: skip the American remake of a Tale of Two Sisters, released in 2009 and renamed The Uninvited. It just doesn't work as well as the original film, which is also rooted in South Korean folklore like other films on this list.