Scariest Movie

[topspeed]

All Hallowed's Eve is nearly upon us, and since we'll be up all night twitching and burning off the 30 or 40 Reese's and Snicker's Minis we inhaled, we might as well fire up the DVD/BD players and scare ourselves silly.

So, let hear it: What is the scariest movie you've seen?

No poll (been there, done that) and I'm taking Exorcist off the table right now. Everyone already knows that's the scariest movie ever made and wins every poll anyway.

My vote: The Changeling
George C. Scott rents a haunted house. No axe murderer's. No hockey masks. Just pure scares. OK for the kids because there is no gore, however plan on them sleeping with you for the next month or so.

[ForeverAutumn]

The Ring creeped me out for weeks afterwards, like no other movie has ever done. Even seeing the Excorcist as a kid didn't have the same effect on me. The Ring is, hands down, the scariest movie that I've ever seen.

[GMichael]

The very first "Nightmare on Elm Street" was the scariest movie I remember. Seeing that face peeking through the wall over the bed frightened me like I was a 13 year old little girl. I couldn't walk home alone in the dark for weeks.

[ForeverAutumn]

The very first "Nightmare on Elm Street" was the scariest movie I remember. Seeing that face peeking through the wall over the bed frightened me like I was a 13 year old little girl. I couldn't walk home alone in the dark for weeks.

I love the Elmstreet series. The first one was scary but after that I thought that they were pretty funny!

Amityville horror freaked me out too. I forgot about that one until just now. And because I'm a glutton for punishment, I couldn't just see the movie, I had to read the book too.

[emaidel]

Absolutey nothing has ever topped the sheer terror I felt when, at the age of 16, I first saw "Psycho." Now, as a cantankerous old (63) fart, it seems that nothing frightens me any more, but I'll never forget how terrified I was back when those shrieking violins started, and the knife seemed to be ripping apart Janet Leigh's lovely torso.

[RoadRunner6]

Absolutey nothing has ever topped the sheer terror I felt when, at the age of 16, I first saw "Psycho." Now, as a cantankerous old (63) fart, it seems that nothing frightens me any more, but I'll never forget how terrified I was back when those shrieking violins started, and the knife seemed to be ripping apart Janet Leigh's lovely torso.

I agree almost completely with Emaidel. Here's my comments:


Absolutey [sic] nothing has ever topped the sheer terror I felt when, at the age of 17, I first saw "Psycho." Now, as a cantankerous old (64) fart, it seems that nothing frightens me any more, but I'll never forget how terrified I was back when those shrieking violins started, and the knife seemed to be ripping apart Janet Leigh's lovely breasts. [sick]

RR6

[Feanor]

All Hallowed's Eve is nearly upon us, and since we'll be up all night twitching and burning off the 30 or 40 Reese's and Snicker's Minis we inhaled, we might as well fire up the DVD/BD players and scare ourselves silly.

So, let hear it: What is the scariest movie you've seen?

...

When I first saw it back in the '60s I thought that The Day of the Triffids was the scariest movie I'd seen. Today it doesn't have the same impact given special effects that are very hocky by today's standards.

Again when I first saw them, two I found to be the scariest to the point in time were Alien and An American Werewolf in London

[kexodusc]

"Day of the Triffids" by John Wyndham was a terrific book...."The Chrysalids" even better. The Triffids movie was probably pretty good back in the day, but it could use a good makeover with today's Hollywood effects.

I'll second "The Ring" as a scary movie. It's the only movie that actually creeped me out as an adult. All the knock-off movies since then have tarnished a bit for me though.

I was scared silly by Jason and Freddy as a kid, but by far my all time favorite scary movie is "Hellraiser".

[ForeverAutumn]

Hellraiser! I LOVED that movie. Clive Barker is pure macabre genius! Read his Books of Blood series of short stories. They are the only books that I've ever read that could turn my stomach with the descriptives.

[Auricauricle]

The Face of Fu Manchu

Ah, the Summer of '74....I remember it well....

I spent an afternoon bending coathangers, twisting rabbit ears and turning dials to get three or four more channels on my grandmother's TV. Up in the mountain house where she lived, reception was terrible, a matter that I wasted no time "correcting". As a reward, I treated myself by stayed up way past my bedtime congratulating myself on my ingenuity and watching Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu evil plans unfold.

Later that night, the squirrels (affectionately dubbed "boomers") that skittered in the walls of that house and memories of Fu Manchu scared the bejesus outta me.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I have video of Feanor leg-humping Hillary. THAT's freakin' scary.

[Feanor]

I have video of Feanor leg-humping Hillary. THAT's freakin' scary.

You can't blackmail me, RnT

[topspeed]

A lot of great suggestions. I remember being a kid and being completely freaked out by Phantasm. The mortician and that crazy flying sphere! Wasn't there a scene where the kid tapes a shotgun shell & marble to the tip of a hammer so he could blast a hole in a door? I'd always wondered if that would actually work...

Hellraiser, or any other really graphic slasher movie, was more gross than scary, I s'pose. Shock value, like the inane Saw movies, seem to pass as scary these days. Movies such as Salem's Lot, Poltergeist, or The Ring prove you can be scary without resorting to dismemberment. The clown in Stephen King's "It" scared the bejeezus out of both my wife and me!

I'm amazed no one has mentioned this classic (props to Kam)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf7h6o3I8yw

[Rich-n-Texas]

Jeez, the thought NEVER crossed my mind. I was just trying to turn this thread into a political battle royal.

[Auricauricle]

I really enjoyed Ghost Story: Thought the sex/thunderstorm scene was pretty hot....

