Directing

Shin Sang-ok

Born October 18, 1926 · Chongjin, Korea

Died April 11, 2006 · aged 79

Shin Sang-ok (born Shin Tae-seo; October 11, 1926 – April 11, 2006) was a South Korean filmmaker with more than 100 producer and 70 director credits to his name. His best-known films were made in the 1950s and 60s, many of them collaborations with his wife Choi Eun-hee, when he was known as "The Prince of South Korean Cinema". In 1978, Shin and Choi were kidnapped by North Korean leader Kim Jong-…

Known For

3 Ninjas Kick Back

3 Ninjas Kick Back · 1994

3 Ninjas Kick Back

MovieFamilyAdventure

During a championship baseball match, the three brothers hear that their grandfather in Japan is in trouble, and head out to help him, conceding the match. When they arrive in Japan, they must use all their powers to defend him against his ancient enemy, who has returned to exact revenge.

3 Ninjas Knuckle Up

3 Ninjas Knuckle Up · 1995

3 Ninjas Knuckle Up

MovieFamilyAdventure

Rocky, Colt and TumTum must battle an evil wealthy toxic waste dumper in order to save a local Indian tribe and their friend Joe. The 3 Ninjas must help find Joe's father and find a secret disk that contains evidence that could stop the toxic landfill that is destroying the Indian community. However the town is owned by the rich man and he controls the police and even the mayor. They must fight a motorcycle gang and renegade cowboys in this non-stop ninja adventure.

Five Fingers of Death

Five Fingers of Death · 1972

Five Fingers of Death

MovieActionDrama

A young boxer joins a martial arts school to increase his skill so he can enter a martial arts competition. He leaves the school when he hears that a local gangster is terrorizing the town. He comes to the aid of a young singer and brings on the wrath of the local gang. He eventually enters the martial arts competition after learning iron palm technique and takes out all competition.

Vanished

Vanished · 1994

MovieDramaMystery

Former Minister of National Security, Park Jin-wook, is kidnapped from the US by South Korean agents because he was about to reveal secrets concerning the rise of the military dictatorship of the 1980's.

Woman Prisoner No. 407

Woman Prisoner No. 407 · 1976

Woman Prisoner No. 407

MovieAdventureAction

Kang-hie recalls from her cell how she was used by Japanese detectives to track down and destroy the Korean Independence fighters. She manages to escape from prison during a break and proceeds to hunt down her former lover who was a Japanese agent.

Pulgasari

Pulgasari · 1986

MovieHorrorDrama

In feudal Korea, a group of starving villagers grow weary of the orders handed down to them by their controlling king and set out to use a deadly monster under their control to push his armies back.

Woman Prisoner No. 407 II

Woman Prisoner No. 407 II · 1976

Woman Prisoner No. 407 II

MovieAdventureAction

Japan conquers China just before WW2 starts. Chinese women are captured and placed in concentration camps, where they are tortured and humiliated. Some try to escape incurring enormous risks, and death if they fail.

The Youth

The Youth · 1955

MovieDramaHistory

In the latter years of the Korean Empire, Lee In Hwa, disguises herself as a man so she can join a group of young men determined to overthrow the colonial government. They fight together with young national activists presided by Hwal Min and supported by Daewon-gun, the Prince Regent, against Min Gyeom Ho and his peers. But Min and his team perform a surprise attack on Hwal Min and his peers.

Filmography

Sort

3 Ninjas Kick Back

3 Ninjas Kick Back · 1994

3 Ninjas Kick Back

MovieFamilyAdventure

During a championship baseball match, the three brothers hear that their grandfather in Japan is in trouble, and head out to help him, conceding the match. When they arrive in Japan, they must use all their powers to defend him against his ancient enemy, who has returned to exact revenge.

Writer

3 Ninjas Knuckle Up

3 Ninjas Knuckle Up · 1995

3 Ninjas Knuckle Up

MovieFamilyAdventure

Rocky, Colt and TumTum must battle an evil wealthy toxic waste dumper in order to save a local Indian tribe and their friend Joe. The 3 Ninjas must help find Joe's father and find a secret disk that contains evidence that could stop the toxic landfill that is destroying the Indian community. However the town is owned by the rich man and he controls the police and even the mayor. They must fight a motorcycle gang and renegade cowboys in this non-stop ninja adventure.

Director

Five Fingers of Death

Five Fingers of Death · 1972

Five Fingers of Death

MovieActionDrama

A young boxer joins a martial arts school to increase his skill so he can enter a martial arts competition. He leaves the school when he hears that a local gangster is terrorizing the town. He comes to the aid of a young singer and brings on the wrath of the local gang. He eventually enters the martial arts competition after learning iron palm technique and takes out all competition.

Producer

Vanished

Vanished · 1994

MovieDramaMystery

Former Minister of National Security, Park Jin-wook, is kidnapped from the US by South Korean agents because he was about to reveal secrets concerning the rise of the military dictatorship of the 1980's.

Director

Woman Prisoner No. 407

Woman Prisoner No. 407 · 1976

Woman Prisoner No. 407

MovieAdventureAction

Kang-hie recalls from her cell how she was used by Japanese detectives to track down and destroy the Korean Independence fighters. She manages to escape from prison during a break and proceeds to hunt down her former lover who was a Japanese agent.

Director

Pulgasari

Pulgasari · 1986

MovieHorrorDrama

In feudal Korea, a group of starving villagers grow weary of the orders handed down to them by their controlling king and set out to use a deadly monster under their control to push his armies back.

