The 35 Scariest Non-English Movies of All Time
English-speaking fans of Japanese horror have known for decades that the genre exports particularly well. Scary films often rely on shocking visuals, meaning that if done well, the horror loses little power along the way. And just as often, the horror stories unique to the people of a particular country are simply nightmares that the rest of us have never had. (Before The Grudge and The Ring came to America, I thought long, black, wet hair was scary only in the sense that it might clog the drain. But now…)
Horror films remind us that no matter what language we speak or what country we are born in, we are all the same inside: red, soft and very vulnerable. But if you want to explore new types of terror, you may have to look beyond your cultural background. Here are some great horror films that just happened to not be made in English, each of which brings a distinct regional horror flavor to your living room.
Audition (1999)
Language: Japanese
Director Takashi Miike has established himself as one of the leading horror directors of the 21st century, and Audition is a perfect example of his twisted, deeply unsettling style. Here, he follows widower Shigeharu (Ryo Ishibashi, who later appeared in the first two American Grudge films) as he re-enters the world of dating by concocting a fake movie and holding auditions to play his new crush. Having gotten along with the quiet Asami, he maintains a relationship. He doesn’t do it very well. At all.
Where to watch: Tubi, digital rental via Apple TV.
Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)
Language: Spanish
Blending fantasy with horror, Mexican writer-director Issa Lopez’s tale of children displaced and orphaned by Mexico’s drug war deftly tells a story that’s heartbreakingly believable even in our world, where the supernatural is less scary than the actions of greedy and reckless adults. Tenoch Huerta, later Namor in Wakanda Forever , plays a treacherous crime lord.
Where to watch: Shudder, AMC+, digital rental.
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Language: Korean
Part of the wave of South Korean horror that scared the world in the early 2000s, this Kim Ji-woon shocker is visually stunning, even if the plot is a little opaque. This is a dark, Shakespearean story about a South Korean teenager who is reunited with his beloved sister after a stay in a mental hospital. Their father has a new wife, which creates an uncomfortable situation in the house, but not nearly as uncomfortable as the strange, terrifying, and sometimes absurd events that torment the family. Like some of the best horror films, it all comes back to the cruel family secrets that drove the sisters apart in the first place.
Where to stream: AMC+
Good Lady (2021)
Language: braid
In need of a place to live, Tsidi (Chumisa Xhosa) brings her daughter to temporarily live in the house in Cape Town where her once-estranged mother Mavis (Nosipho Mthebe) worked as a maid for decades. The good lady, an elderly white woman, is now bedridden and infirm, but Mavis remains completely devoted to her – a reminder to Tsidi of her childhood, when she took a backseat to the madam’s family. Naturally, the setting of the house becomes increasingly unsettlingly creepy, with effective horror elements masking the examination of class and racial divisions in contemporary South Africa.
Where to watch: Shudder, AMC+, digital rental.
Eyes Without a Face (1960)
Language: French
The producers were eager to tap into the horror market, but, wanting to avoid problems with European and local censors, director Georges Franju was cautioned against including all the blood and gore the story might otherwise require. It’s for the best. The insidious, suggestive tone of “Eyes Without a Face” stands in stark contrast to its bleak synopsis: After his daughter’s disfiguring accident, a plastic surgeon is determined to give her a face transplant that will restore her to his idea of beauty. The problem, as you understand, is where to get the face. It could have been a chaotic Bela Lugosi film, but Franju gives it a poetic style that turns it into a work of art (it’s even part of the Criterion collection).
Where to watch: Max , The Criterion Channel, digital rental.
Salum (2021)
Languages: French and Wolof.
At first, Congolese director Jean Luc Herbulot appears to be making an action film; the story of mercenaries fleeing a coup looks to the world like an American war thriller from the 1980s. However, it soon becomes clear that this is something original, an easy mixture of genres and styles, and events take a terrible turn when the group crashes in a remote and eerie part of Senegal. Hunters become hunted, but underlying it all are interesting questions about power and the possibility of redemption.
Where to watch: Shudder, AMC+, digital rental.
Suspiria (1977)
Language: Italian
Dario Argento’s giallo masterpieces are almost entirely atmospheric, combining glossy filmmaking with buckets of gore until there’s little difference between the beautiful and the terrible. Arguably the director’s masterpiece, Suspiria follows talented dancer Susie Bannion (Jessica Harper) who enrolls as a student at a prestigious dance academy in Berlin, where she excels, at least until accusations begin to surface. in witchcraft. (The English remake starring Tilda Swinton is also worth watching, but not before you’ve digested the original.)
