There is no denying that Asia has bought into the market some of the best horror movies ever produced. With Asia at the forefront of creating some of the most consumed and popular entertainment, such as k-dramas and anime, Asian horror movies are garnering incredible appeal. When we consider all of this, it appears that Asian filmmakers have mastered the art and craft of creating amazing films, and the horror genre is definitely at the top.
When it comes to international cinema, there are always hidden gems to be discovered, and Asian horror is no exception. If you want to try something other than American horror and are yet to look into Asian cinema, you are missing out big time!
Here is a list of the 21 best Asian horror movies to fulfill your horror cravings.
21 Best Asian Horror Movies:
21. Satan’s Slaves (Indonesia)
- Director: Joko Anwar
- Writer: Joko Anwar, Naryono Prayitno, Sisworo Gautama Putta
- Main Cast: Dimas Aditya, Tara Basro, Endy Arfian, Bront Palarae
- Language: Indonesian
- IMDb rating: 6.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
- Release date: 28 September 2017
This gothic horror is an Indonesian movie, it is popularly also known as Pengabdi Setan. After the success of Satan’s Slaves, a sequel Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion (Pengabdi Setan 2: Communion) was announced.
Satan’s Slaves Plot:
The plot revolves around Rini and her a poor family living in the countryside. Rini’s mother is sick and bedridden with a strange disease for three years. After her mother dies, Rini and her family start feeling strange presence in the house.
And what’s the scariest? The scariest is when the children find out that their mother was in a cult of Satan worshippers and that she will be back for her children.
20. The Pulse (Japan)
- Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- Writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- Main Cast: Haruhiko Katô (Ryosuke Kawashima), Kumiko Aso (Michi Kudo), Koyuki (Harue Karasawa), Kurume Arisaka (Junko Sasano)
- Language: Japanese
- IMDb rating: 6.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
- Release date: Feburary 10, 2001
The Pulse Plot:
Pulse, also known as Kairo in Japan, is a unique take on The Grudge’s ideas. When a college student commits suicide, youngsters seem to encounter terrible visions on the internet. As more people vanish from the city, the Internet becomes a breeding ground for evil spirits.
Unlike many horror films about evil spirits, Pulse unfolds as a slow burn that depicts society’s loss of control in a terrifying way. It is one of the popular ones in the Japanese horror genre.
19. Dumplings (China)
- Director: Fruit Chan
- Writer: Pik-Wah lee
- Main Cast: Pauline Lau (Masseuse), Po lin Lau (Li’s maid), Tony Ka Fai Leung (Mr. Li), Bai Ling (Mei, The Cook)
- Language: Chinese
- IMDb rating: 6.7/10
- Release Date: September 1, 2016
Dumplings Plot:
Aunt Mei (Bai Ling), a former abortionist, cook’s dumplings that miraculously restore youth. Mrs. Li (Miriam Yeung), a former actress seeking to reconcile with her womanizing husband (Tony Leung Ka Fai), first refuses to eat them.
Mrs. Li pledges to pay Mei any price for more once she realizes how powerful they are. Things grow complicated when Mei is forced to flee the country and the dumplings’ power begins to diminish. It is a must-see movie for anyone interested in Hong Kong cinema, particularly its horror subgenre.
18. Dark Water (Japan)
- Director: Hideo Nakata
- Writer: Yoshihiro Nakamura, Kenichi Suzuki
- Main Cast: Hitomi Kuroki (Yoshimi Matsubara), Rio Kanno (Ikuko Matsubara), Mirei Oguchi (Mitsuko Kawai), Asami Mizukawa (Ikuko Hamada)
- Language: Japanese
- IMDb rating: 7.6/10
- Rotten Mangoes: 81%
- Release Date: March 23, 2017
Dark Water was directed by Ring’s Hideo Nakata. The movie was so famous that it had a Hollywood remake in 2005.
Dark Water Plot:
In this dark Japanese horror film, a newly single mother is fighting for custody of her little daughter. As she starts to adjust to this new environment, strange things happen in the building, including unsettling visions of a ghostly little girl who appears to be dragging the mother-son duo toward the otherworldly.
