What's The Scariest Movie You've Ever Seen?- Page 3

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 4:29pm

Mister Matt, I'm so jealous of people who got to see those films when they were first released in the theater. I was only 6 in '84 (and saw NIGHTMARE early the next year when it was released on video) but would love to have seen an original audiences reaction to it. Things are so different now I doubt we'll ever see reactions like that to a horror movie again.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 5:01pm

I didn't find the Blair Witch Project interesting either. I guess for me, at a certain point I remembered back to something in the beginning, and that ruined it for me.

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 5:08pm

For good ole plain "un-nerving" and some great performances by the children playing the leads, try LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 5:12pm

Jordan - I consider myself lucky to have been at very specific ages for several films over my lifetime. Being 7 when the original Star Wars released was something truly special and being 11 when Raiders of the Lost Ark premiered was just fantastic timing. Also, being in high school for all the big John Hughes films (Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller and Some Kind of Wonderful) as well some other greats (Little Shop of Horrors, Hairspray, Working Girl, Moonstruck, The Color Purple). But the original Nightmare on Elm Street was the definitive horror movie experience for me. I have never seen an audience reaction like that since. It may not have been as epic as the audiences experiencing The Exorcist for the first time, but it was pretty damn amazing. The way the audience was jumping, writhing and screaming their heads off, it really was like we were all riding the world's biggest roller coaster.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 5:17pm

Nightmare scared the CRAP out of me. Freddy was really the first serial monster/psycho/whatever that ran. I remember thinking that as gruesome as they were, Michael Myers and Jason just slowly walked everywhere. One could outrun them and the axes they wielded. If you ran from Freddy, not only would he chase you, he would just melt the stairs to slow you down. If that didn't work, he would just appear right in front of you. Bah.

[tazber]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 5:17pm

For all my fellow horror-hounds (Jordy, Borstal) I encourage you to check out Grimm Love.

It's based on the unbelievable true story of Armin "The Rohtenburg Cannibal" Meiwes.

What makes this film such a must see though is that Armin (called Oliver Hartwin) found a willing paticipant on a cannibalism webiste/message board (and you thought BWW was bad!).

The movie delves into the psychology of these two deeply damaged men (yes, they were gay) and I promise you that it will haunt you for days.

Thomas Kretschmann and Thomas Huber give amazing performances. Had they not been in a movie so, um, unpalatable to general audiences they would be serious contenders for various acting awards.

Of course it all leads up the "act" that you know is coming but I promise you it will still take you by surprise. And it's absolutely not staged in the way you would expect.

The only caveat is that they use a framing device with Keri Russel who is doing a psychology thesis on the actual case.
Her story (which was largely cut out anyway) is a bit muddled.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 5:46pm

Oh, I'm glad you liked GRIMM LOVE! I was going to rent that a few days ago but decided on the Calista Flockhart thriller, FRAGILE (since I love her). That one was incredibly boring so I was going to get the other one anyways this weekend. I didn't even realize it was based on that case, though.

Matt, I am jealous sometimes of film lovers like you who were just that right age to experience those things. Every age has their "films" but people your age hit the jackpot. :)

[tazber]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 7:04pm

Out of the 8 Frightfest titles Grimm Love was easily the best.

Pig hunt was crazy, but it had so much going on (monster boar, crazy female cult, murderous hillbilies, and an anti-war subplot) that it was just dizzying. Worth a rent though for the sheer insanity of it.

Road Kill was inane, but I loved it. Sort of like Maximum Overdrive meets Joyride with smoking hot Australian actors who spend most of the time shirtless.

Fragile sucked, as you said.

The Tomb is awful. Just awful.

The Haunting is a Spanish ghost story that is both boring and absurd. Skip it. Trust me.

Hunger is another miss. Skip it. Trust me again.

Dark House is shlocky as hell, but an absolute blast. Watch it with friends. (It was the one of the 8 that was shown in theaters based on an online voting contest).

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 7:09pm

as someone who loves horror movies (and the scarier the better!), i'm almost ashamed to admit this. i couldn't use the bathroom for about 3 weeks without opening the shower curtain before closing the door after seeing "the shining". and it wasn't even like open the shower curtain, and all is well... it was like... make sure there's a clear path between me and the door and check the mirror for lipstick, pull back the shower curtain without looking, and THEN and ONLY THEN slightly open one eye and make sure there's not a decomposing lady in the tub.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 7:14pm

EXORCIST 3 is the scariest movie I've ever seen. I'm also partial to the thrills of WOMAN IN BLACK, THE CHANGELING and JEEPERS CREEPERS. Lots more!

