10 great South Korean horror films

South Korean horror cinema has experienced a surge in popularity over the past few decades. From terrifying tales of vengeful female ghosts to haunting explorations of economic inequality, colonialism, xenophobia, geopolitics and gender dynamics, these diverse yet consistently fear-inducing films have carved out a distinct niche in the global genre landscape.

The multi-faceted, thought-provoking nature of South Korean horror lurks within Jason Yu’s disturbing debut feature Sleep (2023) in which newlyweds Hyeon-soo and Soo-jin find their union disrupted when the husband’s sleepwalking poses a threat to their child. As steeped in the psychological as it is in the fantastical, Sleep is shrewdly ambiguous with regards to the causes of the husband’s disorder yet ruthlessly precise in its forensic dissection of marriage.

For those in the mood for a culturally specific scare, here are 10 spine-tingling titles to get you started….