While American cinema seems to rule the big screen, more and more people have welcomed international films to their homes over the years. Among the most sought-after non-English features are South Korean flicks, especially the most haunting and thought-provoking ones that will send chills down viewers' spines. From A Tale of Two Sisters to Oldboy, South Korean cinema manages to shock and surprise audiences with its disturbing narratives, offering audiences a plethora of terrific films that paint a gritty and gruesome reality.

While the French tormented audiences with its New French Extremity films besieged with violence, the contemporary South Korean Extreme Cinema lays bare the ugly truth of its society, a society brimming with brutality and callousness that no amount of glitz and glamour displayed can conceal its looming intensity. There is inevitably much to choose from – be it cat-and-mouse games between police detectives and serial killers, or school bullying cases turned incredibly sinister, many South Korean films do not pull punches when it comes to tormenting audiences both viscerally and psychologically. These are some of the most disturbing Korean movies.

12 'A Tale of Two Sisters' (2003)

Director: Kim Jee-woon

In A Tale of Two Sisters, two girls reunite when returning to the home of their father and stepmother after spending some time in a mental health facility. However, soon enough, strange events start to take place and take a serious toll on their recovery.

While Jee-Woon Kim's haunting Korean horror movie is not regarded as a masterpiece, it certainly evokes unsettling feelings with its atmospheric ambiance and creepy (but intriguing) narrative. The worthwhile A Tale of Two Sisters is loosely based on a popular Korean fairy tale, "Janghwa Hongryeon jeon," and shines a powerful light on grief and guilt. Furthermore, this groundbreaking motion picture became both the highest-grossing Korean horror film of all time (with a worldwide gross of $1,062,878) and the first one to be screened in American theaters when it was originally released​​​​​​.

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11 'Thirst' (2009)

Director: Park Chan-wook

The perfect pick for those who love vampires and disturbing flicks, Thirst centers around a respected priest (Song Kang-ho), who volunteers for an experimental procedure to cure a deadly virus. Needless to say, the experiment goes terribly wrong, and he is brought to life as a vampire.

Park Chan-wook's movie is equal parts funny and erotic as it is violent and heartbreaking. It explores the concept of all-consuming love and the deeper nature of faith, using vampirism as a metaphor for longing and yearning. While it may not be everybody's cup of tea, given the fantasy elements it features, the 2009 flick still makes for quite the haunting and absorbing watch.

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10 'Han Gong-Ju' (2013)

Director: Lee Su-jin

Lee Su-jin's movie is inspired by South Korea's Miryang gang sexual assault case in 2004, telling the Hang Gong-Ju real story, which sparked controversy due to the age of the assailants and victims involved in addition to the police's mistreatment of the severity of the case.

Shifting between a series of flashbacks and the present moment, this 2013 film centers around new transfer student Han Gong-ju. Han struggles to adapt to her new school environment, hence why she decides to join a school club and befriend classmates. However, her troubled past is exposed and now threatens her mere existence. There is no way to deny that Han Gong-Ju is far from an easy watch, especially considering the serious themes it deals with.

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9 'Hope' (2013)

Director: Lee Joon-ik

Another utterly devastating film that is based on a real-life event, Hope depicts and explores the suffering that haunts its underaged victim and her family for the rest of their lives. It features a perfect 100% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The outcome of the infamous 2008 Cho Do-soon case was undeniably shocking and devastating. As such, in the hopes of being provided with finer protection for children by legislative changes, the film calls attention to the grave subject. It also attempts to accentuate the silver lining emerging from the dark clouds and shrouding the victim by showcasing warm community support and familial bonding. Nevertheless, Hope is a painful and heavy watch with a heartbreaking premise many can't stomach; the kind of film audiences don't watch twice.

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8 'Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum' (2018)

Director: Jung Bum-shik

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum is one of the lesser-known found footage films that still manages to surprise horror film buffs with plentiful scares despite a cheerful beginning. The horror film's narrative revolves around a horror web series crew that travels to an abandoned asylum for a live broadcast. Expecting to garner greater views and publicity, the crew gets more than they bargained for as they explore the old building.

The title is derived from a real-life psychiatric hospital known as Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, purportedly one of the most haunted locations in South Korea. The hospital has been demolished since 2018. Haunted Asylum is intelligently written with an attention-grabbing, convincing premise that immerses viewers from the beginning, which is why it is so effective.

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7 'The Chaser' (2008)

Director: Na Hong-jin

Jung-ho (Ha Jung-woo) is an ex-detective turned pimp who becomes financially troubled when two of his girls disappear without clearing their debts. He decides to put his detective skills to good use by tracking them down and finally pinpointing the primary suspect — a client of Jung-ho's who happens to be a stone-cold killer with a deadly hammer.

