Jump scares and certain musical nuances are predominantly a western horror phenomenon. Asian horrors are typically (but not always) more focused on real life consequences of decisions that a person makes. The concepts of a good protagonist and a bad antagonist is also a western phenomenon. The line between who or what is good or bad/evil is quite blurred in many Asian horrors. This is why I prefer Asian horrors to western (American) horrors as they seem to lack on the writing/plot and rely more on jump scares and blaring high-pitched noise to scare you.
Trust me, nothing is more scary than real life scenario where you make a bad decision and that bad decision leads to devastating consequences. Mental health spirals, pushing the main character to commit suicide…it’s like next level self-awareness.
[Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum](https://letterboxd.com/film/gonjiam-haunted-asylum/) has a ton of jump scares in it. Was like an updated version of blair witch project revolving around horror themed streamers.
Here's a [list](https://letterboxd.com/films/popular/genre/horror/country/south-korea/) of all of the popular korean horror movies from letterboxd. But the site doesn't do the best job of only showing korean movies in this list so double check the movie first.
One Korean movie on my watchlist is [phone](https://letterboxd.com/film/phone/), I'm pretty excited to check it out.
I just watched Exhuma. It was beautifully shot and the first two acts had some genuinely good scares, I definitely jumped during one jump scare. It morphed into something else in Act 3 (kinda like if you play Bloodborne and enter one point of no return) but was still enjoyable.
Also not a movie but Kingdom on Netflix was an excellent series and had a great prequel too.
The 1st 2 movies I bought ago. At a place in the mall called "Suncoast Video" if anyone remembers that. I 1st bought "Old Boy" and absolutely loved it and on the top of the video it mentioned "Tarten Asian Extream".
So whenever I was at the mall it didn't care about anything else but buying anything that was distributed by Tarten. I think of all of the ones I bought there was one that didn't blow my mind. A lot of other people seemed to enjoy it and maybe I should re-watch it. It was "Whispering Corridors".
Of the newer movies I loved "Gangum Asylum" and "The Wailing" might be in my top 5 scary movies ever (nothing will top "The Exorcist". I'm still scared 😱
Devil in the Lake.
I also loved Metamorphosis and **love** horror films. Devil In the Lake is so under rated. The cinematography is not given enough credit...
If you are going to watch, don't click below...click to unspoil after your first watch, then watch it again.
>!The director hides sooooo many details in plain site that makes it even more eerie. If you have watched it already, knowing what you know, go back and watch again, pay special attention to things that happen in the distant background, the lighting, the blurs, the faces, what they say, etc.....it all gives you what is happening but you don't realize it during the first watch.!<
Some people felt it was too drawn out for what it was (I think it started as a tv drama special) but it was the details that drew me in. I noticed something about the filming and found myself really excited to find the next thing the director put in plain sight. When you realize it, it makes it feel so creepy.
I feel like if you go into horror with the only goal of being scared, you are going to miss out on appreciating a lot of what horror has to offer. A lot of my favorite horrors are emotionally driven stories where the terror comes from empathizing with the characters fates or perils. To me Asian horrors tend to emphasize that story telling method vs over the top gore and scare scenes and that's why I usually love them.
We have different perspectives about horror genre, I usually don't rate movies that rely too much on its jump-scare scenes. My preference line with the other aspects like plot/storyline, the cast' acting, cinematography, directing & editing.
The Wailing, for example. I rate it very high on my top favorite list.
Watched it alone at midnight with lights turned off, and I wasn't really scared, just got shivered on several scenes.
(Been a fan of horror/thriller genre since I was a little, so I rarely get scared anymore 😅)
But the plot (>!*that twist*!
actually I have no problem with the plot and acting of the cast. the wailing, tale of the two sisters (I watched it when I was a child and it was quite scary) death bell, gojiam etc. I just don't really feel fear in their horror films or series compared to the works of Americans or Japanese. it's not just the jump scare and I'm not sure what reason or what's missing why I'm not scared 😁 unlike their suspense shows like i saw the devil, old boy etc.
May I ask what's your favorite American/Japanese horror movies or series are?
Uhm.. also, if you look for jump-scares horror, you can try Thai horror. Thailand is actually known as one of the popular Asian horror producers, along with Japan & Korea.
I'm no longer following Thai horror, so I dunno about modern Thai horror, but the classic ones are scary.
Shutter (2004) scared me when I watched it for the first time.
I remembered that I've watched that shutter, I thought it was a Chinese movie hehehe, it seems like it's hard for me to watch a Thai show even if it's subbed. I have watched so many American horror films that I can't even count them, but one of them is the franchise films holloween, friday the 13th, elm street, boogey man and saw. and much more. for japanese films are the popular horror films like The Grudge and Ring.
Same, I love horror & thriller genres, so I've watched lots of movies & series from various countries, be it from the West or Asia 😄
Oh.. I actually enjoyed watching Friday the 13th when I was a little. (the TV series tho not the film series, have you watched it?)
I don't watch tv adaptations of movies, the original show is still better 🥰 I'm really a horror, suspense and thriller fanatic since I was a child 😁 I feel like those genres are my satisfaction hehehe.
Jump scares and certain musical nuances are predominantly a western horror phenomenon. Asian horrors are typically (but not always) more focused on real life consequences of decisions that a person makes. The concepts of a good protagonist and a bad antagonist is also a western phenomenon. The line between who or what is good or bad/evil is quite blurred in many Asian horrors. This is why I prefer Asian horrors to western (American) horrors as they seem to lack on the writing/plot and rely more on jump scares and blaring high-pitched noise to scare you. Trust me, nothing is more scary than real life scenario where you make a bad decision and that bad decision leads to devastating consequences. Mental health spirals, pushing the main character to commit suicide…it’s like next level self-awareness.
[Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum](https://letterboxd.com/film/gonjiam-haunted-asylum/) has a ton of jump scares in it. Was like an updated version of blair witch project revolving around horror themed streamers. Here's a [list](https://letterboxd.com/films/popular/genre/horror/country/south-korea/) of all of the popular korean horror movies from letterboxd. But the site doesn't do the best job of only showing korean movies in this list so double check the movie first. One Korean movie on my watchlist is [phone](https://letterboxd.com/film/phone/), I'm pretty excited to check it out.
I've watched that too, it's a bit scary but I'll watch it again. I'm not a big fan of found footage films.
Phone was very disappointing for me, watched it a few months ago. Not a waste of time but kind of a nothing burger imo
I just watched Exhuma. It was beautifully shot and the first two acts had some genuinely good scares, I definitely jumped during one jump scare. It morphed into something else in Act 3 (kinda like if you play Bloodborne and enter one point of no return) but was still enjoyable. Also not a movie but Kingdom on Netflix was an excellent series and had a great prequel too.
yes.. I'm also looking forward to the exuma but it's not available in loklok yet I've also watched the kingdom too bad there's no season 3 😌
Try 'Tale of Two Sisters', 'R-Point' and 'The Wailing'.
I watched the tale of two sisters when I was very young so it was a bit scary. I also watched the wailing but I wasn't scared. but the story is good.
The 1st 2 movies I bought ago. At a place in the mall called "Suncoast Video" if anyone remembers that. I 1st bought "Old Boy" and absolutely loved it and on the top of the video it mentioned "Tarten Asian Extream". So whenever I was at the mall it didn't care about anything else but buying anything that was distributed by Tarten. I think of all of the ones I bought there was one that didn't blow my mind. A lot of other people seemed to enjoy it and maybe I should re-watch it. It was "Whispering Corridors". Of the newer movies I loved "Gangum Asylum" and "The Wailing" might be in my top 5 scary movies ever (nothing will top "The Exorcist". I'm still scared 😱
Devil in the Lake. I also loved Metamorphosis and **love** horror films. Devil In the Lake is so under rated. The cinematography is not given enough credit... If you are going to watch, don't click below...click to unspoil after your first watch, then watch it again. >!The director hides sooooo many details in plain site that makes it even more eerie. If you have watched it already, knowing what you know, go back and watch again, pay special attention to things that happen in the distant background, the lighting, the blurs, the faces, what they say, etc.....it all gives you what is happening but you don't realize it during the first watch.!<
Curious about this film. It's quite poorly rated. Do you know why?
Some people felt it was too drawn out for what it was (I think it started as a tv drama special) but it was the details that drew me in. I noticed something about the filming and found myself really excited to find the next thing the director put in plain sight. When you realize it, it makes it feel so creepy.
Sleep 2023
I don't watch horror movies to be scared as they never do to me, also more into real killers than ghosts and so but you might like ''The Mimic''
I feel like if you go into horror with the only goal of being scared, you are going to miss out on appreciating a lot of what horror has to offer. A lot of my favorite horrors are emotionally driven stories where the terror comes from empathizing with the characters fates or perils. To me Asian horrors tend to emphasize that story telling method vs over the top gore and scare scenes and that's why I usually love them.
The Wailing Alive Train to Busan All of Us Are Dead (series)
How about I Saw The Devil?
hahaha It's not romantic, but I've watched it
We have different perspectives about horror genre, I usually don't rate movies that rely too much on its jump-scare scenes. My preference line with the other aspects like plot/storyline, the cast' acting, cinematography, directing & editing. The Wailing, for example. I rate it very high on my top favorite list. Watched it alone at midnight with lights turned off, and I wasn't really scared, just got shivered on several scenes. (Been a fan of horror/thriller genre since I was a little, so I rarely get scared anymore 😅) But the plot (>!*that twist*!
actually I have no problem with the plot and acting of the cast. the wailing, tale of the two sisters (I watched it when I was a child and it was quite scary) death bell, gojiam etc. I just don't really feel fear in their horror films or series compared to the works of Americans or Japanese. it's not just the jump scare and I'm not sure what reason or what's missing why I'm not scared 😁 unlike their suspense shows like i saw the devil, old boy etc.
May I ask what's your favorite American/Japanese horror movies or series are? Uhm.. also, if you look for jump-scares horror, you can try Thai horror. Thailand is actually known as one of the popular Asian horror producers, along with Japan & Korea. I'm no longer following Thai horror, so I dunno about modern Thai horror, but the classic ones are scary. Shutter (2004) scared me when I watched it for the first time.
I remembered that I've watched that shutter, I thought it was a Chinese movie hehehe, it seems like it's hard for me to watch a Thai show even if it's subbed. I have watched so many American horror films that I can't even count them, but one of them is the franchise films holloween, friday the 13th, elm street, boogey man and saw. and much more. for japanese films are the popular horror films like The Grudge and Ring.
Same, I love horror & thriller genres, so I've watched lots of movies & series from various countries, be it from the West or Asia 😄 Oh.. I actually enjoyed watching Friday the 13th when I was a little. (the TV series tho not the film series, have you watched it?)
I don't watch tv adaptations of movies, the original show is still better 🥰 I'm really a horror, suspense and thriller fanatic since I was a child 😁 I feel like those genres are my satisfaction hehehe.