1. A Tale of Two Sisters
Inspired by the Joseon Dynasty era, A Tale of Two Sisters is a psychological Korean horror film first released in 2003. One of the scariest movies of all time, it has pierced a massive cult following, achieved numerous accolades, and earned a Hollywood remake in 2009 as The Uninvited. The choice of music, the layers of colors, and the encapsulation of the best cinematography will make it hard for the movie’s end to come.
The synopsis portrays two sisters, Su-mi (Im Soo-Jung) and Su-Yeon (Moon Geun-Young), who are discharged from a mental institution. When they reach their countryside home, they face unexpected disturbances from their evil stepmother, Eun-joo (Yum Jung-ah), and the spirits that haunt the house. The closure will bring them closer to shocking dark facts from the past, making the binge-watching worthwhile.
2. Train to Busan
One of the most influential zombie-inspired Korean movies famous beyond the national borders is Train to Busan. Yeon Sang-ho directs the film and portrays a divorced father, Seo-Woo (Gong Yoo), who works as a fund manager and plans to take his daughter, Su-an (Kim Su-an), to Busan to his ex-wife.
Soon after they board the KTX train from Seoul, the disruptive virus from a sick woman who turns zombie starts to spread in a closed-moving high-speed train. Ruining lives and running for life from hungry zombies, this Korean horror movie meticulously captures emotional fear and intense action scenes across different families. This global hit will make you glue till the end as you discover who wins over who: the zombies or the humans.
3. The Red Shoes
Influenced by an 1845 fairytale, The Red Shoes, by a Danish author, the film spins across a divorced mother, Sun-Jae (Kim Hye-soo), and daughter Tae-su (Yeon-ah Park). While riding a subway one fine day, Sun-Jae finds bright pink heels astray and decides to take them home.
Not knowing the heels are cursed and have a seductive and evil power, people around them become allured, even ready to take someone’s life in the pursuit of their benefits. The film immerses the viewers into creepy nightmares, never-ending bloodstains, and spooky ghosts, intertwining supernatural horror and criminal investigation.
4. #Alive
Alive, a Korean horror-thriller movie, couldn’t be released any better. The film, released in June 2020, is an action-packed thriller that will submerge viewers into deja vu. It portrays the struggle of battling isolation and wanting to survive. However, the movie goes one step further, with the mysterious infection turning humans into zombies who feed on human flesh.
The movie’s protagonist, Oh Joon-Woo (Yoo Ah-in), a video game streamer, isolates himself with limited supplies. Over the period, his hope to endure longer meets an array of light when he discovers another survivor, Kim Yoo-bin (Park Shin-Hye), in a nearby building. The movie overflows with exciting tension and jam-packed action moves as the two strategize to fight off zombies.
5. The Wailing
Na Hong-Jin, the director behind The Wailing, has demons, ghosts, exorcisms, and the best thrills for horror lovers. Following a supernatural horror theme, the movie has the residents of a small village in Korea fall into a series of mysterious illnesses and shrink into deaths one by one.
As the police investigation suspects local Japanese Jun Kunimura of being the culprit behind the village's bizarre condition, Kim Hwan-hee (Hyo-jin), the daughter of policeman Kwak Do-won (Jong-goo), gets targeted by a lurking evil spirit. While keeping his word to halt the outbreak, his choices entangle him in a terrifying situation that builds upto the exorcism scene before the truth is revealed.
6. The Host
Parasite fans must add The Host to their watchlist. Director Bong Joon-ho, the man behind the sensational masterpiece, blended monster horror, political satire, family drama, and some sci-fi and comics to bring the best of Korean drama and become the country’s highest-grossing movie in no time.
The film subtly depicts government incompetence and environmental negligence through chemical pollution that flows through the Han River and mutates a creature that spreads the virus. Packed with action and characters' emotional display, Park Gang-Doo (Kang-ho Song) battles to save his daughter, Park Hyun-Seo (Go Ah-sung).
7. The Call
Unlike other horror movies, The Call serves the purpose of horror through sheer psychological dread. Injecting a time difference with a blend of fantasy, drama, and horror, it captures the art of horror film. Seo-Yeon (Park Hye), naive and trusting, arrives at her childhood home to care for her sick mother.
She then receives landline calls from Oh Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo), one of a manipulative kind who lived in the same house 20 years ago. These seemingly friendly calls lead them to twists and turns, exposing Young-sook's ulterior motive and the price Seo-yeon has to pay to change the past, which causes her to become distant from her mother.
South Korea never fails to disappoint with its soft power. From transcending language barriers to becoming a household name for varied entertainment and cultural references, their approach to storytelling sure knows how to keep viewers engaged and erase lines of divide.
Bong Joon-Ho, the director of Parasite's award-winning film, rightly articulated wise words in his acceptance speech: “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to many more amazing films.” Maybe this accounts for why and how people embrace the growing popularity of all things K.
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