Favorite International Action/Horror Movies
by dale5567-279-907375 | created - 12 Apr 2012 | updated - 07 Dec 2012 | PublicAfter becoming bored with American cinema, I looked overseas and this is what I've found.
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1. Oldboy (2003)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok
Votes: 634,550 | Gross: $0.71M
Any review I could write would not do this movie justice, just watch it.
2. 13 Assassins (2010)
R | 141 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya, Ikki Sawamura
Votes: 68,534 | Gross: $0.80M
A small band of samurai take on an evil tyrant's army. One of the best showdowns ever IMO.
3. Audition (1999)
R | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura
Votes: 89,084
Classic Japanese horror movie, disturbing and violent.
4. I Saw the Devil (2010)
Not Rated | 144 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan, Chun Ho-jin
Votes: 145,930 | Gross: $0.13M
A badass secret agent is out for vengeance against a serial killer who murdered his wife. Simply killing him isn't enough, the agent will make him suffer.
5. A Bittersweet Life (2005)
Not Rated | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Things go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't follow his boss's orders.
Directors: Jung Doo Hong, Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Shin Min-a, Kim Yeong-cheol, Hwang Jung-min
Votes: 42,886
6. The Chaser (2008)
Not Rated | 125 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A disgraced ex-policeman who runs a small ring of prostitutes finds himself in a race against time when one of his women goes missing.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Kim Yoon-seok, Ha Jung-woo, Seo Yeong-hie, Kim Yoo-jung
Votes: 72,651
A Korean crime drama with an epic villain.
7. Elite Squad (2007)
R | 115 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In 1997 Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento has to find a substitute for his position while trying to take down drug dealers and criminals before the Pope visits.
Director: José Padilha | Stars: Wagner Moura, André Ramiro, Caio Junqueira, Milhem Cortaz
Votes: 110,040 | Gross: $0.01M
8. Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within (2010)
Not Rated | 115 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After a prison riot, former-Captain Nascimento, now a high ranking security officer in Rio de Janeiro, is swept into a bloody political dispute that involves government officials and paramilitary groups.
Director: José Padilha | Stars: Wagner Moura, Irandhir Santos, André Ramiro, Milhem Cortaz
Votes: 86,652 | Gross: $0.10M
9. Memories of Murder (2003)
Not Rated | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roe-ha, Song Jae-ho
Votes: 215,752 | Gross: $0.01M
10. The Yellow Sea (2010)
R | 136 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the attempt to kill a professor goes wrong, a series of violent events are triggered which force a taxi driver to run for his life.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Lee Yoo-mi, Ha Jung-woo, Lee Hee-joon, Kim Yoon-seok
Votes: 22,933
11. Lady Vengeance (2005)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Nam-mi Kang, Jeong-nam Choi, Hye-Sook Go, Bok-hwa Baek
Votes: 85,976 | Gross: $0.21M
12. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' friend's daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, Bae Doona, Lim Ji-eun
Votes: 75,030 | Gross: $0.05M
13. Confessions (2010)
Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, Thriller
A psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima | Stars: Takako Matsu, Yoshino Kimura, Masaki Okada, Yukito Nishii
Votes: 42,010
14. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
R | 103 min | Drama, Romance
A boy is raised by a Buddhist monk in an isolated floating temple where the years pass like the seasons.
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Kim Ki-duk, Oh Yeong-su, Jong-ho Kim, Kim Young-min
Votes: 86,728 | Gross: $2.38M
Not like any other movie on this list. The story follows an isolated monk and his apprentice. The life of the apprentice is a tragic and wonderful display of the human condition.
15. City of God (2002)
R | 130 min | Crime, Drama
In the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin.
Directors: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund | Stars: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Matheus Nachtergaele, Phellipe Haagensen
Votes: 799,802 | Gross: $7.56M
The lives of two boys growing up in the violent slums of Rio. One wants power, the other wants out.
16. Battle Royale (2000)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama
Votes: 194,223
The original Hunger Games.
17. The Man from Nowhere (2010)
R | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug-and-organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.
Director: Lee Jeong-beom | Stars: Won Bin, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Hee-won
Votes: 74,772 | Gross: $0.01M
18. Mother (2009)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo, Yun Je-mun
Votes: 71,515 | Gross: $0.55M
A boy is charged with a girl's murder, how far will a mother go to protect him? Far...really far...
