Scary Movies!

[Devilwin]

Ok, one more thread. What's your top five movies that actually may have scared you a bit. I don't scare easily, but my five at least gave me a start, because I was a kid when they came out..lol
1. The Haunting.
The original with Julie Harris, Claire Bloom. Disembodied sounds and voices, pounding, doors that breathed in and out. My top scary flic can still give me the creeps all these years later!
2. Salem's Lot.
The best vampire movie ever, in my humble opinion. Something about the kid floating at the window...
3. Them!
Giant radioactive mutant ants terrorize Los Angeles in this oldie but a goodie...
4. Jeepers Creepers.
The first one. Man eating demon that whistles an old tune while he carves you up. Weird, but a good one.
5. The Thing.
The second one, with Kurt Russell. Great special effects, good story line. One of the rare times the re-make is better than the original..

[cspan37421]

I am not one for blood and gore, so I'm going to concentrate on ones that are scary because they're suspenseful, not because I'd rather not see someone appear to get sliced to bits or whatever.

Scary:

1. Psycho
2. Silence of the Lambs
3. Cape Fear
4. The Game
5. Fatal Attraction

Honorary Mention

• Dead Again
• Witness
• Memento
• Argo
• LA Confidential
• The Usual Suspects

Not scary at all: The Blair Witch Project

[bjornolf]

I tended to be more scared by movies that COULD possibly happen, no matter how unlikely. Thus, as a kid, Serpent and the Rainbow freaked me out more than any other movie.

Oh, and the Exorcist freaked me out as a kid.

[wilson]

The Neverending Story is the most terrifying thing I've ever tried to watch.

[bjornolf]

The Neverending Story is the most terrifying thing I've ever tried to watch.

If we're going there, anything with Barney the Purple Dinosaur scares the pants off me. I have flashbacks when I hear that "I love you" song.

[Doria]

Hmm, I liked most of the movies above. I am a big horror fan. I can't really make a top ten list or anything, but some that I've particularly enjoyed would be (unless otherwise noted, all of them would be of the "classic" variety, not remakes):

The Omen
The Exorcist - the original obviously, but I actually kind of like the third one, also, I think it was... The one with the long shot in the hospital.
Nightmare on Elm Street
Night of the Living Dead - I will give the remake of Dawn of the Dead a nod here.
Candyman - that Philip Glass score!
Ring - I like the original Nakata film better, but I think the remake was perfectly creditable
The Devil's Backbone
A Tale of Two Sisters - best Korean horror film I've seen, if you like slower stuff you have to put together yourself
Kairo (Pulse)
Suspiria
The Tenant - does this count? It scared me...
Hour of the Wolf - ditto
The Haunting
Burnt Offerings
Cat People - the RKO one (I admit it isn't so scary, but it's one of my favorite movies, so I give it a pass; almost all Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur films are great)

This is all off the top of my head, so it's really haphazard. I realize there isn't much very recent there, but there have been several recent horror films I've liked, but it's hard to judge where they'll eventually belong. I liked It Follows, The Babaduke (darn that filter), They Look Like People (I don't know if it'll ever get a wide release), etc. I feel like I've shorted some of the classic films, but my DVD collection is a mess, and I don't have time right now to pull out the first row of movies to check what's behind them.

[wilson]

The Neverending Story is the most terrifying thing I've ever tried to watch.

If we're going there, anything with Barney the Purple Dinosaur scares the pants off me. I have flashbacks when I hear that "I love you" song.

No, I'm not joking or being tongue-in-cheek or anything. I am legitimately terrified by that movie. I have never seen it all the way through (I have seen the whole thing, but never in one sitting), and merely thinking of the numerous occasions on which it robbed me of sleep as a child makes my skin crawl. That movie honestly scares me more than any other.

[fuse]

Alien
Halloween
The Thing
Hellraiser


My honorable mention list could be quite long.

[OldPhiKap]

Still not over the flying monkeys in Wizard of Oz.

[bjornolf]

No, I'm not joking or being tongue-in-cheek or anything. I am legitimately terrified by that movie. I have never seen it all the way through (I have seen the whole thing, but never in one sitting), and merely thinking of the numerous occasions on which it robbed me of sleep as a child makes my skin crawl. That movie honestly scares me more than any other.

