Favorite Horror Movies

[FinalDestination]

Posted: 7/12/09 at 3:27pm

I was reading through past messages on this board doing with movies and I have notice many people on here like horror movies. I did a search to see if this question has been posted before, but nothing came up, so I was wondering: What are some of your horror movies? Also, what do you like about horror movies? Also are you into the haunting/supernatural type horror movies or the slasher/gory films?

Personally, I love horror movies (favorite film genre, actually).
A few of my favorites are:
The Ring
The Grudge
Friday the 13th
Final Destination series
Nightmare on Elm Street
The Shining

I could go on forever, but I want to know more about which are your favorites.

By the way, this is also helping me find a horror movie I haven't seen that seems good to go out and rent. =]

[Weez]

Posted: 7/12/09 at 5:02pm

I love a good horror movie. The way I see it, anything that's telling you a story is going to try and evoke an emotional reaction from you, right? And the point of a horror movie is to be scary, right? So the more scared I am, the more fun I'm having. I LOVE being scared; it's why I love the Silent Hill video games so much, and why The Woman in Black is one of my favourite plays. :3 Alas, though, I haven't been scared by a horror movie in a really long time. I think The Woman in Black actually broke me - it scared me so badly that my body now just doesn't recognise fear as an emotion anymore. XD

Anyway. Generally, I prefer horror movies to have supernatural elements. It doesn't have to be anything complicated; I'm developing a strong affinity for zombie movies, and there's little as awesome as good old-fashioned haunted house movie. But a man in a mask with a weapon just isn't scary to me (being startled when something pops up unexpectedly is NOT the same thing as feeling real fear, no matter what the people who hate gunshots in musicals may say), and I'm not so hot on monster movies. Zombies and demons, sure. Werewolves and vampires, less so. Ghosts are probably my favourite. Something scary, intangible, inexplicable.

I do also have a bit of a sense of humour, which gets a little black at times, so it shouldn't really come as a surprise that my favourite series is the Evil Dead trilogy. However, I'm slowly (and prematurely?) coming to the conclusion that the best horror movies hail from Spain. Want a good scare? [REC]. Want something slow but unutterably creepy? The Others (hey, it counts as Spanish!). Want something a bit like The Others but kicked up about a zillion notches and just ridiculously brilliant from start to finish? The Orphanage. I love me some Evil Dead, but the finest horror movie I've ever seen is The Orphanage. There's a couple of moments that might let it down a little if you let them (there's a jump-out-and-say-boo moment, a shot of impending horror that made all the terrified audience members laugh uproariously when I saw it at the cinema, and some people - heartless, foolish people - believe there's a bit of oversentimentality going on), but even though it didn't scare me as much as I wanted it to (damn you, Woman in Black!), it's still one of the absolute best I've seen.

I also liked The Descent a whole bunch, actually. There's a real feeling of impending doom, that comes just as much from the setting as the film, and it probably isn't even a horror movie to start off with, but it's so frickin' atmospheric! Also, 28 Days Later was pretty awesome, but 28 Weeks Later pwns it RIGHT into the ground!

Sooo... American horror movies? Yeah, if Sam Raimi's not involved, I'm not interested. Come to the European side! We have cookies! *Scary* cookies!

Updated On: 7/12/09 at 05:02 PM

[Pgenre]

Posted: 7/12/09 at 5:03pm

HORROR is my favorite genre of film.

If you really want the greatest horror movies there are three names you need to know: Dario Argento, Mario Bava and Takashi Miike.

SUSPIRIA is known for having the greatest murder scene of all time and for the first 12 minutes being possibly the most frightening of any film I've ever seen. His other films are amazing as well but SUSPIRIA and PROFUNDO RUSSO (DEEP RED) are the best.

BAY OF BLOOD is the first "slasher" movie and was aped by FRIDAY THE 13th/NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST. etc ever since. THIS is the horrifying, shocking, unbelievably gorgeously filmed ORIGINAL film of that genre. Mario Bava was the king of Italian horror in the 50s and 60s for good reason and you would probably enjoy many of his horror movies (5 Dolls For the August Moon is my fav but not as accessibly as BAY)

Takashi Miike is the master of Japanese Horror. AUDITION is his best known, and intentionally very slow-paced (but worth it). His scariest films would be GOZU, IZO and ICHI THE KILLER - be warned its more gross-out gore than monsters or mood, though he is exceptional at creating both of those as well.

The king of all scary movies, the most disturbing film, is Miike's IMPRINT. You will never see a more abhorrent image than one that exists in that film. You'll know it when you see it. I pride myself on seeing every horror film out there, and this takes the cake. Geishas with vendettass. Less said the better.

