November Premieres

It feels like so long since I’ve just done a regular post that’s not a review! November has a lot of dramas premiering, and a lot that I’m personally excited for. It’s going to be a heavy watching month for me, especially with some other dramas that premiered during October.

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-The supernatural romance Thai drama Prajan See Daeng will be out today, the 1st, about a boy born cursed to turn into a tiger-man during the red moon, and his journey to try to find the only way he can break the curse.

-Not a new movie, but the 2020 Korean horror The Closet will be available on Shudder today. The film follows a widower who enlists the help of an exorcist to help him find his daughter after she goes missing.

-On the 3rd the cdrama Wisher premieres on iQIYI. The sci-fi thriller tells the story of a mysterious organization that creates an app that allows users to make a wish - if they do the assigned task. It is part of iQIYI’s Light On Series, iQIYI produced dramas that are in the suspense genre.

-Also coming out on the 3rd in celebration of Apple TV+ being available in South Korea is the sci-fi thriller Dr. Brain - the first original Korean drama on the platform. It’s director/writer is Kim Jee Woon, known for being the director of the movie I Saw the Devil. I have high hopes for this one.

-While Dead and Beautiful may not be a by-the-book definition of an Asian horror film, it does follow an almost entirely Asian cast and is partially set in Taipei. A group of friends bored with their socialite lives go out for the night…and end up vampires. It’s been making the rounds at film festivals but will be streaming on Shudder starting on the 4th.

-Another older movie, the 2014 Japanese movie The World of Kanako will drop on Shudder on the 5th. The movie follows a former detective who uncovers a secret about his teenage daughter.

-Kdrama Happiness begins on the 5th about a deadly virus that spreads throughout a city, and the apartment building that has been sealed off from it. It looks super interesting, and the team behind it is really good.

-The webdrama Find Me if You Can will premiere on the 9th about a four-way love…square? And a stalker who is obsessed with the main female lead. The drama will star almost the entirety of the kpop group ASTRO.

-Korean horror drama Hellbound drops all of its episodes on Netflix on the 19th. The drama is about people being able to hear predictions on how they’ll die and are able to see the death angel in front of them. Director/writer Yeon Sang Ho is known for Train to Busan. This is one of my top dramas this month.

-Taiwanese drama Light the Night will be streaming part one on Netflix on the 26th. Set in 1988 Taipei Red Light District about the lives, love, and struggles of the club madam, and their hostess ladies.

-On the 27th the kdrama One Ordinary Day premieres. The drama is about the murder of a woman, and the person in jail who might not be the culprit. It is a remake of the BBC series Criminal Justice.

No Date:

-There hasn’t been much movement or information on the kdrama Goosebumps after some casting news, so there might be a good chance this one won’t be out this month. It’s directed by Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum director Jung Bum Shik so I’m interested and hopeful it’ll appear.

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31 Days of Asian Horror: Dearest Sister (2016)

Today is a freebie day on my schedule, and I purposely looked for something a bit different to add to my mix. While browsing Shudder, Dearest Sister has always caught my eye but never realized that it was a horror film Laos. It seemed like the perfect time to give it a try. I went into the movie knowing absolutely nothing about it and was pleasantly surprised. The premise of the movie is fairly simple and it spends a large portion of the film building up to the main story. A village girl named Nok (Amphaiphun Phimmapunya) travels to Vientiane, the home of her rich cousin Ana (Tot Vilouna) who has begun to lose her eyesight at the request of her family and Ana’s husband. Nok is there to provide support for her as she copes with her eyesight diminishing, and it’s there she finds out that Ana can see ghosts and is tormented by them.

I want to keep most of the review spoiler-free because I really want people to watch this film with very little knowledge like I did. Because of that, it’s hard to fully deep dive into the movie but a do think it’s necessary. The plot takes some time to build, and a lot of the movie we are spent not knowing what is going on, and it sets up a nice slow burn that really doesn’t start to ramp up until the end of the movie. I didn’t know where the movie was taking me, and by the end it wasn’t what I thought. I really enjoyed the payoff at the end, though, and found that even with the slow build and in the quieter non-horror moments I was still heavily engrossed by the relationship between the two. Nok comes in as almost a stranger to Ana. They are opposites in all regard, Nok living a life of poverty rooted in spirituality and Ana a life of luxury. The way the two interact throughout the movie was intriguing and really came to a head at the end. The movie is much more than the aspect of Ana seeing the ghosts, and more about how change and money can affect people - whether good or bad. The movie focuses its creepiness more towards the tension and atmosphere of the tone, thus the horror is relatively low. I think this would be a good movie for those who may be a bit more scared, or don’t want to watch something gorier or that focuses on jump scares.