Where to watch: Kanopy
The Ring (1998)
Language: Japanese
Hideo Nakata’s original The Ring , an adaptation of Koji Suzuki’s novel, was the film that brought J-horror back to roar, launching a franchise that now spans continents and decades (including eight Japanese films, two television series, three American remakes, a Korean remake, and a couple video games). While the thrills have been somewhat dulled by repetition and endless skits, there is no doubt that the image of Sadako rising from her well and through the TV screen remains indelible. The film itself is a smart, creepy supernatural mystery interspersed with some truly “holy crap!” moments of fright.
Where to watch: Kanopy
Funny Games (1997)
Language: German and French
Austrian and German directors developed a reputation for extreme horror in the 1980s and 1990s (see films like Necromantic or Violent Shit ), which I’m sure says something about the European cultural upheaval after the fall of the iron curtain May be. Here, director Michael Haneke tells the story of a couple relaxing by the lake who are terrorized and sadistically tortured by two completely deranged young men, one of whom winks at the camera and occasionally narrates the film to remind us that the audience is what we are here to witness debauchery, not a quiet celebration.
Where to watch: Max , The Criterion Channel, digital rental.
Dead Lands (2017)
Language: Maori
New Zealand director Toa Fraser’s action-packed film depicts pre-colonial Maori in the story of a teenager who pursues the chief responsible for the massacre of his tribe into the titular “dead lands”, an area believed to be protected by Taniwa, who will kill anyone who dares enter the area.
Where to watch: Tubi, Crackle, digital rental.
Decoy (2015)
Language: Polish
Agnieszka Smoczynska directs this completely quirky and extremely entertaining rock opera about a pair of mermaids who leave the water and take a job in a Warsaw nightclub. If anyone in your life is crazy about Disney’s new racing-obsessed Little Mermaid , show them this gory, sexually charged version.
Where to watch: Max , The Criterion Channel, digital rental.
Stranger by the Lake (2013)
Language: French
A serial killer film in the style of the erotic thrillers of yore, The Stranger stars Pierre Deladonchamps as Frank, a regular visitor to the nude beach and surrounding woods, popular cruising spots. Frank begins a passionate relationship (meaning: a lot of pretty explicit sex in the woods) with Michel (Christophe Pauw), who Frank later spots drowning someone in a lake. Frank’s obsession with Michel makes him hesitant to reveal what he knows to the police, which becomes an increasingly serious problem given that the murder he witnessed will not be the last.
Where to shout: Digital rental
Lament (2016)
Languages: Korean and Japanese
The elevator says that “Pac” is about a raging extraterrestrial plague that strikes a remote village, causing the locals to experience zombie-like symptoms. It sounds like something we’ve seen before, but director Na Hong-jin orchestrates such deft and wild tonal shifts that the film bears little resemblance to any other film. Beginning as a police procedural involving a somewhat bumbling hillbilly cop, it quickly gives way to something much more memorable before becoming truly unsettling.
Where to watch: Netflix, Tubi, Peacock
Baskin (2015)
Language: Turkish
With old-school Italian giallo style, Turkish writer-director Can Evrenol builds a surreal, nightmarish and bloody third act from a cunning and deliberately deliberate introduction. A group of cops are drawn to a small town (full of locals trying to warn them) and to a building in the middle of nowhere, where things get really weird. The gradual change in tone of the film is so subtle that we are barely aware that we have walked into a bloody trap.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Gluttonous (2017)
Language: French
This is a foreign film! From Canada! Director Robin Aubert does the zombie genre proud, adding a healthy dose of George Romero-style social commentary to his tale of a small Quebec City under siege. Here, zombies have their own society and culture, and the threat they pose is linked to regional history and a variety of cross-cultural issues. Even without that specific context, this is a smart and effective survival thriller.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Veronica (2017)
Language: Spanish
Based on supposedly true events, the film from Spain is filled with creepy atmosphere and old-school chills in the story of a young woman who conjures up evil demons after some ill-conceived Ouija game. Nothing here reinvents the wheel, but the creepy fundamentals are true and there are plenty of valid concerns.
