10 Confusing Horror Movies You Need To Watch Twice To Understand

2. The Wailing (2016)

South Korea has inarguably turned out some of the strongest horror experiences of the last few decades, with entries like 2003’s A Tale of Two Sisters, 2006’s The Host, and 2016’s Train to Busan being some of the most popular. With The Wailing, writer/director Na Hong-jin may’ve crafted the best of the bunch.

Unsurprisingly, it integrates another one of the country’s most fruitful cinematic templates – the crime thriller – within its stirring dive into family drama and demonic possession. Long story short, a strange man shows up in a small village; shortly thereafter, mysterious illnesses and murders start occurring, prompting police officer Jong-goo to find out how everything’s linked before more residents (namely, his daughter) become afflicted.

It's a fascinating and inventive take on the exorcism subgenre that’s about much more than just instant terror (although there’s plenty of that spread throughout its lengthy runtime). In other words, the film is as scary for its make-up effects and disconcerting audio as it is for its glimpse into how faith, obsession, and doubt can tear apart a community.

Bursting with rich personalities, dense world-building, and consistently stunning revelations, it’s a multilayered triumph whose full scope can only be appreciated upon additional inspections.