Oh. Sorry. Barney does really make my skin crawl though.

[ncexnyc]

Carnival of Souls, another cheap b&w film, but it definitely did a number on me as a kid.

Black Sabbath, starring Karloff was a decent flick. The part that had me afraid to walk into my apartment building and walk down the hallway was the part about the stolen ring.

[jacone21]

Friday the 13th scared the jeebus out of me, mostly because I was waaaay too young to see it.

Kevin Bacon's death scene had me looking under my bed until I was approximately 37. Actually... I sometimes still look under the bed.

[weezie]

Wait until Dark had me shrieking as a youngster.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Ok, one more thread. What's your top five movies that actually may have scared you a bit. I don't scare easily, but my five at least gave me a start, because I was a kid when they came out..lol
1. The Haunting.
The original with Julie Harris, Claire Bloom. Disembodied sounds and voices, pounding, doors that breathed in and out. My top scary flic can still give me the creeps all these years later!

I'm not adding to the list, but I did want to chime in on this. I read the book, then saw the movie. It sucked. But...that was the remake. I watched the original not long after, and wow. What that movie does with minimal special effects and atmosphere, and the limited resources available to them in that era of film making, is still timeless and powerful. And wonderfully scary. It's one of those I am always on the lookout for on TCM to record.

[moonpie23]

Alien
Jeepers Creepers (1)
Psycho (the original)
Silence Of The Lambs
The Thing (actually, both)
Cape Fear (both)
Carrie
28 Days Later
2000 maniacs
Blood Feast

[cspan37421]

Hmm, I liked most of the movies above. I am a big horror fan. I can't really make a top ten list or anything, but some that I've particularly enjoyed would be (unless otherwise noted, all of them would be of the "classic" variety, not remakes):

The Omen
The Exorcist

Good call. Those supernatural / evil films got to me in my young adolescence, and still there are echoes of it in my adulthood - I rather enjoyed The Ninth Gate, though I would not say it scared me very much.

Since you mentioned a sequel, I'll also put in an plug for Psycho II. I saw that on opening night (Halloween); it was much anticipated (what, 23 years since the original?) and no one knew what was going to happen. Continuing the ambiguity of Norman's mother from the first, they added some gore in color - in one particular scene I'll never forget, [highlight to see spoiler] Norman grabs the blade end of a knife being thrust at him, and does not lessen his grip as it's being pulled back! Oh, still freaks me out!

As for when I was a wee lad, well, yeah, The Wizard of Oz scared me. Specifically, that wicked witch. Flying monkeys, not so much - where I grew up there weren't any monkeys except at zoos, so I wasn't concerned I'd see one about, let alone flying about. But the witch - don't forget, she was just a mean spinster at the beginning. Even once Dorothy went over the rainbow, the witch took human form - and could appear anywhere and cause bad stuff to happen. No thank you please!

Also, ESPN's Fantastic Lies is pretty scary. Seems like since those events, there's been enough uncovered in Chapel Hill for a sequel.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

My list:
Alien
Alien
Alien
Jaws
Alien

[jacone21]

Alien
Jeepers Creepers (1)
Psycho (the original)
Silence Of The Lambs
The Thing (actually, both)
Cape Fear (both)
Carrie
28 Days Later
2000 maniacs
Blood Feast

Ahhh yes. The original Whew-I'm-glad-that's-over-oh-my-god-I-just-inhaled-a-jujube! moment.

[Devilwin]

I'm not adding to the list, but I did want to chime in on this. I read the book, then saw the movie. It sucked. But...that was the remake. I watched the original not long after, and wow. What that movie does with minimal special effects and atmosphere, and the limited resources available to them in that era of film making, is still timeless and powerful. And wonderfully scary. It's one of those I am always on the lookout for on TCM to record.

I have it recorded. Came on last fall. It should come on again soon. One of the best horror movies ever, especially with, like you said, minimal special effects.

[YmoBeThere]

Blair Witch Project does it for me.