Foreign Horror A-Z: My Self-Imposed Challenge

It’s way too easy for me to fall into my comfort zone of schlocky '70s and '80s horror. So for spooky season, I decided to expand my cinema vocabulary by creating an A-Z list of foreign horror movies. From September through October, I sat down and soaked in 26 films from the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Israel, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and Thailand.

The only criteria was to fill out the alphabet, and choose movies I’ve never seen before. I covered a lot of ground in mood and era—release dates spanned from 1916 through 2021, and mood ranged from laughably cheesy to gut-wrenchingly tragic. So come joining me on a trip through the borderless lands of horror!

A: Audition - Japan, 1999

Rating: 6.5/10

Ahh, the days before dating apps. Back then, you had to lure dozens of women into your office under the pretense of an acting audition, and then hope the one you pick is willing to date you! Well, that’s the idea here anyways. This movie takes its sweet time with the build-up, luring us into a false sense of security. Then, bam! It rips the rug out from under us in a shocking, fucked-up finale. Even if you predict part of the ending, director Takashi Miike gives us a reveal that’s disturbing on multiple levels. It’s a great story with no shortage of gore, but my preferences will always be schlocky over realistic.

B: A Bay of Blood - Italy, 1971

Rating: 7/10

Mario Bava delivers the comforting campiness of ‘70s Italian horror movies that I seem to crave. When a rich old lady gets murdered, a cast of characters play a game of deadly politics to gain control of the estate. And since all the characters are pretty goddamn unlikable, you’re not that upset when they get murked. Still, it’s fun to follow along through the web of lies and backstabbing with that wonderful giallo charm. This movie was also a big influence on Friday the 13th, and is considered the godfather of the slasher genre. So that’s reason enough to watch it.

C: Cub - Belgium/Netherlands, 2014

Rating: 7.5/10

How many times have you been bullied out of your campsite by a couple of french-speaking go-kart hooligans? Once is plenty for our protagonists, but the fun doesn’t stop there. There’s even more bullying in their boy scouts troop (boo!) and a homicidal, feral child running loose. Think: The Hills Have Eyes meets Stranger Things… sort of. Overall, it was a really fun sleepaway camp slasher filled with creative kills and some genuinely brutal scenes. I read it as one big allegory for the brutality of bullying and the dangers of toxic masculinity.

Bonus Easter egg: The cop’s ringtone is the Suspiria theme.

D: Demon - Israel/Poland, 2015

Rating: 7/10

This is probably the most unique possession movie I’ve ever seen. It’s not scary so much as a somber slow-burn, thick with metaphor and parallel imagery. Our protagonist hikes up her wedding dress and tries to uncover the horrors of the past, while the rest of her family (almost comically) deny everything, including their son-in-law’s obvious possession. Just crack another bottle of vodka and drink it away, right? Anyways, don’t go into this expecting a fright fest. It’s a study in denial painted on a canvas of gloomy blues, grays, and browns.

E: Evolution - Belgium/France/Spain, 2015

Rating: 5/10

Visually, this movie is a perfect ten. But the story… not so much. Grotesque sea-life imagery washes over constant ambiguity as we try to understand who our child protagonist is, and why he’s on this island. The creepy adults are always giving their kids “medicine” and seem to have malevolent motives behind their parenting decisions. What really struck me about this film is how quiet it is. I can only compare this level of shush-ery to A Quiet Place. As much as I enjoyed being encapsulated by the beautiful cinematography and lack of dialogue, the plot seemed almost purposefully half-baked.

F: Four Flies on Grey Velvet - Italy/France, 1971

Rating: 9/10

I don’t think it gets much better than ‘70s and ‘80s Dario Argento. This murder mystery whodunnit is centered around a professional drummer, so we get a wonderfully jammy blues/jazz rock score from Ennio Morricone. As usual with Argento’s giallos, the camerawork is fluid and playful. First-person POV shots, long panning shots, and gratuitous zooms all contribute to a dynamic viewing experience. One thing I loved about this movie is that even the minor characters are so much fun to watch: the flamboyant private eye, the sleazy coffin salesman, the wacky mailman who’s always on the defense. It’s also just a beautiful time capsule of this incredibly groovy decade.

