Foreign Horror Originals
In preparation for Halloween, we present foreign films that inspired some of the most famous American horror movies ever made. If the American remakes scared you, the originals will chill you to the bone.
We Are What We Are
(Somos lo que hay)
A man's death leaves his family destitute... and hungry for human flesh.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mexico • 2010
- Director Jorge Michel Grau
- Cast Paulina Gaitán, Francisco Barreiro, Alan Chávez, Carmen Beato, Adrián Aguirre, Miriam Balderas
- Genre Horror, Thriller
- Available on AMC+ Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Let the Right One In
(Låt den rätte komma in)
Oskar's new neighbor has been 12 years old for 200 years...and she's looking for a friend.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Sweden • 2008
- Director Tomas Alfredson
- Cast Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist, Peter Carlberg
- Genre Horror, Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, FlixFling, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, VUDU Free, DistroTV, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Shutter
(ชัตเตอร์ กดติดวิญญาณ)
Photographs can capture what the eyes can't see.
- ✭ ✭
- Thailand • 2004
- Director Parkpoom Wongpoom
- Cast Ananda Everingham, Natthaweeranuch Thongmee, Achita Sikamana, Unnop Chanpaibool, Titikarn Tongprasearth, Sivagorn Muttamara
- Genre Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Fandango At Home, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Hoopla
The Echo
(Sigaw)
Marvin begins to question his sanity when he starts to see the bloody apparitions of a mother and daughter.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Philippines • 2004
- Director Yam Laranas
- Cast Jomari Yllana, Richard Gutierrez, Iza Calzado, Angel Locsin, James Blanco, Ella Guevara
- Genre Thriller, Horror
- Available on Amazon Video
A Tale of Two Sisters
(장화, 홍련)
Strange things began to happen after Su-mi returns from a mental institution to live with her father and stepmother.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2003
- Director Kim Jee-woon
- Cast Im Soo-jung, Yum Jung-ah, Moon Geun-young, Kim Kap-soo, Park Mi-Hyeon, Lee Seung-Bi
- Genre Drama, Horror, Mystery
- Available on AMC+, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel
Oldboy
(올드보이)
15 years of imprisonment, 5 days of vengeance...
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2003
- Director Park Chan-wook
- Cast Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung, Kim Byung-ok, Oh Dal-su, Lee Seung-Shin
- Genre Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Ju-on: The Grudge
(呪怨じゅおん)
From a terrible crime, a curse is born.
- ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2002
- Director Takashi Shimizu
- Cast Megumi Okina, Misaki Ito, Misa Uehara, Yui Ichikawa, Kanji Tsuda
- Genre Horror
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Criterion Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Freevee, Plex, Plex Channel
Pulse
(回路)
After one of their friends commits suicide, strange things begin happening to a group of young Tokyo residents.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2001
- Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- Cast Haruhiko Katō, Kumiko Aso, Koyuki, Kurume Arisaka, Masatoshi Matsuo, Shinji Takeda
- Genre Horror, Thriller
- Available on Criterion Channel, AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , Max, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Hoopla, Plex Channel
Perfect Blue
(パーフェクトブルー)
A retired pop singer starts to lose her hold on reality when she is stalked by an obsessive fan.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1998
- Director Satoshi Kon
- Cast Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaaki Ōkura, Yōsuke Akimoto, Yoku Shioya
- Genre Animation, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Ringu
(リング)
One curse, one cure, one week to find it
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1998
- Director Hideo Nakata
- Cast Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani, Hiroyuki Sanada, Yuko Takeuchi, Hitomi Satô, Yôichi Numata
- Genre Horror, Thriller
- Available on Shudder, Screambox, Screambox Amazon Channel, Shudder Amazon Channel, AsianCrush, AMC+ Amazon Channel, ARROW, Shudder Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, Retrocrush, Midnight Pulp, Kanopy
Dark Waters
(Temnye vody)
A young woman travels to remote island inhabited by mysterious — and tight-lipped — nuns…
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Russia, United Kingdom • 1993
- Director Mariano Baino
- Cast Louise Salter, Venera Simmons, Mariya Kapnist, Lubov Snegur, Albina Skarga, Valeriy Bassel
- Genre Horror, Mystery
- Available on Screambox Amazon Channel, Shudder Amazon Channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp, Troma NOW, Shudder Apple TV Channel, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Tubi TV, Cineverse
The Vanishing
(Spoorloos)
Has anyone seen this woman?
- ✭ ✭
- Netherlands, France, West Germany • 1988
- Director George Sluizer
- Cast Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gène Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Gwen Eckhaus, Pierre Forget, Bernadette Le Saché
- Genre Horror, Thriller
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Suspiria
Unfortunately for an American transplant, a German ballet school is home to the strange, the sinister, and the supernatural…
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1977
- Director Dario Argento
- Cast Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bosé, Barbara Magnolfi
- Genre Horror
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Criterion Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Xumo Play, Kanopy
The Omen
Mysterious deaths plague Robert Thorn and his family... could his own son be the cause?
- ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 1976
- Director Richard Donner
- Cast Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw, Harvey Stephens, Patrick Troughton
- Genre Horror, Thriller
- Available on Hulu, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
The Wicker Man
Flesh to touch...Flesh to burn! Don't keep the Wicker Man waiting!
- ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 1973
- Director Robin Hardy
- Cast Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Ingrid Pitt, Diane Cilento, Lindsay Kemp
- Genre Horror
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, TCM, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Freevee
Village of the Damned
An English village awakens from a mysterious sleep to find that every woman of child bearing age has become pregnant.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 1960
- Director Wolf Rilla
- Cast George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Martin Stephens, Michael Gwynn, Laurence Naismith, Richard Warner
- Genre Horror, Science Fiction
- Available on TCM, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube