Scary Korean Horror Movies You Need to Watch

Looking for a good scary flick to give you the chills and brighten up your spooky Halloween season? Then look no further because these Korean horror movies are bound to give you nightmares for weeks.

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

Personally, 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 by yourself 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 the majority of 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.

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1. 0.0MHz

This is one of the best Korean horror movies in 2019. The film 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. As far as Kdrama horror goes, this is pretty chilling.

Watch 0.0MHz on Amazon Prime.

2. A Tale of Two Sisters

A Tale of Two Sisters is the film that put Korean horror movies onto the world stage. To this day, it is the highest grossing Korean horror film to date. The story starts with Su-mi who is released from a mental asylum after being treated for shock and psychosis. She lives in the house with her father, her cruel step-mother and sister. Supernatural events in the house lead to a plot twist you will never see coming.

Watch a Tale of Two Sisters on Amazon Prime here.

3. Death Bell

Korean horror films have a tendency to criticize darker aspects of Korean society. Every year in November, senior high school students take the most important test of their lives which decide their entire future. In Death Bell, the students find themselves taking a test for their lives. A stranger shows up and gives them riddles and problems to solve. If they get it wrong, one of them dies in a slow and horrific way.

Watch Death Bell on Amazon Prime here.

4. 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 and her family has to save her before the curse takes her.

Watch Don’t Click on Amazon Prime here.

5. Epitaph

Epitaph takes place during World War II. In 1942, South Korea is still occupied by Japan. The story follows Jung-nam, a young medical intern who falls in love with a corpse, a young girl named Asako who is haunted by the gruesome spirit of her dead mother, and a serial killer after Japanese soldiers. Yikes. Talk about a different twist on Korean ghost dramas.

Watch Epitaph on Amazon Prime here.

6. Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum is based off a real haunted asylum in Korea. The movie was inspired by local legends and stories of people who have actually visited Gonjiam. The story follows a crew of a web horror show who plan to stream inside the actual building. To attract more viewers, the show host plans some staged stunts, but as they travel further into the building, it becomes a nightmare. Good Korean horror movies don’t get better than this.

Watch Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum on Amazon Prime here.

7. The Mimic

The Mimic 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 then move into the mountains to heal and 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.

Watch The Mimic on Amazon Prime here.

8. The Piper

The Piper is a retelling of a western fairytale. 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.

Watch The Piper on Amazon Prime here.

9. The Wailing

After a Japanese man arrives in a small mountain 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 takes on the case and races to save his daughter who has also been infected by the illness…only to discover it is Satanic in nature.

Watch The Wailing on Amazon Prime here.

10. Thirst

Tired of sparkly vampires? Yeah, me too. (#teamjacob forever) The Korean title is 박쥐 Bakjwi literally meaning bat. The film follows a Catholic priest who is in love with his best friend’s wife. After undergoing a failed medical experiment, he becomes a vampire and engages in a raunchy affair with his bestie’s wife. As a priest he struggles to keep his virtues and vows in check, but will he give into his animalistic and violent urges for blood? Fun fact, this is the first Korean film that showed full frontal male nudity.

Watch Thirst on Amazon Prime here.

11. Train to Busan

Train to Busan is one of my favorite Korean horror films because 1) Gong Yoo is an incredible actor and 2) Korea’s original take on the zombie apocalypse is refreshing and exciting. The film follows father Seok-woo who is a cynical workaholic and divorced father. His daughter Su-an wishes to spend her birthday with her mother down in Busan. After watching her get stage fright at recital, he decides to take her down to Busan and fulfill her birthday wish… All with tragic consequences. Fun fact! There’s also an animated prequel called Seoul Station which takes place one day before Train to Busan.

Watch Train to Busan on Amazon Prime here.

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!

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