G: Goodnight Mommy - Austria, 2014

Rating: 5/10

This brutal Austrian film has a crawling slow pace in the first two-thirds before it goes whole hog in the final act. Aside from the blowout finale, the strength of this movie lies in its ability to make you uncertain. It forces you to sit on a fence for a surprisingly long time, and it’s done in subtle, clever ways. There are some truly uncomfortable moments, but overall it didn’t feel like the payoff was worth the drawn-out torture porn.

H: High Tension - France/Italy/Romania, 2003

Rating: 6.5/10

I knew this was a cornerstone of New French Extremity, so I went in expecting intense graphic violence. But it was never torture porn—yay! In between bursts of crazy gore, it definitely lived up to its title by building a thick atmosphere of tense, white-knuckled anxiety. This movie was made in 2003, and it definitely feels like it. The soundtrack, high contrast, and gnarly violence for the sake of shock is pretty indicative of that era. The whole journey was a hell of a ride, and it made me say “damn!” out loud a few times. That said, the ending was… not great.

I: I Saw the Devil - South Korea, 2010

Rating: 5.5/10

I think this is the most brutally violent movie I’ve ever seen. Scenes of gruesome, hatred-fueled gore give way to beautiful shots of South Korea in winter. A special agent abandons everything (including his own humanity?) to hunt down the serial killer who murdered his wife. While becoming a monster to take revenge on a monster isn’t a new idea, director Kim Jee-woon forces us to take an unflinching look at that process—and it is nothing short of super gnarly. My shoulders were tensed up the entire 2 hours 22 minutes, and my face looked like I smelled three-week-old tilapia. The extremely realistic sadism and gore was a bit too much. There were scant breaks from the intensity, and I feel like the same story could have been told in a shorter amount of time.

J: Ju-on: The Grudge - Japan, 2002

Rating: 7/10

Haunted house, possession, or both? Our protagonist picks up a terrible curse after her job brings her to the site of a traumatic event. A man murdered his wife and child, leaving behind a horrifying ripple that affects those who encounter the house. This film uses chapters to focus on different timelines and individuals, highlighting how the effects of domestic violence spread beyond an isolated incident or an individual family. It suggests that domestic violence is an issue that should be looked at directly by a community, not just brushed off as a family’s personal business. This film has that distinct early 2000s vibe, and it’s a wonderful time capsule of an era when J-Horror became mainstream.

K: Kwaidan - Japan, 1964

Rating: 10/10

During the holidays last year, I got really into Dickensian ghost stories and there’s something so wonderful about that atmosphere. Kwaidan creates a similar but different vibe in that you want to just get cozy in some blankets and embrace the spookiness! Four individual stories of supernatural folk horror are told through some of the most beautiful art direction and set design that I’ve ever seen. Visually, you can expect three hours of expertly-composed shots, surreal painted skies, and historic Japanese backdrops. The stories themselves are well-acted morality tales that vary in quality. But in its entirety, this film is a masterpiece.

L: Long Weekend - Australia, 1978

Rating: 4/10

Long Weekend is a long, heavy-handed metaphor. When the world’s most toxic couple face off against mother nature, guess who wins? This is a pretty straightforward, “Don’t be a dick and respect nature” movie, but there’s also an abortion piece that I’m not crazy about being tied in with this metaphor. Either way, this ozploitation film is basically a series of moments where these crummy humans litter, kill wildlife, and casually start wildfires. But the surrounding animals (and seemingly nature itself) won’t take it lying down.

M: Man Bites Dog - Belgium, 1992

Rating: 3/10

This movie is a dark comedy mockumentary following a self-absorbed serial killer. The complacent camera crew become his friends and accomplices, eventually even joining in his acts of violence. It’s a unique idea, but that’s pretty much the only good thing about this movie. There’s no deeper meaning or artistic appeal to this film except for maybe the novelty of the premise. Visually it’s grainy, black and white, and doesn’t seem to give any thought to cinematography. There were a few moments of over-the-top satire that made me chuckle, but that’s it. 

