Omona's Pick - Dramas/Movies to Watch this Halloween Season
With Halloween right around the corner, you might be looking for a spooky or suspenseful show to watch. I've compiled a list of dramas and movies ranging from suspenseful horror movies to silly ghost shows.
Movies
Train to Busan
Starring: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu Mi, Ma Dong Seok, Kim Soo Ahn, Choi Woo Shik, Ahn So Hee
Plot: Seok-Woo is a fund manager in Seoul. He is separated from his wife and lives with his daughter Soo-An. Seok-Woo doesn't spend much time with his daughter or show affection to her. On the night before Soo-An's birthday, Soo-An insists on seeing her mother for her birthday. Seok-Woo has no other choice, but to take her to Busan. Early the next morning, they board the KTX train for Busan at Seoul Station.
Before the KTX train leaves Seoul Station, a zombie like girl jumps onto the train. The girl is infected with a horrific virus that is spreading like wildfire. Seok-Woo, Soo-An and the other passengers on the KTX train must now fight for their lives.
I Saw The Devil
Cast: Lee Byung Hun, Choi Min Sik, Jeon Kuk Hwan, Oh San Ha, Kim Yoon Seo, Cheon Ho Jin
Plot: Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. He has committed infernal serial murders in diabolic ways that one cannot even imagine and his victims range from young women to even children. The police have chased him for a long time, but were unable to catch him.
One day, Joo-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief becomes his prey and is found dead in a horrific state. Her fiance Soo-Hyun, a top secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to take bloody vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself to get this monstrous and inhumane killer.
The Silenced
Cast: Park Bo Young, Uhm Ji Won, Park So Dam, Kong Ye Ji
Plot: Back in 1938, when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule, Joo-Ran is transferred to an all-girl's boarding school in Keijyo (old name of Seoul). The principal there exhibits exemplary behavior to all of the students, but she ends up showing her darker side to Joo-Ran, who gets close to knowing the school's biggest secret. The girl learns of another student with the same name and she tries to figure out the hidden stories that happened at the girl students' dormitory.
Spellbound
Cast: Son Ye Jin, Lee Min Ki, Park Chul Min, Kim Hyun Sook, Lee Mi Do
Plot: Ever since she was young, Yoo Ri, has had the unnatural ability to see ghosts, and when they do appear, unexpected things occur to the people around her. Yoo Ri chooses to isolate herself from the outside world but is approached by a street magician named Jo Goo, who offers her a job in his show. One year passes, and Yoo Ri ends up playing a part in the magician’s horror-themed act,in which she plays a ghost in a closet. When eventually Yoo Ri opens up to Jo Goo about her tragic and lonely life, things start to change for the both of them.
The Wailing
Cast: Kwak Do Won, Hwang Jung Min, Jun Kunimura, Chun Woo Hee, Kim Hwan Hee
Plot: Within a seemingly peaceful village, a plague of mysterious & violent deaths suddenly take place. The police conclude poisonous wild mushrooms are the cause of the deaths. Police Officer Jong-Goo hears a rumor from a coworker about a mysterious Japanese man living nearby. The rumor fingers the Japanese man as the man causing these mysterious & violent deaths. Jong-Goo, while on duty, meets Moo-Myeong. She tells Jong-Goo that she saw the Japanese man where the last deaths took place. Jong-Goo's doubts about the man begin to waver.
Jong-Goo's daughter Hyo-Jin then comes down with the crazed symptoms similar to what the other villagers had before their deaths. Jong-Goo becomes desperate. He heads out into the mountains to find the old Japanese man's home. Meanwhile, his mother-in-law calls in a shaman, Il-Gwang, to perform an exorcism on Hyo-Jin. Death lingers in the air.
A Tale of Two Sisters
Cast: Im Soo Jung, Moon Geun Young, Yum Jung Ah, Kim Kap Soo
Plot: Soo-Mi and Su-Yeon return home after an extended illness and hospital stay. Things have not been the same since their mother passed away. Their return is welcomed by their stepmother Eun-Joo. It’s evident that Soo-Mi, the older and stronger of the two, isn’t afraid to speak her mind when it comes to their family troubles. Su-Yeon is more timid and wary of their stepmother and looks to Soo-Mi for help. Continually picked on and harassed by their stepmother, the two have no choice but to endure the relationship for their father’s sake. Soo-Mi promises Su-Yeon that she will never let their stepmother beat them again. Unexplainable things start to occur at the house. Something has changed, no one knows what it is, but the sisters can feel it.
