Korean horror is the term given to horror films made as part of the cinema of Korea. Korean horror features many of the same motifs, themes, and imagery as Japanese horror. Korean horror has been around since the early years of Korean cinema; however, it was not until the late 1990s that the genre began to experience a renewal. Many of the Korean horror films tend to focus on the suffering and the anguish of characters rather than focus on the explicit "blood and guts" aspect of horror.
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The female ghost
The expression, "When a woman is full of resentment, she will bring frost in May and June" may offer some explanation for the popularity of the female ghost that is often featured in Korean horror films. Her deep feeling of resentment is cold enough to freeze the hot air that occurs during those months. The woman's vengeance is a thing to be feared, thus becoming the object of horror. In the past women have been oppressed and ignored for so long that the horrific rage and vengeance we see in the films have been brought upon by the many years of repression. Another belief is that when a female dies before she gets to enjoy the pleasures of marriage and having children, she will not be able to move on to the "other side". Instead she becomes trapped between the two worlds and causes horrific phenomena.
2010 Korean Horror Film Festival
The 2010 Korean Horror Film Festival was held in Mandaluyong City in the Philippines at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall from October 27–31 and through November 2–4. It worked together with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, The Korean-Philippine Foundation, Inc. and Shangri-La Plaza. With free admission attendees were treated to some of the best and highly successful Korean horror films. Films such as Arang, The Red Shoes, M, Hansel and Gretel, Ghost, Paradise Murdered, and Epitaph were among the films showcased.
Influential Korean horror films
Whispering Corridors (1998) is seen as the film to have sparked the explosion of the Korean horror genre. It centers on the theme of school girls and the mysterious "other side", but also offered criticism of the Korean school system.
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) is the highest grossing Korean horror film so far and the first to be screened in America. It was remade in America in 2009 as The Uninvited. Based on a folk tale titled Janghwa Hongreyon-jon, it tells the story of two sisters dealing with a controlling stepmother and a passive father.