With Halloween being less than two weeks away, I’ve decided to share with you thirteen of my favourite Korean horror films over the next thirteen days. Horror might not be everyone’s favourite genre of movies, but what better way is there to spend Halloween then watching something supernatural or super gory? So stick with me for the next thirteen days, and stay tuned for my recommendations of the creepy, the scary and the downright horrific.
My first recommendation is a film that I only watched quite recently, which is Midnight F.M.
This film falls firmly into my favourite category of horror film, which is real-life thriller, and by that I mean it has no supernatural aspects to it whatsoever.
This film is about Sun Young (Soo Ae) who is a DJ for a midnight show on a radio station. She had decided to leave her job to be able to take her young daughter out to America to be able to have heart surgery. On her last day of work, her sister babysits the children at Sun Young’s apartment, and during the radio show Sun Young receives a phone call from a man named Dong Soo (Yoo Ji Tae) who is her fan. Things start to turn from bad to worse when he reveals that he is in her apartment and has taken her family hostage, and if she doesn’t meet his demands then he will kill them. He wants her to play the list of songs that he wants to hear on the radio show and say the things he wants to hear, and the film follows Sun Young as she struggles to fulfil the demands he gives her with little instructions, knowing that if she gets it wrong, her family will die.
I recommend this film for quite a few reasons, but mostly because I loved how interesting Dong Soo was as a character; I tend to find the bad guys in films can be a little 2-dimensional, but the events that have led Dong Soo up to this point are interesting and incredibly thought provoking. I also recommend this film because from the moment Sun Young receives that terrible first phone call, the film is fraught with tension and terror that never lets up, and keeps you on the edge of your seat until the credits roll.
So, if you’re not a true horror fan and prefer not to watch something that will give you nightmares, then Midnight F.M. would be a good choice for a Halloween film; nothing supernatural and only moderate gore and violence. The situation in the film is a chilling thought and scary while you’re watching it, but not enough to make you sleep with the light on.
I hope you check out this film, and be sure to check back tomorrow for another recommendation! Have you already seen it? Are you planning on checking it out? Do you have any Korean Horror recommendations? Let us know below!