17. Feng Shui (Philippines)
- Director: Chito S. Roño
- Writer: Chito S. Roño, Roy C. Iglesias
- Main Cast: Kris Aquino (Joy Ramirez), Julianne Gomez (Ingrid Ramirez), Ernesto Sto. Domingo (Billy)
- Language: Filipino
- IMDb rating: 6.3/10
- Release Date: September 15, 2004
Feng Shui was released at a period when Asian horror movies were gaining traction both in the Philippines and abroad, and it is a worthy contribution to the country’s horror film catalog.
Feng Shui Plot:
The movie is about a woman who begins to experience a series of fortunate events after discovering a Feng Shui amulet. Following that, a string of deaths involving the victims’ Chinese zodiac signs occurs. She soon understands that it is, in reality, a curse.
16. The Wailing (Korea)
- Director: Na Hong Jin
- Writer: Na Hong Jin
- Main Cast: Chun woo hee(Moo-Myeong), Hwang Jung Min( Il-Gwang), Kwak Do Won( Jong Goo)
- Language: Korean
- IMDb rating: 7.4/10
- Release Date: May 27, 2016
- Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
The Wailing Plot:
The Wailing is a popular South Korean horror film that follows a police officer as he investigates a string of unexplained deaths and illnesses in the rural village of Gokseong. Na Hong-jin unexpectedly blends zombies, black magic, ghosts, and possession stories to create a visceral, moving film that is both scary and beautiful, devastating and terrifying.
The movie wowed critics and spectators alike, and it won Best Director at the Asian Film Awards. For its strange and disturbing plot, it received critical acclaim in South Korea and around the world.
15. The Child’s Eye (Hong Kong)
- Director: Danny Pang, Oxide Chun Pang
- Writer: Danny Pang, Oxide Chun Pang, Thomas Pang
- Main Cast: Rainie Yang (Rainie), Elanne Kong (Ling), Shawn Yue (Lok), Ka Tung Lam (Chuen)
- Language: Cantonese, Mandarin
- IMDb rating: 4.2/10
- Release Date: October 14, 2010
The Child’s Eye Plot:
This movie is a tale about a group of friends who are stranded in an old motel. As they learn more about the history beyond the walls, they are gradually drawn further into its dark past, making it more difficult for them to survive. The movie has some mixed reviews but is still worth giving a shot.
14. I Saw the Devil (Korea)
- Director: Kim Jee Won
- Writer: Park Hun-Jeong
- Main Cast: Lee Byung-Hun (Soo-Hyun), Choi Min-Sik (Kyung-Chul), Jeon Gook Hwan (Capt. Jang)
- Language: Korean
- IMDb rating: 7.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
- Release Date: August 12, 2010
I Saw the Devil Plot:
The movie unfolds when a cab driver comes across a scared female motorist stranded in a broken-down vehicle on a dark road. He comes to a stop, but not to help her. When the woman’s head is discovered in a nearby river, her grieving fiancé (a talented spy) becomes obsessed with locating her perpetrator. When he meets the cab driver things start to get messy.
It’s a Korean masterpiece, with superb performances, compelling storylines, and a visual aesthetic (with cruelty) that elevates it to a new height, gaining huge success worldwide.
13. Kwaidan (Japan)
- Director: Masaki Kobayashi
- Writer: Yoko Mizuki
- Language: Japanese
- Main Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Rentarō Mikuni, Tetsurō Tamba, Keiko Kishi
- IMDb Rating: 8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
- Release date: December 29, 1964
Kwaidan Plot:
The title of this movie comes from an old Japanese word that means “ghost story”. The movie tells us four folk tales about Rentarô Mikuni, an impoverished samurai, who marries for money, Yuki the Snow Maiden (Keiko Kishi) saves a guy who is trapped in a blizzard. Hoichi (Katsuo Nakamura), a blind musician, is compelled to perform in front of a phantom audience, and the story of a samurai who sees another warrior’s reflection in his teacup (Osamu Takizawa).
