K-Horror
Encyclopedia
Korean horror, sometimes referred to as K-Horror, is the term given to horror film
s made as part of the cinema of Korea
. Korean horror features many of the same motifs, themes, and imagery as Japanese horror. Korean horror has been around since the early years of Korean cinema; however, it wasn't until the late 1990's that the genre began to experience a renewal. Many of the Korean horror films tend to focus on the suffering and the anguish of characters rather than focus on the gory "blood and guts" aspect of horror.
, The Red Shoes
, M
, Hansel and Gretel
, Ghost, Paradise Murdered
, and Epitaph
were among the films being showcased.
(1998) is seen as the film to have sparked the explosion of the Korean horror genre. It centers on the theme of school girls and the mysterious "other side", but also offered criticism of the Korean school system.
A Tale of Two Sisters
(2003) is the highest grossing Korean horror film so far and the first to be screened in America. It was remade in America in 2009 as The Uninvited
. Based on a folk tale titled Janghwa Hongreyon-jon, it tells the story of two sisters dealing with a controlling stepmother and a passive father.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s made as part of the cinema of Korea
Cinema of Korea
Korean cinema encompasses the motion picture industries of North and South Korea. As with all aspects of Korean life during the past century, the film industry has often been at the mercy of political events, from the late Joseon dynasty to the Korean War to domestic governmental interference...
. Korean horror features many of the same motifs, themes, and imagery as Japanese horror. Korean horror has been around since the early years of Korean cinema; however, it wasn't until the late 1990's that the genre began to experience a renewal. Many of the Korean horror films tend to focus on the suffering and the anguish of characters rather than focus on the gory "blood and guts" aspect of horror.
The female ghost
The expression, "When a woman is full of resentment, she will bring frost in May and June" may offer some explanation for the popularity of the female ghost that is often featured in Korean horror films. Her deep feeling of resentment is cold enough to freeze the hot air that occurs during those months. The woman's vengeance is a thing to be feared, thus becoming the object of horror. In the past women have been oppressed and ignored for so long that the horrific rage and vengeance we see in the films have been brought upon by the many years of repression. Another belief is that when a female dies before she gets to enjoy the pleasures of marriage and having children, she will not be able to move on to the "other side". Instead she becomes trapped between the two worlds and causes horrific phenomena.2010 Korean Horror Film Festival
The 2010 Korean Horror Film Festival was held in Mandaluyong City in the Philippines at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall from October 27-31 and through November 2-4. It worked together with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, The Korean-Philippine Foundation, Inc. and Shangri-La Plaza. With free admission attendees were treated to some of the best and highly successful Korean horror films. Films such as ArangArang (film)
Arang is a 2006 South Korean horror film.-Synopsis:A veteran detective So-young and her rookie partner Hyun-gi come across an incendiary homicide case. They discover that the present case is related to the mysterious death of a girl ten years prior...
, The Red Shoes
The Red Shoes (2005 film)
The Red Shoes is a 2005 horror film written and directed by Kim Yong-gyun. Kim Yong-gyun was inspired by the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, where a vain stepdaughter could not stop dancing in her enchanted red shoes.-Plot:Set in Seoul, Sun-jae leaves her unfaithful husband...
, M
M (2007 film)
M is a 2007 South Korean drama film about a young writer who is experiencing hallucinations and nightmares.- Awards :M won three awards at the 6th Korean Film awards. The movie won awards for cinematography, lighting and art direction....
, Hansel and Gretel
Hansel and Gretel (2007 film)
Hansel and Gretel is a 2007 South Korean horror film.-Synopsis:The scene is opened with pictures from a storybook that tell Hansel and Gretel's story, then the scene fades to black. The scene then shifts to Eunsu, a salesman, driving his car along Highway 69 while talking to his girlfriend on the...
, Ghost, Paradise Murdered
Paradise Murdered
Paradise Murdered is a 2007 South Korean film starring Park Hae-il and Park Sol-mi, and is the directorial debut of filmmaker Kim Han-min.-Synopsis:...
, and Epitaph
Epitaph (film)
Epitaph is a 2007 South Korean film directed by brothers Jung Sik and Jung Beom-sik. The movie is a horror film set primarily in 1942, while South Korea was under the colonial rule of Japan. It is framed by scenes set in 1979.-Plot:...
were among the films being showcased.
