What horror flicks have held up?

[Dave Hartwick]

spoke-, in the Rosemary's Baby thread, observed that horror movies in general don't hold up well. I think I agree, but can think of a few exceptions:

The Exorcist
Frankenstein (Universal)
Night of the Living Dead

I'm thinking keep it earlier than, say, 1980. Do you disagree with the ones I mentioned? What makes horror films age badly? What other ones have held up?

[SaharaTea]

I had never seen the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre until a few months ago. It definitely succeeded in scaring the crap out of me, mostly because I had no idea that it wasn't your average run-of-the-mill slasher flick.

Both Carrie and The Omen hold up pretty well too, IMO.

And of course Psycho, which I think is still genuinely creepy after all this time.

[Birdmonster]

SaharaTea beat me to it, but "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" definitely holds up, once you slog through the almost interminable first half-hour. Probably my favorite in the genre.

Off the top of my head, I'll add that "The Shining" (1980) and "Halloween" (1978) still work.

[MovieMogul]

A Page of Madness
The Black Cat
Bride of Frankenstein
Eyes without a Face
Weekend
The Wicker Man
God Told Me To
Dawn of the Dead

and I think Rosemary (while far from perfect), still holds up exceptionally well for its type (I posted in that thread defending the film).

[AuntiePam]

The Changeling with George C. Scott in a haunted house. The scenes with the ball and the chair and

SPOILER:

drowned child under the floor

still give me chills.

I don't think horror films age more badly than other films. If they're "good", they'll hold up.

[Patty O'Furniture]

Ghost Story (1981) with the wonderfully creepy Alice Krige. Like The Changeling, minimal to no FX and no gore at all.

[Malthus]

Another vote for The Changeling.

[Saltire]

I know most people don't automatically categorize it as a horror film, but this one was scary, and is still scary (just saw it last week).

Alien.

[kingpengvin]

I'm going t break the rule a little and add John Carpenter's The Thing.

That movie was probably one of the best Horror films of the 80's and still packs a viceral punch in its effects.

It also is an example why physcal effects can create better mood and reaction from actors than Digital ones. (watch the scene where the thing is first being examined by the characters.. nice reactions to the look, feel and stench of the mound on the table)

[Max Torque]

It's just after your cutoff date, but John Carpenter's The Thing still holds up, I think. Especially noteworthy, because it's an effects-heavy film, and it's usually the dated look of the special effects that makes the old movies laughable.

[SaharaTea]

Another one just after your cutoff is 1982's Poltergeist, which also holds up nicely for a film so heavy with special effects.

[Miller]

kingpengvin and Max Torque beat me to my suggestion. As a fall back, I offer up the original The Haunting, from 1963. Just about the perfect haunted house story.

[Justin_Bailey]

Originally Posted by ArchiveGuy

Dawn of the Dead

I'd have to disagree. The makeup effects are awesome, there's no question, but the "Consumers are just like zombies!" social commentary does not hold up well and actually bogs down the movie.

In fact, I'd almost go so far as to say the remake is the better movie.

[kingpengvin]

Originally Posted by Justin_Bailey

In fact, I'd almost go so far as to say the remake is the better movie.

You go too far sir!

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Originally Posted by Malthus

Another vote for The Changeling.

I'll vote for this too.

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by Justin_Bailey

I'd have to disagree. The makeup effects are awesome, there's no question, but the "Consumers are just like zombies!" social commentary does not hold up well and actually bogs down the movie.

In fact, I'd almost go so far as to say the remake is the better movie.

Ugh! The remake is full of exactly the kind of things horror movies are full of nowadays--stupid people making irrational decisions borne out of contrivance. The "consumerism" theme in the original would be old if it still didn't perfectly apply 30 years later--and anyway, that's not the major point of the mall setting. The point is that ultimately, humans are their own worst enemies--unlike the turgid and overly-frenzied remake, the zombies aren't the bad guys at all. Leading complacent, sheltered existences, completely disassociated from the outside world leads to a spritial death not too dissimilar from the physical death all around them. The remake is famous (rightly) for its electric first 10 minutes or so, but beyond that, it's acres of dumb.