APT
Cast: Go So Young, Kang Sung Jin, Jang Hee Jin, Park Ha Sun
Plot: A young woman, who lives in an old apartment suburban of Seoul, finds herself amused observing opposite side apartments. One day, she finds out that the lights of some houses on the opposite apartments kept being turned off at the very same time. She concluded that this weird happening is somehow related to those mysterious serial deaths. She begins to act to figure out the mystery and becomes deeply involved.
Dramas
White Christmas
Cast: Baek Sung Hyun, Kim Young Kwang, Lee Soo Hyuk, Kwak Jung Wook, Hong Jong Hyun, Esom, Kim Woo Bin, Sung Joon, Jung Suk Won, Kim Sang Kyung, Lee El
Plot: Susin High School, nicknamed "Prison High," is an elite boarding school attended by the top 1% of students in the country. Their stellar marks are the result of constant pressure and a strict punishment system, to the point where students avoid from any activities outside of studying and even study on weekends. Furthermore, their only vacation days are the 8 days from Christmas Eve to the first day of the New Year. During this time, the students and faculty leave the school and the school becomes empty.
However, seven students decided to remain at school on winter break after receiving an anonymous letters stating that someone will die. To accompany them, a teacher is forced to remain at school with them. But on their first night, a psychologist joins them after being involved in a car accident nearby. In addition, because of the snowstorm , the roads are closed and he is forced to spend the winter holiday with them. However, at a time when everyone else is celebrating Christmas Eve, the students realize that the anonymous letters they each received was not the result of a harmless prank; and there is a murderer in their midst.
Master's Sun
Cast: So Ji Sub, Gong Hyo Jin, Seo In Guk, Kim Yoo Ri, Choi Jung Woo, Kim Mi Kyung, L
Plot: Joo Joong-won is the cold and distant CEO of Kingdom, a conglomerate that includes a major department store and hotel. He meets the gloomy Tae Gong-shil, who started seeing ghosts after an accident. Their lives take a new turn as they discover whenever Gong-shil touches Joong-won the ghosts that surround her disappear; after much pleading from Gong-shil to allow her to stay by Joong-won's side in return she must help him recover a fortune that was stolen from him during a kidnapping attempt.
Arang and the Magistrate
Cast: Lee Jun Ki, Shin Min Ah, Yeon Woo Jin, Yoo Seung Ho, Park Jun Gyu, Kwon Oh Jung
Plot: Arang and the Magistrate tells the story of a cynical and not so friendly government official named Eun Oh who wanders the whole nation to look for his mother who disappeared because of his mistake. Eun Oh has the ability of seeing ghosts, so he's used to be bothered by many kind of ghosts. As a result he isn’t afraid of ghosts anymore.
Then Eun On meets a virgin ghost named Arang.Before she became a ghost, Arang was a beautiful girl who was murdered. Arang asks Eun Oh to seek vengeance for her death and Eun Oh tries to appease her request.
Vampire Prosecutor
Cast: Yeon Jeong Hun, Lee Young Ah, Lee Won Jong, Jang Hyun Sung
Plot: Prosecutor Min Tae-Yeon is bitten by somebody he doesn't know and becomes a vampire. Tae-Yeon rejects the life of a vampire and he survives by drinking the blood of dead people and still lives as a righteous prosecutor .
Tae-Yeon also uses his new found abilities as a vampire to prosecute powerful persons normally thought above the law. A mysterious case then occurs and the evidence points to a vampire as the perpetrator. Tae-Yeon now knows that he is not the only vampire. He also ponders why he became a vampire and what truths may lie behind their motives.
Oh My Ghostess
Cast: Park Bo Young, Jo Jung Suk, Kim Seul Gi, Im Joo Hwan, Park Jung Ah
Plot: Na Bong-Sun works as an assistant chef. Because of her timid personality and low self-esteem, she doesn't have any friends. Since she was a child, she has been able to ghosts because of her shaman grandmother. One day, she becomes possessed by seductress ghost Shin Soon-Ae.
Kang Sun-Woo is a star chef. Na Bong-Sun has a secret crush on him. He is good looking and confident as a chef. Even though he is popular with women, he has yet to get over his ex-girlfriend. He begins to notice Na Bong-Sun after her sudden change.
Joseon X-Files
Cast: Kim Ji Hoon, Lim Jung Eun, Jo Hee Bong, Kim Kap Soo
Plot: In this Joseon-era alternate history strange, possibly alien phenomena are secretly recorded by people within the government. Inspector Kim Hyung-Do finds himself working with this group as he hopes to uncover the truth that led to his mentor's death. While he eschews superstition and seeks logical, realistic explanations fellow investigator Heo Yoon-Yi approaches each case with an open mind and secrets of her own.
Sources: AsianWiki 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 MyDramaList 1 2 3 4 5 Wikipedia 1
I personally hate horror movies and have only seen one of the listed movies, so thank you giriboy and sunsetsbaby for some suggestions. Omona, what are your favorite scary or supernatural movies or dramas? Drop any recommendations in the comments below!