Special Mention: CANNIBAL HALOCAUST by Ruggero Deodato. Title says it all... PLUS it's REAL Blair Witch twenty years earlier...

P

[romantico]

Posted: 7/12/09 at 5:22pm

I love horror movies. However, they no longer make REAL horror films. They make slasher films that want to gross you out, not scare you. This is why I LOVE the horror films of the 1930's,40's,50's,60's and even 70's. Universal horror films like Frankenstein or Creature from the Black Lagoon had a lot of atmosphere and you actually felt kind of sorry for them.I was lucky my Dad and my Uncle introduced me to the classic horror genre when I was very young. Where most parents would not allow their kids to watch scary movies my Dad was waking me up late at night and had me watch scary movies with him.

One of my all time favorites is ISLAND OF LOST SOULS with Charles Laughton. I am also a huge fan of the Hammer Films.I think the last film that came out that I really enjoyed and would call a horror film was Tim Burton's SLEEPY HOLLOW.Not sure if it counts, but SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is also up there. I think the original AMITYVILLE HORROR With James Brolin really terririfed me when I was a kid.Horror films today are geared only for teens(90% of the horror films are PG-13) and usually rely on those fast edits and CGI FX.John Carpenters ORIGINAL HALLOWEEN is an example of how good writing and a limited budget can make a flawless classic horror film. I think ROSEMARY'S BABY is probably my all time favorite horror film.I also remember the first time I saw FRIGHT NIGHT. I was laughing one minute and really jumping off the couch in the next scene.

Updated On: 7/12/09 at 05:22 PM

[SNAFU]

Posted: 7/12/09 at 6:17pm

Carnival of Souls perhaps one of my favorite low budget creepfests. Very Expressionistic film,made on a shoe string budget. Has some of the scariest images that haunt your nightmares. Faces appearing in night windows. Faces submerged in water, abandoned resort pavilions.

ETA: wow what happened to this window?

Updated On: 7/12/09 at 06:17 PM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/12/09 at 6:18pm

It's still all about NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD for me.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/12/09 at 6:22pm

Audition is one f*cked up movie!!!! what is with the Asians and their freaky horror movies!! haha... Three Extremes is also good!

btw... what constitutes horror... what makes something a horror movie... like i see movies like Halloween and I consider that a thriller/slasher movie... not really Horror... same thing for the first Friday the 13th movie.... The Nightmares on Elmstreet movies i consider horror because even though it is part slasher, there is something very supernatural and otherworldly yet realistic about those movies that make it horror... it kind of heightens the senses moreso then a slasher movie...

[tazber]

Posted: 7/12/09 at 6:35pm

As everyone here knows, I am a horror fanatic. From the early German expresionism of such films as "The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari", through the most recent group of "how far can we go" shock theater.

I could get academic about how, as a genre, it metaphorically reflects the fears of society at the time, but ultimately what's important is, can you enjoy it as an entertainment.

To pgenre's list of Giallo directors Argento and Bava, I would also Lucio Fulci.

"Audition" is, as I have posted many times, one of the most brilliant and completely disturbing films I have ever seen. It ranks in my top 5 to be sure.
Other Asian horror worth checking out is the Korean "Art Of The Devil" series. And if you like monster movies, don't miss "The Host", also Korean.

For American horror, I love "The Night Of The Living Dead" by Romero, "Alien", "Rosemary's Baby", and of course the all time grandaddy of horror, "The Exorcist".

But for my money, the most innovative and truly scary stuff can be found on the indie circuit. Check out some of the After Dark Horrorfest titles. I've seen 'em all and there's not a loser in the bunch. They usually get dismissed as derivative and cliche, and this is true. But you don't need to reinvent the wheel to make a good horror flick. You need to understand *why* there are certain elements that are always present and explore them with style.