12. One Cut of the Dead (Japan)
- Director: Shin’ichirō Ueda
- Writer: Shin’ichirō Ueda, Ryoichi Wada
- Language: Japanese
- Main Cast: Takayuki Hamatsu, Mao, Harumi Syuhama, Yuzuki Akiyama
- IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
- Release Date: September 13, 2019
- Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
One Cut of the Dead Plot:
Things go bad when a hack director and his film crew are attacked by real zombies while filming a low-budget zombie movie in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility. It is one of the best takes in the zombie genre while being a hysterically funny and entertaining experience. This is something you must see!
11. The Unseeable (Thailand)
- Director: Wisit Sasanatieng
- Writer: Kongkiat Khomsiri
- Language: Thai
- Main Cast: Suporntip Chuangrangsri(Madame Ranjuan), Tassawan Seneewongse(Ms. Somjit), Siraphan Wattanajinda (Nualjan)
- IMDb Rating: 6.8
- Release Date: November 13, 2012
The Unseeable Plot:
The plot revolves around a pregnant woman (Siraphan Wattanajinda) who, to find her missing husband, accepts temporary work in a mansion and soon learns that the estate is plagued by ghosts. This Thai horror film is definitely worth a watch!
10. Three…Extremes
- Director: Fruit Chan, Park Chan-wook, and Takashi Miike
- Writer: Park Chan Wook, Haruko Fukoshima, Pik- Wah Lee
- Language: Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean
- Main Cast: Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Lee Byung-hun, Im Won-hee, Bai Ling
- IMDb Rating: 6.9/10
- Release Date: August 20, 2004
About Three…Extremes:
“Three… Extremes” brings together filmmakers from Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan to create 40-minute horror films. A witch doctor, a director (Lee Byung-hun) and a resentful extra, and an author and her twin sister are among the characters in the stories.
What all three of these stories have in common is a focus on horror as it emerges from everyday life, transformed by dread, imagination, and depravity, as found in Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Stephen King.
9. Tumbbad (India)
- Director: Rahil Anil Barve
- Main Cast: Sohum Shah, Jyoti Malshe, Mohammad Samad
- IMDb Rating: 8.3/10
- Release Date: October 12, 2018
- Language: Hindi
Tumbbad Plot:
This movie is a mythological tale about a goddess who created the entire cosmos. The plot is around the consequences of people building a temple for her firstborn child.
Tumbbad is a massive horror spectacle that brings to life a wonderful, terrifying, and sociopolitical work of classic literature.
4 Years of masterpiece #Tumbbad ❤️🔥🔥 Any fans of #Hastar ?#4YearsOfTumbbad pic.twitter.com/P5uBsFL8ZS
— Troll Cinema ( TC ) (@Troll_Cinema) October 13, 2022
8. The Host (Korea)
- Director: Bong Joon Ho
- Writer: Bong Joon Ho, Baek Cheol-Hyeon, Ha Junoon
- Main Cast: Song Kang Ho, Byun Hee Bong, Park Hae Il, Bae Doo Na
- IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
- Language: Korean
- Release Date: March 9, 2007
The Host Plot:
A strange beast erupts from Seoul’s Han River, killing hundreds and snatching Hyun-Seo. When her family discovers she is being held captive, they make a pact to save her.
The film is a horror-thriller, political satire, dysfunctional family comedy, and heartfelt melodrama all in one. This is another Korean horror film banger by Bong Joon Ho that is a must-watch.
7. Shutter (Thailand)
- Director: Parkpoom Wongpoom, Banjong Pisanthanakun
- Writer: Banjong Pisanthanakun, Sopon Sukdapisit, Parkpoom Wongpoom
- Main Cast: Ananda Everingham, Natthaweeranuch Thongmee, Achita Sikamana
- IMDb Rating: 7/10
- Release Date: September 11, 2012
- Language: Thai
Shutter Plot:
This is another one of the good Asian horror films about strange images seen in processed photographs. Jane and Tun escape the scene after being forced to run over a young woman on the road in a car accident. Tun, on the other hand, starts to notice white shadows with faces in the images he creates as a result of this.
This horror movie was competently managed, well-played, and with several surprises and twists in the final reel.