[Justin_Bailey]

Originally Posted by ArchiveGuy

Ugh! The remake is full of exactly the kind of things horror movies are full of nowadays--stupid people making irrational decisions borne out of contrivance.

I didn't think that at all, do you have any examples?

The "consumerism" theme in the original would be old if it still didn't perfectly apply 30 years later--and anyway, that's not the major point of the mall setting. The point is that ultimately, humans are their own worst enemies--unlike the turgid and overly-frenzied remake, the zombies aren't the bad guys at all. Leading complacent, sheltered existences, completely disassociated from the outside world leads to a spritial death not too dissimilar from the physical death all around them.

People always hold this up as why the original shines but it doesn't really hold up to scrutiny (especially in light of Day of the Dead). The mall is literally an island paradise in a sea of zombies. Much like the island paradise the main characters of Day go to in the helicopter at the end. Because the characters get bored with the mall is a sign of their stupidity, not any kind of commentary on humanity. The characters in the remake leave the mall because they ran out of supplies.

And then there's the biker gang. The crazy, drunken, reckless biker gang that has supposedly survived in the aftermath of the zombie outbreak for months. The crazy, drunken, reckless biker gang that gets slaughtered by all of the mall zombies. And the crazy, drunken, reckless biker gang that, if Dawn were "real life", would have been eaten weeks ago because they're crazy, drunken and reckless.

[Freudian Slit]

I concur with the OP's inclusion of the Exorcist. It has a good story and good effects. I feel like if it had been done today, it would have been all CGI--and for some reason, to me, CGI always looks less real. Or too good to be true.

ETA: I agree with Carrie, as well. I think the Shining's still great, too.

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by Justin_Bailey

I didn't think that at all, do you have any examples?

Chief among them all is Mekhi Phifer and the Zombie Baby. Zillion times more stupid than anything the biker gang dishes out (though he's only one glaring example; there are others).

People always hold this up as why the original shines but it doesn't really hold up to scrutiny (especially in light of Day of the Dead). The mall is literally an island paradise in a sea of zombies. Much like the island paradise the main characters of Day go to in the helicopter at the end. Because the characters get bored with the mall is a sign of their stupidity, not any kind of commentary on humanity. The characters in the remake leave the mall because they ran out of supplies.

They don't really leave the original because they're bored--their paradise has been compromised. But even while they were secure, they realized that holing themselves up was just leading to a slow death. Going out into the world may mean greater risk, but also a greater chance at finding something worth surviving for. The consumer paradise around them still is empty compared to the prospect (however remote) of community and socialization. How long would they actually live--the final two--before going stir crazy at the mall? The thing I like about the original is that it entertains these questions amidst the gore. The remake has a few capable characters but lots of pandering stupid among the rest.

[Hazle Weatherfield]

Definitely "The Shining" and "Halloween (the original!)"

[CrazyCatLady]

Originally Posted by Miller

As a fall back, I offer up the original The Haunting, from 1963. Just about the perfect haunted house story.

This. One of the creepiest movies I've ever watched.

[gladtobeblazed]

I agree that The Shining, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Omen, The Exorcist and The Haunting have held up, but I disagree with Halloween. It's just a boring film. I can barely make it through even if I put on the Rifftrax for it.

[Cat Fight]

Originally Posted by Justin_Bailey

I'd have to disagree. The makeup effects are awesome, there's no question, but the "Consumers are just like zombies!" social commentary does not hold up well and actually bogs down the movie.

In fact, I'd almost go so far as to say the remake is the better movie.

I'll go that far and beyond. I love elements of the original, but it's just so uneven and faded and lacking in subtlety, it almost feels like a movie of the week c. 1978. To me, it's close to the almost unarguably godawful Day of the Dead (a saluting zombie? Really?) than the fantastic Night of the Living Dead which, as others have noted, has held up quite well.

