Favorite Horror Movies?

U

untamed

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I plan on having a weekend horror movie marathon (hopefully with a certain lady friend ;)).

Anyways, the common element of psychological conditioning and ambience is always there to get to us. Some though thru special effects, others thru gore and grossness while others thru stupid marketing attempts of "Based on Actual Events" :barf:

Off the top of my head -

1. Ringu - "The Ring" original Japanese version. The Japanese have really come into their own unique, psychological genre (which is why Hollywood has been trying to make their versions, unsuccessfully IMHO).

Fave scene: THE WELL! One of the very few disturbing scenes that made me straighten-up after a looooooong while.

2. When I was a kid (ten or twelve I think?), John Carpenter's Prince Of Darkness literally kept me awake for some nights. One of the few films to meld good sci-fi elements with horror, even introduced me to some advanced physics (discussed the "tachyon" particle briefly).

Fave scene: the dream sequence with the shrouded, phantom-like figure in the doorway

3. The Exorcist - of course, a classic! Disturbing to say the least. Like in most cases however, the film fails to capture W.P. Blatty's imagination from the book. BTW, I read somewhere a long time ago that Blatty did "work for the US Government during the Viet Nam War in the area of psychological operations"??? Hmmmm, don't know how true this is, but if it is, he sure did apply the knowledge well in the plot development.

Fave scene: A lot! Usually involving floating bodies with demonic pupils and greenish avocado gooey stuff exiting out of every bodily orifice! :D
 
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It's good to find out that someone else actually saw Prince of Darkness besides me. Not an Oscar winner, but good entetainment and pretty freaky.
A number of years ago, I read an article where a critic rated the best horror films of all time. I recall that his top three were The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby and Alien, whihc he said was unique because it was not only one of the best horror films he had ever seen, but also one of the best sci-fi films. I would add The Shining and Jaws to that list for starters and possibly Bram Stoker's Dracula. I know that Stephen King thought that Kubrick butchered his book, but if you ever saw the mini-series version that he made, you should have a whole new respect for Stanley's "butchery". Dracula was a story that had been told many times, but never in such a grand fashion. There are a few films out there that are perhaps not great cinema, but they will freak you out. John Carpenter's remake of The Thing is one. When the thing is melding with the sled dogs or the severed head grows legs and scampers off, i still freak.
 
scary: halloween (original), jaws, exorcist, the shining (original), scream.

just plain creepy: seven, the devil's rejects, from hell, the hitcher (original).

b movie classic: witchboard. (at least it scared the crap out of me when i was a teenager.)
 
With regards to Stephen King, while I'm personally a big fan as well (Needful Things, Tommyknockers, The Stand, The Shining, The Langoliers, Desperation, Storm of the Century and more recently The Mist), I regard him as great story-teller with subjects bordering more on the paranormal rather than anything really scary. Again probably elements lost in translation to film.

Still good stuff nonetheless.
 
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As you know, for brain twisting, hard to watch madness Japanese films seem to be the best,
"Tetsuo the iron man", "visitor Q", "the ring (original)" and "imprint" are pretty "good".

The Italians have some pretty messed up stuff,
"cannibal holocaust" is one to look out for.
But im not sure if id watch that with a female.

If you want commedy rubber monsters and tomato sauce get some Hollywood goodies,
"Army of darkness", "evil dead", "nightmare on elm street" etc. etc.

There is also the classic vintage horror films from "hammer horror" but these are not too exciting by todays standards.

:thumbup:
 
Poltergeist still scares me and I turned 50 this month. A good one to watch with a "Friend".
 
Aliens! They rock. Slime violent death and bits.





The Muppets are still unsettling? Frogs & Pigs getting romantic, probably why so many Americans just wanna loose it.
 
Halloween (Original)
Halloween (Rob Zombie remake)
The Wolfman (Can't wait for the 2009 remake with Benico Del Torro!)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (The Jessica Biel Remake, hated the original)
 
1) The Exorcist
2) 28 Days Later
3) Shaun of the Dead (hysterical!)
4) Dawn of the Dead (Romero Original)
5) Ravenous (Not the typical horror Movie but i love it!)
Actually i liked the Exorcism of Emily Rose quite a bit, surprisingly creepy and pretty well done, similar to the exorcist.
Thats just off the top of my head, Horror is my genre... since i was a kid.:thumbup:
cheers
ivan
 
Night of the Living Dead (1968 & 1990), Dawn of the Dead (1978 & 2004), 28 Weeks Later, Re-Animator, Zombi (the splinter in the eyeball is the best horror scene ever), The Exorcist, most Argento movies, and all the Italian Zombie movies.
 