Influential Korean horror films
Whispering CorridorsWhispering Corridors
Whispering Corridors is a 1998 South Korean horror film about a girl's high school. It was part of the explosion in Korean cinema following the liberalization of censorship in the aftermath of the end of the country's military dictatorship, and makes a strong social commentary on authoritarianism...
(1998) is seen as the film to have sparked the explosion of the Korean horror genre. It centers on the theme of school girls and the mysterious "other side", but also offered criticism of the Korean school system.
A Tale of Two Sisters
A Tale of Two Sisters
A Tale of Two Sisters is a 2003 South Korean psychological horror film written and directed by Kim Ji-woon...
(2003) is the highest grossing Korean horror film so far and the first to be screened in America. It was remade in America in 2009 as The Uninvited
The Uninvited (2009 film)
The Uninvited is a 2009 American remake of the 2003 South Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters. It is unrelated to another 2003 Korean horror film and a 1944 American film, both of which have the same name.-Plot:...
. Based on a folk tale titled Janghwa Hongreyon-jon, it tells the story of two sisters dealing with a controlling stepmother and a passive father.
List of notable films
- 301, 302301, 302301, 302 or 301/302 is a 1995 South Korean movie directed by Park Chul-soo. It tells the story of two South Korean women, neighbors in the same apartment building, who take very different approaches to the difficulties of modern life; one indulges in food, sex, and spending while the other lives in...
- A Blood PledgeA Blood PledgeA Blood Pledge is a 2009 South Korean film. It is the fifth in a series of South Korean horror films set in girls high schools that began with 1998's Whispering Corridors. Aside from the setting and overall themes, it is unrelated to the other films in the series.-Plot:The story begins with a...
- A Tale of Two Sisters
- AcaciaAcacia (film)Acacia is a 2003 South Korean horror film, directed by Park Ki-hyeong and starring Shim Hye-jin and Kim Jin-geun. A rerelease in 2011 changed the title to 'Root of Evil'.- Plot :...
- Antarctic JournalAntarctic JournalAntarctic Journal is the feature film debut by South Korean director Yim Pil-sung. The movie mixes elements of psychological thriller and classical horror films while showing the hardships met by a modern antarctic expedition trying to reach the pole of inaccessibility...
- APTAPT (film)APT is a 2006 South Korean horror film, directed, produced, and written by Ahn Byeong-ki and starring Ko So-young. It is based on a comic by Kang Full. The name APT is from the English word meaning apartment....
- ArangArang (film)Arang is a 2006 South Korean horror film.-Synopsis:A veteran detective So-young and her rookie partner Hyun-gi come across an incendiary homicide case. They discover that the present case is related to the mysterious death of a girl ten years prior...
- Bloody BeachBloody BeachBloody Beach is a 2000 South Korean horror film starring Kim Hyun Jung and Jae Hee.-Synopsis:A group of chat room buddies decide to meet together in person on the beach for some fun in the sun...
- BunshinsabaBunshinsabaBunshinsaba is 2004 South Korean horror film directed by Ahn Byeong-ki.In 2004, it screened at the 8th annual Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival...
- CelloCello (film)Cello is a 2005 South Korean horror film.- Plot :The viewer first sees a young woman playing the Ave Maria on a cello, the scene shifts to show another woman bleeding on an operating table....
- CinderellaCinderella (2006 film)Cinderella is a 2006 South Korean horror film. It was directed by Bong Man-dae and starred Do Ji-won and Sin Se-kyeong-Profile:*Title: Cinderella...
- Dead FriendDead FriendDead Friend , better known as The Ghost, is a 2004 South Korean horror film. It is one of a number of recent South Korean horror films set in a girls high school; the trend began with 1998's Whispering Corridors. It stars Kim Ha-neul as Min Ji-won, Nam Sang-mi as Su-in, Bin as Eun-seo, and Shin...
- Death BellDeath BellDeath Bell is a 2008 South Korean film. The only Korean horror film released over the summer of 2008, it is the first feature by former music video director Chang , who also co-wrote the screenplay. Death Bell stars Lee Beom-soo in his first horror film role, and K-pop singer Nam Gyu-ri in her...