Director

Woman Prisoner No. 407 II

Woman Prisoner No. 407 II · 1976

Woman Prisoner No. 407 II

MovieAdventureAction

Japan conquers China just before WW2 starts. Chinese women are captured and placed in concentration camps, where they are tortured and humiliated. Some try to escape incurring enormous risks, and death if they fail.

Director

The Youth

The Youth · 1955

MovieDramaHistory

In the latter years of the Korean Empire, Lee In Hwa, disguises herself as a man so she can join a group of young men determined to overthrow the colonial government. They fight together with young national activists presided by Hwal Min and supported by Daewon-gun, the Prince Regent, against Min Gyeom Ho and his peers. But Min and his team perform a surprise attack on Hwal Min and his peers.

Producer

The Last Woman of Shang

The Last Woman of Shang · 1964

The Last Woman of Shang

MovieHistoryDrama

In order to exact revenge upon him, a young woman (Lin Dai) marries the Emperor Chou (Shin Young-kyun), who killed her father.

Producer

Red Scarf

Red Scarf · 1964

South Korean Air Force pilots engage in perilous missions against Communist North Koreans during the Korean War.

Director

A Man And a Gisaeng

A Man And a Gisaeng · 1969

A Man And a Gisaeng

A young man who was fired from his job for being unmanly decides to dress as a woman and work as a gisaeng. He gets proposals from several of his male clients including his former boss, Heo. He earns enough money to clear his gisaeng life and opens his own business with his friend Jeong-hui. Meanwhile his sister tells him that she is getting married. Later he finds out that her future brother in-law is the son of Heo. He doesn't know how to react. But Heo takes the man back to his company.

Screenplay

The Ghost Lovers

The Ghost Lovers · 1973

The Ghost Lovers

MovieHorrorRomance

A woman reaches out from the beyond to marry the man she loves. It isn't until later that he begins to suspect that his new wife is actually dead.

Director

Iljimae the Chivalrous Robber

Iljimae the Chivalrous Robber · 1961

Iljimae the Chivalrous Robber

MovieHistoryDrama

Iljimae's parents were killed due to a conspiracy when he was young. Many years later he became a chivalrous robber, robbing corrupt officials and helping the poor. He eventually manages in taking revenge for his parents' deaths. But the police start to chase him, and he hides himself at a gisaeng's house. The gisaeng was his ex-fiancee. She also lost her parents to a conspiracy. She begs Iljimae to stay with her, but he leaves to do what he has to.

Producer

Desire

A doctor is shocked to learn that his girlfriend had formerly been the mistress of a married man.

Producer

Six Assassins

Six Assassins · 1971

MovieActionAdventure

A magician-warrior who protects a man from an ambush, not knowing of his true villainous nature. But he discovers the truth after his wife and friend are killed and must now fight to set things right.

Producer

Runaway

Runaway · 1984

Song Ryul returns to the countryside to see his ill father. After his cousin conspires with the Japanese occupiers to sell their crop, Song Ryul is forced to emigrate to Kando (Jiandao) in Manchuria. His family faces numerous adversities there and after a row with a local pharmacist, he is imprisoned. The prison is raided by Kim Il-sung and his guerrillas, who free the inmates, who take revenge on the Japanese by blowing up a railway.

Director

The Gardener

The Gardener · 1998

MovieHorrorMystery

After her partner mysteriously disappears, Detective Kelly Jones is lead to a nursery that seems to hold many secrets.

Producer

The Flower in Hell

The Flower in Hell · 1958

The Flower in Hell

MovieCrimeDrama

In post-Korean War Seoul, a young man from the countryside discovers that his older brother has become romantically involved in a prostitute and has no intentions of returning home.

Director

The Eunuch

The Eunuch · 1968

MovieDramaHistory

A nobleman sends his daughter to the king as a concubine in order to gain personal power and favors from the monarch. Her lover follows her into the palace disguised as a eunuch. They continue to meet in secret until discovered and sentenced to death.

Director

Traces

MovieDramaRomance

A Japanese fine art teacher helps a Korean independence fighter to escape from a threat of being arrested by the Japanese police. The Korean man introduces him a gisaeng (Koran geisha) who learned Korean traditional court dance and he falls in love with her. However she hates Japanese because her parents were killed in the war.

Screenplay

To the Last Day

To the Last Day · 1960

To the Last Day

Captain Kim is grievously wounded in the first days of the war. When the northern troops continue their advance, his wife and small daughters flee south to Taegu, dragging him along in a two-wheel handcart. His wife struggles to keep herself and their surviving daughter alive. Working as a market trader, she meets a kind young man -- who happens to be tall, dark and handsome.

Producer

Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist

Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist · 1990

Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist

Two North Korean terrorists posing as Japanese tourists under the names of Shin Icho and Ma Yumi, blow up a Korean Airline flight enroute to Baghdad. When investigators catch up with the two in Bahrain, they take suicide pills but Ma Yumi is revived and forced to stand trial for her crimes.

Director

A Reluctant Prince

A Reluctant Prince · 1963

A Reluctant Prince

MovieDramaHistory

When King Heon-kong falls ill, a power struggle erupts over who will inherit the throne. Tired of all the infighting, the ministers arrange for a branch of the king's family, which had lost all its wealth and was living on remote Ganghwa Island, to inherit. But the heir to the throne is reluctant to leave his island home.

Director

Bound by Chastity Rule

Bound by Chastity Rule · 1962

Bound by Chastity Rule

The widow of a nobleman bears a son after having an affair with her servant. The servant and the baby are driven from the home by the woman's irate in-laws when the truth is discovered. Even after the child is grown, no contact is allowed between he and his mother who now denies the events of her past.

Director