February 1, 2016

Last week, we looked at 6 Korean films that are currently streaming on Netflix Instant and it seems that all of you, our devoted readers really responded strongly to that piece. Granted, I understand part of the appeal is the convenience of Netflix. Everyone has it, everyone uses it and everyone’s always looking for something good to watch on there.

If you enjoyed any or all of our 6 previous recommendations, then I’d like to make 5 more suggestions. These will require a little bit of work to track down, either via Amazon (they’re all available to rent on VOD on there) or if you still have a Netflix disc exchange account you can add them to your queue, but if you’re one of those that enjoys that thrill of the hunt, you will be richly rewarded when you do finally sit down to experience the following.

And if you thought the last batch was a bunch of sicko movies, you haven’t seen anything yet. For whatever reason, the cinema coming out of South Korea these days has a way of reaching into your chest, grabbing for your goddamned heart and squeezing the shit out of it. Brace yourselves. Here are 5 more soul-crushing Korean films not on Netflix Instant.

BEDEVILLED (2010)

Look at that image!!!! (And our featured image too!) Think of this one as a brutally heart wrenching drama that goes off the rails and gets really, really bloody. Hae-won (Seong-won Ji) is a woman that needs a quick escape from Seoul City after witnessing a murder. She retreats to the remote tranquil island of Moodo, where as a little girl she once visited her grandparents. Her childhood best friend Bok-nam (Yeong-hie Seo) is still there and never left. In staying there her whole life, she’s become a desperate woman taken advantage of by most everybody in the small community. Her husband passes her around town to all the other men (who rape her repeatedly), the elderly women force her into doing all their hard labor and her quality of life is generally horribly inhumane. The only bright spot is her little boy. She begs Hae-Won to help her escape, something she’s never been able to accomplish on her own, but her friend is completely indifferent. Once the townspeople push her too far, let’s just say she reaches for that sickle and begins acting out every fantasy we imagine ourselves as we endure her pain. This is a harsh movie, but effective. Oh and Hae-won is pretty much the worst best friend EVER.

MEMORIES OF MURDER (2003)

If you’re a fan of David Fincher’s ZODIAC or just fascinated by the facts surrounding that still-unsolved true crime case, then you will love MEMORIES OF MURDER. From Joon Ho Bong, the director of THE HOST and SNOWPIERCER comes this epic crime drama based upon the true story of Seoul’s first serial killer, known as the Hwaseong serial murders. He is often thought of as the Korean Zodiac killer. In real life, he murdered 10 women between 1986 and 1991. The movie version begins in October of 1986 after the first murder when two detectives are brought together to work on the case. Along the way, a lot of questionable tactics are employed to arrest a potential suspect – including beating confessions out of people. Then there’s the mishandling and inexperience with DNA evidence back in 1986. Hell, if you’re addicted to MAKING A MURDERER, you might see parallels in just how desperate the law enforcement are to nail a guilty party to their assigned crime. But of course, over the course of the movie, the killer strikes again and the detectives are no closer to catching him. That’s as much as you should know going in, because no doubt once the end credits roll, you’ll be on the Internet for a while investigating the details of the actual case!

THE YELLOW SEA (2010)

This 2010 thriller comes to us from Hong-jin Na, the director of CHASER and it’s reminiscent in tone to Park Chan-wook’s masterpiece SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE. Gu-nam (Ha Jung-woo) is a down-on-his-luck taxi driver in Yanji City, a region between North Korea, China and Russia. His wife and child have fled for work in South Korea and he’s desperate to reunite with them. He also has tremendous gambling debts. A local gangster gives him an option – go to South Korea and fulfill a hit on a businessman and he’ll be paid enough to put his family back together. But after staking the target and meticulously planning his execution, a series of completely unexpected events happen that put everything into turmoil. It’s the kind of colossal fuck up that will keep you glued to the screen until the very last frame. Oh yeah, and if you didn’t think a bone could be used as a weapon, well then give this one a watch!

MOTHER (2009)

Oof. This is another devastating story in line with MAKING A MURDERER and the second film on this list from director Joon Ho Bong who also helmed MEMORIES OF MURDER. A lonely widow in South Korea who sells medical herbs to the townsfolks has nothing of substance in her life anymore except for her dim-witted son. When a high school girl is found murdered, the outraged townspeople demand justice of the police. Under tremendous scrutiny and pressure from the community and only armed with circumstantial evidence, the police arrest Do-joon, the widow’s shy, awkward and mentally disabled son. But could this boy with low mental capacity actually be the culprit? Or are the police framing him to satisfy the town and take a murder investigation off their board? This is the story of a Mother that will stop at nothing to prove her boy’s innocence. And the journey to do so is as heart breaking and frustrating as you’d expect.

THIRST (2009)

Last but certainly not least is the odd, yet unique vampire film from Park Chan-wook, the man who gave us OLDBOY. A dying priest undergoes an experimental blood transfusion which inflicts him with vampirism. Despite being a man of the cloth and having desire to drink blood, he also yearns deeply for Tae-ju (Ok-bin Kim), his best friend’s shy wife that claims to be in an abusive relationship. This love triangle sets off a chain of events and forces the priest to make his lusted woman a vampire as well. Only she takes to the monstrous aspects of their newfound marital status a little too easily. It’s a long movie, but what I love about it is it’s a fully realized story. The characters we meet in the first few minutes of the movie barely resemble the characters we see by the end. It also shows the full extent of a genuine romance, one that can burn hard and bright with passion and just as easily turn sour over time. Vampirism aside, it’s a pretty brutal relationship drama. While even the most devoted of Park Chan-wook fans are divided on THIRST, it’s one of my favorites, not just of his films but one of my favorite vampire movies of the last decade.

Seek these out by any means. Maybe double check to make sure there’s ice cream in the freezer. You’ll need a little pick-me-up to make you feel better once these films are over!