The genre of horror has always succeeded in catching the eyeballs of the viewer. Whether while watching a horror movie people tend to jump off their seat, or bite their nails in excitement or getting scared to death, but they still love watching horror movies. Considering the likeness of people for this genre, over the years, film directors and big studios have been investing hugely in this genre and they are churning out huge profit by intimidating people.
Every years numerous number of horror movies get released, however, all of them do not get the same kind of love and appreciation from people. There are few movies which are being praised and loved by everyone, others are being laughed off or heavily criticized. We have compiled the list of top 10 non hollywood or non-English horror movies that will send shivers down in your spine.
1) Audition – 1999, Japan
Japan is known for making some of the finest horror movies of all time. In fact there should be a separate list for Japanese horror movies. Audition certainly is the cruelest torture horror possible. It is so sadistic that at 2000 Rotterdam Festival one enraged female viewer confronted director Takashi Mike saying ‘you are evil’. This is a love-it-or-hate-it kind of movie. ABSOLUTELY NOT RECOMMENDED FOR WEAK HEARTED ONES!!
2) Ju-on: The Curse
Ju-on is a well known franchise lasting from 1998-2009 and consisting of 6 films of which the 4th and 5th films were remade as The Grudge and The Grudge 2. Now my favorite of the 6 is the 2nd movie as listed above. I was stunned to see how simplified and yet so complexly woven a film can be. Takashi Shimizu made the first film ‘Katasumi and 4444444444’ as a trial project. After some positive responses and encouragement from his mentor Kiyoshi Kurosawa he came up with this – a direct to video release. It became so successful that it made way for next film and formation of franchise.
3) A tale of two sisters – 2003, South Korea
This movie is my all time favorite. If only the scare moments were little more I would’ve ranked this as the greatest without second thought. But this is different kind of horror. This is a slow burner who plays with your emotions. It is known for its twisted characters and slow pace. Many have criticized it for that but it is essential to generate its awesome plot. It is a horror movie with high cinematic values. As a movie it stands head and shoulders above rest 9 in the list. Without doubt the best Korean Horror movie.
4) Shutter – 2004, Thailand
This makes Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom the only ones to have 2 films on the list. Now this is slightly due to personal bias. Nonetheless Shutter deserves to be on this list – again due to sheer no. of scare moments. Compared to Alone the story is better, has the characteristic twisted ending and paved the way for good Thai Horrors for the next decade.
5) Martyrs – 2008, France
In case you are a novice horror fan. There was something called as New French Extremity Movement. This led to french movies which were more bizarre and extreme than ever and someone correctly pointed out were also torture porn. Marty’s is without doubt finest of them all. It is amazingly awesome and I absolutely loved it.
6) The Orphanage: A classic ghost story with a tragic twist. The protagonist is played by the great Belén Rueda.
7) A Serbian Film (2010)
An aging porn star agrees to participate in an “art film” in order to make a clean break from the business, only to discover that he has been drafted into making a pedophilia and necrophilia themed snuff film.
8) The Nameless (Jaume Balaguero, 1999, Spain)
The story revolves around a woman whose daughter went missing in mysterious circumstances. However, she was declared murdered but one day she receives a phone call from someone claiming to be her daughter. She starts investigating the case with an emotionally broken officer and the development in the case will shock you to the death. The movie will scare living shit out of you.
9) Ringu (Hideo Nakata, 1998, Japan)
This is one of the most famous Japanese horror movie of all time. In fact the popularity of this movie could be estimated from the fact that Hollywood remade this movie in 2002 with the title of “Ring”. The movie is based on deadly curse carried by videotape story line.
10) Hypnosis (Masayuki Ochiai, 1999, Japan):
Hypnosis is a well-known horror movie of japan that did not get much reception and fame due to movie Ringu worldwide. However, watching this movie alone would definitely give you goosebumps and scare the shit out of you. The movie is based on a police inspector who investigate the bizarre case of series of suicide in that people commits suicide due to hypnosis.
Article Reference: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-best-horror-movies-2
