Joanna Marie O. Santos
March 16, 2022

It took just one day for the new K-Drama All of Us Are Dead to climb to the top of Netflix's Global Top 10 list. This isn’t South Korea’s first go at zombie-themed films and series.

 

If you want to spook up your watch time, we've put together a list of zombie Korean dramas and movies that will have you on the edge of your seat as you watch. These are available to watch on different digital streaming platforms!

  1. Train to Busan (2016)  

Most of you may have already seen the mega-hit film Train to Busan, but it's never too late to start if you haven't already!

 

Mistakenly, a leak at a biotech plant causes a zombie outbreak that spreads fast across the country. Passengers on a KTX train appear to be the only survivors as the train chugs through deserted stations.

 

"Train to Busan" tells the narrative of Seo Seok Woo (Gong Yoo), a workaholic single father who must protect his daughter Su An (Kim Su An) as they journey on the KTX with a group of survivors.

 

What’s a normal commute for the father and his daughter from Seoul to Busan took an unexpected turn for the worse when South Korea experiences a sudden zombie apocalypse. Stuck inside the train, the two must struggle for survival at all costs.

 

So, for those who have previously seen it, how about taking another look at this work of art?

    2. Alive (2020)

   

Gamer Joon-woo, played by Yoo Ah-in, was left alone by his family. But when he turns on the news, he learns that a mysterious disease has spread through his neighborhood, and zombies have taken over.

 

He soon barricades himself in his flat, but as time passes, he runs out of food and water, and his Internet connection is disrupted. He realizes that another resident (Park Shin-hye) in the opposite building is still alive just as he's about to give up hope and hang himself. To get to safety, the two joined forces.

 

The film combines elements of millennial culture, including the usage of modern technology to escape zombies, besides the traditional jump scares and fast-action scenes. You can watch this film on Netflix!

  3. Sweet Home (2020)  

This series takes a slight detour from the zombie genre, focusing instead on humans who inexplicably transform into horrible monsters.

 

Cha Hyun-soo, played by Song Kang, is a depressed teen who lives in an abandoned apartment called Green Home after his family dies in a car accident.

 

Hyun-soo and his neighbors find themselves trapped inside as monsters appear out of nowhere. To survive the apocalypse, they take shelter in their flat, but quickly realize that the "monsters" are really people who have turned into these animals when they succumb to their wants, and that they, too, could turn into one.

 

Binge-watch this series on Netflix!

  4. Peninsula (2020)

   

Peninsula takes place four years after the events of the critically acclaimed 2016 film Train to Busan.

 

Once in Hong Kong and away from the zombie threat, ex-soldier Jung-seok (played by Gang Dong) is given the task of returning to Seoul to pick up a money truck. Zombies aren't the only threat he and his squad face as they make their way across the Korean Peninsula's shattered landscape. Their search leads them to a family of survivors.

  5. Zombie Detective (2020)  

Consider watching Zombie Detective if you're seeking for something different from zombies feasting on human flesh. Here, a new zombie, played by Choi Jin Hyuk, who has lost his memories, is the focus of a comic crime drama. A detective's identity is then offered to him, even as he fights to find out who he truly is.

  You can watch Zombie Detective on Viu!  

6. Kingdom (Season 1 and 2, 2019 - 2021)  

This is Netflix's first original Korean series, which ran for two seasons and was adapted from the web comic series The Kingdom of the Gods.

 

A zombie plague has invaded the nation during the medieval Joseon Dynasty. Crown Prince Lee-Chang (Ju Ji-hoon) is not only caught up in a political plot but also has to contend with hordes of zombies attempting to take over the country.

 

As we eagerly await the third season, the series has also created a special episode, Kingdom: Ashin of the North, which digs into the plague's backstory. It explains the origin of the resurrection plant and how it caused the zombie pandemic, starring Gianna Jun as the enigmatic Ashin.

 

We're sure you'll be able to finish these episodes in a week!

  7. Rampant (2018)

   

Before Kingdom, there was Rampant in 2018. It also follows a story of the outbreak of the undead in the Joseon Dynasty.

 

Hyun Bin, who also starred Crash Landing on You, portrays exiled prince Lee Chung, who can return to his homeland with the help of his brother and heir to the kingdom, Prince Lee Young. But when he returns home, he is faced not only with a political coup led by war minister Kim Ja-joon (Jang Dong-gun), but also with a plague of monsters that ran rampant at night.

  8. All Of Us Are Dead (2022)

   

"All Of Us Are Dead," a Netflix zombie series from Korea, is set in a post-COVID-19 world.

 

The 12-episode series, which is Netflix's new Korean zombie series original release for 2022, portrays the zombie invasion in Hyosan as an epidemic. The live-action film follows a group of high school kids who find themselves at the center of a mysterious virus that turns its victims into flesh-eating monsters.

 

The students and the authorities are both trying to figure out how to get out of the school as the zombies are roaming the hallways in quest of prey.

 

The series gets into an uncomfortable note, but this comes from the fact that this concept is so close to home.

 

"All of Us Are Dead" is an excellent series to binge and even watch again and again.

 

Do you have any other Korean zombie series that you would recommend? Share it with us.

  Sources: HerWorld, CNN Philippines