- Doll MasterDoll Master-Plot:The Doll Master begins 60 years ago in a countryside during the Japanese occupation of Korea. A narrator tells the tale of a doll maker who fell in love with a woman in a red kimono. He makes a doll as a gesture of his love. It works and the woman falls in love with him as well. Later in a...
- EpitaphEpitaph (film)Epitaph is a 2007 South Korean film directed by brothers Jung Sik and Jung Beom-sik. The movie is a horror film set primarily in 1942, while South Korea was under the colonial rule of Japan. It is framed by scenes set in 1979.-Plot:...
- Evil TwinEvil Twin (film)Evil Twin is a 2007 South Korean horror film.- Plot :When an accident claims the life of her twin sister, So-yeon falls into a coma from which she awakes ten years later. However, a series of mysterious killings starts to take place upon her recovery, and she seemingly takes on her sister's...
- FaceFace (2004 film)Face is a 2004 Korean Horror Film directed by Yoo Sang-gon.-Plot:Hyun-min works for the police, reconstructing faces by examining and interpreting their skulls. His daughter undergoes a heart transplant, and as her condition deteriorates, he loses his interest in his job...
- A Ghost Story of Joseon DynastyA Ghost Story of Joseon DynastyGhosts of Chosun is a 1970 South Korean horror film directed by Shin Sang-ok.- Plot :Prince Yeonsan-gun lusts after Yahwa, whose husband Yun Pil-u was executed after being branded a traitor...
- Hansel and GretelHansel and Gretel (2007 film)Hansel and Gretel is a 2007 South Korean horror film.-Synopsis:The scene is opened with pictures from a storybook that tell Hansel and Gretel's story, then the scene fades to black. The scene then shifts to Eunsu, a salesman, driving his car along Highway 69 while talking to his girlfriend on the...
- I Saw the DevilI Saw the DevilI Saw the Devil is a 2010 South Korean thriller film directed by Kim Ji-woon, written by Park Hoon-jung and starring Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and had a limited U.S theatrical release. The film was Choi Min-sik's first major role since...
- The IsleThe IsleThe Isle is a 2000 South Korean film written and directed by Kim Ki-duk. The film was the fifth film made by Kim, and the first to receive wider international acclaim for his recognizable style...
- Into the MirrorInto the MirrorInto the Mirror is a 2003 South Korean horror film about a series of grisly deaths in a department store, all involving mirrors, and the troubled detective who investigates them. It was the debut film of director Kim Sung-ho....
- LonerLoner (film)Loner is a 2008 South Korean film. The debut feature by director Park Jae-sik, Loner is a horror film about hikikomori, the phenomenon of reclusive individuals who have chosen to withdraw from social life.- Plot :Soo-na, a 17 year-old student who lives in a huge mansion with her uncle and...
- MM (2007 film)M is a 2007 South Korean drama film about a young writer who is experiencing hallucinations and nightmares.- Awards :M won three awards at the 6th Korean Film awards. The movie won awards for cinematography, lighting and art direction....
- Memento MoriMemento Mori (film)Memento Mori is a 1999 South Korean K-Horror film. It is considered to be a loose sequel to the previous year's Whispering Corridors, as it is also set in an all-girls high school, but they are otherwise unrelated. The film was one of the first Korean commercial films to depict lesbian characters...
- Muoi: The Legend of a PortraitMuoi: The Legend of a PortraitMuoi: The Legend of a Portrait is a 2007 South Korean/Vietnamese horror film starring Jo An, Cha Ye-ryeon and Anh Thu. It became the first horror and also first rated film in Vietnam.- Plot summary :...
- Nightmare
- Paradise MurderedParadise MurderedParadise Murdered is a 2007 South Korean film starring Park Hae-il and Park Sol-mi, and is the directorial debut of filmmaker Kim Han-min.-Synopsis:...
- PhonePhone (film)Phone is a 2002 South Korean horror film directed and written by Ahn Byeong-ki and starring Ha Ji-Won and Kim Yu-Mi. The film is a complex and disturbing love story that involves possession and ghosts.-Plot:...
- The Quiet FamilyThe Quiet FamilyThe Quiet Family is a 1998 South Korean comedy horror film. It was director Kim Ji-woon's feature film debut. The story centers around a family who owns a hunting lodge in a remote area, whose customers always happen to end up dying...
