Whilst Hollywood horror films are best known for slashers, gore, and jump scares, Asian horror tends to focus more on delving into the depths of human psyches, exploring the unpredictable and the unknown. These films underscore supernatural elements as well as master the craft of concocting a creepy atmosphere that will linger on until the moment that you want to sleep, but you simply just can't.
For fans of Asian horror who are bored with revisiting classics like Ringu (1998) and Battle Royale (2000), this list proves that there are still so many more fish in the sea, from psychological horror to body cruor.
'Dumplings' (2004)
Definitely not a feast for the eyes, Dumplings (2004) is a Hong Kong horror film that will simply mess up both your appetite for food, and your mind.
Expanded from its original short in the lesser-known but equally terrifying body horror anthology film Three... Extremes (2004), Dumplings revolves around Mrs. Li, a former actress who had discovered that her husband is having an affair with a much younger woman. Feeling discontent with her looks and marriage, Mrs. Li seeks out the help of a local chef who makes special dumplings that claim to be effective for rejuvenation. As Mrs. Li becomes more youthful in her appearance, she also begins to realize that the dumplings contain a horrifying but essential ingredient to her new mien.
'The Wailing' (2016)
A hybrid between Memories of Murder (2003) and Train to Busan (2016), The Wailing (2016) is a South Korean mystery horror film that envelops itself in the exterior of detective films in addition to entertaining audiences with zombie-like assailants and multiple plot twists.
Exploring the age-old conundrum between good and evil, The Wailing follows a policeman investigating a mysterious illness spreading in a remote village which led to deranged families killing each other. All of these chaotic events happened allegedly after the arrival of an enigmatic Japanese stranger. Worth enduring its extensive running time, this South Korean film is a dark and pessimistic thriller that preys on human vulnerabilities, such as the policeman's determination to save his daughter as she has fallen victim to the illness.
'Cold Fish' (2010)
Fans of Japanese thrillers like Audition (1999) and Ichi the Killer (2001) will be both amazed and nauseated by this psychological thriller filled with intense violence and sexual transgressions. Cold Fish (2010) is also loosely based on two Tokyo serial killers who committed similar crimes in 1993 known as the Saitama Dog Lover Murders.
When his daughter is caught shoplifting at a local supermarket, the taciturn and socially awkward owner of a small tropical fish shop, Nobuyuki Shamoto, becomes involved with Yukio Murata, a friendly and charismatic store manager of a comparatively larger fish shop, but Murata hides many dark secrets behind his amicable demeanor.
'The Call' (2021)
Released exclusively on Netflix, The Call (2021) successfully combines iconic horror elements ranging from the supernatural to slashers with the science-fiction genre.
After finding a decades-old cordless phone in her dilapidated childhood house, Kim Seo-yeon receives a distressing phone call from a young woman, Oh Young-seok, who insists she's being tortured by her mother. After much investigation, Seo-yeon, who's living in 2019, realizes that the phone is connecting her to Young-seok who is from the year 1999. As the two women strive to change their fate through their phone calls, their actions result in some lives being saved while murders become more frequent.
'Thirst' (2009)
A film that will undoubtedly entertain cinephiles of vampire movies and director Park Chan-wook's filmography, Thirst (2009) is an international co-production between South Korea and the United States, adopting a story loosely based on a French novel by Émile Zola.
Thirst (2009) sees South Korean veteran actor Song Kang-ho as Sang-hyun, a respected Catholic priest who volunteers and dies in a medical experiment that may be the key to finding a cure for a deadly virus. After receiving a blood transfusion from an unknown source, Sang-hyun is brought back to life as a vampire and becomes torn between his faith and newfound bloodlust, all the while falling in love with his childhood friend's wife, Tae-ju.
'Wicked City' (1987)
Wicked City (1987) represents an era in Japanese anime where sadistic adult animation brimming with unabashed violence and sexual exploitation reigned supreme. For instance, Ninja Scroll (1993) and Demon City Shinjuku (1988).
A staple in Japanese body horror and retro animation, the dark horror-action film witnesses a world where humans and demons co-exist. When a radical demon organization is set out to destroy the peace between the earth and the Black World, it's up to a secret police force known as the Black Guard to save their world from destruction.
'Kuroneko' (1968)
Based on the same story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa which also inspired Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), Kuroneko (1968), also known as The Black Cat, is an adaptation of a Japanese folktale that surrounds vengeful spirits and black cats craving for samurais' blood.
Set in the Sengoku period, a woman named Yone and her daughter-in-law Shige are assaulted and killed by a troop of samurai. The women are then brought back to the living as beautiful ghosts who seduce and tear out the throats of samurais with their teeth like cats. After Yone's son, Gintoki returns from wars as an honored samurai, both women realize that they have to kill him as part of the vengeful pact they have made with the underworld.
'Lesson of the Evil' (2012)
Japan's high school version of American Psycho (2000), this underappreciated horror thriller is another hair-raising sensation by versatile Japanese director Takashi Miike.
Bearing references to German culture, Lesson of the Evil (2012) follows a narcissistic serial killer, Seiji Hasumi, who happens to be a popular and respected English teacher who believes he is on a sacred quest to cleanse his students from all cardinal sins. Dealing with problems like bullying and sexual harassment, Seiji takes advantage of both teachers' and students' dark secrets whilst insisting his string of killings are not for his own personal amusement.
'The Untold Story' (1993)
Awarded a Category III rating in Hong Kong which is equivalent to NC-17 and X-ratings, The Untold Story (1993), similar to Dumplings, is another horror film that utilizes food as a stomach-churning device in cinema.
Based on the infamous Eight immortals Restaurant Murders, the film is perhaps better known for its other title The Human Pork Bun, and, well the title itself is pretty explanatory. After discovering severed hands on a Macao beach, a group of cops starts suspecting Wong Chi Hang, the new owner of the Eight Immortals Restaurant that serves delicious pork buns.
'One Cut of the Dead' (2017)
Zombie films have been terrorizing movie-goers since the 1930s, nevertheless, One Cut of the Dead manages to reanimate the enduring but waning genre with originality and impeccable sense of humor.
The Japanese film follows a group of amateur filmmakers shooting a low-budget zombie movie in an abandoned World War 2 facility when they are attacked by real zombies. The catch is that they have to film it in a single-take for live television. Segmented into 3 parts, One Cut of the Dead (2017) is an inventive motion picture that like other zombie horror comedies fully delivers on the petrifying scares and crude humor.