7 Asian horror films to scare you silly this Halloween

Marcus Goh
·Contributor
‘Satan’s Slaves’ was as terrifying to shoot as it is to watch
‘Satan’s Slaves’ was as terrifying to shoot as it is to watch

Halloween is almost upon us — which means that it’s time to scare ourselves by turning off the lights and putting on a horror movie. But if we’re to be honest, Western horror films don’t quite scare us in that sort of intimate, personal way that Asian ones do. Asian horror strikes closer to home with their familiar settings, meaning that we always have this lingering feeling that the ghost may have followed us home.

Here are seven such spine-tingling horror films to revisit during this period.

1. The Bride (2015)

If you’re superstitious (and which Singaporean isn’t?), then you can identify with the Taiwanese horror film about a couple who is plagued by a vengeful ghost. The source of the hauntings? A red envelope that the man picks up while strolling through a park. Remember how your parents always told you not to pick up strange things outside and bring them home? It turns out that there’s a very good reason for that, and this film doubles up as a moral about leaving foreign objects where they are outside.

2. Bring Back the Dead (2016)

This local horror movie played on the fears of every parent, tugging on the heartstrings with a vulnerable and relatable protagonist. However, the horror didn’t just come from the hauntings — but also the story. In a dark twist, we learn that there some forces truly beyond our mortal ken and that humanity may be its own worst enemy. Bring Back the Dead shows us exactly why we shouldn’t do what the title says. What better way to spend your Halloween than with a Singaporean horror film?

3. Train to Busan (2016)

The surprise zombie hit that was Train to Busan showed us that Korean films could actually go beyond pointless melodrama and into other more imaginative genres. What made Train to Busan‘s zombies terrifying was that they were fast and furious, and they came in literal waves. Zombies would swarm victims, crawling all over each other to get that sweet, sweet human flesh.

The personal story of an estranged father and daughter also helped to anchor the film in more personal stakes, mixing tragedy with terror in the film.

4. Sadako vs Kayako (2016)

The menaces of the Ring and Ju-on franchises met in an epic clash in Sadako vs Kayako, with child ghost Toshio (of the Ju-on film series) also popping in to assist his mother Kayako in the fight. While the premise was a little over the top and the film looked like it had budget constraints, it was great fun seeing both the ghosts vie for supremacy.

Who won? Well, you had to stay for the post-credits scene to find out. Sadly, it was an ending that has yet to be realised in film form, but one can still hope…

5. The Promise (2017)

Thai horror film The Promise was a story of a suicide pact between two girls which went wrong, with the survivor being plagued by the ghost of the girl who killed herself. It goes back to basics by using traditional storytelling techniques to evoke horror, without any of the cheap tricks that we see nowadays. Since the film is set in both the past and present, it also gave viewers a dose of nostalgia by showing us the memorable trends of the 1990s in flashback scenes.

6. Dearest Sister (2017)

Laotian horror film Dearest Sister gives its blind protagonist a horrifying ability — the ability to communicate with the dead. Thematically, it trades the ability to see the physical realm for the ability to “see” the spiritual realm, making it feel like a terrifying tradeoff. By playing on the feelings of helplessness from being unable to see, it makes the supernatural all the most dangerous. You know the creature is there, but you can’t tell where it is…

7. Satan’s Slaves (2017)

Indonesian horror classic Satan’s Slaves (Pengabdi Setan) about a family plagued by supernatural terrors got a remake last year, updated with a modern and stylistic look but still playing upon the same primal fears that drove the original. What makes this movie intriguing is that the haunted house (where the movie is set in) almost feels like a character in and of itself. Perhaps there’s more to it than meets the eye.

If you haven’t caught any of these Asian horror films in the last few years, now’s the time to catch up. Switch off the lights, turn up the sound, and get your blanket ready.

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Marcus Goh is a television scriptwriter, having written for popular shows like “Lion Mums”, “Crimewatch”, “Incredible Tales”, and “Police & Thief”. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find him on social media as Optimarcus and on his site. The views expressed are his own.

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