- R-PointR-PointR-Point is a 2004 Korean horror film written and directed by Su-chang Kong and starring Gam Wu-seong and Son Byung-ho. It is set in 1972 Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. However, most of the movie was shot in Cambodia...
- The RecordThe Record (film)The Record is a 2000 South Korean horror film directed by Ki-Hun Kim and starring Young-Ho Lee, Eun-Hye Park and Chaye-Young Han.-Plot:...
- The Red ShoesThe Red Shoes (2005 film)The Red Shoes is a 2005 horror film written and directed by Kim Yong-gyun. Kim Yong-gyun was inspired by the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, where a vain stepdaughter could not stop dancing in her enchanted red shoes.-Plot:Set in Seoul, Sun-jae leaves her unfaithful husband...
- Redeye
- The Ring VirusThe Ring VirusThe Ring Virus is a South Korean horror adapted from the Japanese novel Ring by Koji Suzuki. A joint project between Japan and Korea, this version has Park Eun-Suh as the creator of the cursed videotape...
- Say YesSay Yes (film)- Plot :Young married couple Yoon-hee and Jung-hyun go on a road trip, and along the way they pick up a lone drifter, Em. Em turns out to be a violent and sadistic psychopath who terrorises the couple at every turn. After capturing Jung-hyun, Em gives him a choice: submit to torture or allow Em to...
- SorumSorumSorum is a 2001 South Korean horror film and the feature film debut of director Yoon Jong-chan. Starring Kim Myeong-min and Jang Jin-young, it tells the story of a young taxi driver who moves into a dilapidated old apartment building, the site of a brutal tragedy thirty years earlier...
- Someone Behind YouSomeone Behind YouSomeone Behind You is a 2007 South Korean horror film, based on the Manhwa It's Two People by Kang Kyung-ok. It was released in America as Voices under the 2009 After Dark Horrorfest film festival. In this movie, a young woman tries to escape what seems to be a curse that is killing members of her...
- Suddenly at MidnightSuddenly at MidnightSuddenly at Midnight is a 1981 South Korean horror film directed by Ko Young-nam.- Plot :Kang Yu-jin, a wealthy biology professor doing a butterfly field study, takes in a new housemaid; the young woman, Mi-ok, is the daughter of a shaman priestess who recently died in a house fire...
- Tell Me SomethingTell Me SomethingTell Me Something is a 1999 South Korean film, promoted as a "hard-core" thriller, about a serial killer. It was an early South Korean film to find success abroad as part of the Korean Wave, and was selected to appear in the 2001 New York Korean Film Festival.-Synopsis:Tell Me Something is a...
- Three ("Memories" segment)
- Three... ExtremesThree... ExtremesThree... Extremes is a 2004 international East Asian horror film collaboration consisting of three segments by three directors from three countries. It is a sequel to, and follows the concept of Three , this time with more established directors...
("Cut" segment) - To Sir, with LoveTo Sir, with Love (2006 film)To Sir, with Love is a 2006 South Korean horror film, and the feature film debut of director Im Dae-woong.- Plot :...
- Unborn But ForgottenUnborn But ForgottenUnborn But Forgotten is a 2002 South Korean film directed by Im Chang-jae. Due to its plotline the film has been compared to both The Ring and FeardotCom.- Plot :...
- The UninvitedThe Uninvited (2003 film)The Uninvited, also known as A Table for Four, is a 2003 South Korean psychological horror film directed by Lee Su-yeon.-Plot summary:...
- Voice'
- Whispering CorridorsWhispering CorridorsWhispering Corridors is a 1998 South Korean horror film about a girl's high school. It was part of the explosion in Korean cinema following the liberalization of censorship in the aftermath of the end of the country's military dictatorship, and makes a strong social commentary on authoritarianism...
- White: The Melody of the CurseWhite: The Melody of the CurseWhite: The Melody of the Curse is a 2011 South Korean horror film by Kim Gok and Kim Sun. White: The Melody of the Curse is about a girl group named Pink Dolls who become famous after remaking a song from a strange tape they find in their studio...