I have to agree,the well scene on Ringu made the movie.
I also though the original Nightmare on Elm st was scarry.
The original Alien,if you want to count that.
The Thing,with Kurt Russel wasn't bad,but then again it's SF.
 
Evil Dead 2, Dead by Dawn, hilarious and gory.
Dawn of the Dead, original and absolute classic.
Friday the 13th Part 4, by far the best of the series.
 
I liked the new Dawn of the Dead,as well as almost all of the "living dead series".I think I saw the original(Night of the Living Dead)at least 30 times & I still get creeped out from it.:D
I liked Evil Dead 1&2.Army of Darkness was just too hilarious to be scary.
I remember the first time I seen Nightmare on Elm Street.It was one of the few movies that sent chills up my spine.
The Stephen King mini-series IT was good,but as usual couldn't touch the book.
I liked the way Tommy Knockers came out on the screen though.It was one of the few "books to movies" that was acceptable IMO.
Carrie was also a good one.I still jump when that hand comes out of the grave!:D
I love horror movies.It's usually the first genre I look for,when searching for a new movie.
I could sit here & write all day about my favorite horror movies.
There's this one movie from the 70's that really freaked me out when I was a little kid.It's called "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark".It was a made for TV movie with Kim Darby.It was about a newlywed couple moving into a new house,only to discover there were these little demons living in a crawlspace behind a blocked up hearth(I think?)
I had many a nightmare from that movie.I wish I could find it.

Good luck with your Halloween party:)

Take Care,
 
I was total freaked out by those spikey little SOB when I was a kid, but it is a cool flick with the shapechanging space hunters and all!!:D
 
Haze said:
There is also the classic vintage horror films from "hammer horror" but these are not too exciting by todays standards.

:thumbup:
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The Hammer Bros. movies are awesome. Not as brutal as today's horror movies, but good B-movie gothic horror. Dracula Has Risen From the Grave! is possibly my favorite. These movies are the reason Peter Cushing got top billing in Star Wars: A New Hope.

I like atmosphere over gore, for the most part. Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow is great. Someone mentioned the Evil Dead movies. They're all awesome, but the original Evil Dead is worth a watch since it was shot as a serious film.

Alien. Classic.

Eventhough not officially a horror movie, Jacob's Ladder has always freaked me out. Always makes me look at an abandoned subway platform at night a lot different than I used to.

Poltergeist - the movie that messed up my entire generation. My wife and I were discussing when it would be appropriate for our daughter to watch it. We decided 30 was a good age, if ever. The Poltergeist "curse" makes it even creepier - Coach (Craig T. Nelson) must have someone looking over him. Is this movie scary to an adult? I have no idea. But everyone who is currently in their 30's has been tainted by this movie.
 
Oh, does anyone agree with me that good vampire movies are few and far between? The two that I actually like are Bram Stoker's Dracula and John Carpenter's Vampires.
 
Steven King's Salems Lot, with that big scary vampire. Pretty good. Also, Price of Darkness, as mentioned before, by John Carpenter. THose english horror movies with Christopher Lee are really scary too. The new Dracula, with the cowboy who shoots Dracula with the western gun is also decent.
 
wintermute said:
Eventhough not officially a horror movie, Jacob's Ladder has always freaked me out. Always makes me look at an abandoned subway platform at night a lot different than I used to.

Poltergeist - the movie that messed up my entire generation. My wife and I were discussing when it would be appropriate for our daughter to watch it. We decided 30 was a good age, if ever. The Poltergeist "curse" makes it even creepier - Coach (Craig T. Nelson) must have someone looking over him. Is this movie scary to an adult? I have no idea. But everyone who is currently in their 30's has been tainted by this movie.
Click to expand...

Hey I never did get finish Jacob's Ladder! Thanks for reminding. I also prefer psych-messing and conditioning over gore-and-FX any day and this film definitely qualifies!

And yes I agree, Poltergeist did/does have that effect on us :o The pint-sized lady psychic's eerie voice alone can give you the creeps!
 
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