A thrilling and inventive action movie, The Chaser is well worth the watch, especially if readers are into crime films. Plus, it features one of South Korea's most renowned actors, Ha Jung-woo, in his big break — a genuinely convincing, terrifying role as a serial murderer. Call him the Korean "Jack The Ripper" if you want. Furthermore, the antagonist is partly inspired by South Korea's real-life serial killer, Yoo Young-Chul.

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6 'Door Lock' (2018)

Director: Lee Kwon

Door Lock is a loose adaptation of the Spanish-language horror thriller film Sleep Tight and tells its chilling story, which contains themes of stalking and home break-ins from the perspective of the victim. It follows Kyung-min (Gong Hyo-jin), who lives alone in a one-room apartment. When she discovers evidence of a stranger breaking into her room, a mysterious murder case begins to unfold.

Protagonist Kyung-min lives alone in a one-room apartment until one day, she discovers traces of a stranger trying to break into her room. Realizing that the police are lukewarm about her circumstances, Kyung-min starts investigating on her own. The film is constantly taunting audiences with numerous suspects whilst presenting the genuine horrors of living alone unarmed.

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5 'Silenced' (2011)

Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk

Based on the novel The Crucible by Gong Ji-young, Silenced is a revolutionary film not solely due to its mastery of storytelling and spine-chilling imagery — the film was responsible for the reopening of investigations related to events that took place in Gwangju Inhwa School for the Deaf in the early 2000s.

Silenced is certainly perturbing given that it unravels the horrifying treatments young deaf students have received over five years, where they are subjected to repeated sexual assaults by faculty members due to their disadvantaged status and background. In 2011, the Korean National Assembly passed the "Dogani Law," where the statute of limitations for sexual assault against minors was abolished.

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4 'Memories of Murder' (2003)

Director: Bong Joon-ho

Before the release of the groundbreaking film Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's comparatively underappreciated masterpiece Memories of Murder was already a big hit with $1,204,841 under its belt. The movie follows three police detectives (Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, and Roe-ha Kim) as they face numerous barriers and disappointments in solving a disturbing serial murder case targeting young women.

Inspired by South Korea's first serial murder cases that took place in the 80s and 90s, Memories of Murder is a dark mystery thriller that skillfully balances satirical police procedural and nihilist social commentaries. As evident in its iconic ending, the film subtly insinuates that, like in any unsolved crime, the culprit is often lurking among the crowd.

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3 'Lady Vengeance' (2005)

Director: Park Chan-wook

To end Park Chan-wook's astounding Vengeance Trilogy on a perfect note, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (or merely Lady Vengeance) takes the perspective of a woman named Lee Geum-ja (Lee Yeong-ae). Falsely convicted of kidnapping and murdering a 6-year-old boy, Lee is sentenced to imprisonment and even became a national sensation for her angelic exterior and inhumane crime. Released from prison, Lee vows to retaliate against those who had wronged her, specifically school teacher Mr. Baek (Choi Min-sik) who played a significant part in her falsely accused misdemeanors.

Lady Vengeance is highly regarded as one of the best revenge films out there, and understandably so. Its impact on pop culture is undeniable, with acclaimed filmmaker Quentin Tarantino even drawing inspiration from it for his projects; this is a thoroughly engaging and captivating movie that does not fall short of delivering a bloody and violent premise.

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2 'I Saw the Devil' (2010)

Director: Kim Jee-woon

After the devastating death of his fiancée in the hands of Jang, National Intelligence Service (NIS) agent Kim Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun) decides to take matters into his own hands by playing cat-and-mouse with the serial killer, unexpectedly interrupting Jang's many "personal interests." Unbeknownst to Kim, Jang is not a simple-minded monster and has a few tricks up his sleeves, too. The movie stars Oldboy actor Choi Min-sik, albeit this time not as the audience's favorite antihero, but as a detestable psychopathic serial killer/sexual assaulter, Jang Kyung-chul.

Kim Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil, which is among the most celebrated international horror movies, is a gory and brutally violent picture with explicit content and impeccable acting. With that being said, there is no doubt that it is ultimately a shockingly horrifying feature that will likely have a devastating effect on anyone who dares to watch it.

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1 'Oldboy' (2003)

Director: Park Chan-wook

Oldboy intrigued and terrified movie-goers when it was first released in 2003. The psychological thriller follows Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), an ordinary business executive who gets kidnapped and held captive in a seedy hotel room for 15 years. After he is released, he sets on a journey to find the ones responsible for his abduction, unknowingly entangled in a web of conspiracy and ill-fated romance.

Teeming with plot twists and brisk sadism, Oldboy is an impeccable arthouse action film that has rightly cemented its unyielding status as one of the great South Korean films with its unapologetic portrayal of humanity when desperate. It's also renowned for its unforgettable disturbing ending that changes the meaning of the entire film.

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NEXT: The Best South Korean Crime Movies of the 21st Century (So Far)