What's The Scariest Movie You've Ever Seen?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/7/10 at 9:35pm

I want a really scary movie to watch. Save all the SHOWGIRLS or GLITTER crap, I want to know what movie made you shlt your pants and not able to sleep for a week, no matter how good or bad it was.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 12/7/10 at 9:40pm

Something about Bob Clark's Black Christmas (ironically, well maybe not, Bob Clark also directed A Christmas Story) still gets me.

Audition was the most uncomfortable viewing experience. I actually thought I was going to get sick.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 12/7/10 at 9:50pm

Guillermo Del Toro's El Orfanato. It's in Spanish with English subtitles, but it was goddamnded terrifying.

[gcal]

Posted: 12/7/10 at 11:58pm

Jesus Camp

[Craww]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 12:06am

I don't really know what movie scares me the most. The most recent one to creep me out at all was probably The Descent. (Yeah, it's been a while.) I was raised on horror so I'm a little desensitized.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 12:48am

Halloween and Alien. I can watch Alien now without being really scared, but I still cover my eyes when watching Halloween.

[gertiecummings]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 1:22am

It's not technically a horror movie, but Requiem for a Dream scared the living hell out of me. I first watched it 8 years ago and still will not watch it again to this day.

If you want just good old-fashioned horror and suspense, then The Exorcist, Wait Until Dark, Psycho, The Birds, and Silence of the Lambs.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 1:27am

gert, I am with you on "Requiem..". I was warned before I watched it. Borrowed the dvd from a friend, watched it when I got home and called him and told him I was returning it the same nighat as I wanted it out of my home! Messed up movie!

The Exorcist should have gone on my list also. I can now watch that movie over and over.

[gertiecummings]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 1:50am

I just watched The Shining for the first time this year, and I've decided that Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance is scariest monster or demon that has ever been put on film.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 1:58am

The Sentinel from the 70s. It has a lot of people who are relatively famous now in minor roles. It's about a model who essentially goes crazy, and guarding the door to hell gets involved.

The vast majority of the movie...meh. But the last 10 minutes, all HELL breaks loose. I was so freaked out after watching it, that I couldn't walk down the hall to the kitchen for a snack, and instead just went hungry all night.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 2:08am

I'm a horror junkie so I've seen all of those mentioned except THE SENTINEL, so I'll definitely check that out this week. Of all those mentioned, AUDITION creeped me out beyond belief and HALLOWEEN is still the greatest horror movie ever made.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 2:23am

I'm not one scared or scarred by a movie easily. I refuse to EVER watch The Sentinel again.

Has a great cast though: Meredith Burgess, Jerry Orbach, Jeff Goldblum, Chris Sarandon, Beverly D'Angelo, John Carradine, Christopher Walken, Ava Gardner, José Ferrer,

However, if you don't want to have part of the ending spoiled, don't check the IMDB or Wikipeida page.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 4:17am

i'm gonna have to go with el orfanato... i saw that movie a few months ago and made the mistake of watching it at 2am!! BAD MOVE!! that movie creeped me out like no other!!! such an awesome movie

[tazber]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 6:01am

As a fellow horror junkie I must say it takes a lot to actually scare me.

But when I was a kid they showed Invasion Of The Body Snatchers on some cable channel and it freaked me out. The paranoia of the situation really disturbed me. Then I made the mistake of seeking out the Donald Sutherland version. To this day the final shot in that movie gives me nightmares.

Otherwise, the only movie that I can think of that literally scared me was Audition.

"kiri kiri kiri"

*shivers*

[Weez]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 6:24am

I love The Orphanage. It's SUCH a good film, but I found it absolutely impossible to be scared by it after the first time. If you know it, you should understand why.

I was pretty scared of the American remake of The Grudge (don't judge me!) and the Japanese original of Ring 2. As an afficionado of the games, I find parts of the Silent Hill movie deliciously unsettling, but the overall experience a letdown, so I can't be sure if the fear came from the film itself or from conditioning acquired from the games. XD I used to be scared poo-less by The Shining, but I don't feel the same way anymore. The Others is quite nice. Unsettling rather than scary, but worth a watch.

