Listing 10 of some of my favourite Asian horror films, here are the first five films;
1) One Missed Call (Japan)
It is one of the first horror films from Japan that I watched and I certainly enjoyed it. Also known as "Chakushin ari" and released in Japan in 2004, it tells a story of a cursed call from your future self that predicts your own death. What's interesting about this movie is that it downplayed the portrayal of a ghost (especially in the first half of the movie) and replaced it with a fear feeling of knowing your own death in the near future. I like the concept of the story and the haunting ring tone of the death call (creepy and beautiful at the same time). The movie was well made and the plot combined the Asian people traditional belief of unrest spirit and the modern technology of cellphones. As most of you already know, a Hollywood remake had been made with the same title. But personally I much prefer the original movie.
It is one of the first horror films from Japan that I watched and I certainly enjoyed it. Also known as "Chakushin ari" and released in Japan in 2004, it tells a story of a cursed call from your future self that predicts your own death. What's interesting about this movie is that it downplayed the portrayal of a ghost (especially in the first half of the movie) and replaced it with a fear feeling of knowing your own death in the near future. I like the concept of the story and the haunting ring tone of the death call (creepy and beautiful at the same time). The movie was well made and the plot combined the Asian people traditional belief of unrest spirit and the modern technology of cellphones. As most of you already know, a Hollywood remake had been made with the same title. But personally I much prefer the original movie.
2) Jangan Pandang Belakang (Malaysia)
Released in 2007, it is currently my favourite Malaysian horror movie. Although the story about ghosts who haunt humans are a cliché in Malaysia local drama series and movies, Jangan Pandang Belakang (literally translated as "Don't Look Back" in English) managed to piqued people interest with clever ghost scenes that made audience at the edge of their seats. It may not have the best special effects or story but the flow of the plot and the clever scenes that I mentioned before surely made this film one of the best Malaysia horror movies had to offer.
Released in 2007, it is currently my favourite Malaysian horror movie. Although the story about ghosts who haunt humans are a cliché in Malaysia local drama series and movies, Jangan Pandang Belakang (literally translated as "Don't Look Back" in English) managed to piqued people interest with clever ghost scenes that made audience at the edge of their seats. It may not have the best special effects or story but the flow of the plot and the clever scenes that I mentioned before surely made this film one of the best Malaysia horror movies had to offer.
3) Long Khong (Thailand)
The gore and violence in this movie had somewhat made it similar to the Hollywood splatter films like Saw or Hostel but the supernatural element in it made it unique and recognizable as an Asian horror movie. The film was released in 2005 and also known as Art of the Devil 2 as part of the Art of the Devil trilogy. The film tells a story of six high school friends who were caught up in between curses and spells as they travel to one of their friend's remote village. The images in this movie can be cruel and at times disturbing but it just shows that you should have never play around with black magic. The consequences might not be pretty.
The gore and violence in this movie had somewhat made it similar to the Hollywood splatter films like Saw or Hostel but the supernatural element in it made it unique and recognizable as an Asian horror movie. The film was released in 2005 and also known as Art of the Devil 2 as part of the Art of the Devil trilogy. The film tells a story of six high school friends who were caught up in between curses and spells as they travel to one of their friend's remote village. The images in this movie can be cruel and at times disturbing but it just shows that you should have never play around with black magic. The consequences might not be pretty.
4) A Tale of Two Sisters (South Korea)
To be honest, I was actually confused by the storyline in this movie when I first saw it in the cinema. The present and flashback scenes were shown back-to-back and I had trouble following the story. But once I understand what the story is about, and know what certain scenes in the movie actually mean, then I finally had my respect for the movie and truly appreciate the story. This 2003 South Korean psychological horror movie is inspired by an old folktale and had also been remake into a Hollywood movie titled The Uninvited in 2009. I love this movie not only because it has some really good scary scenes in it, but also because it has a good story with deep meaning and not just a typical horror movie. If you have trouble understanding the story in your first viewing, then watch it again. Hopefully you'll appreciate it like I did.
To be honest, I was actually confused by the storyline in this movie when I first saw it in the cinema. The present and flashback scenes were shown back-to-back and I had trouble following the story. But once I understand what the story is about, and know what certain scenes in the movie actually mean, then I finally had my respect for the movie and truly appreciate the story. This 2003 South Korean psychological horror movie is inspired by an old folktale and had also been remake into a Hollywood movie titled The Uninvited in 2009. I love this movie not only because it has some really good scary scenes in it, but also because it has a good story with deep meaning and not just a typical horror movie. If you have trouble understanding the story in your first viewing, then watch it again. Hopefully you'll appreciate it like I did.
5) 4bia (Thailand)
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4bia is a 2008 horror film that contains four different short stories from four different directors. The first story is about a young girl who unknowingly befriended a ghost via text messaging though her cellphone. The second story is about a group of high school friends who had been cursed by another fellow student who had been bullied by them. The third chapter tells a story about a group of friends who were haunted while they went for camping in the forest. While the last chapter is about a young flight attendant who were having trouble on board a plane with a royal princess for having an affair with her prince husband. It is a great compilation of horror stories from different perspective of protagonists, although I must say that the second chapter is a bit "weak". The way the story were told were great too and can be quite creative like the first chapter that has no dialogue at all. The third chapter were noted for being funny and less serious than the rest but my favourite chapter would have to be the last chapter with the flight attendant. How creepy it is to be on a plane with no one else but a corpse?
So there you have it, five of some of my favourite horror movies from Asia. If you want to find out the other five films that made the list, please click here for Part 2. Thanks for reading!
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4bia is a 2008 horror film that contains four different short stories from four different directors. The first story is about a young girl who unknowingly befriended a ghost via text messaging though her cellphone. The second story is about a group of high school friends who had been cursed by another fellow student who had been bullied by them. The third chapter tells a story about a group of friends who were haunted while they went for camping in the forest. While the last chapter is about a young flight attendant who were having trouble on board a plane with a royal princess for having an affair with her prince husband. It is a great compilation of horror stories from different perspective of protagonists, although I must say that the second chapter is a bit "weak". The way the story were told were great too and can be quite creative like the first chapter that has no dialogue at all. The third chapter were noted for being funny and less serious than the rest but my favourite chapter would have to be the last chapter with the flight attendant. How creepy it is to be on a plane with no one else but a corpse?
So there you have it, five of some of my favourite horror movies from Asia. If you want to find out the other five films that made the list, please click here for Part 2. Thanks for reading!
Images source from Wikipedia.
2 comments:
hi. i'm interested to know wether the asian editions of these films have english subtitles? I like the cover art much better on these releases :)
cheers from iceland. Magnus
Hi Magnus! I live in Malaysia so for those films from outside Malaysia of course English subtitles is available when they market them here. But I must warn you, the quality of the English translation can be pretty bad sometimes, depends on the company that works on the subtitles I guess. But so far the one that I bought the English subtitles are pretty bad.
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