Stave Off the March Madness With 9 New Foreign Horror Movies From Around the World

One of my favorite things about watching international horror is the opportunity to discover creepy myths and legends from around the world. Writer-director Pablo Absento’s feature debut, Bloat, is ticking that box for me this March, exploring what happens to a family when a kappa possesses their son. 

What’s a kappa, you ask? According to Wikipedia, it’s a water demon from Japanese folklore that kidnaps children and drowns people (and possibly also enjoys cucumbers and sumo-wrestling—love that for it).

In Bloat, the kappa snags its victim while the family vacations in Japan. Unfortunately, daddy Jack (Ben McKenzie), a military officer, is stationed in Turkey at the time and has to watch the horror unfold through his computer screen. Watch alongside him when this screenlife possession flick swims into select theaters and digital platforms on March 7.

Ever wished you could show your kids Hellraiser but don’t want to pay for the therapy? Then why not ease them into the horror genre with Night of the Zoopocalypse, a family-friendly animated zombie movie inspired by a concept from Clive Barker!

Directed by animation industry veterans Ricardo Curtis and Rodrigo Perez-Castro, Night of the Zoopocalypse sees a young wolf (Gabbi Kosmidis) and gruff mountain lion (Stranger Things’ David Harbour) leading a rag-tag group of survivors after a meteor crashes into their zoo and starts turning the animals into zombies. Catch the cuteness bug in theaters from March 7.

You’ve seen him looking not angry but slightly disappointed at the Oscars—now prepare to see John Lithgow at his most unhinged in director James Ashcroft’s The Rule of Jenny Pen.

Legendary Australian actor Geoffrey Rush co-stars in the film, playing an austere judge confined to a retirement home after a devastating stroke leaves him partially paralyzed. There, he encounters Lithgow’s Dave Crealy, an old man who plays senile for the staff only to terrorize the other residents at night with his dementia doll, the titular Jenny Pen. 

Lithgow (and Jenny) have been living rent-free in my head since I caught the film’s festival run last year. Find out why when The Rule of Jenny Pen hits theaters on March 7 and Shudder on March 28.

While you wait for 28 Years Later to finally arrive, get your fill of running zombies with Silent Zone, available on digital and VOD platforms from March 7.

From Hungarian filmmaker Peter Deak, making his feature directorial debut, Silent Zone follows a resourceful teen and her protector fighting for survival in a zombie-ravaged world. You know the drill. Luca Papp and Matt Devere star.

Did you miss Starve Acre’s theatrical release last summer? Then run rabbit, run rabbit over to Shudder, where the film starts streaming exclusively on March 7. 

Daniel Kokotajlo wrote and directed the folk horror flick, which is based on the book of the same name by Andrew Michael Hurley. Matt Smith (Last Night in Soho) and Morfydd Clark (Saint Maud) play Richard and Juliette, a couple whose idyllic life in rural Yorkshire is upended when their son starts acting strangely. It’s a slow burn for sure, but there are some deliciously eerie roots to this one if you’re willing to dig for them.

There’s been no shortage of exorcism films lately, many of which seem to star Russell Crowe, but most revolve around the fight to save a living possessed person. Director Hyun Moon-Seop’s Devil’s Stay takes a slightly different approach, opening with a death and exploring what happens to the body next. 

Park Shin-Yang stars as a renowned heart surgeon who refuses to accept the reality of his daughter’s death during an exorcism. His belief that her heart still beats causes him to clash with the priest who performed the expulsion—especially when unnerving changes start happening to her corpse. Devil’s Stay possessed theaters back in December, and you can summon it on demand from March 18.

A single mother who makes a living smuggling exotic animals and other illicit products develops a mobile app designed to connect clients with marabout healers in Hood Witch, the debut film of French director Saïd Belktibia. As you can probably guess from its inclusion on this list, things don’t exactly go to plan—and when a consultation ends in tragedy, she’s subjected to a social media witch hunt that could cost her and her son’s lives.

Hood Witch stars acclaimed Iranian-French actor Golshifteh Farahani. Find it in select theaters and on digital platforms from March 21.

War consumes all in writer-director Kongkiat Komesiri’s Operation Undead, which the New York Asian Film Festival describes as “a soul-stirring elegy for lost humanity in a world where even the damned deserve empathy and a shot at redemption.” Damn. 

Set in Thailand’s Chumphon Province during World War II, Operation Undead follows an inexperienced unit of Thai soldiers who encounter a Japan-engineered biological weapon that turns men into monsters. The film is getting a digital release on March 18 and will be available on Blu-ray and DVD from March 25.

Italian werewolf movie Shadow of the Wolf premiered way back in 2018, but you can finally watch it on VOD and digital platforms from March 25.

Not to be confused with the 1992 adventure film of the same name, Shadow of the Wolf stars Raniero Monaco Di Lapio as Nico, who returns from overseas to say farewell to his ailing mother only to learn that something monstrous is stalking his small hometown. Mutilated bodies are piling up—and uncovering the culprit might just reveal a terrifying secret within Nico’s own family. Highlander’s Christopher Lambert also stars.

Those are our top international picks for March. Check out more fresh frights you can look forward to this month, and join me again in April for another round-the-world release tour.