Incantation tops list of scariest non‑English horror films

Collider has ranked the 10 scariest horror movies that aren't in English, placing Taiwan's found‑footage Incantation at number one. The roundup includes a range of international entries: French Martyrs (2008), about a cult torturing people to probe the afterlife; Dutch The Vanishing (1988), a grounded abduction story that Stanley Kubrick listed as the scariest movie he'd ever seen; Thai Shutter (2004), which inspired several remakes after its hit‑and‑run‑turned‑vengeful‑spirit premise; Cantonese The Eye (2002), noted for a viral elevator scene; Korean found‑footage Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018), which ties its terror to livestream culture; Japanese Ring (1997) and Ju‑On: The Grudge (2002), both spawning high‑profile remakes; and Spanish Terrified (2017) and Rec (2007), the latter a compact, relentless found‑footage zombie film.

Incantation is described as a brutal found‑footage film from Taiwan following Li Ronan (Tsai Hsuan-yen), who violates a mountain cult's taboo, brings a curse on her family, gives her newborn to foster care, then returns six years later as the curse manifests. The film "claims to be loosely based on true events, but in reality, the true incident doesn't resemble the movie at all," and the piece calls it possibly the scariest found‑footage movie ever made.

Key Topics

Culture, Incantation, Found Footage, J-horror, Rec, Stanley Kubrick