- Wishing StairsWishing StairsWishing Stairs is a 2003 South Korean K-Horror film. It is the third in a series of South Korean horror films set in girls high schools that began with 1998's Whispering Corridors, but, as with all movies in the series so far, is unrelated to the others; apart from a song being sung in one scene...
- GhastlyGhastlyGhastly may refer to:*Gastly, Pokémon number 92*Ghastly's Ghastly Comic or its creator, Chris "Uncle Ghastly" Cracknell*Graham Ingels, a comic book and magazine illustrator with EC Comic...
Korean horror directors
- Ahn Byeong-kiAhn Byeong-kiAhn Byeong-ki is a South Korean film director, producer, and screenwriter specializing in horror films. His representative horror works are Phone and Bunshinsaba while his non-horror produced movies involve Speedy Scandal and Sunny.- Filmography :-External links:* from www.koreafilm.co.kr * at...
- director of the horror films Nightmare, PhonePhone (film)Phone is a 2002 South Korean horror film directed and written by Ahn Byeong-ki and starring Ha Ji-Won and Kim Yu-Mi. The film is a complex and disturbing love story that involves possession and ghosts.-Plot:...
, BunshinsabaBunshinsabaBunshinsaba is 2004 South Korean horror film directed by Ahn Byeong-ki.In 2004, it screened at the 8th annual Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival...
, and APTAPT (film)APT is a 2006 South Korean horror film, directed, produced, and written by Ahn Byeong-ki and starring Ko So-young. It is based on a comic by Kang Full. The name APT is from the English word meaning apartment.... - Bong Joon-hoBong Joon-hoBong Joon-ho is a South Korean film director and screenwriter.-Biography:He was born in Daegu in 1969 and decided to become a filmmaker while in middle school, perhaps influenced by an artistic family He majored in sociology in Yonsei University in the late 1980s and was a member of the film club...
- director of the horror film The HostThe Host (film)The Host is a 2006 South Korean monster film, which also contains elements of comedy and drama films. The film was directed by Bong Joon-ho, who co-wrote the screenplay, along with Baek Chul-hyun....
and writer of Antarctic JournalAntarctic JournalAntarctic Journal is the feature film debut by South Korean director Yim Pil-sung. The movie mixes elements of psychological thriller and classical horror films while showing the hardships met by a modern antarctic expedition trying to reach the pole of inaccessibility... - Kim Dong-bin - director of the horror films The Ring VirusThe Ring VirusThe Ring Virus is a South Korean horror adapted from the Japanese novel Ring by Koji Suzuki. A joint project between Japan and Korea, this version has Park Eun-Suh as the creator of the cursed videotape...
and Redeye - Park Ki-hyeong - director of the horror films Whispering CorridorsWhispering CorridorsWhispering Corridors is a 1998 South Korean horror film about a girl's high school. It was part of the explosion in Korean cinema following the liberalization of censorship in the aftermath of the end of the country's military dictatorship, and makes a strong social commentary on authoritarianism...
and AcaciaAcacia (film)Acacia is a 2003 South Korean horror film, directed by Park Ki-hyeong and starring Shim Hye-jin and Kim Jin-geun. A rerelease in 2011 changed the title to 'Root of Evil'.- Plot :... - Kim Ji-woonKim Ji-WoonKim Ji-woon is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. Kim Ji-woon has a history of successfully tackling a wide range of film genres, garnering a cult following among Asian films fans all over the world.-Career:...
- director of the horror films A Tale of Two Sisters, Three (the segment "Memories"), and The Quiet FamilyThe Quiet FamilyThe Quiet Family is a 1998 South Korean comedy horror film. It was director Kim Ji-woon's feature film debut. The story centers around a family who owns a hunting lodge in a remote area, whose customers always happen to end up dying... - Kong Su-chang - director of the horror films Tell Me SomethingTell Me SomethingTell Me Something is a 1999 South Korean film, promoted as a "hard-core" thriller, about a serial killer. It was an early South Korean film to find success abroad as part of the Korean Wave, and was selected to appear in the 2001 New York Korean Film Festival.-Synopsis:Tell Me Something is a...
and R-PointR-PointR-Point is a 2004 Korean horror film written and directed by Su-chang Kong and starring Gam Wu-seong and Son Byung-ho. It is set in 1972 Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. However, most of the movie was shot in Cambodia...