Don't remember the faceless thing you're lookin' at....Where'd the hell did that thing come from?

Who remembers "Murder by Decree"?

[Auricauricle]

Yeah....the creature in the limo!

God, I had the leave myself alone for a coupla days after that fright!

Couldn't handle it.

But I soon got a grip.

The interest re--emerged.

The....

[canuckle]

For something more recent, 1408 made me never want to sleep again. I found it utterly chilling.

[dean_martin]

I remember reading the book "Ghost Story" by Peter Straub on which the movie is based. I was working nights at a local grocery store at the time and would get home before sunrise. I could never go straight to bed so I read this thing from early morning darkness to morning twilight every day until I finished it. I could hear every little sound in the house ("lay perfectly still...don't move...don't move!"). Scary stuff! I still haven't seen the movie because I've always thought it couldn't possibly be as good as the book.

Probably the scariest movie I've watched in my adult life is "Suspiria". Aside from some slasher/gorey murder scenes, it does have chillingly suspenseful moments and the music (by Goblin) heightens the suspense. Usually I like the old, dank, misty gothic images found in some of the better b&w horror movies, but the strong use of color in Suspiria has its own foreboding spell.

[emesbee]

I thought The Blair Witch Project was quite scary at the start. Lots of anticipation that something was about to happen. Trouble was, it didn't! The movie just meandered to nowhere, and its scariness turned into boredom.

The Village had some quite scary moments, mainly through the careful use of sound. Similar thing with The Others.

I don't usually find the blood and guts type horror movies very frightening. They are too over-the-top and so obviously loaded with special effects that there is no suspension of disbelief.

[markw]

"Something wicked this way comes" is a Disney adaptation of a Ray Bradbury story, with a great cast and done in an amazingly literate and creepy manner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CZjZRERHWY

It's a natural this time of year. It still raises the hairs on my neck.

[Wits]

"...we all float..."

I loved Phantasm, and now that you've reminded me of 'Salem's Lot, that ranks very highly on my list of scariest movies. Actually the one that I had in mind originally probably won't seem very scary to many/most of you.

Coma was released in theaters in 1978, and for some reason, it really got to me. I think it was so effective on me because it was based around the medical field (I was a Hospital Corpsman), and there was enough possibility that it could really happen interwoven throughout the movie that made it so creepy to me.

[Auricauricle]

Who remembers Peter Jacksons' "The Firghteners". Starring Michael J. Foxx, The Frighteners is loaded with some of the best special effects seen in any movie, and has a story line that is entertaining and scary enough to please the most jaded ghost-story afficianado. Here's a link:

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3102867737/

[emesbee]

Who remembers Peter Jacksons' "The Firghteners". Starring Michael J. Foxx, The Frighteners is loaded with some of the best special effects seen in any movie, and has a story line that is entertaining and scary enough to please the most jaded ghost-story afficianado. Here's a link:

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3102867737/

I didn't find it scary at all. Somehow, when a movie is loaded with special effects it loses a lot of its scariness for me. I think the truly scary moments in movies are often achieved by simple effects, and the unexpected. For example, there is a scene in 'The Others' where a door suddenly slams shut by itself after someone has been gently pushing it back and forth. That made me almost jump out of my skin. Also, a scene in 'The Sixth Sense' where someone unexpectedly walks across the field of view accompanied by a sudden lod noise. A similar effect in 'The Village', where a figure suddenly walks underneath a lookout tower, also accompanied by a sudden load noise.

Don't get me wrong, I found 'The Frighteners' quite entertaining, but it wasn't frightening to me. It was more of a comedy, a bit like 'Ghostbusters' in a way.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I know The "Exorcist" is out of bounds, but I want to share my experiences with this one anyway. When the movie was released in '73, I worked as an usher at the local movie theater (which was a Playhouse in it's previous life). I had the unenviable task of working during it's run there so I stood through it 63 times. For those who don't know, an usher was the person with the flashlight who'd walk backwards down the aisle while shining the light on the floor before the moviegoer until he/she/they found seats to their liking (when possible).

Anyway, during this run and because virtually every show was a sellout, midnight shows were added. Well, guess what? There were times when I'd have to work these which meant I didn't leave the theater until about 2 in the morning. As I was too young for a driver license, I'd have to walk home... ALONE! Walking through the dark parking lot was very scary for me, and if you compound that with the fact that the Catholic church had a history of performing exorcisms, you can imagine the dread I faced everytime I left the theater. The walk was only about a mile, but that was no consolation. My only solace was that my church was along the way and I was able to cut through between the church and the school on my way home. I particularly remember running from the theater and not stopping until I got to the church, and then running home from there, on more than one occasion. I was about 15 years old at the time. No movie I've watched since has affected me like that experience did.

[Auricauricle]

Em: I reckon I was a little excessive when I said that Frighteners was scary. Compared with traditional ("authentic") ghost stories like The Sixth Sense, Salem's Lot, and The Others, Frighteners is purely a special effects driven yarn. Still it was a good one and a fun ride to boot.

Rich: Geez, Rich. It's amazing how these shows get under our skin. Exorcist was not only scary it was downright disturbing. Very few movies have this quality, save David Cronenberg's: they always creep me out (that's why I diggum).

I remember when Blatty's book was one of those that seemed to be read and owned "in secret". When my mother read it, she made sure that it was well-hidden amid a pile of other books, well out of sight from the impressionable children. Same thing at the neighbor's: they kept their's high on a shelf near a bust of Pallas at the chamber door....