Summer Horror
A year ago we did an episode for the podcast on Korea’s trend of horror being a summer thing, and I had a lot of fun researching for the episode. Since summer means we’re still a while out from Halloween, having a reason to celebrate horror a little bit earlier is pretty great. What better way to cool down than to be drenched in sweat and chills?
Korea’s move to promoting horror in movies and themed events during the summer actually was a result of the end of the military dictatorship. By the late ’90s, Korea’s government had lifted strong regulations and censorship on media that had been in place since the ’60s. This allowed Korean filmmakers to have a lot more freedom in what they made. Because of this, horror movies became easier and cheaper to make, allowing filmmakers a lot more artistic control. Horror was already a familiar and loved genre, but at the time it was from imported movies. The real explosion happened on May 30, 1998, when the movie Whispering Corridors was released and became a commercial success, making it one of the major reasons for the escalation of the Korean horror genre to increase in popularity. While other films will help solidify the summer months being the time to release horror, it was the first to help push the genre into this time of the year. Last October I did a review on the first Whispering Corridors movie, you can read it here.
You can also find more about our discussion and some of the shows/movies we watched by checking out the episode:
If you ever thought it was odd that Korea wasn’t pushing out horror content during Halloween, this is why. While recently it has been more common to see this genre show up in October because of the Western influence, Korea still hasn’t let go of the summer months. In non-pandemic times you’ll see a lot of horror movies in theatres. Theme parks and recreational areas will decorate and promote special rides and events during this time. Groups will release horror concepts.
Because I’m in the mood to always celebrate horror at any point in the year and love a well-planned excuse for it, for the next three months I will be focusing a lot of content on this blog on Korean horror - specifically the movies and dramas that came out during these months. While I still will have other normal posts, almost all of my content will exclusively lean to the horror side. I have a lot planned that will include reviews, highlights of popular movies releases, and a whole lot more.
If you are into horror or specifically want to dive more into what Korea has to offer, make sure you keep up here. I’ll be doing a lot on Twitter as well, so make sure to follow me there.
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