N: Noroi: The Curse - Japan, 2005

Rating: 8/10

Now here’s a great example of mockumentary done right. We start the movie with a voiceover and a little bit of context before being immersed in a dark and eerie mystery. Put together like a true documentary, we move between first-person footage, news clips, and Japanese variety television. We start to unravel a larger supernatural narrative, piecing together the malevolent intent of an ancient spirit. The Carpenter-esque score creates an underlying layer of terror and atmosphere that's so subtle, you almost don't even notice the music—you just feel it. My only criticism might be that the ending felt a little bit choppy, but I think that was the point.

O: The Orphanage - Spain, 2007

Rating: 7.5/10

What a beautiful study in building suspense and mystery. This has the same vibe as the classic M.R. James ghost stories: creating an eerie atmosphere while slowly building a shadowy outline around your fear. A woman and her family purchase the orphanage where she grew up. Clearly it isn’t as empty as she thought, and her son gets mixed up with some ghosty kiddos. Even as a producer, Guillermo del Toro seems to slip in a wonderful sense of optimism and fantasy that counteracts the fear and sadness. This is another mid-2000s movie, so the “creepy kid appearing in the background” trope is front and center, but that is secondary to a well-crafted story. 

P: The Phantom Carriage - Sweden, 1921

Rating: 8/10

Although it’s couched in a supernatural setting, this is a story of real-life angels and demons: the angels that commit selfless acts and charity versus the demons of alcoholism and extreme selfishness. The story follows a very Christmas Carol-esque redemption arc, with Death’s phantom carriage driver acting as the ghost of the past, present, and future. As we look back at how terrible this dude was, there’s a scene where he hacks through a door with an ax. I had no idea going into this, but that was the obvious inspiration for Kubrick’s scene in The Shining. For a 101-year-old film, this is a technical masterpiece. There’s the groundbreaking use of double exposure to create the ghost-like effect, an underwater scene, flashbacks within flashbacks, and a brilliant use of color tints to delineate scene changes. 

Q: The Queen of Spades - Russian Federation, 1916

Rating: 4/10

Man, the film quality on this one was rough. You can't expect much from a 106-year-old film, but damn. Anyways, I liked the core of this story, but it definitely didn't need to be an hour long. It's a basic morality tale condemning greed and cheating (at cards) told through a weak-willed soldier and the ghost of the Countess he killed. There were way too many painfully long shots without any real advancement to the story. I will say, the scoring was pretty well done and I found it more interesting than the visuals at times. The best moments are at the end when the ghost shows up and the filmmakers play with spooky, albeit cheesy, visual effects.

R: Ravenous - Canada, 2017

Rating: 7/10

I started watching this pretty late at night and it drew me in enough to stay up and finish it. The stark contrast between silence and violence is really captivating. This unsettling take on a zombie apocalypse is dappled with gorgeous, lingering shots of forested countryside. It’s a brutally unforgiving survivor story, so don't expect a happy ending. The zombies are extra creepy because they seem to be able to plan, and have higher cognitive functioning. We’re forced to wonder what's really going on in their decaying minds. Sweet moments of humanism and humor are scattered throughout to add some levity to the otherwise dreadful mood.

S: Shutter - Thailand, 2004

Rating: 7/10

Yes, it’s another one of those 2000s movies chock full of jump scares and scary ghost women with long black hair. A couple discovers that their camera is capturing ghostly images, and together they piece together the mysterious death of the dearly departed. We get thrown a few twists and turns to keep the plot evolving and interesting. The pacing was really well done—I never felt bored waiting for the next development. Ultimately, this is about carrying the burden of those we’ve wronged without making it right. So yeah, just don’t be a dick.

T: The Testament of Dr. Mabuse - Germany, 1933

Rating: 10/10

This movie has so much cool shit going for it. I sorta haphazardly added this to my foreign horror list, but realized about halfway through that it’s really more of a crime thriller. But it’s still spooky AF. A criminal mastermind seems to be controlling his crime ring even after death, but how? Fritz Lang seems to have a habit of defying genre even way back almost a century ago. It’s crazy to me how enthralling this is for a movie made in 1933. The historical context of this movie adds a whole other dimension to it—the antagonist is based on Hitler during his rise to power. This film wasn’t shown in Germany until 28 years after its release.