19. Thirst (2009)
R | 134 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Through a failed medical experiment, a priest is stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Ok-bin, Choi Hee-jin, Seo Dong-soo
Votes: 51,349 | Gross: $0.30M
This movie has an interesting vampire plot, a little slow at parts but worth watching.
20. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
R | 114 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
After being institutionalized in a mental hospital, Su-mi reunites with her sister, Su-yeon, and they return to live at their country home. But strange events plague the house, leading to surprising revelations and a shocking conclusion.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lim Soo-jung, Yum Jung-ah, Kim Kap-su, Moon Geun-young
Votes: 68,198
21. The Robber (2010)
Not Rated | 101 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A story based on Johann Rettenberger, an Austrian marathon runner and a bank robber.
Director: Benjamin Heisenberg | Stars: Andreas Lust, Markus Schleinzer, Roman Kettner, Hannelore Klauber-Laursen
Votes: 4,630 | Gross: $0.08M
Unique bank robber movie based on true events.
22. Cold Prey (2006)
Not Rated | 97 min | Horror, Thriller
5 young Norwegians head up to the mountains to snowboard. One breaks his leg and it's getting dark soon, so they spend the night in a big, abandoned hotel, closed 30 years ago. They are not alone.
Director: Roar Uthaug | Stars: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Rolf Kristian Larsen, Tomas Alf Larsen, Endre Martin Midtstigen
Votes: 19,602
Well made horror movie with a Jason-like villain.
23. Cold Prey 2 (2008)
Not Rated | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
Jannicke wakes up in the hospital. All of her friends are dead. As she walks through the dark corridors, she thinks she is left alone. But the nightmare isn't over yet.
Director: Mats Stenberg | Stars: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik, Kim Arne Hagen, Johanna Mørck
Votes: 9,927
If you liked the first one, you'll like this too.
24. 7 Days (2010)
Not Rated | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A doctor seeks revenge by kidnapping, torturing and killing the man who raped and murdered his young daughter.
Director: Daniel Grou | Stars: Claude Legault, Rémy Girard, Martin Dubreuil, Fanny Mallette
Votes: 8,629
A young girl gets raped and murdered and her Dad is out for vengeance. The father is a surgeon and when he catches the killer...he goes to work.
25. A Prophet (2009)
R | 155 min | Crime, Drama
A young Algerian man is sent to a French prison.
Director: Jacques Audiard | Stars: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb
Votes: 102,124 | Gross: $2.08M
Great story of a thug turned crime-boss.
26. Headhunters (2011)
R | 100 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary.
Director: Morten Tyldum | Stars: Aksel Hennie, Synnøve Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Julie R. Ølgaard
Votes: 106,902 | Gross: $1.20M
An art heist movie with many twists, loved the ending.
27. The Raid: Redemption (2011)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A S.W.A.T. team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs.
Director: Gareth Evans | Stars: Iko Uwais, Ananda George, Ray Sahetapy, Donny Alamsyah
Votes: 216,846 | Gross: $4.11M
If you are looking for an action movie that spares no gore, this is it.
28. REC (2007)
R | 78 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
Directors: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza | Stars: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano, Pablo Rosso
Votes: 196,301
Classic suspense horror, a journalist and cameraman end up at the wrong place at the wrong time as a building is sealed off after an outbreak of a strange disease. The American version has nothing on this one.
29. [Rec]² (2009)
R | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
In order to ascertain the current situation inside, a supposed medical officer and a GEO team step into the quarantined and ill-fated apartment building.
Directors: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza | Stars: Jonathan D. Mellor, Manuela Velasco, Óscar Zafra, Ariel Casas
Votes: 78,440 | Gross: $0.03M
A continuation of [Rec], not as good as 1 and 3 but a must see before the final movie in the series comes out.
30. [REC] 3: Genesis (2012)
R | 80 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
A couple's wedding day turns horrific as some of the guests start showing signs of a strange illness.
Director: Paco Plaza | Stars: Leticia Dolera, Diego Martín, Ismael Martínez, Àlex Monner
Votes: 38,069 | Gross: $0.01M
This movie has a parallel timeline to the first two movies. A zombie infection breaks out at a wedding. I really enjoyed the love story in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
31. A Dirty Carnival (2006)
Not Rated | 140 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A small time thug collecting debts for the local triad is torn between his criminal aspirations and his devotion to family.
Director: Ha Yoo | Stars: Zo In-sung, Chun Ho-jin, Min Nam-koong, Lee Bo-young
Votes: 9,231
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