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The 30 Best Non-English Language Horror Films ofthe Past 25 Years09 June 2014 | Features, Film Lists, test | by Terek Puckett

Non-English language horror cinema has always been an important part of the genre film landscape but never moreso than the past quarter-century. The American film industry may look at foreign horror films primarily as targets forremakes but non-English language horror is a vital part of a genre that would be severely if not fatally diminished inquality without it.

This article is devoted to live action films only, eliminating excellent animated films like Hirotsugu Kawasaki’sSpriggan (1998, Japan) and Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000, Japan) from consideration.

As a feature films only article, short films were also excluded but all horror fans should seek out the great non-Englishlanguage horror shorts including Nacho Cerda’s Genesis (1998, Spain), Victor Garcia’s El Ciclo and T is for Tiles

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(2003 & 2006, Spain), David Alcalde’s Happy Birthday to You (2006, Spain), Pedro Cristiani’s Deus Irae (2010,Argentina) and Can Evrenol’s Baskin (2013, Turkey) among others. Readers interested in catching up with the worldof international horror shorts films can read this.

Mathieu Kassovitz’s Crimson Rivers (2000, France), Na Hong-jin’s The Chaser (2008, South Korea) and KongkiatKhomsiri’s Slice (2009, Thailand) deserve inclusion in this article as psychopath horror films but were intentionallyexcluded since I previously covered them in my article The 20 Best Neo-Noir Films of the 2000s.

Film writing being the game of informed opinion and personal taste that it is, some readers might be disappointed bythe omission of some of their favorites in this piece such as Takashi Miike’s Audition (1999, Japan), Guillermo DelToro’s The Devil’s Backbone (2001, Spain), Kim Jee-woon’s A Tale of Two Sisters (2003, South Korea), BongJoon-ho’s The Host (2006, South Korea), Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Spain), J.A. Bayona’s TheOrphanage (2007, Spain) and Andre Ovredal’s Trollhunter (2010, Norway).

Note: The films are listed in chronological order by release year and in all but a couple of cases the English languagetitle is used for each entry.

1. Evil Dead Trap (Toshiharu Ikeda, 1988, Japan)

Screenplay by Takashi Ishii

Yes, I can read a calendar. I’ve decided to include a 1988 film in this article because it did not have an official NorthAmerican release until 2000 and it’s a truly underrated horror film. A news crew travels to an abandoned factory toinvestigate a videotaped murder that was delivered to their station. The investigation turns lethal as a killer with asurprising secret starts picking off the crew.

Evil Dead Trap‘s Dario Argento-influenced murder scenes are incredibly stylish and gruesome must-sees. The scriptfor the film was written by manga writer/artist Takashi Ishii who would go on to become a highly accomplishedscreenwriter/director whose credits include the 1995 neo-film noir masterpiece Gonin.

Two follow-up films were made that were sequels in spirit only: Izo Hashimoto’s very disappointing Evil Dead Trap 2(1992) and the little-seen Evil Dead Trap 3: Broken Love Killer (1993) which reunites director Ikeda and screenwriterIshii and delivers much better results than the second installment but fails to reach the deranged heights of theoriginal.


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2. Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (Shusuke Kaneko, 1995, Japan)

Screenplay by Kazunori Ito

3. Gamera: Attack of Legion (1996)

Screenplay by Kazunori Ito

4. Gamera: Revenge of Iris (1999)

Screenplay by Kaneko & Kazunori Ito

A film series reboot does not always signify the absence of genuine inspiration and creativity. This landmark trilogymoves Gamera out of the kids-oriented realm of the early films that began in the 1960s and represents the absoluteapex of the daikaiju subgenre.

One of the advantages these films have is the cohesive nature of having the same director and screenwriter on allthree films. The first film finds the titular creature defending mankind against giant carnivorous avian beasts from theearly film series called Gyaos, the second and most fully satisfying entry pits Gamera against alien insects and thefinal film of the trilogy is marred only by a cliffhanger ending that occurs after an incredibly impressive climactic battlebetween Gamera and the monster Iris.

Director Kaneko went on to make the well-received Godzilla, Mothra & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack(2001) and the very popular but uneven manga adaptations Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name (2006).

5. Cure (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 1997, Japan)

Screenplay by Kurosawa


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Genre cinema lends itself to many “what if” scenarios. What if Alejandro Jodorowsky had actually made his versionof Dune? What if John Milius had made Conan the Barbarian into a trilogy as he had originally intended? The list offascinating possibilities goes on and on. Screenwriter/director Kurosawa’s Cure answers the question “what if AndreiTarkovsky made a horror film about a mass murderer?”.

Kursosawa employs the very slow and deliberate pace that would become his directorial trademark in this story of apolice detective played by frequent Kurosawa collaborator Koji Yakusho investigating a series of bizarre murderswherein the perpetrators appear to have been under the influence of mind-control. Kurosawa asks a lot from theviewer and the challenging experience that is Cure is definitely an atmospheric and rewarding one. Kurosawa wenton to write and direct the apocalyptic favorite Kairo (2001) which was remade badly in America as Jim Sonzero’sPulse (2006).