Movies
Train to Busan
Starring: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu Mi, Ma Dong Seok, Kim Soo Ahn, Choi Woo Shik, Ahn So Hee
Plot: Seok-Woo is a fund manager in Seoul. He is separated from his wife and lives with his daughter Soo-An. Seok-Woo doesn't spend much time with his daughter or show affection to her. On the night before Soo-An's birthday, Soo-An insists on seeing her mother for her birthday. Seok-Woo has no other choice, but to take her to Busan. Early the next morning, they board the KTX train for Busan at Seoul Station.
Before the KTX train leaves Seoul Station, a zombie like girl jumps onto the train. The girl is infected with a horrific virus that is spreading like wildfire. Seok-Woo, Soo-An and the other passengers on the KTX train must now fight for their lives.
I Saw The Devil
Cast: Lee Byung Hun, Choi Min Sik, Jeon Kuk Hwan, Oh San Ha, Kim Yoon Seo, Cheon Ho Jin
Plot: Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. He has committed infernal serial murders in diabolic ways that one cannot even imagine and his victims range from young women to even children. The police have chased him for a long time, but were unable to catch him.
One day, Joo-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief becomes his prey and is found dead in a horrific state. Her fiance Soo-Hyun, a top secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to take bloody vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself to get this monstrous and inhumane killer.
The Silenced
Cast: Park Bo Young, Uhm Ji Won, Park So Dam, Kong Ye Ji
Plot: Back in 1938, when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule, Joo-Ran is transferred to an all-girl's boarding school in Keijyo (old name of Seoul). The principal there exhibits exemplary behavior to all of the students, but she ends up showing her darker side to Joo-Ran, who gets close to knowing the school's biggest secret. The girl learns of another student with the same name and she tries to figure out the hidden stories that happened at the girl students' dormitory.
Spellbound
Cast: Son Ye Jin, Lee Min Ki, Park Chul Min, Kim Hyun Sook, Lee Mi Do
Plot: Ever since she was young, Yoo Ri, has had the unnatural ability to see ghosts, and when they do appear, unexpected things occur to the people around her. Yoo Ri chooses to isolate herself from the outside world but is approached by a street magician named Jo Goo, who offers her a job in his show. One year passes, and Yoo Ri ends up playing a part in the magician’s horror-themed act,in which she plays a ghost in a closet. When eventually Yoo Ri opens up to Jo Goo about her tragic and lonely life, things start to change for the both of them.
The Wailing
Cast: Kwak Do Won, Hwang Jung Min, Jun Kunimura, Chun Woo Hee, Kim Hwan Hee
Plot: Within a seemingly peaceful village, a plague of mysterious & violent deaths suddenly take place. The police conclude poisonous wild mushrooms are the cause of the deaths. Police Officer Jong-Goo hears a rumor from a coworker about a mysterious Japanese man living nearby. The rumor fingers the Japanese man as the man causing these mysterious & violent deaths. Jong-Goo, while on duty, meets Moo-Myeong. She tells Jong-Goo that she saw the Japanese man where the last deaths took place. Jong-Goo's doubts about the man begin to waver.
Jong-Goo's daughter Hyo-Jin then comes down with the crazed symptoms similar to what the other villagers had before their deaths. Jong-Goo becomes desperate. He heads out into the mountains to find the old Japanese man's home. Meanwhile, his mother-in-law calls in a shaman, Il-Gwang, to perform an exorcism on Hyo-Jin. Death lingers in the air.
A Tale of Two Sisters
Cast: Im Soo Jung, Moon Geun Young, Yum Jung Ah, Kim Kap Soo
Plot: Soo-Mi and Su-Yeon return home after an extended illness and hospital stay. Things have not been the same since their mother passed away. Their return is welcomed by their stepmother Eun-Joo. It’s evident that Soo-Mi, the older and stronger of the two, isn’t afraid to speak her mind when it comes to their family troubles. Su-Yeon is more timid and wary of their stepmother and looks to Soo-Mi for help. Continually picked on and harassed by their stepmother, the two have no choice but to endure the relationship for their father’s sake. Soo-Mi promises Su-Yeon that she will never let their stepmother beat them again. Unexplainable things start to occur at the house. Something has changed, no one knows what it is, but the sisters can feel it.
APT
Cast: Go So Young, Kang Sung Jin, Jang Hee Jin, Park Ha Sun
Plot: A young woman, who lives in an old apartment suburban of Seoul, finds herself amused observing opposite side apartments. One day, she finds out that the lights of some houses on the opposite apartments kept being turned off at the very same time. She concluded that this weird happening is somehow related to those mysterious serial deaths. She begins to act to figure out the mystery and becomes deeply involved.
