Asian horror is a unique genre in its own right, known for aesthetically pleasing visuals, creepy storylines, and gruesome deaths — here are 20 of the best Thai horror movies. Various supernatural folklore and a belief in ghosts and spirits have heavily influenced the Thai horror genre, with movies like Nang Nak and Inhuman Kiss drawing from Thai mythos to create some truly memorable scares. Over the years, Thai horror movies have grown in their popularity with international audiences who have a love for the horror genre as a whole, but are looking for something just a little bit different.
Most are familiar with some of the best Asian horror movies like Ju-On or The Ring franchise, but the American remakes of these classic Asian tales never seem to correctly capture their elusively creepy atmosphere. Pee Mak, the most commercially successful Thai film of all time, is further proof that the horror genre is the most popular within Thai cinema. Leaning heavily into the concepts of both ghosts and gore, Thai horror movies are full of chills and thrills that are sure to delight even the most hardened of horror lovers. Here are 20 of the best Thai horror movies that are sure to please any horror aficianado.
20 Nang Nak (1999)
Nang Nak is a Thai horror movie that mixes up some domestic problems with a ghostly atmosphere, and its one of the very best Thai horror movies. In the film, a veteran soldier named Mak returns home from war to his wife Nak and their newborn baby. However, when he gets home, his neighbors tell him there is something going on in his home that he should beware of.
This is a largely forgotten but terrifying haunted house movie based on a classic folk tale about a woman who died during a difficult birth after her husband went to war. Clearly, the mysteries of this horror tale are clear. However, with the numerous films based on this folk tale, Nang Nak stands out thanks to the great performances and the tense fear of what is to come.
19 Art of the Devil 2 (2005)
- Available to rent on Google Play
Art of the Devil 2 is the second movie in the franchise, but it has nothing to do with the first movie at all, and is a superior effort as a result. One of the best Thai horror movies is a tale of revenge and what that means to the person seeking vengeance. As a warning, the film is incredibly gory, as is the trailer.
In the movie, a teacher wants to gain revenge against the students who tormented her in the past, and she turns to black magic to do so. What results is a very gory movie with intense violence that shows the dangers of tampering with black magic. Art of the Devil 2 is one of the most intense Thai horror movies and is a nonstop slasher movie from start to finish.
18 The Unseeable (2006)
The Unseeable is a 2007 release that features a pregnant woman who is out searching for her lost husband, and it’s one of the creepiest Thai horror movies. When she seeks shelter in a large mansion, she begins to discover unborn spirits and learns that her world is not as it seems.
What makes this movie so impressive is that it is not a gore fest nor does it rely on shocks to scare the audiences. Instead, The Unseeable is a slow-burn tale of terror that sends the lead character into a journey of finally letting go of her past. It also wasn’t a huge box office sensation, but was instead a critically acclaimed smaller horror film that deserves a bigger audience.
17 House of Ghosts (2004)
- Available to rent on Prime Video.
House of Ghosts is a movie about dealing with pain and loss, and how it can differ from person to person, and it’s one of the most unique Thai horror movies. The main character in House of Ghosts is a girl who loses both of her parents in a horrific tragedy and ends up living with her aunt. This aunt also happens to be a spiritual medium.
House of Ghosts takes viewers on a trip with this girl as she tries to deal with her loss and pain, but finds herself thrown into a world where it is hard to understand what is real and what isn’t. The movie ended up as a cult classic and remains one mentioned anytime someone wants to see a really scary Thai horror movie.
16 The Sisters (2004)
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- Available to watch on YouTube.
The Sisters starts off with a bang when a group of musicians finds a severed head in their hotel room and then end up haunted by a lost spirit. This is a basic ghost movie, where the cast has to solve a crime or die trying, but its arguably one of the best Thai horror movies.
As with this genre, the ghost victim can’t leave without her murder being solved. While this is a story told many times over in other movies, this one really stands out. According to the film’s synopsis, it was also based on a real murder case from Thailand that remained unsolved and everyone who found that body also died, making this movie even spookier.
15 Pee Mak (2013)
- Available to rent on Apple TV.