6. Open Your Eyes (Alejandro Amenabar, 1997, Spain)

Screenplay by Amenabar & Mateo Gil


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I will resist the strong temptation to ask you to forget Cameron Crowe’s horrendous 2001 remake of this film calledVanilla Sky as I’m confident you already have. Eduardo Noriega plays a successful businessman who starts toquestion what is real and what is not after being horribly disfigured in a car accident.

Heavily influenced by the classic Twilight Zone television series, Open Your Eyes is a classic entry in the horror ofaltered reality subgenre and contains one of the most beautiful moments in all of genre cinema. After his life-changingaccident, Eduardo Noriega’s character watches his ex-girlfriend played by Penelope Cruz do a mime act forpassersby in a public park. She strikes a pose and holds it, unmoving as rain starts to fall. Noriega’s characterstands there, a drenched beast watching his lost beauty, his gaze fixed on her as the rain causes her white facialmakeup to drip off.

7. Ringu (Hideo Nakata, 1998, Japan)

Screenplay by Hiroshi Takahashi based on Koji Suzuk i novel

Suzuki’s novel had previously been adapted into a television film but director Nakata’s theatrical version wasenormously successful and influential, helping to ignite the worldwide horror film production explosion of the 2000s


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and spawning countless imitations.

Being one of the most well-known non-English language horror films of all time and the basis for an American remakein 2002, you are certainly already familiar with Ringu’s deadly curse carried by videotape storyline and the film’srightfully famous ending.Nakata re-teamed with screenwriter Takahashi for the uneven Ringu 2 (1999) which despite not coming close to theimpact of the original does feature a fantastic climax wherein a team of scientists disastrously attempts to control thedeadly supernatural force named Sadako.

8. Hypnosis (Masayuki Ochiai, 1999, Japan)

Screenplay by Ochiai & Yasushi Fukuda based on Keis uke Matsuoka novel

A film that was unjustly lost amid the flood of Japanese horror films that followed in the wake of the tremendoussuccess of Hideo Nakata’s Ringu, Hypnosis is the story of a police detective investigating a series of bizarresuicides that may be the result of mind control.

Among other high points including a great opening sequence, Hypnosis delivers a highly memorable and suspensefultake on the orchestra scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). Hypnosis remainsscreenwriter/director Ochiai’s career-best film to date. He wrote and directed the horror film misfire Infection in 2004,directed the ridiculous American remake of the superb 2004 Thai horror film Shutter in 2008 and has a couple ofhorror films in various stages of completion as of this writing.

9. The Nameless (Jaume Balaguero, 1999, Spain)

Screenplay by Balaguero based on the Ramsey Campbel l novel


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A woman whose daughter went missing and was presumed murdered receives a phone call from someone claimingto be the young girl. The woman starts to investigate with the help of an emotionally broken detective who worked onthe original case and a reporter specializing in the paranormal. Incredibly atmospheric with great cinematography byXavi Gimenez, The Nameless is a highly memorable film that helped ignite the worldwide horror film boom of the2000s.

Screenwriter/director Balaguero stumbled a bit with his uneven subsequent supernatural features Darkness (2002)and Fragile (2005) but came roaring back with the great To Let (2006), the contemporary classics Rec (2007) andRec 2 (2009) and the very creepy psychopath film Sleep Tight (2011).

10. Another Heaven (Joji Iida, 2000, Japan)

Screenplay by Iida

The investigation into a disturbing murder by a pair of detectives reveals the perpetrator may not be human inanother overlooked gem in the post-Ringu flood of Japanese horror films. Another Heaven has the feel of The X-Filesbut is much better than either of the milestone American television series’ trips to the big screen.Screenwriter/director Iida went on to make the almost stunningly grim post-apocalyptic film Dragon Head in 2003.


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8 Comments

• •

Richard McLin •

What about 'Audition" or "Devils Backbone"?

• •

thegoddamnbatman •

Nice list, a few are new to me, I'll watch them, thanks!But I feel some asian over-presence and sadly no italians, such as Dario Argento (Suspiria),Lucio Fulci (Zombi 2) and Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust).

• •

Milan Nikoli ć •

You forgot anything from Signore dario Argento, plus a coupple of pretty awesome Serbianhorror movies, like "Leptirica" (The She-Butterfly,1973.), and "Sveto mesto" (A Holy Place,1990.), both masterpieces of Djordje Kadijevic, and the latter based upon a literary classic,Nikolai Gogolj's 1835 short story, "Viy".

• •

Zirev •

I didn't expect 'We Are What We Are' to be here.

• •

Hunter Daniels •

The credibility if the author comes into question when he can't understand the success of the filmHigh Tension and then puts Gamera films on his list

• •

Jose Alberto Hermosillo •

Missing: Guillermo Del Toro's "Cronos" and "The Devil's Backbone". And Dario Argento's"Dracula 3D."

• •

Allister Cooper •

Fascinating, thanks!

• •

Louis Francisco •

Why The Eye (2002) isn't here?


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