Right after I binge watched the hell out of "Squid Game" (which is amazing), I realized how much I really love Korean Horror or K-Horror, since we love to abbreviate things.  

K-Horror was a little late to the Asian horror scene here in the USA, not having really come along until the late 90's, but when it did, it did so with a bang!  Similar to Japanese horror, K-horror focuses a lot on on psychological horror and often focuses on "horror within family", as family ties are extremely important in Korean culture.  One thing I will say for sure, K-Horror directors do NOT hold back when it comes to in-your-face gore and effective scares!

I came up with a list of K-Horror films that I think are a good mix for any horror fan to check out.  These are NOT ranked nor are they listed in any particular order.  These are just some of my favorite Korean horror films.  Yes, I would probably consider them some of the "best", but it was not my intention to create a countdown of any kind.

Check 'em out and enjoy!

p.s. Where possible, I have included notes on where these films can currently be streamed.  These notes are as of the publication of this article, October 2021.

"A Tale of Two Sisters" (2003)

This film is one of the first K-Horror films I ever saw, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into! Without a doubt it is one of my K-Horror favorites, and it bacome both the highest grossing Korean horror film AND the first one to screen in US theaters, and is widely considered a horror classic.

The film is based on a Korean folk tale​ and is centered on Su-mi, who is released from a mental hospital and returns home to her father, sister and stepmother, who quite literally is the "wicked stepmother".  Supernatural mayhem ensues, leading up to one of the greatest plot twists in ANY film, horror or otherwise.  

What is truly frightening about "A Tale of Two Sisters" is that it shows us, in horrific ways, the terrible things that people, even family, are capable of doing to one another.

If you've never seen this film, I recommend that you do so right now, but don't say I didn't warn you!

Streaming on Amazon Prime and Shudder.

"The Piper" (2015)

Holy shit!  This film kicked my ass when I first watched it!  This film is a VERY dark retelling of the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.  (For some reason, Korean horror directors love to take Western fairy takes and make them even more horrific than they already are).  Personally, I like movies based on fairy tales which was why I was drawn to "The Piper" but man it's messed up!

The story takes place in the aftermath of the Korean War.  Woo-Ryung is a flute player who is traveling with his young son, and they come across a village which is being plagued by rats that seem to have no fear of humans, and that have a knack for avoiding traps and poisons.  Oh, and by they way, they love to feast on human flesh. The village chief explains that they cannot get rid of the rats because there is no shaman to do so.  Woo-Ryung volunteers to get rid of the rats in exchange for payment that he will use for medical treatment that his son desperately needs.  Woo-Ryung keeps his part of the bargain, but the chief does not and what comes of this betrayal is, well, you just have to see it.

Like most K-Horror, "The Piper" plays heavily on family relationships and in this one, it's the love Woo-Ryung has for his son that turns him from a peaceful, loving person into the force of vengeance he becomes.

"The Piper" is streaming on Amazon Prime.

"Train to Busan" (2016)

If you haven't seen this film, then are you really a horror fan?  When I first heard about it, my initial thought was "Oh great, another zombie movie!"  Boy was I wrong to be skeptical! This was Korea's take on the zombie apocalypse genre and it pretty much catapulted K-Horror to the forefront of international horror cinema.  

The plot outline is this. Seok-woo and his young daughter Su-An are taking a bullet train to Busan to visit Su-An's mother.  An infected woman gets on the train and all hell breaks loose.  Now it's a fight for survival for the duo, and the rest of the passengers.

I loved this film for two main reasons.  It's a fresh take on the tired zombie genre, and it focuses on a dad just trying to protect his daughter under extreme circumstances.  Beyond that, the action, effects and acting are all top notch, and the films brings out a lot of emotions., all wrapped up with a lot of tension in an interesting setting.

Do yourself a favor and watch "Train to Busan" immediately.  If you've already seen it, watch it again!

Streaming on Amazon Prime, Shudder, and Tubi TV

"The Doll Master" (2004)

Anyone who knows me knows that I do NOT like dolls. They are creepy and evil and when you're sleeping them come to life and try to steal your soul.  Movies about them tend to mess me up. 

I still have no idea why I even watched this film, but someone told me about it and I was looking for something scary so I decided to give it a go, and naturally that night I kept all the lights on in the house.

In summary, a group of people is invited to a remote doll museum by the Doll Maker, with the promise that unique dolls will be made in their respective image.  Well, needless to say, things do not go well for our group.  Sinister happenings ensue, and it becomes clear that the oddball residents of the house have a lot of secrets.

The atmosphere alone in "The Doll Master" is enough to creep anyone out.  The doll museum where a big chunk of the movie takes place is lonely and surreal, and the deaths are shocking and creative, making me wonder what kind of a twisted mind thought this crap up.

Anyway, if you're into creepy dolls, I would suggest seeking professional help, and I would strongly recommend checking out "The Doll Master".

Streaming on Amazon Prime

"Bloody Reunion" (2006)

So many K-Horror (and other Asian horror flicks) have to do with ghosts or other vengeful spirits, so "Bloody Reunion" is a refreshing change from this.  It's a violent, gory slasher film that will make you look at bunnies in a whole new way!