When I was researching the movie after watching, I found that the story was directed by Laotian American director Mattie Do. She is not only the first to direct a Lao horror film, but she is also the country's only female director. Do started her horror journey back in 2012 with the low-budget film, Chanthaly. I also ended up watching Chanthly directly after watching Dearest Sister because I was intrigued by her work. While for a lot of the production you can feel the low budget, the movie overall had a nice backbone and for a first-time direction (that was shot at Do’s home and on a $5,000 budget) I thought the story was good. The movie can be found on Do’s YouTube channel, with subs, here. It’s already hard being a female in the industry, and to top that off with being the only one in your country it puts more pressure on her. She’s a pioneer for that, and I look forward to watching more of her work.

Senses of Cinema has a great interview with Do that talks more about her background, her creative process, and her thoughts on her position as a director that is putting Laos on the map as a contender for film. I highly suggest checking it out.

Dearest Sister is currently streaming on Shudder.

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Current Korean Horror on Shudder

It is rainy and gloomy and the perfect day to stay in and watch some movies. If you aren’t into horror you might not know of the horror streaming service Shudder. It has a good library of movies, tv shows, and documentaries from all over the world. While they don’t have the biggest international section, they do have some movies to offer. Just like Netflix, their movies do cycle on and off the site and some of the movies are exclusive to Shudder. I decided to round up all of what they have for Korean movies, and list them here so you have a good idea of what they do offer. I’m not affiliated with the site (I mean, if they want me to be I wouldn’t say no…), I just genuinely like the service and have been subscribed for about a year and haven’t regretted it. If you are looking for a streaming platform and are into horror/thriller content I suggest giving it a try, they always have free trials.

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-0.0MHz (2019) Directed by: Sun Dong Yoo
Starring: Jung Eun Ji, Lee Sung Yeol. Additional credits can be found here.

“The film centers around a group that are part of a club that analyzes the Supernatural. The group enthusiastically visit a house that is believed to be haunted. Once there they set out to test if ghosts can be contacted once human brain waves reach a frequency of 0.0Mhz.”

-Lingering (2020) Directed by: Yoon Eun Kyoung
Also known as Hotel Lake / 호텔 레이크
Starring: Lee Se Young, Park Ji Young, Park Hyo Joo. Additional credits can be found here.

“When Yoo-mi searches out her mother's friend at a hotel to drop off her younger sister, she falls into unexpected mystery and horror.”

-Metamorphosis (2019) Directed by: Kim Hong Sun
Also known as Transformation / 변신
Starring: Bae Sung Woo, Sung Dong II, Jang Young Nam. Additional credits can be found here.

“An evil spirit that changes faces infiltrates one family placing one brother in danger while the other tries to save him.”

-Monstrum (2018) Directed by: Huh Jong Ho
Also known as Strange Object / 물괴
Starring: Kim Myung Min, Kim In Kwon, Lee Hye Ri. Additional credits can be found here.

“The plague has taken over Joseon, and fear runs rampant in the streets. When rumors of a vicious beast roaming Mount Inwangsan–called “Monstrum” by terrified masses–begin to spread, fear turns into panic.”

-Seoul Station (2016) Directed by: Yeon Sang Ho
Starring: Seung Ryong Ryu, Shim Eun Kyung, Joon Lee. Additional credits can be found here.

“Several groups of people try to survive a zombie pandemic that unleashes itself in downtown Seoul.”

-The Wrath (2018) Directed by: Young Sun Yoo
Also known as Woman’s Wail / 여곡성
Starring: Seo Young Hee, Son Na Eun, Lee Tae Ri. Additional credits can be found here.

“This period thriller pits two Joseon women against each other when a tragedy befalls a family of three sons who all die on their wedding day.”

-Train to Busan (2016) Directed by: Yeon Sang Ho
Also known as 부산행
Starring: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu Mi, Ma Dong Seok. Additional credits can be found here.

“Seok Woo, his estranged daughter Soo An, and other passengers become trapped on a KTX train (high-speed train) heading from Seoul to Busan during a disastrous virus outbreak in South Korea.”

-Peninsula (2020) Directed by: Yeon Sang Ho
Also known as 반도
Starring: Kang Dong Won, Lee Jung Hyun, Lee Re. Additional credits can be found here.

“Peninsula takes place four years after the zombie outbreak in Train to Busan. The Korean peninsula is devastated and Jung Seok, a former soldier who has managed to escape overseas, is given a mission to go back and unexpectedly meets survivors.”

-Warning: Do Not Play (2019) Directed by: Kim Jin Won
Also known as Blackout / 암전
Starring: Seo Ye Ji, Jin Seon Kyu, Ji Yoon Ho. Additional credits can be found here.

“A mystery horror flick about a director wannabe, Mi-jeong, who seeks the movie that is claimed to have been made by a ghost. During her search she meets Jae-hyeon, the real director of the movie.”

-Zombie for Sale (2019) Directed by: Lee Min Jae
Also known as The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale / 기묘한 가족
Starring: Jung Jae Young, Kim Nam Gil. Additional credits can be found here.

“One day, a strange man appears in the country village. Due to him, Man Deok’s family and the entire village is shaken.”

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