6. Ugetsu (Japan)
- Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
- Writer: Hisakazu Tsuji, Akinari Ueda, Matsutarô Kawaguchi, Yoshikata Yoda, Isamu Yoshii
- Main Cast: Machiko Kyō, Mitsuko Mito, Kinuyo Tanaka, Masayuki Mori, Sakae Ozawa
- IMDb Rating: 8.2/10
- Release Date: March 23, 1953
- Language: Japanese
About Ugetsu:
This Asian horror movie is a narrative about ambition, family, love, and combat set during the Japanese civil wars of the sixteenth century.
Ugetsu, Kenji Mizoguchi’s most well-known film, is a bizarre, incantatory, and beautiful fable. The acting is superb, and the story’s ability to combine fantasy and realism is evident throughout.
5. Macabre (Indonesia)
- Director: The Mo Brothers
- Writer: The Mo Brothers
- Main Cast: Shareefa Daanish, Imelda Therinne, Arifin Putra, Ruli Lubis, Julie Estelle, Ario Bayu, Sigi Wimala
- IMDb Rating: 6.4/10
- Release Date: October 8, 2009
- Language: Indonesian
Macabre Plot:
Macabre has been compared to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in Indonesia. It revolves around a group of unlucky visitors who come across Maya, a gorgeous and disturbed woman who has been robbed and left stranded. Maya and her family aren’t precisely a scumbag redneck family, but they serve a similar function to Leatherface’s bloodline.
Macabre is bloody and unsettling. It is one of the most intense horrors movies with a few twists here and there.
4. Train to Busan (South Korea)
- Director: Sang-ho Yeo
- Writers: Joo-Suk Park, Sang-ho Yeon
- Main Cast: Gong Yoo, Yu-mi Jung, Ma Dong-seok
- IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
- Release Date: July 20 ,2016
- Language: Korean
Train to Busan Plot:
Sok-woo, a father with little time for his daughter Soo-Ahn, is about to board the KTX, a fast train that will carry them from Seoul to Busan. During their journey, however, a zombie outbreak happens, and the bulk of the world’s population changes into flesh-hungry zombies.
The movie has its fair share of blood and absolute horror, as well as a few tear-jerking moments. Train to Busan is one of the most popular Korean Horror films and stars some of the biggest names in South Korea.
— Chris (@ChrisVillegas19) October 12, 2018
3. A Tale of Two Sisters (Korea)
- Director: Kim Jee-Woon
- Writers: Kim Jee-Woon
- Main Cast: Im Soo-Jung, Moon Geun-young, Yum Jung-ah , Kim Kap-soo
- IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
- Release Date: June 13, 2013
- Language: Korean
A Tale of Two Sisters Plot:
After spending time in a mental institution, two sisters return to their father’s and unpleasant stepmother’s home. In addition to dealing with their stepmother’s compulsive, disordered actions, an interfering ghost impedes their recovery once they arrive.
This film is a terrifying and atmospheric psychological thriller that keeps the spectator guessing until the very end.
2. Ju-on: The Grudge (Japan)
- Director: Takashi Shimizu
- Writers: Takashi Shimizu
- Main Cast: Megumi Okina, Misaki Ito, Misa Uehara, Yui Ichikawa
- IMDb Rating: 6.7/10
- Release Date: January 25, 2003
- Language: Japanese
About Ju-on: The Grudge:
Anyone who walks into the cursed house where a family was brutally murdered is plagued and eaten. The pale tiny kid ghost who appears out of nowhere at regular intervals will haunt you for days.
This movie is a masterpiece of horror films. Ju-on has created a film that haunts the audience long after it has ended.
1. Ring (Japan)
- Director: Hideo Nakata
- Writer: Kôji Suzuki, Hiroshi Takahashi
- Original Language: Japanese
- Main Cast: Nanako Matsushima (Reiko Asakawa), Hiroyuki Sanada (Ryuji Takayama)
- IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
- Release Date: January 31, 1998
Ring Plot:
When her niece and three friends are discovered dead after watching a rumored cursed videotape, reporter Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima) sets out to discover what occurred.
Ring Review:
This horror movie started it all when it comes to Hollywood remakes. The remake was as successful and popular as the Japanese original. It was the first Asian horror film that was based on a novel that had previously been adapted for television in Japan.
While the story is engaging and the acting is superb, Hideo Nakata’s direction is so incredible, that it makes this one of the scariest Asian horror films of all time.
