Korean thriller movies have proven to be their own genre, similarly to Japanese horror. From the beginning of contemporary Korean film history, directors like Kim Ki-young made movies like The Housemaid.
Park Chan-wook’s movie Oldboy is not for those with weak hearts. It was the second movie in his Vengeance Trilogy, and while it toned down the senseless murder present in the first movie, it is still pretty intense.
Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik star in the movie I Saw the Devil, a violent movie about revenge. A bus driver (Choi) murders a woman on the side of the road, which turns out to be a big mistake.
Park Chan-wook’s Thirst unfolds like a fever dream. A Catholic priest (Song Kang-ho) volunteers to become a patient for a trial vaccine, and he shows miraculous healing abilities.
Originally based on a Haruki Murakami short story titled “Barn Burning,” Lee Chang-dong’s Burning stars Yoo Ah-in, Steven Yeun, and newcomer Jeon Jong-seo in a slow burn.
The Villainess premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2018 and, per Soompi, received a four-minute standing ovation at the festival.
The 2008 action thriller The Chaser was inspired by a real-life serial killer active around Seoul, as outlined by Koreaboo.
Bong Joon-ho’s masterpiece Parasite is well-known and well-loved around the world for a variety of reasons. It does not start as a thriller, but slowly spirals into that territory as the plot exposes and twists in on itself.