Scarier than Squid Game? 13 chilling Korean horror movies for Halloween, from classics Old Boy and The Wailing to cult faves The Call and A Tale of Two Sisters

Oct 28 , 2021

From Olboy to The Host, South Korea has a proven pedigree when it comes to making us scream. Photos: B.O.M. Film Productions Co, Filmmaker R & K filmK, Chungeorahm Film, Show East

Binged on K-drama and want to go deeper? Whispering Corridors and Oldboy are great for those unfamiliar with Korean horror, and sure to keep you up at night

Parasite director Bong Joon-ho helms The Host and Squid Game stars Lee Jung-jae and Wi Ha-joon crop up in Svaha: The Sixth Finger and Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

With Halloween just around the corner and the recent release of chilling hit K-dramas like Squid Game and My Name, we’ve been hankering after other spooky, seasonally appropriate content. Thankfully, Korean cinema offers a plethora of gripping stories – and this is especially true for horror movies.

Here are 13 Korean movies guaranteed to give you nightmares.

Whispering Corridors (1998)

Kim Gyu-ri in Whispering Corridors. Photo: Cine2000

What better way to start off this list than with the movie that pioneered the surge of commercially successful Korean cinema? Released in 1998, Whispering Corridors came during a new age of freedom in Korea after the abolition of censorship laws in 1997. As such, the film and its sequels deal with taboo topics such as teen suicide, same-sex relationships and academic pressure. Set in an all-girl high school, Whispering Corridors tells the story of a school haunted by its history; as bodies pile up, the school’s sinister past slowly unravels.

Still going strong, the series’ sixth installation, Whispering Corridors: The Humming, was released this past June.

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

Moon Geun-young in A Tale of Two Sisters. Photo: B.O.M. Film Productions Co.

Continuing the trend of dark histories, A Tale of Two Sisters is a chilling yet heart-wrenching story of two sisters who, in the beginning of the movie, are released from a mental institution after their mother’s death. Not soon after returning home to live with their father and new stepmother, one of the sisters begins to experience disturbing visions and, because of this, creates a rift in the relationship between her and the sisters’ stepmother. Slowly, the secrets that each family member holds are revealed.

Oldboy (2003)