Sharks In the Seine? Top 10 International Horror Movies To Watch This Month

From director Takashi Miike, the genre maestro behind films like Audition and Ichi the Killer, Lumberjack the Monster slashed its way onto Netflix on June 1. 

Hiroyoshi Koiwai wrote the screenplay for Lumberjack the Killer, which is adapted from the novel Kaibutsu no Kikori by Mayusuke Kurai. In the film, psychopathic lawyer Akira Ninomiya (Kazuya Kamenashi) has a run-in with a serial killer wearing a monster mask. Determined to get revenge on his attacker, Ninomiya sets out to catch the gruesome killer before the police get the chance. Expect action, violence, and plenty of blood and brain matter. 

French shark movie Under Paris is set to swim onto Netflix on June 5, though Deadline notes that an ongoing legal dispute could impact the release. 

Directed by Xavier Gens (Mayhem!), Under Paris takes place against the backdrop of the World Triathlon Championships, which are being held on the Seine for the first time. Unfortunately, a large shark is swimming deep in the dark waters. Can a scientist, an environmental activist, and the Seine River police capture the toothy obstacle before an athlete loses a leg? 

All I can say is: ready, set, swim for your life. 

Nope's question of "What's a bad miracle?" kept flashing in my head while watching Handling the Undead, director Thea Hvistendahl's quiet, contemplative exploration of what might happen if the dead suddenly came back to life on a hot summer day in Oslo.

Based on the book of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also penned Let the Right One In, Handling the Undead tells three unconnected but emotionally resonant stories of families reunited with loved ones in various stages of decomposition. It's a hauntingly sad film about grief and the difficulty of moving on that's sure to strike a chord with anyone who has lost a loved one. Plus, zombies. 

Handling the Undead opened at the IFC Center in New York City on May 31 and will expand to select cities on June 7. Check out a sneak peek at a clip from Handling the Undead right here.

A relationship turns quite literally toxic in Kill Your Lover, an ooey, gooey, flesh-burning body horror film from writer-directors Alix Austin and Keir Siewer.

Paige Gilmour stars as Dakota, a former member of a punk rock band who is trapped in a decaying relationship with the painfully vanilla Axel (Shane Quigley-Murphy). Dakota has wanted out for some time; Axel won't let go. And eventually, his hold on Dakota starts to manifest in horrifying ways. 

Kill Your Lover arrives in theaters and on digital/VOD platforms on June 7 and is probably not a great choice for a first date movie. 

With a cast that includes Oldboy's Choi Min-sik, South Korean horror film Exhuma digs up something dreadful on Shudder on June 14. 

In writer-director Jang Jae-hyun's film, a renowned shaman and her protégé are hired by a wealthy family to uncover the cause of a supernatural illness that affects the firstborn children of each generation. With the help of a mortician and revered geomancer, the pair track down a family grave on sacred ground that gives off serious bad vibes. Unfortunately, their plan to exhume and relocate the remains allows something awful to get out of the grave… 

From the twisted mind behind Impetigore and Satan's Slaves, Joko Anwar's Nightmares and Daydreams asks whether every odd occurrence necessarily has a rational explanation. 

Following multiple storylines that intertwine like pieces of a puzzle, Joko Anwar's Nightmares and Daydreams sees ordinary people encounter strange phenomena that may be the keys to uncovering the origin of our world—and a threat we will soon face. The seven-episode series is described as a supernatural thriller, but given Anwar's previous body of work and the eerie teaser trailer, I think it's safe to say we can expect some scares. 

Catch Joko Anwar's Nightmares and Daydreams on Netflix from June 14.

Tiger Stripes is an international co-production between Malaysia, Germany, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, France, the Netherlands, and Qatar, from director Amanda Nell Eu. The acclaimed Malay-language body horror film roars into theaters on June 14. 

The first-ever film directed by a Malaysian woman to play at Cannes, Tiger Stripes follows Zaffan (Zafreen Zairizal), a 12-year-old girl living in rural Malaysia whose body undergoes a strange and terrifying transformation when puberty hits. With hysteria gripping her school, Zaffan must learn to embrace her body or else submit to her community's rigid expectations of her. 

Fear the Walking Dead's Maggie Grace stars alongside Minka Kelly and Dermot Mulroney (Scream VI) in Blackwater Lane, a British horror-thriller based on the bestselling novel The Breakdown by B.A. Paris. 

Set in the British countryside, Blackwater Lane centers around Cass (Kelly), who is visited by a ghostly presence after witnessing a tragedy on the road. As these otherworldly experiences intensify, Cass begins to suspect a horrific plot against her. Jeff Celentano directed the film, which creeps into theaters and onto digital platforms on June 21.

Austrian filmmaking duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (Goodnight Mommy, The Lodge) are back this month with The Devil's Bath, a film that leverages historical court records to tell an unsettling tale about a hitherto unexplored chapter in European history.

The tale takes place in Austria in 1750, where a deeply religious newlywed starts to feel trapped on a lonely path filled with chores and expectations. As the days pass and evil thoughts rise in her mind, the possibility of committing a shocking act of violence starts to feel like the only way out of her inner prison. 

New Yorkers can take a dip in The Devil's Bath when it opens at the IFC Center on June 21. Can't make it to the Big Apple? Never fear: the film is heading to Shudder on June 28.

More than half a century before Bram Stoker's Dracula terrified readers, Aleksei K. Tolstoy wrote the gothic novella La Famille du Vourdalak about vampires in Serbia. Director Adrien Beau is bringing that story to life in The Vourdalak, releasing exclusively in theaters on June 28. 

The Vourdalak follows Marquis d'Urfé (Kacey Mottet Klein), a noble emissary of the King of France, who finds refuge in an isolated manor after being attacked in the remote countryside. But the family that takes him in is exhibiting strange behavior as they await the return of their father, who may no longer be himself… Grab the garlic and check out the trailer here.

Those are our top international horror picks for June! Are you curious about what else is coming out this month and beyond? Cross these 2024 horror movies off your list — and be sure to check back in July for another round-the-world horror round-up.