Ms. Park is an elderly former school teacher.  Her caretaker, Mi-ja, organizes a class reunion with some of Ms. Park's former students.  It soon becomes clear that each of the students holds a grudge with Ms. Park for various reasons, and a killer wearing a bunny mask begins offing them one by one, in violent, creative ways.

This film is a loose, and very twisted retelling of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None", that amps up the torture and tosses in enough red herrings to keep you guessing, and what I feel is a very clever plot twist.  The death scenes should satisfy the gore hounds out there and as I said, if you're a little tired of Asian horror films that involve ghosts or spirits, then you should definitely check out "Bloody Reunion."

Streaming on Amazon Prime

That's it for Part I of my K-Horror picks.  I hope you enjoy them, and stay tuned for Part II!

My podcast co-host, Scott Colbert, was on my case to watch this, and I had heard a lot about it, both good and bad, so I finally went to the theater to see it.  This was only my second time in a movie theater since March of 2019, and I am glad I saw this on the big screen!  I will start of by saying that this is one of those horror movies that has it's flaws, but is a lot of damn fun!  Malignant is directed by one of my favs, James Wan, and I am glad to see a film of his that is NOT set in the "Conjuring" universe.

So, what's it about?  I'll give a brief summary because as my readers know, I don't like to spell out the entire plot in my reviews.  I encourage everyone to see the films for themselves.

The film stars Annabelle Wallis as Madison Mitchell, a woman who is married to an abusive husband Derek (played convincingly by Jake Abel).  Madison has had several miscarriages, but is pregnant with another child, and she's hopeful that this time everything will work out fine.  Alas, not so fast.... During an argument, Derek shoves her and her head cracks against the wall, hard.  That's when things start to go haywire.

Madison begins to have visions of horrific murders and slowly she begins to realize that she's somehow witnessing these killings as they happen.  This revelation leads her down a rabbit hole and towards a mysterious figure named Gabriel.  

Along the way, law enforcement gets involved but of course, Madison's story is so crazy that they do not believe her, until she leads them to the scene of one of the recently committed murders.  Naturally, Madison becomes a prime suspect because of her knowledge of the location of the crime, and things continue to unravel, as Madison, her sister Sydney (Maddie Hasson) and detectives Kekoa Shaw (George Young) and Regina Moss (Michole Briana White) race to try and stop Gabriel's rampage of murder.  All of this leads to a climax which, for lack of any better words, is completely BATSHIT INSANE!

So, what did I think of it?  Well, I agree with Scott Colbert when he said on our podcast, The Imaginarium With Scott and Todd that "Malignant" is not nearly as amazing as some people said it is, and not nearly as bad as some other people said it is.

Personally, I can agree with the positive reviews way more than I can with the negative ones.  I really do not understand some of the hate this film received, but then again, I'm going by my social media feeds, so I should probably just dismiss most of it as "I'm gonna hate this movie so I can seem cool, edgy and contrarian."

Before I go any further let me say this.  I thought both the digital and practical effects were outstanding!  This is a little hard to explain, but when Madison is experiencing her visions, and the scene transitions to the alternate reality, the effect they use to do that is fantastic.  As everyone knows, I am a big fan of "movie magic" and that effect is a great example of it.  The gore effects are also very good for the most part.  Towards the end of the film the CGI gets a little clunky, but I didn't let that get in the way of my enjoyment of the film.

I thought the acting was excellent as well.  Wallis does a great job as Madison in portraying someone who genuinely doesn't understand what is happening to them, and desperately tries to convince those around her of what's happening, knowing that it sounds completely crazy.  The supporting characters are serviceable but not great.  Specifically, the two detectives are a little generic, but it's not totally their fault.  The lines they are given don't help them, and their actions fall into "would a real cop actually do that?" territory, but again, that's a function of the writing, not of their acting ability.

As far as the plot is concerned, I kind of figured out the basic premise about 1/3 of the way through the film, BUT, I did NOT anticipate the direction in which the writers ultimately took that premise.  I thought what they did was very cool, however, I will tell you know that is does require suspension of disbelief, and THIS boys and girls, brings me to my problem with a lot of the criticisms of this film.

EVERY horror film, especially ones like this, require suspension of disbelief!  Horror fans are OK with Michael Myers and Jason being completely indestructible, but they have a problem with the plot of Malignant?  Come on!  Can't we just have fun with a movie?

The third act of this movie is completely fukkin' nuts, and I loved it!  It reminded me of a Stuart Gordon or Brian Yuzna film from the 1980's.  You have to just sit back, enjoy it, and say "Holy shit! at least a dozen times!  Horror fandom really is the worst sometimes, and not to mention inconsistent.  If this movie had been released in 1985, these same fans would be creaming themselves over it.

Like I said, my bigger problem with Malignant wasn't with the implausibility of the overall plot.  It was with the elements that are more grounded in reality, like the actions taken by the lead detective in the case.  The poor decisions really boggled my mind sometimes.  That again again, the CGI near the end is a bid dodgy, but that really is a nitpick.

Overall I really liked this movie and I highly recommend it.  Just sit back and have some fun with a movie that has a pretty cool premise, a great, unexpected antagonist and some completely insane, bloody, action set pieces.