Over the last few decades, the South Korean film industry has been somewhat of a dark horse in the context of global cinema. Though there were clear signs of potential, it was only in 2020 that these signs transformed into significant accolades. Bong Joon-ho created history by winning the Academy Award for Best Picture for a non-English language film. Additionally, Joon-ho’s Parasite won a total of six Academy Awards – a feat that globally announced South Korea’s arrival in the landscape of global cinema.

Since its early days, South Korea has been churning out gems across multiple genres, with a particular knack for psychological thrillers. Ranging from gore-filled, rage-driven films to the more subtle, psychological dramas, here’s a list of 9 South Korean films that will disturb you for days.

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9 The Wailing (2016)

     Side Mirror, Fox International Productions

From the mind of Na Hong-jin, comes this deeply dark and twisted tale of shamanistic horror. The Wailing 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. These puzzling series of murders fall in the lap of local rock-headed police detective Jong-gu (Do Won Kwak)

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

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As Jong-gu goes through the motions, he realizes there’s more than meets the eye and everything isn’t as black and white as it seems. Na Hong Jin manages to keep viewers hooked by masterfully building atmospheric tension through thematic elements such as rain, mud and blood. The film’s climax is heavily discussed and debated among the various corridors frequented by film fanatics, but one thing is for sure, once you watch The Wailing, it’ll live in your head rent-free.

8 I Saw the Devil (2010)

     ShowboxFineCutMagnolia Pictures

On a snowy night, a pregnant woman is killed by a ruthless, bloodthirsty psychopath, Jang Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik). As 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 fiancé and their unborn baby, officer Kim Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun) sets out on a sadistic cat and mouse game of his own.

Kim Jee-woon’s I Saw The Devil, stands out from the rest of the revenge dramas because it lets the theme of revenge simmer. Rather than making it a mainstream revenge saga, Jee-woon’sfilm focuses on the predator finding himself to be the prey.

7 The Chaser (2008)

     Showbox

The Chaser, directed by the legendary Na Hong Jin (The Wailing) revolves around an ex-policeman, turned pimp who finds himself facing a formidable foe when one of his women goes missing. The Chaser’s marked the debut of Na Hong Jin and is inspired by the real-life serial killer Yoo Young-chul. Upon its release in 2008, The Chaser received a lot of critical and commercial acclaim making it one of the top-five Korean films of the year.

6 Oldboy (2003)

     Show East

Oldboy is Park Chan-wook’s masterpiece that took the South Korean film industry by storm and is considered to be the Magnum Opus of action films. There are very few films that manage to cut transcend the language barrier and appeal to audiences around the globe as well as Oldboy did. What makes Oldboy an epic tale of revenge is the amalgamation of a twisted storyline married to a bold, unflinching visual style. Upon its release in 2003, it took Oldboy no time to become a household name worldwide, spawning adaptations in Hollywood and Bollywood. The film also earned Park Chan-wook a Grand Prix Award at Cannes.

5 Train To Busan (2006)

     Next Entertainment World

Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan is credited with being one of the few zombie films that tackles the dystopian/apocalyptic genre with a sense of reality. The zombies featured in the film aren’t portrayed as slow and dumb, effectively breaking away from the usual stereotype that’s attached to them. Rather, the film’s zombies are fast, bloodthirsty and vicious, giving them an aura of evil so sinister that it stays with you way after you’re done watching the film.

Train To Busan was a critical and commercial success at the box office with Warner Bros acquiring the rights for the film and working on a remake titled The Last Train To New York.

4 Memories of Murder (2003)

     CJ EntertainmentSidus Pictures

Way before Bong Joon-ho made Parasite, he made Memories of Murder. A bone-chilling story loosely based on South Korea’s first serial murders that took place between 1986 and 1991. The film’s screenplay was adapted from Kim Kwang-rim’s stage play Come to See Me, which was based on the same subject. Memories of Murder won numerous awards globally and is considered to be one of the finest films to have come out of South Korea.

3 Mother (2009)

     CJ Entertainment

When her mentally challenged son is accused of the ghastly murder of a young girl, a mother goes to war with the world to prove the innocence of her son. Bong Joon-ho’s Mother is a classic case study of the lengths humans would go to protect their own. Mother, contended at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and had its US premiere in 2010.

2 Pietà (2012)

     NEW Drafthouse Films 

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 film to watch with its expletive use of sexual interjections coupled with elements of carnality, but if you manage to stay with it, it’s disturbingly rewarding.

1 Gon-ji-am: Haunted Asylum (2018)

Based on a real-life 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 crew of filmmakers that travel to a haunted asylum for a live broadcast to boost their ratings, soon finding themselves in a haunted hospital, with nowhere to hide.

The film was shot in an actual haunted hospital, labeled by CNN Travel as one of the freakiest places in the world.Gon-ji-am was commercial and critical success, becoming the second biggest grossing Korean horror film behind A Tale of Two Sisters.