U: Under the Shadow - Iran/Jordan/Qatar/UK, 2016

Rating: 8/10

We are given a window into the anxiety, entrapment, and perpetual fear that Iranian citizens felt around the Iran-Iraq war. In the setting of these post-revolution war times, we are introduced to the Iranian folk legend of the djinn: a malevolent spirit that travels on the wind. The whole movie plays on the concepts of entrapment and exposure—when our female protagonist is caught outside without a head scarf, when she closes the blinds as a safeguard from the outside world, and when her apartment building has a gaping hole in it from a missile attack.

V: Valerie and Her Week of Wonders - Czechoslovakia, 1970

Rating: 6/10

I improved my vocabulary while researching this film! Oneiric: relating to dreams or dreaming. That's the perfect word to describe this movie. To actually enjoy it, I think you need to accept that it has no real plot or structure. We follow Valerie through dreamlike scenes, jumping from one moment to the next with unexplained shifts in settings and characters. We lose track of who's good, bad, alive, or dead. Maybe the best way to describe it would be an oneiric sexual awakening that navigates the influences of family, fear, and religious hypocrisy.

W: The Wailing - South Korea, 2016

Rating: 9/10

I’m impressed whenever a 2.5-hour-long movie doesn’t feel overdrawn, and that was the case here. Maybe it’s because the whole film is so dynamic, evolving from a mystery/thriller into a full-blown battle against occult evil. A bumbling, scaredy-cat protagonist tries to track down the source of evil in his village, and he doesn’t do a great job. Everything about this movie is sharp: amazing acting (extra points for an incredibly good child acting) and clever writing that keeps you guessing until the end. I understood about 85% of it, but read an explainer article afterwards to fill in the other 15%. It’s definitely a rich enough film to warrant multiple watches.

X: X-Cross - Japan, 2007

Rating: 8/10

This is an obscure one. I went in expecting a very mid and generic J-horror. That's why I was pleasantly surprised when I got so much more. A student and her friend try to relax at some hot springs, but their vacation turns into a slay-cation very quickly. But then you get the weird stuff: A leg fetish cult and an anime-style fight scene that features giant scissors and a chainsaw. There's a fair bit of jumping back and forth chronologically and between different characters' POVs. Sometimes this approach can be annoying or confusing to me, but it really works here. Expect wild tonal shifts and a helluva fun watch!

Y: Yummy - Belgium, 2019

Rating: 5/10

The first 20 minutes had me hopeful. The character dynamics were interesting enough. But once the zombie outbreak pops off at a sketchy-ass hospital, it turns into an entirely unoriginal zombie movie. The bumbling buffoonery of the doting boyfriend got annoying fast. About halfway through I felt myself wanting this movie to reach its climax since nothing was keeping me intrigued. More than anything it felt a classic comedy of errors and a platform for splatter-y gore. Which isn't a bad thing, but it's not a great thing either.

Z: Zalava - Iran, 2021

Rating: 6/10

This was cool because it was the second movie in my list that dealt with the Iranian demon known as Djinn. But unlike Under the Shadow, this film is set in pre-revolution Iran and it almost entirely lacks that same supernatural scariness. Rather than showcasing the evil powers of the djinn, this movie chooses to focus on the classic battle between superstition and science. Ultimately, there probably is no djinn at all. It’s more about the new guard butting heads with the old guard, and not respecting superstitious traditions.

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It took me a couple of months to get through this list, but I finished on Halloween day. Some might argue that a self-imposed challenge to watch a bunch of foreign horror movies isn’t a commendable achievement, but those people are plumb wrong. 

Cinema can be a wonderful window into other countries, cultures, and time periods. This experience gave me a new perspective into pre- and post-revolution Iran and taught me that Belgians have a truly odd sense of humor. It has fully turned me on to Czechoslovakian New Wave and cemented my love for Japanese horror. It has shown the lasting power of a good story, while proving that plot can be secondary to an incredible atmosphere.

Maybe most importantly, this experience has whetted my appetite for further foreign cinema. I’ll never stop loving splattery, gooey schlock, but I have a newfound love for those slow-burning films that somehow become better as they stick with you the next day, week, or month.