7. Acacia
Year: 2003
Country: South Korea
Director: Ki-Hyeong Park Ki-Hyeong Park wasn't new to the horror genre when he made this film; he'd had a considerable hit in 1998 with his film Whispering Corridors, which spawned a five-film franchise. That film was a ghost story set in a high school, but was just as focused on critiquing South Korea's infamously harsh education system as it was on delivering supernatural scares. For his next horror film, Acacia, Park chose to tackle another social problem: the state of adopted children, especially in his home country. The movie concerns a wife and husband who want a child but cannot conceive. They take in a young boy named Jin-Sung who is artistically talented and has a strange fascination with insects and trees. Someone once told him his birth mother had been reincarnated as a tree after her death, and upon moving in with his new family he latches onto the idea that the dead old acacia tree in the backyard is actually his mother. But when his new parents miraculously have a baby of their own, Jin-Sung becomes jealous and begins acting out, before finally disappearing entirely one night. After he vanishes, the acacia tree somehow comes back to life... Acacia is deliberately paced and has a heavier focus on atmosphere and human drama than sudden shocks. That's not to say it isn't scary - a handful of scenes are quite frightening and a palpable air of dread hangs over the whole film - but it's not a shock-a-minute rollercoaster ride. Instead, it's a carefully-crafted thriller/mystery with beautiful music, luscious cinematography, and some excellent editing (especially in the climax). The overall tone is not one of utter terror but of haunting, dark beauty and sadness.