[FriarTed]

Nosferatu, the original

The WolfMan with Lon Chaney Jr.

and maybe not the whole movie, BUT the unmasking in Lon Chaney Sr's Phantom of the Opera!

and for me, CARNIVAL OF SOULS!

[Cat Fight]

Originally Posted by Justin_Bailey

I'd have to disagree. The makeup effects are awesome, there's no question, but the "Consumers are just like zombies!" social commentary does not hold up well and actually bogs down the movie.

In fact, I'd almost go so far as to say the remake is the better movie.

I'll go that far and beyond. I love elements of the original, but it's just so uneven and faded and lacking in subtlety, it almost feels like a movie of the week c. 1978. To me, it's close to the almost unarguably godawful Day of the Dead (a saluting zombie? Really?) than the fantastic Night of the Living Dead which, as others have noted, has held up quite well.
The remake's opening titles and horrifying post-credits (or was it pre-?) footage from the boat did more for me than the entire original. Though I'll concede that the zombie baby was just stupid.

More votes for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Alien and The Shining. Horror at its best.
Friday the 13th is a dumb slasher, but dammit, it's a classic dumb slasher with a great twist ending.
A Nightmare on Elm Street should still scare the kiddies, even if its utter '80s-ness is somewhat distracting.
Freaks still succeeds in being creepy, though not exactly a great example of filmmaking.
While Halloween is essential horror viewing and could fill a hundred Freudian film theory textbooks, it doesn't really deliver chills like I imagine it did originally.

I just realized that most of my favorite horror films have been made in the past 15-20 years or so. And here I was thinking '70s and '80s horror reigned supreme.

[Justin_Bailey]

Originally Posted by Cat Fight

I'll go that far and beyond. I love elements of the original, but it's just so uneven and faded and lacking in subtlety, it almost feels like a movie of the week c. 1978. To me, it's close to the almost unarguably godawful Day of the Dead (a saluting zombie? Really?) than the fantastic Night of the Living Dead which, as others have noted, has held up quite well.
The remake's opening titles and horrifying post-credits (or was it pre-?) footage from the boat did more for me than the entire original. Though I'll concede that the zombie baby was just stupid.

Vindication! Although I think we can all agree the zombie baby was incredibly stupid. But I still find it believable that a newly-wed first-time father would crack under that kind of pressure and would try to "save" his wife and baby even after they start thirsting for human flesh.

And Day of the Dead really was bad. When you stop and think about it, the only unquestioned great movie in the Dead series is the first one (and even then, I'd argue Savini's remake [which was itself partly directed by Romero] is a pretty impressive movie in its own right).

[TBG]

I gotta go with Archive Guy on this one. Dawn is the one horror movie I'm sure to watch a few times every year. Night is a classic, and rightly so, but Dawn just took things to a whole nother level.

Peter's just gotta be the coolest zombie fighter of all time. Watching Roger go a bit crazy from the situation until finally it costs him and he gets bit, then telling Peter they have a lot of work to finish before they can lose him, then later still his telling Peter he's going to try not to come back -- probably the most tragic zombie movie victim of all time. Flyboy and Francine's relationship falling apart, along with Flyboy's trying to be as cool as Peter and Roger (and usually failing badly), and Francine wanting to be more than just the "den mother", the movie just focuses on really great characters. Characters you care more about than the asshole in the basement or hysterical Barbra from Night*, or the rich dick and the stupid girl with the dog in the Dawn remake. The characters make the movie hold up. At least for me.

Does it have issues? Sure. Are the bikers dumb and a little unbelievable as to how they survive if they're so stupid? Of course. But the movie isn't about the bikers, not any more than it was about the swat team in the ghetto building or the news crew at the TV station, it's about the four people that were in the helicopter. I can forgive zombie pie fights and the dumb biker sticking his arm in the blood pressure machine, because they're just not that important to the story.

*-In fairness, Ben was a pretty good character in Night, but the rest are pretty much the type you can't wait for the zombies to eat.

