10 Korean Zombie Movies You Must Watch

The Guard Post

The Guard Post, a 2008 film, directed by Kong Suchang, opens with Sergeant Major ‘Seong Gyunoh’ leading a team of Korean soldiers on a mission to investigate a guard post located on the border between North and South Korea. Seemingly deserted, the post soon reveal a slew of unexplained dead bodies. The group eventually encounters the lone survivor, who alerts them of a danger lurking, a deadly virus that awaits everyone. Unlike most zombie films, this one has a well-defined plot and well-rounded characters.

Horror Stories

A high school girl (Kim Jiwon) abducted by a killer (Yoo Yeonseok) is forced to tell him four horror stories to stay alive. Amongst the four, Sun and Moon, Fear Plane, Kongji, Patzzi, and Ambulance, the last story revolves around a zombie outbreak in the city where five survivors board an ambulance, but are they all unaffected? Horror Stories was a 2012 release.

Zombie School

Kim Seokjung’s Zombie School, a 2014 release, starring Baek Seobin, Kim Seunghwan, Ha Eunsul, Kim Kyeongrong, Park Jaehoon, Cha Minjee, Seo Joon, and Lee Solgu, is a horror-action film about ‘Chilsung school’ where students team up against the teachers who turn into zombies after being bitten by zombie pigs.  

Seoul Station

The 2016 ‘Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival’ featured Seoul Station, a South Korean animated zombie film written and directed by Yeon Sangho. It acts as a prelude to the film Train to Busan, depicting how the South Korean zombie outbreak began. A young runaway girl must strive to survive in a world that sees her as trash in this film set in and around Seoul Station. ‘Suk Gyu’ is looking for his runaway daughter ‘Hye Sun’ who he discovers is still alive and earns a living as a prostitute. A zombie apocalypse hits Seoul just when he’s about to reunite with her.

Train To Busan

Train To Busan a 2016 horrific zombie-thriller follows a group of terrified passengers stuck inside a blood-soaked bullet train as they try to make their way to a safe zone while battling a countrywide viral outbreak. Gong Yoo, Jung Yumi, Ma Dongseok, Kim Suan, Choi Wooshik, Ahn Sohee, and Kim Euisunge share screen space in the film, which premiered in the ‘Cannes Film Festival”s ‘Midnight Screenings’ segment. Train To Busan is regarded as one of the most successful horror-thriller films of all time.

The Wailing

Often termed as Na Hong Jin’s masterpiece, The Wailing begins with a plague of insanity and continues to do so as a stranger comes into a small village and a mystery illness spreads. Police sergeant ‘Jong Goo’ (Kwak Dowon) is caught in the situation and compelled to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter. Jong and the local police are perplexed by a series of grotesque incomprehensible murders and the killers who all appear to have zombie-like symptoms, crazy, inhuman, bloodthirsty, and demonic. The Wailing was released in 2016.

Rampant

This 2018, South Korean zombie movie directed by Kim Sunghoon blends historical politics with supernatural elements. Prince of Joseon, ‘Lee Chun’ (Hyun Bin) is charged with treason against the court and exiled to a remote place in the country. When he returns, he discovers that the stories of a group of rebels trying to usurp the country are untrue and comes across flesh-eating zombies who run rampant wreaking havoc at night.

The Odd Family: Zombie On sale

Lee Minjae’s South Korean zombie comedy film, The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale is about ‘Hyun Woo’ (Jung Garam) a zombie who surfaces as a result of an illegal human experiment that goes wrong. A Korean family meets Hyun, the zombie, and plans to make a profit out of him, especially after discovering their ‘old’ father’s regained masculinity is a result of the zombie’s bite. Only ‘Hye Gul’ (Lee Sookyung), the youngest daughter in the family, starts liking Hyun and names him “Jjongbie, the pet.” The film was released in 2019 and was well received by the audiences.

Peninsula

In Peninsula (sequel to Train To Busan) a 2020 thriller directed by Yeon Sangho, a former soldier ‘Jung Seok’ (Gang Dongwon) and team set out on a mission to retrieve a truck carrying USD 20 million from the Korean peninsula, now inhabited by zombies. As part of the 25th ‘Busan International Film Festival’, the film was screened in the Panorama section on October 21st, 2020.

Alive

Cho Ilhyung’s Alive, a 2020 release, starring Yoo Ahin and Park Shinhye, is about a city under threat following a zombie outbreak. ‘Joon Woo’ (Yoo Ahin) and ‘Yoo Bin’ (Park Shinhye) struggle to survive in a quarantined residential complex surrounded by those infected with the virus. As the situation spins out of control and all means of communication are cut off, more and more people turn into monsters, with the two leaving no stone unturned to stay alive.