14+ Krasue Horror Movies: Southeast Asia’s Most Grotesquely Fascinating Monster
Though “krasue” is what the head-and-guts monster is called in Thailand, many other regions of Southeast Asia have their own version of the folktale creature.
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The folklore of Southeast Asia contains a multitude of interesting creatures that aren’t terribly well known in the Western world. One of the most fascinating is the krasue. Known by different names and associated with different attributes depending on the country its stories originate from, the various incarnations of the “krasue”—which is the Thai name for the creature—share a common appearance across regional boundaries. It is a disembodied, floating head of a woman, with many of their internal organs still attached and dangling horrifically from what remains of the neck and spine. She also glows with an eerie light.
In Thai folklore, krasue are said to be individuals who live as normal humans during the day, but are cursed to lose their heads (and guts) at night. Detached from their body, they roam the darkness searching for something to eat (rotten food, human waste, and unborn babies are their favorites) before returning to their body in the morning.
The modern image of the krasue in Thailand stems from a 1968 comic book titled Krasue Sao which was created by cartoonist Tawee Witsanukorn. Prior to that, the creature was part of an oral tradition that had many different regional variations. But with the comic Krasue Sao and its film adaptation of the same name (titled Ghost of Guts Eater in English), the monster became a popular subject in Thai pop-culture.
The following list collects horror movies that feature a krasue as a prominent part of the story. Since a floating-head-with-guts isn’t limited to only Thai folklore, movies from other Southeast Asian countries that include their own versions of the creature are also listed. The only requirement is that the monster must be a floating head with its internal organs dangling. So, generic floating heads might appear in lots of films, but they won’t be included here unless their entrails are still attached.
The Best Krasue Horror Movies
Ghost of Guts Eater (1973)
Ghost of Guts Eater is thought to be the first movie to depict a krasue on screen, and it set the standard for just about everything that followed. The story is about a young woman, Bua Klee, who is cursed to expose her innards and search for babies to eat every night. The curse comes from a ring given to her by her dying grandmother who is also a floating-head baby-eater. Ghost of Guts Eater is extremely difficult to find in any kind of official release, so if you’re interested in watching it, you’ll have to do some digging.
My Mother is Arb (1980)
My Mother is Arb is a tragedy that spans generations. A woman named Ol is seduced by a nobleman which results in her becoming pregnant. The nobleman’s wife isn’t happy about this situation, so Ol is imprisoned. To survive childbirth and help her newborn son escape a life behind bars, Ol resorts to black magic handed down by her grandmother. Now cursed to be an ahp (the common name for the Cambodian version of a krasue), Ol facilitates her baby’s escape into a new life, but she will meet him again one day when he’s older. My Mother is Arb is another hard-to-find film.
Mystics in Bali (1981)
Mystics in Bali contains a leyak (or leák), a Balinese version of a krasue which is steeped in black magic, shapeshifting, and, of course, flying heads. Cathy is an American anthropologist who travels to Bali to study magic, but she gets way more experience in the subject than she was expecting. Cathy meets a witch belonging to a Leák cult who agrees to show her magic, but the witch is really using Cathy for her own devious purposes. One of the most dramatic ways the witch displays her power is by causing Cathy’s head to detach with her guts still attached, and she sends Cathy out for blood (and a baby).
Witch with Flying Head (1982)
One night while praying, Yu Chun is cursed by an evil man with sinister plans. The man “poisons” Yu Chun which causes her to lose control of her head and entrails every night as they detach from her body and wreak havoc through the streets. The man’s plan is to force Yu Chun into marrying him by providing her with a cure for the condition he’s caused. Yu Chun refuses marriage, opting to suffer her fate unless she can find a way to break the spell. Witch With Flying Head combines magic, action, and horror for a bizarre but fun experience. Most, if not all, of the available version of this movie are in rough shape, but it’s still watchable.
Devil Sorcery (1988)
Devil Sorcery uses the guts-and-head monster differently than the other entries in this list. The movie is about black magic more than anything else, and the story is kind of all over the place. It’s basically about an evil wizard who goes on a bender of malicious spells. One of the things he does is to summon a couple of krasue to do his bidding. This isn’t the best representation of the creature, but it’s an okay movie if you like the trashier side of horror.
Demonic Beauty (2002)
Demonic Beauty is interesting because it attempts to create an in-depth origin for its krasue. The film is set in the 1700s, and it starts with a princess who is forced into a marriage she doesn’t want with a man she doesn’t love. The events that follow which lead to the formation of the movie’s krasue are quite fun to watch play out, so no spoilers here. If you can track down a copy, Demonic Beauty is well worth your time.
Lady Vampire (2004)
Lady Vampire takes a revenge plot line and gives is a very cheesy supernatural spin. Maya and her husband are horribly attacked one evening, and both of them are left for dead. However, an ahp (or arp, a Cambodian krasue) is in the area and happens to drool directly into Maya’s mouth. One of the methods of passing the ahp curse is through saliva, so, sixteen years later when we rejoin Maya as a single mother, we learn that she is also an ahp. But rather than killing indiscriminately, Maya is after the men who attacked her and her husband. At over two hours, the movie overstays its welcome, but its cheapness also makes it amusing.
Krasue Valentine (2006)
Krasue Valentine attempts a more artful approach to the horror of a krasue. It is a story about love and karma, and it is told in a way similar to a more traditional ghost story. A krasue is heavily involved in the plot, but finding out the hows and whys is worth learning on your own. To provide a setting though, the film begins with a nurse taking a new job at a hospital on Valentine’s Day. The nurse and one of the hospital staff soon form a bond that will reveal certain truths about each other.