Pee Mak is actually a horror-comedy film and a very entertaining one at that. It is also currently Thailand’s highest-grossing movie of all time, meaning it’s one of the very best Thai horror movies. It has a little something for everyone: horror, romance, and comedy. It starts when a man named Mak comes back from the war and invites his comrades to meet his wife and son. But when they arrive, Mak’s comrades start to realize that something is very off about his clan, and things only get scarier and sillier from there.
14 Inhuman Kiss (2019)
- Available to stream on Netflix.
Like many of the best horror films to come out of Thailand, Inhuman Kiss builds the foundation of its story on classic Thai mythology and puts an extra-scary spin on it. The focal point of this particular tale coming to life is a krasue — which is a type of nocturnal female spirit from folklore — who lives a normal life, except at night. At night, her head detaches and goes on the hunt for sustenance in the form of flesh and blood. It is scary, and arguably one of the weirdest Thai horror movies, but the film is also surprisingly moving.
13 Ghost Game (2006)
Imagine the deadliest reality game show in the world (something in the vein of the new classic Squid Game), and that is essentially the premise behind Ghost Game. In one of the very best Thai horror movies, eleven contestants are sent to an abandoned military prison where terrible things happened in the past.
They are filmed and tracked as they try to make it through the dangerous game show alive while the production team sets up traps and scares. The winner will take home a $5,000,000 prize. This is a must-watch for those who enjoyed Squid Game and would like to see something similar.
12 Art Of The Devil (2004)
The Art of the Devil trilogy is a fantastic blend of magical horror and straight-up gore. Be forewarned, these are very dark movies with horrifying subject matter, but they’re some of the best Thai horror movies. Some viewers may find the films difficult to watch, but they’re very entertaining and scary.
The story revolves around a scorned mistress who turns to the art of black magic as a means to exact revenge on the man who abandoned her while pregnant. The follow-up films also use similar themes of revenge and dark magic without being direct sequels to the original.
11 Meat Grinder (2009)
- Available to stream on Toku.
As the title suggests, this is a Thai horror film that isn’t for the faint of heart, and it’s definitely one of the goriest Thai horror films. It would probably be fitting for people who enjoy the Saw and Hostel franchises, with a healthy dose of cannibalism to boot. It is very gory and had a controversial reception when it was released, but it has earned something of a cult following over the years.
The story follows a young woman who opens a noodle stall and uses human body parts as the main ingredient. As if that fact isn’t gross enough, clients begin showing up in waves to eat the delicious food, and things get increasingly twisted as the story goes along.
10 Shutter (2004)
- Available to stream on Kanopy.
Shutter is a Thai horror film released back in 2004 that earned enough international recognition to be released as an English-language remake under the same title in 2008, meaning it’s one of the very best Thai horror movies. The original was an instant box office success and is regarded as one of the best horror movies to ever come out of Thailand.
Following a hit-and-run, the couple responsible for a woman’s death (Thun and Jane) begins to see images of her in their personal photographs. What follows is a series of lies, destruction, and apparitions that will make viewers understand why this film is considered a horror cult classic.
9 Siam Square (2017)
Siam Square is a 2017 Thai horror film that revolves around an urban legend in the so-called “Shibuya” of Thailand, or the center of Bangkok and it’s one of the best Thai horror movies. In the hopes of passing their University entrance exams, students are expected to worship a devil and tie red threads onto a specific chair for good luck.
When a group of students puts this theory to the test, their skepticism backfires, and they find themselves being haunted by the evil spirit of a young girl and getting picked off one by one. It is a familiar setup executed to perfection with stunningly creepy visuals and plenty of scares to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
8 Alone (2007)
- Available to rent on Apple TV.
Alone is a Thai horror film released back in 2007 that stars Thai-German pop singer Marsha Vadhanapanich in her first film role in 15 years. One of the best Thai horror movies is about Pim, a young girl who recently moved to Korea to escape the guilt of being the only survivor following a separation surgery with her conjoined twin sister.