Dramas
White Christmas
Cast: Baek Sung Hyun, Kim Young Kwang, Lee Soo Hyuk, Kwak Jung Wook, Hong Jong Hyun, Esom, Kim Woo Bin, Sung Joon, Jung Suk Won, Kim Sang Kyung, Lee El
Plot: Susin High School, nicknamed "Prison High," is an elite boarding school attended by the top 1% of students in the country. Their stellar marks are the result of constant pressure and a strict punishment system, to the point where students avoid from any activities outside of studying and even study on weekends. Furthermore, their only vacation days are the 8 days from Christmas Eve to the first day of the New Year. During this time, the students and faculty leave the school and the school becomes empty.
However, seven students decided to remain at school on winter break after receiving an anonymous letters stating that someone will die. To accompany them, a teacher is forced to remain at school with them. But on their first night, a psychologist joins them after being involved in a car accident nearby. In addition, because of the snowstorm , the roads are closed and he is forced to spend the winter holiday with them. However, at a time when everyone else is celebrating Christmas Eve, the students realize that the anonymous letters they each received was not the result of a harmless prank; and there is a murderer in their midst.
Master's Sun
Cast: So Ji Sub, Gong Hyo Jin, Seo In Guk, Kim Yoo Ri, Choi Jung Woo, Kim Mi Kyung, L
Plot: Joo Joong-won is the cold and distant CEO of Kingdom, a conglomerate that includes a major department store and hotel. He meets the gloomy Tae Gong-shil, who started seeing ghosts after an accident. Their lives take a new turn as they discover whenever Gong-shil touches Joong-won the ghosts that surround her disappear; after much pleading from Gong-shil to allow her to stay by Joong-won's side in return she must help him recover a fortune that was stolen from him during a kidnapping attempt.
Arang and the Magistrate
Cast: Lee Jun Ki, Shin Min Ah, Yeon Woo Jin, Yoo Seung Ho, Park Jun Gyu, Kwon Oh Jung
Plot: Arang and the Magistrate tells the story of a cynical and not so friendly government official named Eun Oh who wanders the whole nation to look for his mother who disappeared because of his mistake. Eun Oh has the ability of seeing ghosts, so he's used to be bothered by many kind of ghosts. As a result he isn’t afraid of ghosts anymore.
Then Eun On meets a virgin ghost named Arang.Before she became a ghost, Arang was a beautiful girl who was murdered. Arang asks Eun Oh to seek vengeance for her death and Eun Oh tries to appease her request.
Vampire Prosecutor
Cast: Yeon Jeong Hun, Lee Young Ah, Lee Won Jong, Jang Hyun Sung
Plot: Prosecutor Min Tae-Yeon is bitten by somebody he doesn't know and becomes a vampire. Tae-Yeon rejects the life of a vampire and he survives by drinking the blood of dead people and still lives as a righteous prosecutor .
Tae-Yeon also uses his new found abilities as a vampire to prosecute powerful persons normally thought above the law. A mysterious case then occurs and the evidence points to a vampire as the perpetrator. Tae-Yeon now knows that he is not the only vampire. He also ponders why he became a vampire and what truths may lie behind their motives.
Oh My Ghostess
Cast: Park Bo Young, Jo Jung Suk, Kim Seul Gi, Im Joo Hwan, Park Jung Ah
Plot: Na Bong-Sun works as an assistant chef. Because of her timid personality and low self-esteem, she doesn't have any friends. Since she was a child, she has been able to ghosts because of her shaman grandmother. One day, she becomes possessed by seductress ghost Shin Soon-Ae.
Kang Sun-Woo is a star chef. Na Bong-Sun has a secret crush on him. He is good looking and confident as a chef. Even though he is popular with women, he has yet to get over his ex-girlfriend. He begins to notice Na Bong-Sun after her sudden change.
Joseon X-Files
Cast: Kim Ji Hoon, Lim Jung Eun, Jo Hee Bong, Kim Kap Soo
Plot: In this Joseon-era alternate history strange, possibly alien phenomena are secretly recorded by people within the government. Inspector Kim Hyung-Do finds himself working with this group as he hopes to uncover the truth that led to his mentor's death. While he eschews superstition and seeks logical, realistic explanations fellow investigator Heo Yoon-Yi approaches each case with an open mind and secrets of her own.
Sources: AsianWiki 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 MyDramaList 1 2 3 4 5 Wikipedia 1
I personally hate horror movies and have only seen one of the listed movies, so thank you giriboy and sunsetsbaby for some suggestions. Omona, what are your favorite scary or supernatural movies or dramas? Drop any recommendations in the comments below!