Finally, a personal favorite of mine is "Behind The Mask:The Rise Of Leslie Vernon". It's a blast of a film that completely deconstructs the genre conventions and then rebuilds them in a totally new way.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/12/09 at 6:39pm

The face of horror movies has changed constantly since they were first put on the screen and I'm sure they always will. Unfortunately the horror movies put out today for the most part lack any kind of real scares and that sense of fun they used to have in the slasher flicks of the 80's that I hold near and dear to my heart is all but gone as well. Now, horror is just about trying to see how much blood you can throw on the screen and how much pain you can inflict on somebody all while trying to make your audience close it's eyes in "horror". The result turns out to be not so much scary as just uncomfortable to watch which isn't what you want your audience to feel. Films like HOSTEL and SAW have paved the way for so many "torture porn" films in the past ten years it seems to be all we get now. Well, that and watered down versions of great Japanese films and PG-13 remakes of classics like PROM NIGHT (Don't get me started. Don't EVEN get me started). Horror is in a weird place right now. Before SCREAM in 1996, there were no horror films being produced, really and than afterwards we had this abundance of them, which because of that one film we are still getting so we have to thank SCREAM for all that's come after it. However, the genre needs another revitalization, another SCREAM or NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET to shake things up and set another standard for what's "Good".

This has been my favorite genre of film since I was 6 years old and saw NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET at my neighbor's house (under the condition that I don't tell my parents). I still think that one holds up as one of the best of all time but I think my alltime favorite horror film is HALLOWEEN. I don't think you can find a more perfect example of a film that was original in every way and is STILL copied today, in almost every way. I wish to God I could have been around to see that in the theaters when it first opened without ever having seen anything like it before. It must have been such a thrill for those audiences to be scared like that. And there's hardly any blood in that movie at all, but there's a helluva lot of tension built up which is where the real terror comes from. The not knowing. These films today don't even try to build up tension and those that do are so formulaic in their structure you can count the beats until the "jolt" happens.

Looking forward there are a few movies I might consider horror such as "The Box" or "Shutter Island" which have me sort of excited for their release and yes, I'm even looking forward to FINAL DESTINATION 3D.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 7/12/09 at 7:17pm

It's really not fair to lump HOSTEL and CABIN FEVER with the vast majority of other horror out there. Eli Roth, much to his reputation's dismay, is an incredibly good director in the tradition of Argento, Bava, Fulci, etc with a dash of Miike. His films continue a tradition set forth by those men and if you've seen their canons you can see what the homages are and how his films fit into that pantheon and what he has added to it.

The American pantheon of horror (70s on) is essentially just rip-offs. HALLOWEEN has so much Argento in it he should have credit and Carpenter freely admits that inspiration. I've already mentioned the major others. Most American horror films of the past thirty years are poor recreations of European horror and the American horror films post-SCREAM until today ape Asian horror. Asian horror just depends more on mood than slasher films did so it's harder to force them to be scary which is why they are less effective. It says a lot that in the marketing of the Hollywood-ized Asian horror triple feature 3 EXTREMES, pointed out as exceptionally scary earlier in this thread (THE BOX is about the theatre, btw, and the best!), they billed the director of THE BOX as "MIIKE TAKASHI". If you know Japanese you understand the mistake, but it's still no excuse for the BILLING of the DIRECTOR.

I loved all those slasher movies when I was a child but now that I've seen so much of what they truly plagiarize, it makes them a lot less entertaining. I guess I read too much FANGORIA!

:)

P


P.S. THE BOX and SHUTTER ISLAND, based on their shooting scripts, are really pretty great achievements for two of my favorite directors, Kelly and Scorsese. The trailers have me really excited! Am I the only one who likes CAPE FEAR and/or SOUTHLAND TALES?

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/13/09 at 1:53am

the trailer for SHUTTER ISLAND is freaking creepy! i am very curious to see it

feel free to debate horror or not horror... but here are some movies i like:

The Nightmare on Elm Street series (yes the sequels suck but I enjoy them for some weird reason)

The Blair Witch Project... when this movie first came out and there was no hype... it was amazing to watch and it gave me the creeps... i lived in an apartment complex that had tons trees inside as well as in the parking lot to the complex.. i was freaking afraid to to walk from my car to the back of the complex!

Feast... just awesome!

Slither... an interesting sci-fi horror movie... gotta' love Nathan Fillion

any movies with dolls and children are automatically creepy and i can barely sit through... lol

in regards to bad horror movies.. my friends and i once rented all the Slumber Party Massacre movies... HILARIOUS!!! nothing like really really really bad cheap 80s horror movies cashing in on the success of Friday the 13th...

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/13/09 at 5:36am

Halloween
Alien & Aliens
The Exorcist (Not billed as a horror movie I don't think. But I agree is the granddaddy of them all)

Updated On: 7/13/09 at 05:36 AM

[tazber]

Posted: 7/13/09 at 5:42am

I'm also really excited about The Box (in no small part b/c it stars my future husband James Marsden). But the fact that it's been delayed 3 times and then dumped in a weak release frame is keeping my expectations low.