Where to watch: Netflix
Record (2017)
Language: Spanish
A very effective found footage film (one of the best, in fact), Rec follows a reporter on a by-the-numbers ride with the Barcelona fire brigade as they answer a call that leads them to an apartment building where strange things are happening. happen. It’s a zombie-themed movie involving demonic possession, but the real attraction here is the deft cinematography and the sense of geography and place that draws us into this building and makes us feel as trapped and terrified as its inhabitants .
Where to watch: Tubi, digital rental.
Noroi: The Curse (2005)
Language: Japanese
What looks like found footage horror film is actually a fake documentary about a paranormal investigator and her investigation into a series of supernatural occurrences in different parts of Japan. The film methodically advances the investigation, weaving a tapestry of curses, ghosts and demons that could rival The X-Files in complexity. That’s part of the trick, though: the final act feels like a trap has been sprung from which we never have a way out.
Where to stream: Hoopla
Kuroneko (1968)
Language: Japanese
The horrific and macabre tale follows two women, a mother and her daughter-in-law, who are raped and murdered by a squad of samurai, only to be brought back from the dead (with the help of a black cat) to exact brutal revenge. on any samurai foolish enough to succumb to their charm. Thinking about it, the task of destroying the spirits is entrusted to a young warrior: a man who, by the will of fate, is the son and husband of two murdered women.
Where to watch: Criterion Channel.
Martyrs (2008)
Language: French
A bloody torture fest or a reflection on the inevitable scars of trauma and abuse? Almost any film about the so-called “New French Extremes” movement (see also: “High Voltage ”) raises similar questions. Here, a young woman, tortured by a seemingly normal family, seeks revenge as an adult, joined by her friend Anna, who discovers that the Belfond family is using torture to reveal the true nature of the afterlife (or something like that) kind). Not for the faint of heart or stomach, this is still a classic of extreme violence.
Where to watch: Tubi, digital rental via Apple TV.
Train to Busan (2016)
Language: Korean
South Korean director Yeon Sang-ho’s tale of zombies on a runaway train never misses a beat on its emotional core, despite being a bloody action movie. Despite all the violence, its emotional core lies in the story of a workaholic father and his daughter trying to rebuild their relationship after divorce – you know, while staying alive in the midst of a flesh-eating apocalypse. The film would have been great if its human story had taken a backseat, but instead it is a horror and action masterpiece.
Where to watch: Peacock , Tubi, digital rental.
Let the Right One In (2008)
Language: Swedish
This Swedish film, based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, became an instant classic upon its release in 2006, when it became clear that there was still more to be told about cinematic vampires. Here, bullied child Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) befriends neighbor Eli (Lina Leandersson), whose connection to a string of local murders quickly becomes apparent. Disturbing, but somehow impressively insightful.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Peacock , Tubi, digital rental.
Under the Shadow (2016)
Language: Persian
A woman separated from her husband during the Iran-Iraq War is forced to protect her child from mysterious supernatural forces as the bombs continue to fall. Writer-director Babak Anvari’s Under the Shadow explores jinn as a way to cope with the strife and turmoil of war and political conflict, as well as the anxieties of women in repressive societies. The atmospheric film is both a ghost story and a story about women and civilians during the war; every element has its horrors.
Where to watch: Netflix, digital rental.
When Evil Lies (2023)
Language: Spanish
Writer-director Demian Rugna’s surprisingly gritty Argentine production When Evil Lurks is set in a world where demonic possession is common and highly contagious. It’s extremely effective in its practical gore effects, but also works by humanizing its main characters so that when the hammer falls, it completely rips your guts out. Not for the squeamish.
Where to watch: Hulu , Shudder, AMC+, digital rental.
Kwaidan (1964)
Language: Japanese
I love a good horror anthology, and this is a sensual and atmospheric classic of the subgenre. Director Masaki Kobayashi weaves color into every story, be it blood in the snow, the earthy tones of a haunted teahouse, or the jet-black hair that never bodes well in Japanese fairy tales.
Where to watch: Max , The Criterion Channel, digital rental.
The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
Language: Spanish
An early triumph for Guillermo del Toro and a taste of the future, this Spanish-Mexican co-production tells the story of a childhood shattered by conflict (set during the Spanish Civil War, but unfortunately it’s an evergreen story) and is also a spectacularly scary ghost story , which takes place in an orphanage.