[danmag]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 7:30pm

Ohhhh, the kid at the window in Salem's Lot scared the hell out of me! That was so scary! And I also thought that clown in "It" was nightmare-ish.

But I find clowns pretty horrifying in general. Oh and that creepy ventriloquist dummy in the movie with Anthony Hopkins...was it called "Magic"? I forget.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 7:54pm

Oh, Danmag, you just reminded me!

I saw some camera-phone footage of Danmag at a bachelorette party that left me sleepless for weeks.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 7:57pm

The stuff with Santas elves, candle wax and the swing? That shlt was SKURRY!!

[SNAFU]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 8:02pm

A very low budget cult film but it has some incredibly scary images is: Carnival of Souls.
Terrified me of night widows as a kid.

[Jordan Catalano]

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

Oh I just added that to my netflix list and was going to watch it tonight!!

[Marianne2]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 8:49pm

I just remembered, The Shining scared me because of the huge walk in freezer.

I actually live about 20 minutes or so from where they filmed the original Friday the 13th. It is a running Boy Scout camp, and I'm grateful to not have worked at that one. I don't think I would ever want to go in the lake, based on that.

[danmag]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 8:59pm

Reg, admittedly that wasn't my best work. Those elves were a bitch to work with.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 9:18pm

Forgot to mention One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It didn't scare me at all when I saw it, but I still have nightmares that I'm trapped in the asylum and that damn nurse won't let me out.

Also, Flowers in the Attic terrifies me. I have a deep-seated fear of Louise Fletcher now.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 9:20pm

The recipe:
Step 1:
Turn all the lights out in your home/apartment. Alone.
Step 2:
Watch the French film INSIDE. Yes, I know you haven't heard of it...just trust me.
Step 3:
Heh, heh, heh...good luck sleeping tonight!



Great genteel horror flick: THE OTHER
Great oldie: FREAKS
Greatest Film Ever Made: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 9:23pm

I love Freaks!

Gooble gobble.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 9:53pm

Honestly, I'm kind of over whether or not a scary movie scares me or not. I just want it to be satisfying. In that vein:

HABIT--Absolute zero budget (but still great looking) vampire movie set in the nineties East Village. In fact, it may be the last true Manhattan indie I can think of. An alcoholic bohemian thinks his latest piece may be a vampire. A lot of affection went into this one, which may overcome the bad acting and clunky dialogue.

SPLICE--It tries to do too much, but that doesn't stop this one from becoming one of the best movies of 2010. In an era where horror movies can't cough up a single idea, its heartening to know there's someone out there who believes in the genre enough to overload their movie with too many ideas. Great sci-fi meets horror mix with a tip of the hat to Cronenberg.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE PEOPLE'S TEMPLE--A documentary that gives you the feel of what it must have felt like for the ancient Greeks to watch their own tragedies. It absolutely fills you with pity and terror. The last half hour I was gripping my seat, paralyzed in a way very much like a horror film. It IS a horror film! But by the end you are heartbroken.

[Mr Roxy]

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

When I was a kid, the original House Of Wax scared the **** out of me

The music score is eerie as anything you'll hear & really makes the movie.

[tazber]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 10:26pm

I loved Splice.

And I also loved Inside. I think that and Martyrs are probably two of the most graphic horror films I've ever seen.

If you haven't seen Martyrs, definitely seek it out. I love movies that start out and you think you know exactly where they're going only to have them go in a completely different and surprising direction. I never even would have imagined where Martyrs was heading, and what made it so fun is that I was sure I had it pegged.

American horror never does that anymore.

And the mother of all upended expectations is my (oft mentioned)favorite: Audition.

I always refrain from saying too much about that movie b/c the less you know going in the greater the impact.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 10:37pm

When I saw Audition, I knew about 'the stuff' to expect and I still wound up sick to my stomach and in complete paralysis watching it. I went to bed waking up periodically dreaming that somebody was at the edge of my bed poking at my feet.

Not horror movies per se but Haneke's The Piano Teacher and Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl have some pretty shocking endings that stayed with me.

I find the horror that stays with me most happened when I was a kid. The Barry abduction in Close Encounters, most of The Great Mouse Detective (and a lot of other Disney films), The Birds, and Jaws pretty much gave me shocks to the system that I have seldom felt since with Audition being one of the exceptions.

I really need to check out Splice.
Updated On: 12/8/10 at 10:37 PM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 10:43pm

A very low budget cult film but it has some incredibly scary images is: Carnival of Souls.
Terrified me of night widows as a kid.

You reminded me of a double-feature I saw in around 1962, of CARNIVAL OF SOULS and EYES WITHOUT A FACE. The images from both films have lasted a lifetime!