Scary Korean Horror Movies You Need to Watch

Are you looking for a scary flick to give you the chills and brighten up your spooky Halloween season? Look no further because these Korean horror movies will give you nightmares for weeks.

Korean films focus on the psychological and twisted aspects of humanity. They do an excellent job building up the relationships and characters. Once you’re invested, horrifying fates meet the main characters. What makes K-horror films so enticing is how they build suspense.

I’m a big chicken when it comes to the supernatural and gore, but if a trailer can give me nightmares… Imagine what the actual horror movie can do. Here I’ve curated an amazing list of Korean horror movies you can watch alone or with a friend.

Just an FYI, in Korea, summer is spooky season. Since most people flock to cinemas to escape the heat and humidity, this is when Korean scary movies come out. What does that mean for us in the West? They’re all subtitled and ready to go for our spooky season.

Blog Posts You Might Like

• 30 Korean Superstitions You Had No Idea About
• How To Celebrate Halloween in Korea
• Korean Horror Legends That Will Make Your Skin Crawl

The Wailing

In terms of scary Korean movies, The Wailing has a 99% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Director Na Hong-Jin tells a story about a Japanese man who arrives in the remote village of Gokseong.

Many villagers begin to come down with a serious illness that makes them go mad and murder their friends and family. A police officer races to save his daughter who has also been infected…only to discover it is Satanic.

NGL demonic possession movies and supernatural horror scares me the most. The Wailing is probably the scariest Korean horror movie on this list. 

The Host

The Host directed by Bong Joon-Ho combines scares, laughs, and black comedy into a riveting, monster movie. Basically, some douchebag American military personnel dump a bunch of chemicals into Seoul’s Han River. 

Several years later, a creature emerges from the tainted waters and sinks its ravenous jaws into unsuspecting residents. When the monster abducts a couple’s young daughter, a vendor (Song Kang-Ho) and his wife set off on a journey to save her.

Train to Busan

Train to Busan directed by Yeon Sang-Ho is one of my favorite South Korean horror films. This original take on the zombie genre is refreshing and exciting.

The film follows Father Seok-woo (Gong Yoo), a cynical workaholic and divorced father. His daughter Su-an wishes to spend her birthday with her mother in Busan.

While on the train, a zombie outbreak starts. This is the story of a father who loves his daughter and will do anything to protect her… resulting in dire consequences. 

Seoul Station 

Seoul Station is the animated prequel to Train to Busan. During the zombie apocalypse in Seoul, a father is on a mission to find his runaway daughter.

This zombie movie serves as a social commentary to show some of the more fucked up parts of Korean society. If you’re interested in seeing the grittier parts of South Korea and my experience with it, please read my post Why I Left Korea.

Thirst

Thirst aka 박쥐 Bakjwi directed by Park Chan-Wook is about a Catholic priest who falls in love with his bestie’s wife. After undergoing a failed medical experiment, he becomes a vampire and engages in a raunchy affair.

As a priest, he struggles to keep vows, and eventually starts succumbing to his violent urges for blood and violence. Fun fact, this is the first Korean film that showed full-frontal male nudity.

Compared to other horror genre films, this isn’t the scariest film I’ve seen, but I did enjoy the story. 

Whispering Corridors

Whispering Corridors is one of the most popular franchise films of the 90s and for good reason. South Korean cinema has been doing an excellent job throughout the years crafting interesting characters with emotional depth.

The most recent one came out in 2021. The films usually take place at a Korean all-girls high school, and none of the characters or stories are repeated. 

In recent years, films have shown how academic obsession and peer pressure are realistically and relatably depicted.

0.0MHz

0.0MHz is a South Korean horror movie that follows a group of people plagued by a supernatural being. They enter a Korean haunted house using dolls to draw out evil spirits. Unfortunately, a series of murders, possessions, and unexplainable events occur. 

A Tale of Two Sisters

A Tale of Two Sisters put Korean horror movies onto the world stage. Directed by Kim Jee-Woon, it is the highest-grossing Korean horror film to date.

The story starts with teen Su-Mi ((Yum Jung-Ah) who is released from a mental asylum after being treated for shock and psychosis. She lives in the house with her father, her cruel stepmother, and her beloved sister (Im Soo-Jung). Supernatural events in the house lead to a plot twist you will never see coming.

I Saw The Devil

I Saw The Devil opens up with a taxi driver who comes across a young woman with a broken-down car on the side of the road. The taxi driver pulls over and the next thing you see if the stranded motorist’s head found in a local river.

Her devastated fiance is a trained secret agent and he becomes obsessed with punishing her killer. Once he catches him and beats him bloody, the most sick and demented game of cat and mouse commences. 

