- 이어도/ Ioeh Island (1977) dir. Kim Ki-young, written by Ha Yu-Sang, based on the novel by Yi Cheong-jun. This is an eco-folk horror from Korea, which swings around themes of infertility, addiction, loss, and climate change. It’s about so many things, and I wonder how well it has adapted the novel? Some laud this as a masterpiece, so I think there is a lot to get out of this film and its narrative structure, which doesn’t come from a single viewing. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to watch this, and I should really have watched something else and saved this for another time. I think it’s one I will have to return to properly, but for now – not a highlight. A company hopes to open a spa hotel named after Ieodo, a mythical island inhabited by the souls of drowned sailors. During a study trip to the proposed location of the hotel, a journalist disappears under mysterious circumstances. One of the contractors goes to Ieodo’s neighboring island, populated by widows of the dead sailors, to unravel the mystery.
{South Korea}
- Sundel Bolong (1981) dir. Sisworo Gautama Putra, written by Darto Joned. I’m not really into rape-revenge, but this has some humorous scenes and some great moments – including good old ’80s action sequences. I loved the bit where she killed a guy with her tombstone. A newly-married woman and former prostitute whose husband, a ship’s captain, has gone to sea, is pressured into returning to her old profession. When she refuses, she is violently gang-raped and left pregnant and despondent. She kills herself while attempting to abort the fetus but returns as a vengeful Sundel Bolong, a ghost with a putrid, rotting hole in her back. When the rapists and conspirers start turning up dead, her husband and the police try to put a stop to the violence, once and for all.
{Indonesia}
- Primbon (2023) dir. Rudi Soedjarwo, written by Lele Laila . I enjoyed this – a lot of dark family drama, loss, people grieving in incompatible ways, rituals, and a bit of tragedy. It starts with Rana and his best friend Janu who are climbing a mountain in bad weather. In the middle of a dense forest, they got separated and lost. Janu is lucky to be back home at last. But not with Rana. An extensive search was carried out. Rana not found. A week has passed. Rana’s extended family decided to hold a tahlilan. Rana is considered unlikely to have survived and will surely die there. Dini can’t accept that. As a mother, Dini doesn’t want to just give up and still believes that her daughter Rana is still alive. Sure enough. After the tahlilan, Rana came home in the pouring rain.
{Indonesia}
- Mikael: Pemburu Dua Alam/Mikael: Hunter of Two Realms (2026) dir. Zahir Omar, written by June Tan . So, I liked this for the action sequences mixed with horror-comedy, which is the first local Malay film to have these elements in combination. It has fun characters and a decent plot, which could have been a little more fleshed out in places. The few seconds of very brief animation flashback looked similar to the AI animations I’ve seen. Some reviewers say this is an AI sequence – it does look like that, and it’s a shame.
{Malaysia}
- Shutter (2025) dir. Herwin Novianto. God, poor Lilies. Men ain’t shit, babe. Kill them all. This is the second remake of the Thai 2004 original, after the Japanese 2005 remake. I haven’t seen these, so I started with the most recent one. I was curious to see what they’ve done with this 20 years later! Indonesia has also remade the Turkish Siccin films so I’m on the lookout for these too. After a senior analog photographer discovers the spectral image of a former college student haunting his photos and coming to life, his girlfriend investigates the phantom, uncovering a horrific past crime that is now claiming his friends’ lives one by one.
{Indonesia}
- El celo/Presence of Mind (1999) dir. Antonio Aloy, written by Barbara Gogny, Mitch Brian, and Antonio Aloy. Original writer: Henry James. A Turn of the Screw adaptation that leans into the very weird, inappropriate sensuousness of it, and is one of the better versions. Nice to see Sadie Frost in a role that isn’t Lucy (I recognised her from Coppola’s Dracula). A governess, caring for two children at a remote estate, becomes convinced that the grounds are haunted and the children are under an evil influence.
{Spain}
- Asylum (1972) dir. Roy Ward Baker, written by Robert Bloch. An anthology of fairly predictable horror shorts with an interesting frame narrative, very 1970s British, and very Blochian at the same time. Decent. A young psychiatrist applies for a job at a mental asylum and must pass a test by interviewing four patients. He must figure out which of the patients, is in fact, the doctor that he would be replacing if hired.
{UK}
- Pou/Peacock (2023) dir. Jaco Minnaar, written by Jaco Minnaar and David Cornwell. Queer Afrikaans Gothic, in conversation with apartheid, racism, and the spectre of colonialism. Not an easy watch if you struggle with depictions of dementia, either. POU is a South African gothic horror following the journey of a young woman into the dark recesses of the Afrikaner psyche and its compromised past.
{South Africa}
- The Love Witch (2018) dir. Anna Biller, written by Anna Biller. I can see why the modern setting but 1960s mash-up aesthetic doesn’t work for people, and I found it slightly jarring, but I got into it. I also didn’t especially like the BPD comment. I did, however, really enjoy the way it was shot, and I got into the whole thing. I really didn’t think I’d like it, but it did something for me, and it’s a highlighted watch. A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, with deadly consequences.
{USA}
- Schreie in der Nacht/The Unnaturals (1969) dir. Antonio Margheriti, written by Antonio Margheriti. [Poor and problematic lesbian rep]. German-Italian collaboration, but I’m putting it under Italian for the director. Gothic melodrama, where it’s all about cheating lovers, murder, and documents proving corruption or something. Evil lesbians ahoy. It’s part of the predatory lesbian trope, and definitely written by a man. Hence the title. During a thunderstorm, a group of members of London’s high society seek refuge in a remote mansion in the countryside. They are received by Uriat and his mother, who appears to be able to communicate with the dead. The guests engage in a séance, but it will reveal each and everyone’s darkest secrets.
{Italy}
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