Penanggal (2013)
Penanggal is an impressive first directorial effort for actor-turned-director Ellie Suriaty Omar. As the filmmaker describes it, “this is not a ghost film, it is a spiritual film.” The story, set in the 1930s, focuses on Murni, a young woman whose grandmother is cursed as a head-detaching, guts-dangling, baby-eating penanggal after making a pact with the forces of evil. Before long, the curse is passed down to Murni when her grandmother dies. Now, with black-magic power she never asked for and a curse she never wanted, Murni struggles with the evil inside her while also being persecuted by the people around her.
The Dwarves Must be Crazy (2016)
The Dwarves Must be Crazy is, by far, the most ridiculous movie in this list. It is a goofy comedy about a tribe of dwarfs in Thailand who live deep in the jungle. A small group of them find a few strangely glowing slugs and decide to eat them, not realizing that the slugs are poisonous. The dwarfs die, but they soon come back as krasue to haunt their fellow villagers. What follows is a bizarre and mind-numbingly silly tale about how the villagers try to come together to exterminate the floating pests.
Sisters (2019)
Sisters explores the bonds and responsibilities of family through a coming-of-age story involving family curses, inherited grudges, and a teenage monster hunter. Mora is on the verge of her 16th birthday. As the day draws near, so do the dangers of her curse. Mora is a krasue like her mother before her, and her sister Veena (who is actually her cousin, but was raised as her sister) might be Mora’s only protection from dangers both internal and external. Veena, like her own mother, is trained in magical practices and combat, but is she strong enough to save her sister? Sisters mixes action, fantasy, and horror in a way similar to other teen monster/fantasy movies inspired by something like Ginger Snaps (2000).
Krasue: Inhuman Kiss (2019)
A love triangle resides in the heart of Inhuman Kiss. Sai is a young woman living in a village in 1940s Thailand. The village has a krasue problem, and a group of monster hunters soon arrives. With the hunters is Noi, a childhood friend of Sai’s who had moved away years prior. Sai and Noi begin to kindle a romance, but Jerd, their mutual friend, always had a crush on Sai. Problems escalate when Sai comes to understand that she is the krasue, unknowingly terrorizing the village at night. Inhuman Kiss is excellent, and if you’re looking for one movie from this list to introduce yourself to the krasue, this is the one to watch.
Inhuman Kiss: The Last Breath (2023)
Though Inhuman Kiss: The Last Breath does technically connect to Krasue: Inhuman Kiss, this sequel can easily be watched as a standalone movie. Like its predecessor, The Last Breath is a horror-romance involving a krasue. A young woman named Sao carries the krasue curse. Her father Noi (one of the main characters from the first film) has tried to contain Sao’s monstrous nature for years, but his efforts are failing. Sao soon reconnects with Cloud, her childhood friend, and the two of them begin falling for each other as they realize that Cloud might be able to help Sao’s condition.
Kuyang (2024)
With its setup of a couple from the city moving to an isolated village, Kuyang has strong folk horror elements. Bimo is a civil servant who is assigned to a small village, and his pregnant wife Sri goes with him. Despite suffering an attack from a mysterious entity during their trip into the wilderness, the couple decides they have no choice but to continue onward. Things only get worse from there as Sri is targeted by a malevolent force that is very interested in the child she is carrying.
More Krasue Movies to Explore
Reliable information regarding movies featuring krasue and related monsters in Southeast Asia is scarce. The movies themselves are even harder to track down. With that in mind, the following list might have some inaccuracies (dates, titles, translations, etc.). It is also not an exhaustive list. As we dig deeper into the lore of the krasue and find more movies, they will be added here.
- Dracula Tok (1979)
- Krasue (1982)
- Oil of Eternal Life (aka Itthirit nam man Phrai, 1984)
- Filth Eating Spirit (aka Bloodthirsty Ghost, 1985/1990)
- Krasue Sing (1990)
- Krasue Fights Ghost (aka Krasue kat pop, 1990)
- Krasue Fights Ghost (aka Krasue fad pop, 2009)
- Penanggal (2011)
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I watch these movies?
Is there more krasue lore that is helpful to know when watching these movies?
1. A krasue is a messy eater, and it will wipe its mouth on any cloth it passes by on its nightly binge. So, if you leave laundry hanging outside to dry overnight and see blood (or other gross substances) on your clothes the next day, then you might have a krasue problem.
2. If you suspect a krasue has soiled your laundry, you can boil the cloth which causes the krasue’s mouth to burn (one movie in this list shows that burning the cloth works too). This is a good way to identify the human host of a krasue.
3. Since krasue love to eat babies—sometimes right out of the mother’s womb as seen in Mystics in Bali—it is a good idea to surround your house and windows with sharp objects like spikes or thorns if there is a pregnant woman living there. A krasue’s hanging guts are prone to getting caught in such things.
What are other names for a krasue?
Thailand = Krasue
Cambodia = Ahp (sometimes written as Ap, Arp, or Arb)
Indonesia = Kuyang or Leyak (also Leák, specific to Bali)
Malaysia = Penanggalan (also Penanggal)
Laos = Kasu
Vietnam = Ma Lai
Further Reading
- Best Thai Horror Movies
- Best Indonesian Horror Movies
- Best Taiwanese Horror Movies
- Hong Kong Horror Movies
- Folk Horror Movies