Where to watch: Peacock , digital rental
Diabolic (1955)
Language: French
Combining elements of horror and Hitchcockian thrills (director Henri-Georges Clouzot was inspired by Hitchcock, who in turn made Psycho to surpass that film), Diabolik is about a married woman and her husband’s mistress, who both conspired to kill the man and cover up their death. He was the headmaster of a boarding school filled with gossip, and they both have to keep the situation a secret due to a delightfully twisted plot.
Where to watch: Max , The Criterion Channel, digital rental.
May the Devil Take You (2018)
Language: Indonesian
A fairly revealing, but nonetheless incredibly effective story about demonic possession and being very careful what you wish for, featuring a man who sells his soul for wealth and success only to unleash the demonic presence that is planning take it out on the guy’s loved ones in the most terrible ways. If you like demons and body horror, this is for you. The 2020 sequel , May the Devil Take You Too , is almost as good.
Where to watch: Netflix
Treatment (1997)
Language: Japanese
Beginning as a serial killer procedural in the style of Seven , Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s The Cure patiently evolves into something much more ambiguous and disturbing. Cinematically shot and intelligently written, the film represented the coming boom in J-horror.
Where to watch: The Criterion Channel, digital rental.
Gonjiam: The Haunted Asylum (2018)
Language: Korean
The found-footage shocker Gonjiam was incredibly popular in South Korea, and deservedly so: the format is familiar, but it is a particularly effective and well-made example of the subgenre. The key here, as in real estate, is location, location, location: director Jung Bum-sik and the rest of the filmmakers have painstakingly recreated the real-life Gongjiam Psychiatric Hospital in Gwangju, reputedly one of the most haunted places in Korea. . It’s an incredibly bizarre setting for the inevitable demise of a doomed web series team.
Where to watch: Peacock , Tubi, Shudder, Prime Video
Terrified (2017)
Language: Spanish
In a completely normal, ordinary area of Gran Buenos Aires, some very strange nonsense is happening. It starts with strange voices coming from a sink, but quickly escalates into a full-scale invasion from the supernatural realm. That synopsis is pretty standard, but Terrified combines a heightened horror visual style with the sheer ruthlessness of some of the most brutal horror you’ll ever see. The ingredients aren’t necessarily unique, but they’re mixed together so skillfully here that Horror became a mini-phenomenon upon release, scaring the hell out of unsuspecting viewers.
Where to watch: Shutter, AMC+, digital rental.
Viy (1967)
Language: Russian
One of the few horror films to come out of the Soviet Union, Viy is an atmospheric, unnerving and disorienting experience that combines moments of quiet creepiness with truly nightmarish imagery and impressive practical effects. Several seminary students wander drunkenly through the countryside, only to stumble upon and kill someone they believe to be a witch. Khoma, who committed the act, is warned of dire consequences if he refuses to make amends for his guilt by protecting the body from evil spirits for three nights. Everything goes as smoothly as you’d expect.
Where to watch: Tubi
Dream House (2010)
Language: Cantonese
What’s worse than the housing market? Even among the world’s major cities, Hong Kong is a particularly difficult place to buy property, and Hong Kong director Pang Ho Chung has some fun with the idea in the story of a young woman, Lai Sung (Josie Ho), whose dreams of an affordable lifestyle are thwarted again and again. When she finally gets close to her dream apartment, stock speculators abandon the stock market and force prices to rise further: at that moment, she breaks down. Can you blame her?
Where to watch: Digital rental via Apple TV.
La Llorona (2019)
Language: Spanish
Not to be confused with the (funny but unimpressive) The Curse of La Llorona , this Guatemalan film places the legendary Weeping Woman in the context of the family of a barely fictional dictator, the man responsible for the genocide of the indigenous Mayan people in the early 1980s, whose family is haunted by vengeful spirits .
Where to watch: Shudder, The Criterion Channel, digital rental.
M (1931)
Language: German
M was director Fritz Lang’s first sound film, and he immediately immersed himself in it. Other early talkie filmmakers dipped their toes into it, using sound effects and dialogue sparingly, but Lang doesn’t act here, and it’s effective. No police procedural or serial killer drama would owe a debt to M , but this one has something they don’t: Peter Lorre, so brilliant as a killer made even more frightening by his ordinariness, sometimes a miserable life.
Where to watch: Max , The Criterion Channel, digital rental.