It Came From Korea: My Super-Quick Intro To Korean Horror Films

Whispering Corridors (Yeogo goedam 1), Director Park Ki-hyeong (1998)

[WATCH THE TRAILER]
This film is perhaps the first K-Horror movie. It claims to have spawned the entire genre of film in Korea and is itself the first of a series of movies all set in similar bleak, all-girl boarding schools. As in Japan, schooling in Korea is the single most important thing in one’s life and determines one’s entire future life earnings and achievements. Imagine a situation where one’s entire life can be a success or a failure based on the result of a single test.

There is an intense competition for the limited number of exclusive university openings that drive young people to extremes, giving South Korea the highest rate of suicide in the world amongst industrialized nations. Many parents have often sent their children to these authoritarian boarding schools in order to achieve the highest possible grades, hence the setting for this series. I find the entire idea of Korean all-girl boarding schools intensely interesting but maybe that’s just me being weird. . .

Memento Mori (Yeogo goedam 2), Directors Kim Tae-yong & Min Kyu-dong (1999)

[WATCH THE TRAILER]
Let’s start by saying that, yes, this film’s primary subject is a lesbian romance. But in case we are getting any of you Asian fetishists too excited, this isn’t a porno; it’s a complex and intricate tale and the few intimate scenes are very tasteful. This is probably the saddest of the films in this series, although I haven’t yet seen part five. It explores a socially forbidden love, suicide, and the ghosts of shame and unrequited love.

Wishing Stairs (Yeogo goedam 3), Director Yun Jae-yeon (2003)

[WATCH THE TRAILER]
This movie got me addicted to K-Horror, and personally, I felt that this particular film was the strongest of the three and the scariest movie I’ve ever seen in my life (with the possible exception of The Exorcist, which I saw when I was 12). I didn’t sleep right for about two weeks after watching this, it was so disturbing and mind bending. If you are going to see only one Korean Horror film, this is the one.

The plot revolves around a legendary staircase and the invisible last step where the ghost fox will grant you a wish, but one with unforeseen consequences. Again, like the other two films before it, this film explores the competitive and conformist nature of Korean society and the unhappy, automaton lives that many students lead. We also learn about the cruel ostracization of individualists where, for example, being overweight by as little as five pounds can be a social disaster. And don’t worry, these three movies are not related, so you need not see part one first in fear of not being able to understand part two.

Voice (Yeogo goedam 4), Director Choi Ik-hwan (2005)

[WATCH THE TRAILER]
This is the most modern-feeling of the film series so far and the school is a little less dark and decrepit than normal, but just as scary. This is also another best-friend themed movie, where one of them is not whom she at first appears to be.

Pages: 1 2 3