[bschneid76]

Posted: 7/13/09 at 7:20am

Another great horror film is Black Christmas with Margot Kidder and Olivia Hussey. It has so many frightening moments. I also like When a Stranger Calls.

I do enjoy Friday the 13th (original) as there is a fun game of cat and mouse happening and a great performance by Betsy Palmer.

Of the oldies I do enjoy Cat People, Vampyr, Psycho and Night of the Living Dead.

Horror films starting after Scream have been dull and pointless with no sense of fright and fun. I love watching the oldies.

[FinalDestination]

Posted: 7/13/09 at 9:53pm

I really liked Black Christmas. The remake was a complete joke, IMO.

I think some of the recent "horror" movies have been less horror, and more thriller, yet they keep being called horror.

Kind of offtopic question, did anyone here see The Haunting Connecticut? If you did, was it good? I've read a lot of mixed reivews and want to know what some of you think of it.

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/13/09 at 10:11pm

Lol, I've seen my favorites so many times that they aren't scary any more!

anyway, thinking back to the first time I saw these two films, I have to rate them high on my list.

1. Rosemary's Baby - the baby itself wasn't as frightening as the plot twists.

2. Nosferatu- Schreck was more animal-like as a vampire than human. When I saw this for the first time, just looking at him was enough.

Updated On: 7/13/09 at 10:11 PM

[justagirl2]

Posted: 7/13/09 at 11:48pm

I'm a horror movie junkie, although I have yet to see one that has actually disturbed me (I'm probably a sociopath).

As for really great movies, though, The Shining tops my list. Jack Nicholson is perfection, and it's helped by the fact that he looks just like a younger version of my dad in it. Makes it that much creepier. Another high-ranking one is Silence of the Lambs (if that counts). One of the best films ever made, as far as I'm concerned.

I love all the classics like Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, Night of the Living Dead, Carrie, Psycho, Freaks (again, does that count? I love it), etc.

Audition is absolutely brilliant and scared the sh*t out of my roommate, who won't even discuss the movie.

I'm also a big fan of campy B-list horror films as well, like Night of the Demons, Mother's Day, I Spit on Your Grave, etc. The best, however, is Death Bed: the Bed That Eats (I know I've sung its "praises" on here many times before). But all that is for another thread.

[Pennywise2]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 12:09am

My favorites are IT & Nightmare on Elm Street.

[jeniferrenepatricia]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 3:08am

Stranger in our House (w/Linda Blair)
Happy Birthday to Me
Prom Night (original)
Halloween (original)
Rosemary's Baby
Sleepaway Camp
Creepshow

[tazber]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 6:44am

good calls jeniferpatricia!

The original Happy Bday To Me (there was a straight to DVD remake which was awful) and Sleepaway Camp are classics of 80s slashers.

And both have great surprise endings.

[bschneid76]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 6:54am

I loved Happy Birthday to Me and Sleepaway Camp. Very fun horror films with nice surprise endings!

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 7:59am

Oh, how could I forget Silence of the Lambs? Definitely one of the best films ever made, besides being pretty scary.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 10:03am

Only one mention of "Psycho?" I consider that the granddaddy of the horror genre, even though it is not really "horror." The reason I say this, is because you have the suspense (TRUE SUSPENSE), the intricate word play between Norman and the other cast of characters where he says just enough that makes you suspect something but holds some things back that make you feel sorry for him as the victim in this mother/son relationship. You have the classic shower scene, which, back then, was pretty frightning....and still is if you think about it. The shower is like a safe haven to a lot of people where you can be alone (or not if so willing) and sing or whatever and someone invades that space that you don't even see coming. The shower scene has been repeated numerous times in various horror films. But the greatest thing about the movie is Hitchcock's direction where, like the intricate word play, gives enough for you to go "OMG" but not enough to show you the whole picture, which allows the suspense to grow and grow until the final reveal at the end.

While "The Exorcist" has almost nothing to do with "Psycho," the building of the suspense and the camera shots where people go "Was that a demon on the wall?" "What was that in the background?" The director, like Hitchcock, gave a lot of shots where he showed you something but not exactly everything. Of course the actual pea spitting, head spinning stuff shows A LOT more, it's the suspense that REALLY drives "The Exorcist" home and that started with "Psycho" in my opinion.

Updated On: 7/14/09 at 10:03 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 11:48am

Spider, I actually consider REAR WINDOW to be Hitchcock's most suspenseful film. PSYCHO is a masterpiece but to me nothing comes close to WINDOW.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 1:45pm

No love for Hooper's TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE? Still for me one of the best American horror movies, along with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE BIRDS.