Every culture has its perception of ghosts and supernatural elements. While some commonalities can be found between ghost stories across various cultures, there are also unique elements that are symbolically relevant to individual cultures. Over the years, Hollywood has had its fair share of horror hits, despite being adapted from predominantly Asian origin, thereby offering viewers the duplicate before they know of the original. This has changed dramatically with the onset of OTT platforms, resulting in the widening of the streaming market, thereby creating a tsunami of terror-inducing content. Here are some of the best foreign horror movies to check out this year.
Goodnight Mommy (2014) - Austria
Directed by Veronika Franz and her nephew, Severen Fiala, Goodnight Mommy is an eerie tale of twin boys who get suspicious of their mother’s true identity after she has facial reconstruction surgery. Franz and Faila beautifully orchestrate the young twins to exude terror while also retaining a degree of naïveté, creating rubber-band-like tension throughout the film.
REC (2007) - Spain
REC easily qualifies as one of the best-found footage films in recent times. Directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza employ a similar approach to storytelling as horror legend George Romero and Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves, that being the entire action plays out through a camcorder operated by an unseen operator. The plot revolves around a bubbly TV host, Angela, and her descent into blood and gore when she decides to accompany a group of firemen to investigate a distress call.
Audition (1999) - Japan
If there’s one genre the Asians have mastered its horror. Known for treading the fine line between atmospheric tension and gore, Asian horror cinema is well known for both. In Takashi Miike’s, bonafide tale of absolute carnage, a widower takes up an offer from his friend to audition a few girls to search for a new wife. Things head in a nasty direction when the widower selects a girl who turns out to be a bloodthirsty, psychotically violent temptress.
The Devil’s Backbone (2001) - Spain
Guillermo del Toro has solidified his status as a legendary director of all things creepy. Responsible for films like Pan’s Labyrinth and the Academy Award-winning film, The Shape of Water, del Toro’s propensity for all things supernatural is undeniable. What makes del Toro stand apart from the rest of the blood and gore, horror directors is his ability to distill horror, to make it palatable, yet creepy for children. Most of his work centers around creating tales of horror designed especially for children. In The Devil’s Backbone, Carlos, a recently turned orphan soon realizes that the orphanage he’s been sent to is haunted. Hearing these haunted noises, Carlos along with his two friends, Ayala and Dominguez begin to investigate.
Train To Busan (2016) - South Korea
One of the best zombie flicks to come out of Korea in recent times, Train To Busan, explores the lengths a father would go to protect his daughter on a train full of zombies. What makes Train To Busan stand out from the rest of the zombie films is that it’s grounded in a sense of reality. The zombies aren’t mindless, while the action choreography is believable and mindful. Upon its release, the film was well received critically, spawning rumors of a possible Hollywood remake titled The Last Train to New York.
One Cut of the Dead (2017) - Japan
Humor and horror are as compatible as wine and cheese. One Cut of the Dead treads on this notion and delivers a raucous tale of first-grade stupidity. The plot centers around a typical group of filmmakers trying to make a zombie film on a modest budget. Things start getting creepy when off-screen zombies appear along with on-screen zombies. An endearing tale highlighting the triteness and trauma regarding the process of filmmaking along with the added difficulty of staying alive in the middle of a zombie attack, One Cut of the Dead is one of the most charmingly, heartfelt zombie films out there.
Tumbbad (2018) - India
Tumbbad is a potent tale of greed, lust, and man’s never-ending quest for all things corrupt. Directed by the multifaceted Anand Gandhi and Rahi Anil Barve, the film follows Vinayak’s journey into the shrine of a monster named Hastar, who is known to have amassed an insurmountable amount of wealth from the gods. Vinayak devises a plan to deceive Hastar in a bid to acquire his wealth, leading to catastrophic circumstances.
The Wailing (2016) - South Korea
After the arrival of a strange man in a small village in South Korea, a mysterious sickness starts spreading. As police offer Jong-Goo dives deeper into the supernatural world of the stranger, he begins to suspect there are otherworldly powers at play. A brilliant amalgamation of real-world hysterics peppered with layers of paranormality occult practices, The Wailing is a creepy, unsettling film that stays in the mind of the viewer for days.