Netflix fans must cancel weekend plans to binge supernatural horror The East Palace

Something evil has cursed the royal family, but the man supposed to prevent more children from dying brings a curse of his own to the palace, one that helps him travel into a crimson hellscape that exists right below our own. Sound familiar?

Perhaps, but stranger things abound in The East Palace, a historical Korean horror which blends recognisable elements from other Netflix shows into a bloody good time.

Gu-cheon (Nam Joo-hyuk) can see spirits, but what he doesn’t see coming is the moment when the King (Cho Seung-woo) kidnaps him, forcing the ‘feng shui master’ to investigate why all of his heirs keep dying in bizarre circumstances.

Forced to stay in the palace until answers are found, Gu-cheon reluctantly works alongside court lady Saeng-gang (Roh Yoon-seo) to root out the evil.

Although their combined ability to see and hear the dead makes them ideal ghostbusters, Gu-cheon’s outright rudeness and lack of respect for authority rubs Saeng-gang up the wrong way.

But this friction, so typical for K-drama pairings of a less supernatural variety, soon blossoms into trust with undercurrents of something more.

Where The East Palace differs, however, is in the way both leads are treated with equal footing.

Although Gu-cheon is first presented as your standard hero, Saeng-gang is just as much his equal throughout, saving him as often as he saves her. And boy do they need saving a lot.

Despite being set in just one location, Choi Jung-kyu’s show is riddled with ghouls that Gu-cheon sees in the human world and fights in the spirit realm.

These aren’t just faceless horrors though. Each supernatural threat draws on Korean folklore, channeling known entities such as gwi-ma and ak-gwi which bring their own unique looks and motivations to what could have just been your bog standard ghosts.

How they came to be is directly intertwined with the history of the palace itself, unearthing secrets and corruption with each new encounter. The concept of energy they create and are bound by also binds Gu-cheon to Saeng-gang as he comes to rely on her “Yang” energy to compensate for his own deficiencies.

While the scares aren’t outright terrifying in ways that will keep you up at night, the various character designs are creepy regardless, twisting traditional Korean folklore and attire into something monstrous.

With somewhat familiar story beats, it’s this specificity that helps set The East Palace apart, depicting hideous, gruesome evils both natural and unnatural in one of the best looking shows you’ll see this year.

The visuals are endlessly opulent in every aspect, as you might expect from a royal venture such as this.

Filmed on location in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province, the architecture and scenery is breathtaking throughout, so cinematic that it bursts through the usual Netflix murk with a vibrancy that contrasts with the rotting dead our heroes face.

Sunlight captures every intricacy of each beautifully woven costume and the special effects shine too, even in darker moments like when Gu-cheon descends into a vast lake at night.

Such period detail and visual splendor might evoke the big historical romances released this year, including Perfect Crown and My Royal Nemesis, but the black beating heart of this show has far more in common with Korean horror outings such as Kingdom, and to a lesser extent, Sweet Home.

A battle literally drenched in blood by the premiere’s end captures this perfectly, just as impressive visually as it is thrilling and unsettling.

Nam is pretty impressive in the visual stakes too, again carrying that tormented charm he perfected so well for previous shows such as Vigilante and The School Nurse Files.

In his first role since completing mandatory military service, Nam hits that world-weary tone without pushing it to the point of insufferable (even if Saeng-gang struggles with it personally). Roh is excellent too, playing off that irritation with a bristly exterior that belies a warmth underneath.

Cho and Jang Young-nam’s Queen Dowager round out the central cast with just as much skill, fully committed to the material at hand. Their gravitas, which matches the sombre tone of the palace hierarchy, is undercut though by a cutesy spirit who’s inexplicably introduced early on.

Just as distracting as it is unnecessary, the voiceless character feels completely out of place, detracting from what could have been a more horrifying ordeal.

It’s a shame The East Palace doesn’t commit more fully to the scares in that sense, because the material here certainly has the potential to unnerve just as much as Kingdom once did.

Yet even so, you are in for a royal treat with this show, which you’ll fly through faster than an attacking gwi-ma (even if these cursed story beats are reminiscent of other somewhat superior shows).

The East Palace is available to stream on Netflix.