This psychological thriller will have you going… WTF did I just watch?

The Call 

The Call, starring Park Shin-Hye as Kim Seo-Yeon is about two women from different timelines who connect through a phone call that interchanges their fates. Young-Sook (played by Jeon Jong-Seo) lived in the same house as Seo-Yeon but in 1999.

The two women connect over their estranged relationships with their mothers. By changing the past, Seo-Yeon unlocks tragic consequences in the future.

#Alive

South Korean horror cinema truly gives us a memorable script with #Alive starring Park Shin-Hye alongside Yoo Ah-In.

This is another zombie movie where a city is infected by a mysterious illness. In this film, a teen must survive alone in his apartment complex with no phone, internet, or TV. 

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum is based on a real haunted mental institution in Korea. The movie was inspired by local legends and stories of people who have visited Gonjiam.

The story has supernatural elements and follows a crew of a web horror show who plan to live broadcast inside the building. The show host plans some staged stunts, but as they travel further into the building, it becomes a nightmare with all the paranormal activity.

This is a found-footage horror movie similar to the Blair Witch Project. 

The Closet

The Closet stars Ha Jung-Woo as father Sang-won who grows apart from his daughter following the death of his wife. He moves to a new home where strange events start happening around his daughter who is happy one minute and then violent the next.

Supernatural forces are at work because an evil spirit abducts the daughter and drags her to the underworld through the closet. I feel like this film really shows the gender dynamics of Korean culture. 

Death Bell

Death Bell is a Korean horror film that criticizes the darker aspects of Korean society. Every November, senior high school students take the most important test of their lives…the college entrance exams.

Instead of a college entrance exam, the students must take a test to keep their lives. A stranger shows up and gives them riddles and problems to solve. If they get it wrong, one of them dies slowly and horrifically.

Don’t Click

Don’t Click pays homage to Japan’s original captivating horror, The Ring. The story is about a woman named Jung-mi who asks her older sister’s police officer boyfriend to download a clip called the “forbidden video.”

After Jung-mi watches it, she comes under a curse from a vengeful ghost. Her family has to save her before the curse takes her.

If you like jump scares and urban legends, then this is a great one for you! 

Epitaph

Epitaph takes place during World War II. In 1942, South Korea was occupied by Japan.

There are several stories in the film. One is about a young medical intern who falls in love with a corpse.

Another is about a young girl named Asako who is haunted by the gruesome spirit of her dead mother, and the last about a serial killer after Japanese soldiers.

The Mimic

The Mimic is a Korean ghost story that focuses on a mother-and-child relationship. Hee-yeon’s toddler Jun-seo went missing after being left with his senile grandmother in public.

The family moves to a rural village in the mountains to heal. One day, Hee-yeon finds a cute little girl in the woods who sounds like her lost son.

Instead of being apprehensive, Hee-yeon takes in the child, but she may not be exactly what she seems. I’d have to give The Mimic a 10/10 as far as Korean horror dramas go.

The Piper

The Piper is a retelling of a Western fairy tale. Koreans made it so much darker and scarier. The Piper follows a father and son after the Korean War.

They come across a village infested with rats that have mad munchies for human flesh. Woo-Ryong makes a deal with the village chief to rid the town of the infestation. While Woo-ryong keeps his end of the bargain, the chief does not. Instead, this lovable father becomes a man hell-bent on revenge.

Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel is a ghoulish genre-bending Asian horror. In the movie, a young man gets lost in the woods but finds himself in a beautiful house with three adorable children.

With a warm fireplace and plenty to eat, the place seems too perfect to be true ― and impossible to exit. It stars Chun Jung-Myung as Lee Eun-Soo.

The Wrath

The Wrath takes place during the Joseon Dynasty and is one of the most underrated films. Right from the getgo, audiences tune right into the eerie vibe.

The film revolves around a noblewoman named Ok-bun (Son Na-eun), who becomes a concubine in a prominent noble family. She moves into the family’s luxurious mansion, isolated in the countryside where she is subject to strange visions from a mysterious girl. 

Since the entertainment industry is one of Korea’s main exports, Korean horror movies with English subtitles are quite common. Every single movie listed as the subtitled provided by Amazon Prime. Hopefully adding these asian horror movies to your list will make your evening a little more enjoyable.

This post contains affiliate links which means at no additional cost to you, I make a small commission to help keep Gina Bear’s Blog running. Thanks for your support!

Free Seoul E-Book

Do you love South Korea?

Enter your name and email address and click the button below to receive your Easy Seoul Travel Guide so you can travel like a local!

Subscribe