In recent decades, the South Korean film industry has been a bit of a dark horse in the context of global cinema. While there were clear signs of potential, these signs were not turned into major awards until 2020. Bong Joon-ho made history by winning the Academy Award for Best Picture for a non-English language film. Besides, Joon-ho’s Parasite won a total of six Academy Awards – an achievement that heralded South Korea’s entry into the landscape of global cinema worldwide.
Since its inception, South Korea has produced gems in multiple genres, with a special talent for psychological thrillers. Ranging from gory, anger-fueled movies to the more subtle, psychological dramas, here’s a list of 9 South Korean movies that will haunt you for days.
9 The Wailing (2016)
From the mind of Na Hong-jin comes this deeply dark and twisted tale of shamanic horror. the lamentation revolves around a series of murders that take place in a small town in South Korea, eerily overlapping with the arrival of a mysterious man from Japan. This puzzling series of murders falls at the lap of stubborn local police detective Jong-gu (Do Won Kwak)
As Jong-gu goes through the motions, he realizes that there is more than meets the eye and that everything is not as black and white as it seems. After Hong Jin, the viewer manages to hold on by masterfully building atmospheric tension with thematic elements such as rain, mud and blood. The film’s climax is hotly debated and debated in the various corridors frequented by movie buffs, but one thing is certain, once you watch the lamentation, it will live rent-free in your head.
8 I Saw the Devil (2010)
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Finely sliced
Magnolia Pictures
One snowy night, a pregnant woman is murdered by a ruthless, bloodthirsty psychopath, Jang Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik). While the woman is fighting for her life, the woman calls her fiancé, who happens to be an elite officer of the NIS (Korean Special Forces). Unable to help his fiancée and their unborn baby, Officer Kim Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun) embarks on a sadistic cat-and-mouse game for himself.
Kim Jee-woon’s I saw the devil, stands out from the rest of the revenge dramas because it simmers the theme of revenge. Instead of making it a mainstream revenge saga, Jee-woon’sfilm focuses on the predator that sees itself as prey.
7 The Hunter (2008)
the hunter, directed by the legendary Na Hong Jin (the lamentation) revolves around an ex-cop, a pimp who encounters a formidable foe when one of his wives goes missing. The Chaser’s marked the debut of Na Hong Jin and is inspired by the real-life serial killer Yoo Young-chul. When released in 2008 the hunter received widespread critical acclaim and commercial praise, making it one of the top five Korean films of the year.
6 Old Boy (2003)
old boy is Park Chan-wook’s masterpiece that took the South Korean film industry by storm and is considered the Magnum Opus of action movies. Few films manage to transcend the language barrier and engage audiences all over the world, as well as old boy did. What makes old boy an epic tale of revenge is the amalgamation of a twisted storyline married to a bold, unwavering visual style. When released in 2003, it took old boy no time to become a household name worldwide, with adaptations in Hollywood and Bollywood. The film also earned Park Chan-wook a Grand Prix Award at Cannes.
5 Train to Busan (2006)
Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan is credited as one of the few zombie films that tackles the dystopian/apocalyptic genre with a sense of reality. The zombies in the movie aren’t portrayed as slow and stupid, effectively breaking with the usual stereotype attached to them. Rather, the movie’s zombies are quick, bloodthirsty, and vicious, imparting an aura of evil so ominous that it will stay with you long after you’ve finished watching the movie.
Train to Busan was a critical and commercial success at the box office with Warner Bros acquires the rights to the film and working on a remake titled The last train to New York.
4 Memories of Murder (2003)
Sidus Pictures
Long before Bong made Joon-ho Parasitehe made Memories of Murder. A heart-pounding story loosely based on South Korea’s first serial murders that took place between 1986 and 1991. The screenplay of the film is based on the play by Kim Kwang-rim come to see me, which was based on the same subject. Memories of Murder won numerous awards worldwide and is considered one of the best films to come out of South Korea.
3 Mother (2009)
When her mentally challenged son is accused of the gruesome murder of a young girl, a mother goes to war to prove her son’s innocence. Bong Joon-ho’s Mother is a classic case study of how far people would go to protect their own. Mother, entered the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and premiered in the US in 2010.
2 Pieta (2012)
Drafthouse Movies
Pietà is a film directed by master filmmaker Kim Ki-duk. The film revolves around a loan shark’s chaotic relationship with a woman who mysteriously enters his life and claims to be his mother. The film deals with complex themes such as symbolic sexuality, loss and redemption. Pietà isn’t an easy movie to watch with its lavish use of sexual interjections coupled with elements of carnality, but if you manage to stick with it, it’s unsettlingly worth it.
1 Gon-ji-am: Haunted Asylum (2018)
Based on a real psychiatric hospital of the same name, Gon-ji-am: Haunted Asylum is a feature film directed by Jung Bum-shik. The film revolves around a group of filmmakers who travel to a haunted house for a live broadcast to boost their ratings, and soon find themselves in a haunted hospital, with nowhere to hide.
The film was shot in a real haunted hospital, labeled by CNN Travel one of the craziest places in the world.gon-ji-am was commercially and critically successful, becoming the second-biggest Korean horror film behind A story of two sisters.