When she returns to Thailand to visit her dying mother, the angry spirit of her dead sister comes back to haunt her. Alone is packed full of surprises and twists that even M. Night Shyamalan wouldn’t see coming, and is a great option for those who enjoyed the James Wan film Malignant.
7 4bia (2008)
- Available to rent on Apple TV.
4bia, also known as Phobia, is a four-part Thai horror anthology series that was released in 2008 and is one of the best Thai horror movies. The first segment, titled “Happiness,” is about a lonely girl’s correspondence with an unusual stranger. The second segment, “Tit For Tat,” is about black magic and vengeance for a bullied school kid.
The third segment, “In The Middle,” follows a group of friends after a freak kayaking accident. The final segment “Last Fright,” is a psychological thriller involving an air stewardess flying solo in a cabin with a dead body. This movie has something for everyone and is a fantastic entry in the underappreciated horror anthology subgenre.
6 Long Weekend (2013)
Long Weekend is a horror film about a boy named Thongsook, an outcast at school with only one friend, Nam, whom he follows around incessantly. But unbeknownst to Nam’s other friends, Thongsook is a spirit medium who takes it personally when Nam’s friends plan a vacation getaway without him.
Following a mindless prank, the evil spirits and ghosts are released on the second night of the “long weekend,” which also happens to be Friday the 13th. Long Weekend is one of the best Thai horror movies for those who love a good ghost story, with a dash of revenge in the mix for good measure.
5 The Promise (2017)
- Available to rent on Apple TV.
The Promise is a 2017 Thai horror film that made quite the splash after its release, as its premise is incredibly dark, even for a horror movie. One of the best Thai horror movies follows two teenagers who decide to kill themselves together after both of their families face financial ruin in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In the end, only one girl follows through with the suicide pact, and the survivor’s past actions return to haunt her twenty years later.
4 Coming Soon (2008)
- Available to rent on Apple TV.
Directed by the writer behind Shutter and Alone, Coming Soon is a film about a bootlegged movie that’s haunted by a vengeful spirit, and it’s one of the best Thai horror movies out there. Unsuspecting viewers find themselves haunted, abducted, and eventually blinded after watching it, and the potential victims scramble to avoid their oncoming fate.
The premise is eerily similar to The Ring, which also involves a vengeful spirit that surfaces only after watching a tape. Given that the Japanese version of The Ring (Ringu) was released ten years before Coming Soon, it’s not hard to figure out where their inspiration came from.
3 The Eyes Diary (2014)
The Eyes Diary, originally based on a comic book, is a tragic love story about a young man, Nott, who loses his girlfriend in a gruesome motorcycle accident, but that’s not where it ends. One of the best Thai horror movies follows Nott as he volunteers to retrieve corpses from wrecks and keeps the souvenirs of the bodies he finds in the hopes that he will be able to converse with the dead and see his girlfriend once more. Communicating with the dead isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, however, and the scares and the hauntings eventually rack up to create a terrifying thriller.
2 Ghost Of Mae Nak (2005)
- Available to stream on Kanopy.
The Ghost of Mae Nak is a 2005 Thai film that revolves around an ancient Thai legend that has been retold countless times in books, TV shows, and films. In one of the best Thai horror movies about folklore, the story goes that a beautiful pregnant woman named Nak died in childbirth while waiting for her husband, Mak, to come home from war.
Upon his return, Mak finds his wife and child waiting for him, but every neighbor that tries to warn him that he’s living with a ghost is killed. Eventually, Mak realizes his wife is a ghost and attempts to flee. Unlike in other retellings of this horrific parenting movie, Ghost of Mae Nak has a refreshingly modern twist, but certain elements of the well-known tale remain the same.
1 Laddaland (2011)
- Available to stream on Roku and Tubi.
One of the very best Thai horror movies follows an affluent family as they move to Laddaland, an upscale housing development in the suburbs of Bangkok. Unfortunately for the new residents, Laddaland is nothing but a gated community of dark energy and terrifying, paranormal events that drive its residents to the brink. The film plays on common themes of familial dysfunction and the false veneer of perfection in upscale environments and reformulates these concepts into straight-up horror.
