A Horrifying Half-Dozen: Six Slices of Spooky Cinema from Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival

June 8, 2023

Written by Joseph Perry

Joseph Perry is the Film Festival Editor for Horror Fuel; all film festival related queries and announcements should be sent to him at josephperry@gmail.com. He is a contributing writer for the "Phantom of the Movies VideoScope" and “Drive-In Asylum” print magazines and the websites Gruesome Magazine, Diabolique Magazine, The Scariest Things, B&S About Movies, and When It Was Cool. He is a co-host of the "Uphill Both Ways" pop culture nostalgia podcast and also writes for its website. Joseph occasionally proudly co-writes articles with his son Cohen Perry, who is a film critic in his own right. A former northern Californian and Oregonian, Joseph has been teaching, writing, and living in South Korea since 2008.

The 27th edition of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) takes place in Bucheon, South Korea, from June 29–July 9, 2023, and as always, Asia’s largest genre film fest offers well over 250 films from around the globe. With world, international, and Korean premieres of horror, science fiction, thriller, dark comedy, and related features and shorts, the fest is a cinephile’s dream. Here are six of the features that we can’t wait to watch — and with yours truly in attendance, expect BIFAN reviews right here at Horror Fuel. Following are descriptions of the films from the BIFAN website, where more information is available: http://www.bifan.kr/eng/

 

Nightmare (Norway, 2022)

 

Mona and Robby are a young couple in love. Robby has just landed his dream job, and they’ve scored an amazing deal on a spacious flat. Never mind that it requires a bit of renovation and the neighbors’ constant fighting and screaming baby. Mona is suddenly plagued by night terrors which grow more intense every time she falls asleep. Robby is eager to start a family, despite Mona’s hesitation. Eventually, Mona’s issues get out of control as she becomes convinced that she is being attacked by a mythical demon. – the Mare – intent on possessing her unborn child.

 

Girl Unknown (Spain, 2022)

 

Carolina is a naive and charming young woman who through a chat meets Leo. He is an adult man who has posed as a 16-year-old boy on the web. When they meet in a secluded park in the city Leo begins to suspect that perhaps Carolina is not as innocent and harmless as she first appears to be.

 

#Manhole (Japan, 2023)

 

 

Kawamura is a promising young man with a decent job and a fiancee who was born with a silver spoon. On the way home from a party before the wedding day, he falls to the deep bottom of a manhole. Trapped and horrified, he gets desperate to escape and uses his only reliable tool, a smartphone, to find a way to get out. The clock is ticking, and the sun rises mercilessly. Can the groom escape from the hole intact and get married happily ever after?

 

Bldg N. (Japan, 2022)

 

Fellow college students Shiori, Keita and Maho visit an abandoned apartment in a rural area known for hauntings. They have come to witness a resident’s suicide and a violent “bizarre rap phenomenon”, but the residents seems don’t care at all. Even worse, Keita and Maho are tempted by residents and become fascinated by its mystical experiences. When Shiori, the only sober one, breaks into a suspicious building, she confronts something unexpected.

 

Door (Japan, 1988; 4K restoration)

 

Yasuko lives in a high-rise apartment in the city with her husband and her son. Being nervous about prank calls and salesmen’s solicitations, she slams the door on a salesman’s finger when he tries to forcibly insert a pamphlet through her door chain. This leads him to start harassing her, starting off with obscene letters written on her door then steadily escalating to full on stalking.

 

Suitable Flesh (U.K., 2023)

 

When Dr. Elizabeth Derby, a psychiatrist with a thriving practice and a successful marriage, is introduced to her latest patient, she assumes it’s a case of complete mental breakdown. Clearly terrified, the young man insists his life is in danger and that an outside force is hunting his mind and body. Something in the young man’s pleas awakens a fascination within Elizabeth, and the two fall into a dangerous and obsessive relationship. As violent desires strengthen and grow, they must stop the chain of possession by this immortal evil; they can never return to their bodies ever again.

 

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