If you can hunt down semi-obscure British things, there was a movie of The Woman in Black sometime in the '80s which was nowhere near as subtle as the book or the play but scarred many children for life. There's also a brilliant bit of hokum called Ghostwatch, which was presented as a factual bit of television presented by the always-reliable and family-friendly Michael Parkinson and Sarah Greene and I guarantee would have put me into therapy had I seen it when it originally aired.

Fear is very subjective; I'm a sucker for a haunted house story, particularly if it's haunted by a vindictive woman. But I'm also terrified of extreme climate change and post-apocalyptic/post-civilisation shenanigans (as long as it's presented fairly realistically, a la The Road, rather than fantastically, a la Mad Max). What scares me may not scare you, but I present my opinions for your perusal anyway. ^_^

[tazber]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 7:19am

I think they are remaking The Woman In Black with Daniel Radcliffe, Weez.

[Weez]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 7:21am

They are indeed. It's the first Hammer Film in 30 years! I had thought it was its own adaptation of the original novel rather than a remake of the TV movie, but it is now banging on about being a remake. There's not enough info out there for my liking, but I'm looking forward to seeing it. :)

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 7:32am

Basket Case and Sleepaway Camp.

[danmag]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 8:06am

Weez, the Grudge kinda freaked me out as well...I think it was that creepy croaking sound the people made and the way they would kind of scuttle around really quickly.

The Omen scared the crap out of me when I was young and even though it was just a TV movie, after I saw Helter Skelter I lived in fear that Charles Manson was coming for me the minute he got out on parole.I was just a kid however.

[silversurfer2]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 8:16am

One of my faves is THE CHANGELING with George C. Scott. Very creepy and unsettling. I have to agree about THE SENTINEL, the last 10 minutes are hair-raising.
Also: BURNT OFFERINGS and the Original THE HAUNTING, a true classic in the sense of what you don't see, is truly scary. Updated On: 12/8/10 at 08:16 AM

[madbrian]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 8:27am

I'm not a huge fan of scary movies, but I love the original When A Stranger Calls.

[Urban]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 9:12am

As a kid "The Birds" and "Westworld" freaked the bejesus out of me (neither really scary as an adult). Yet oddly I recall laughing at "Poltergeist". Go figure.

Movies as an adult that totally freaked me out...

It really is a tie between two...

Cannot deny it... "Arachnophobia" is definately up there. It just frankly don't like spiders.

"The Vanishing" (the original Dutch one, not the crappy Hollywood remake) just had me... unnerved for a while afterwards. In fact thinking about certain bits of it still make me shiver.

If the movie has lots of blood, guts & gore, if anything make it less scary for me - it makes it over the top and thus de-scarifies it. It is the stuff that subtly gets under the skin that really freaks me out.

Updated On: 12/8/10 at 09:12 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 10:07am

Lots of great ones have been mentioned (Weez, I love trotting out my copy of "Woman in Black" for friends--everyone always loves it), and lots have made me jump while watching.

The one that still gets under my skin--for days--every time I watch it is "The Exorcist." I think it's the horrifying story combined with that early 70s realism. It just makes it seem so plausible.

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 11:07am

A Few Lesser Known Movies:

Session 9
Jacob's Ladder
Seven
Who Can Kill a Child?
The Last House in the Left (1972 & 2009)

[tazber]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 11:19am

I guess I need to distinguish between being disturbed by a movie and being scared.

The 2 I listed above really scared me. And I watched Paranormal Activity in the dark of my house alone and it freaked my **** out.
Also, the original [rec] was scary. The ones that really get me are the ones where you don't actually see anything. It's the power of suggestion that goes to work on my nerves.


A lot of horror has disturbed me while not necessarily being scary:

I Spit On Your Grave (original)
Human Centipede
Funny Games (both original and US remake)

There are more but I can't think of them now.