Random Asian Horror News 7.19.21
I’m back with what I guess is now my semi-regular roundup of all the Asian horror news and articles that I found around the web since the last post. You know how I said that I didn’t like finding news? I take that back, because I did enjoy focusing on finding all the Asian horror news I could find and here we are with more than enough for a post. Because of this, and because I haven’t personally found any place that only talks about the Asian horror news, I’m going to be doing these much more often than I had originally expected to. I’ll also be switching up the layout a bit and will try to keep these up to date with movies and dramas premiering soon in theaters, VOD, or for sale. Sort of a mashup of what I would do for monthly wrap-ups or the short-lived premiere posts. These will probably focus on more than horror, but will stay in the darker genres.
NEWS
-Fangoria magazine’s first movie to be produced under their newly established Fangoria Studios will be Sitora. It is inspired by the lost Malay film Sitora Harimau Jadian and will be directed by Diffan Sina Norman. The film centers on “a tyrannical shaman who puffs up the threat of a supernatural half-man, half-tiger as a means of preserving his feudal control”. (source)
-Not necessarily specific horror news, but news that will effect the type of content we see, Netflix has announced the plan to open a post-production studio in Mumbai with forty editing rooms for directors, editors, sound designers to help their interest in producing Korean content. I wrote about their See What’s Next conference that Netflix Korea held back in February which they announced their further plans for creating Korean content, and along with this push I think we’ll be seeing more of an upswing in Korean content very soon. (source)
-The international rights to the Korean horror film Ghost Door has been picked up by Finecut. It is scheduled to be released this year. (source)
-TVING announced the Korean drama, I'm Watching You, a crime drama using CCTV footage. To be released in August. (source)
-KBS (Korea) confirmed that four of their ten dramas for the 2021 Drama Special will be in the horror/thriller genre.
-Variety put out an article talking about the effect that COVID had on the South Korean film industry, and how the shift to digital because of it has made theater studios consider this shift to stay around as the industry rebuilds itself and the rise of foreign viewership as well as foreign streaming services (such as Disney Plus) enter the Korean market.
-Vietnamese thriller, Nguoi Lang Nghe: Loi Thi Tham (Listeners: The Whispering) continues to win awards at various film festivals, most recently the International New York Film Festival where it won best feature film with a budget under $250,000. (source)
-I talked about the joint Thai-Korean horror The Medium in my last post, but it continues to dominate news and is one of the most anticipated horror releases this summer. It’s currently no. 1 in Korean ticket pre-sales and has been bought by even more countries for streaming and viewing rights. (source) (source)
-A new Kingdom spin-off is rumored to be in production, Netflix has yet to confirm the information. (source)
COMING SOON
For this post I’m including some dramas and movies that premiered recently along with those that will premiere in the next two weeks.
-The 2019 Japanese comedy-horror, Ghost Master, arrived on VOD July 13th. An assistant director working on a rom-com’s horror screenplay comes to life and starts possessing the cast.
-Netflix released the Thai sci-fi/thriller DEEP on the 16th. I did a non-spoiler review of the film that you can read here.
-The TVING Korean drama, The Witch’s Diner, premiered on the 16th. Staring Song Ji Hyo, the fantasy drama is about people who come to eat a magical dish that grants them their wishes. It’s available now on VIKI.
-The 2020 Thai horror movie, The Maid, will be available for streaming July 20th,. Joy is hired as a maid by a wealthy family where she experiences odd occurences. The Blu-Ray will be onsale August 17.
-Korean horror-comedy I Can Only See will be released in Korean theaters July 21st. Starring former 2AM member Jung Jin Woon, the movie is about the appearance of a supernatural entity appearing at a film site and terrorizing the crew.
-Daum Kakao TV Korean drama, The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim, premieres July 30th. Kim Sae Ron and Nam Da Reum play high schoolers who become involved in a series of mysterious incidents.
-Kingdom: Ashin of the North, premiers the 23rd on Netflix. It is a spinoff of the Korean zombie drama series, Kingdom and follows the mysterious character Ashin, who is shown in the second season.
-The Cursed: Dead Man's Prey, the sequel movie to the 2020 tvN Korean drama, The Curse, will be out on the 28th.
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