10 Classic Hong Kong horror movies that will chill you to the bones

This 2013 portmanteau horror film was released in two parts, each containing three short stories. From a man who holds funerary urns hostage and a villain hitter who curses people, to a woman haunted by an incubus-like demon, these segments each tell a tale that’s made all the more creepy because a lot of them are based on everyday occurrences in Hong Kong life. Some of the shorts are more well-done than others, we’re not going to lie, but if it’s a shivery thrill of a ghostly chill that you’re after, then that’s what you’ll get.

Sometimes we don’t need ghosts or the supernatural to scare the living shit out of us when watching movies. There are no ghosts in Home Sweet Home, but it still doles out enough scares to keep you on the edge of your seat. Hong Kong-Taiwanese beauty Shu Qi stars as May, a mother who moves into a new home with her family despite coming across a hideous figure lurking around from the get-go. The figure turns out to be a deformed, clinically insane woman (played by Karena Lam in a role which refreshingly doesn’t cash in on her looks) who mistakes May’s son for her own and kidnaps him. What follows is a cat-and-mouse chase as May tracks down the woman through the apartment complex, including a chase through the air vent system and rooftop showdowns.

Don't be fooled by the unassuming title of this movie. The true appeal of Dumplings lies in its niche style, employing nauseating rather than jump-scare horror. Unlike typical Chinese horror flicks with lanky-haired ghosts clad in white robes, the film trades on the disturbing acts of chasing beauty.

The story follows middle-aged former actress Mrs Li (Miriam Yeung) and her extreme approach to retaining her youth in order to keep her husband interested. Through contacts, she meets Aunt Mei (Bai Ling), a former gynaecologist who uses aborted fetuses as filling for dumplings – apparently the secret to the fountain of youth. The two begin scheming to attain the best quality ingredient for their dumpling fillings and –– well, we’ll leave the rest to your imagination. Needless to say, this will turn you off from dumplings for quite a while.   

Having a pair of healthy, working eyes is what many people take for granted, but not for 20-year old violinist Wong Kar-mun (played by Angelica Lee Sin-je), who had finally regained her eyesight after a successful cornea transplant operation. However, troubles follow when she starts seeing apparitions and experiencing ghostly encounters.

One of the most unforgettable parts of the movie is the famous elevator scene where Kar-mun encounters the ghost of an old man. The slow-motion technique showing the spirit closing in on her while she anxiously waits to get out of the claustrophobic space sure makes a 30-second lift ride seem like a torturous eternity. The movie, which spawned a 2008 Hollywood remake, still makes us think twice about entering an empty lift alone.  

Following on from The Eye (2002) and The Eye 2 (2004), this movie series jumped ahead onto the double digits – but only because the plot involves 10 ways in which people can see spirits.

A group of friends find an old book in a shop in Thailand which details ways to see ghosts. Not realising that trying them out starts a game that they must finish, the friends mess around with the 10 methods, which include hitting a bowl with chopsticks at a crossroads during nighttime, opening an umbrella indoors, and bending over to look behind yourself through your legs. Let’s just say it doesn’t exactly end well for them. It’s also likely that you will never brush your hair in front of a mirror at night again after watching The Eye 10.

Hopping zombies, long-haired girls in white robes, kung fu action, and black magic – Rigor Mortis is filled with Asian horror folktales that have just the right amount of terror to keep us on the edge of our seats. A modern twist and tribute to the 1980s Mr Vampire series, the story revolves around the old franchise’s star Chin Siu-ho, who plays himself as a down-and-out and depressed horror film actor who just moved into a decrepit flat building to make ends meet. His failed suicide attempt ends up with spirits possessing his body.

A retired vampire hunter helps him exorcise the spirits, while Chin Siu-ho realises that his apartment is haunted by a pair of twins. The movie also extends to feature stories about some of Chin’s rather ‘eccentric’ neighbours and their ghastly stories. The film’s slow pace and ghoulish special effects make the movie intense and so poignant that you’d have to fight the uneasiness as you follow through the story. 

Combine Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, and you get The Imp. Yes, the movie revolves around possession, reincarnation, and a sinister plot for an unborn baby. After taking up a job as a night-watch guard at a commercial building, Keung begins to encounter strange incidents, which include his colleagues dying one by one and a malicious imp possessing his unborn baby. Filled with an ominous mood and impending doom, this twisted and disturbing film will have you dripping in cold sweat. 

Get the best of both cinematic worlds with this comedic horror film starring Stephen Chow. Leo (played by Chow) is a mental patient who moonlights as a ghostbuster and is thrown together with a curious young girl Kwan (Karen Mok). Joined by comedy relief security guards (played by long-time Chow collaborators Wong Yat-fei and Lee Lik-chi), the group has to rid an apartment building of the evil that lurks within. What makes this movie even funnier is that it is a loose parody of the 1994 French cult classic Léon: The Professional, so it’s worth watching for the references.

While this low-budget film is not particularly terrifying, it is definitely one of the most popular and longest horror film series in Hong Kong, spawning 19 sequels between 1997 to 2003. Rather than gory horror elements, this movie centres on strange ghost occurrences in the haunted streets of Hong Kong. It features four loosely connected stories – starting with a teenager’s encounter with a mysterious woman near a grave, followed by the story of a character who loses her way while trying to call her husband, then a romantic affair between a girl and a ghost, and finally, the last story sees a group of friends visiting a haunted movie theatre. These comedic horror tales are not exactly the most frightening but they are definitely entertaining to watch. 

This horror film consists of three ominous segments – Memories, The Wheel, and Going Home – by Asian directors from Korea, Thailand, and Hong Kong. While there are no ghosts in the movie, the stories are filled with creepy Asian folktales that explore the supernatural and the dark side of humanity. The Hong Kong story,  Going Home, follows Yu (Leon Lai), and his obsession in preserving the body of his wife in order to resurrect her through Chinese medicine. The movie is filled with disturbing visuals and dramatic plot twists that guarantees a harrowing experience for your ghost festival.