Korean horror

Korean horror is the term given to horror films made as part of the cinema of Korea. Korean horror features many of the same motifs, themes, and imagery as Japanese horror. Korean horror has been around since the early years of Korean cinema; however, it was not until the late 1990s that the genre began to experience a renewal. Many of the Korean horror films tend to focus on the suffering and the anguish of characters rather than focus on the explicit "blood and guts" aspect of horror.

The female ghost

The expression, "When a woman is full of resentment, she will bring frost in May and June" may offer some explanation for the popularity of the female ghost that is often featured in Korean horror films. Her deep feeling of resentment is cold enough to freeze the hot air that occurs during those months. The woman's vengeance is a thing to be feared, thus becoming the object of horror. In the past women have been oppressed and ignored for so long that the horrific rage and vengeance we see in the films have been brought upon by the many years of repression.^[1] Another belief is that when a female dies before she gets to enjoy the pleasures of marriage and having children, she will not be able to move on to the "other side". Instead she becomes trapped between the two worlds and causes horrific phenomena.^[2]

2010 Korean Horror Film Festival

The 2010 Korean Horror Film Festival was held in Mandaluyong City in the Philippines at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall from October 27–31 and through November 2–4. It worked together with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, The Korean-Philippine Foundation, Inc. and Shangri-La Plaza. With free admission attendees were treated to some of the best and highly successful Korean horror films. Films such as Arang, The Red Shoes, M, Hansel and Gretel, Ghost, Paradise Murdered, and Epitaph were among the films showcased.^[3]

Influential Korean horror films

Whispering Corridors (1998) is seen as the film to have sparked the explosion of the Korean horror genre. It centers on the theme of school girls and the mysterious "other side", but also offered criticism of the Korean school system.

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) is the highest grossing Korean horror film so far and the first to be screened in America. It was remade in America in 2009 as The Uninvited. Based on a folk tale titled Janghwa Hongreyon-jon, it tells the story of two sisters dealing with a controlling stepmother and a passive father.

List of notable films

Korean horror directors

• Ahn Byeong-ki – director of the horror films Nightmare, Phone, Bunshinsaba, and APT
• Bong Joon-ho – director of the horror film The Host and writer of Antarctic Journal
• Kim Dong-bin – director of the horror films The Ring Virus and Red Eye
• Kim Jee-woon – director of the horror films A Tale of Two Sisters, Three (the segment "Memories"), and The Quiet Family
• Kong Su-chang – director of the horror films Tell Me Something, R-Point, and Death Bell
• Park Ki-hyung – director of the horror films Whispering Corridors and Acacia
• Yu Seon-dong – director of the film Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp

References

External links

• 2010 Korean Horror Film Festival at Shangri-la Cineplex
• KoreanFilm.org

Cinema of Korea
List of Korean language films List of pre–1948 films (A–Z) People Actors Animators Directors (list) Producers Screenwriters Cinematographers Editors Topics Animation Animation studios Festivals K-Horror Sageuk
Cinema of North Korea List of films (A–Z) People Actors Directors Producers Screenwriters Topics Festivals On the Art of the Cinema
Cinema of South Korea List of films (A–Z) People Actors (list) Directors Producers Screenwriters Cinematographers Editors Score composers Critics Topics Chungmuro Animation Animation studios Production companies Festivals (list) Awards Box Office 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Films by year 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Category