Agree on Pet Semetary.
The Insidious movies really scared me as an adult. My wife loves watching me more than the movies during that kind of stuff.
OT: Since it's so close to Halloween...what's your favorite classic scary movie?
- Thread starter dahliaclone
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Agree on Pet Semetary.
The Insidious movies really scared me as an adult. My wife loves watching me more than the movies during that kind of stuff.
I'm not much of a horror movie person, but my best friend in middle school was. Naturally, I watched some movies when I was sleeping over at her house. "Nightmare on Elm Street" completely creeped me out, but that was mild compared to "Candyman." (I hear they're remaking "Candyman.") A few years later, I watched "The Strangers," and decided that was one of the scariest movies I've seen. But again, I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to scary stuff.
Watch the movie Orphan. It's a great movie. Then it actually happened in real life, which makes it even better.
Can't do them. Absolutely can't do scary movies. Even back in the good ol' days where "let's watch a scary movie" was likely codeword for something else, I was still out.
I really really don't like horror movies. Of those listed I've only seen Psycho. And am a Hitchcock fan so my vote was a no-brainer.
I like them but I'm a total pansy. It took me like 10 sittings to get through Hereditary. Something creepy would happen that scared the crap out of me like every 10 minutes and I'd turn it off. Come back the next day, watch another 10 minutes, turn it off.
Endless choices. The Shining is one of my all time favorite movies, period. But there is such a wonderful spectrum across horror. From '50's & '60's camp like The Blob & The Fly to the early -mid '70's Satanic horror like The Exorcist & The Omen to the mid to late '70's slasher films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and Friday the 13th...
I love the nostalgia of old horror. Just consider how truly scary Psycho or Night of The Living Dead were when they were screened in theaters for the first time. I've watched an interview with Glenn Danzig recounting going to see NOTLD for the first time and how people were screaming, puking, and passing out in the theater. That's magical!
I love the nostalgia of old horror. Just consider how truly scary Psycho or Night of The Living Dead were when they were screened in theaters for the first time. I've watched an interview with Glenn Danzig recounting going to see NOTLD for the first time and how people were screaming, puking, and passing out in the theater. That's magical!
To me, The Exorcist was the absolute scariest, because it is based on real phenomenon. But.....somehow, I had to mark Psycho, because it maintains its impact through repeated viewings. Hitchcock was a genius at getting you to think you were seeing things, when you really weren't. (Classic example is the shower scene.)
But the creepiest of all is at the very end.....when Norman (as Mrs. Bates) is narrating her side of the story, and then he (Norman) looks up and directly into the camera. That look ......I'm getting chills now just thinking about it. Pure evil.
But the creepiest of all is at the very end.....when Norman (as Mrs. Bates) is narrating her side of the story, and then he (Norman) looks up and directly into the camera. That look ......I'm getting chills now just thinking about it. Pure evil.
I used to enjoy the classic scary movies. Exorcist is really a fantastic film, and Halloween is amazingly directed for a horror film. Some buddies and I used to watch our way through an entire series - Halloween ("Season of the Witch" is hilarious), Friday the 13th (as is the one where Jason's heart is alive and on the move), Nightmare on Elm Street.
These days, though, I cannot handle scary crap. Even "Stranger Things" is something I've had to watch during the day. Just not my genre.
These days, though, I cannot handle scary crap. Even "Stranger Things" is something I've had to watch during the day. Just not my genre.
Halloween. I remember watches those back to back to back as a kid. I'm not a huge fan of haunting movies.
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While I do find it scary that element of it is kind of secondary for me. Kubrick, imo is the greatest American director ever and I think The Shining is his master work. The cinematography, set design, acting (casting), story (his version), score...I love all of it. The scale of the blood gushing out of the elevator is a remarkable scene even if it's not scary.
The thing about Halloween is how the camera pans over in many situations, and you expect something there but it doesn't happen, while you the viewer knows about the figure slowly wandering around the neighborhood.
Of more recent movies, if you haven't seen The Descent...watch it. I would put that as the scariest movie of the past two decades.
At first viewing, I was thoroughly put off because Kubrick had changed so many of the story elements. But upon repeated viewings, I discovered that I did enjoy his version.....with the exception of Jack's descent into madness. It just seemed to happen too fast.
Have you watched the doc Room 237? Pretty fascinating stuff.
I think psychological horror is the ultimate, because so many times our imagination is left to run wild. Graphic gory horror is fine, but eventually you find yourself becoming blase, and wanting even more.
One film I would present in that regard is The Banshee Chapter, which dealt with the experimental use of hallucinogens during Project MKUltra (Google it!), and the resulting problems. The director skates right to the edge of letting us see something, and our minds are left to fill in the blanks. Which in most cases ends up being something far scarier than could be presented on film.
One film I would present in that regard is The Banshee Chapter, which dealt with the experimental use of hallucinogens during Project MKUltra (Google it!), and the resulting problems. The director skates right to the edge of letting us see something, and our minds are left to fill in the blanks. Which in most cases ends up being something far scarier than could be presented on film.
Imo the old movies that didn't showcase crazy background music were that much scarier. NOTLD does this in a few scenes and it's what makes Texas Chainsaw Massacre work too.