[Maus Magill]

Originally Posted by Miller

<snip> I offer up the original The Haunting, from 1963. Just about the perfect haunted house story.

Agreed. It's the unknown and unseen elements that make this movie so damned scary.

Among the things that are so scary:
What the hell is behind the door?
Whose hand was she holding?
Where did the Professor's wife go?

[Dante]

I think Friday the 13th (1980) holds up pretty well. It's no Exorcist, but I saw it when I was 12, and really getting into horror, and thought it was great fun.

Plus I peed my pants a little at the end.

[kelly5078]

Another vote for the original "Nosferatu."

I saw "The Old Dark House" for the first time in ages a couple months ago, and thought it held up well. It's just one cliche after another, so that you're half into the movie and half laughing at it. Gloria Stuart (still going at 99!) was quite a looker, too.

Also, "The Shining," although anymore I fast forward through the opening scenes to get to the good stuff. Is there anybody else that thinks Shelley Duvall is an order of magnitude creepier than Jack Nicholson?

"Carrie" still works well, although I'm not sure I'd consider it a horror movie. It's almost unbearably sad, and there's nothing scary about it except for how nuts Piper Laurie is.

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

The Haunting
Psycho
The Wicker Man

[SaharaTea]

Originally Posted by kelly5078

"Carrie" still works well, although I'm not sure I'd consider it a horror movie. It's almost unbearably sad, and there's nothing scary about it except for how nuts Piper Laurie is.

Nothing scary about it? The very last scene still makes me jump five feet out of my chair. It's classic.

Originally Posted by kelly5078

Is there anybody else that thinks Shelley Duvall is an order of magnitude creepier than Jack Nicholson?

Agree here. I find Shelley Duvall so annoying that it almost ruins the film for me.

[kingpengvin]

Forgot another 80's classic... Cronenberg's Remake of the FLY.

Tragic, gross, and best of all the leads made their characters seem like real people. I half wanted to see what the Brundlefly/Veronica/brundlefly Jr. Hybrid would have looked like.

He was obviously mad by the time he came up with that plan.

Oh and Hear hear TBG!!! I love that film because the characters were fully fleshed out as opposed to character types doing things because the plot demands it.

I'll even defend Day of the dead if anyone is up for it!!

[SunSandSuffering]

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) - just saw it on UK TV for the first time. Five short stories with a connecting stranger on a train. Creepy, clever and eerie. Definitely stands the test of time for me.

[FriarTed]

Originally Posted by kingpengvin

Forgot another 80's classic... Cronenberg's Remake of the FLY.

Tragic, gross, and best of all the leads made their characters seem like real people. I half wanted to see what the Brundlefly/Veronica/brundlefly Jr. Hybrid would have looked like.

Eric Stoltz!

[FriarTed]

Originally Posted by kelly5078

Another vote for the original "Nosferatu."

I saw "The Old Dark House" for the first time in ages a couple months ago, and thought it held up well. It's just one cliche after another, so that you're half into the movie and half laughing at it. Gloria Stuart (still going at 99!) was quite a looker, too.

Ever see the Nosferatu remake? Gorgeous & sad & creepy. NOT scary, but worth the watch!

I saw TODH a few years ago in the L.A. Egyptian Theatre at a Gloria Stuart film festival, where she spoke & they showed that, The Invisible Man and GoldDiggers of 1933(?). I found it highly entertaining but not one bit creepy. Btw, according to Gloria, it was on the set of TODH that SAG was born when the American actors saw all the cushy perks the British actors had.

[Spoke]

Well since I made the original observation, I'll post a couple that do hold up (though they sort of straddle the horror/sci fi genres):

The Thing From Another World (1951)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) (There's a reason they keep re-making this one.)

But then I'll say that while I have as much nostalgic affection as anyone for Universal horror films (Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.), they just would not hold chills for a first-time, modern viewer. So I don't agree that any of those really hold up as horror films.

[Ferret Herder]

Originally Posted by FriarTed

Ever see the Nosferatu remake? Gorgeous & sad & creepy. NOT scary, but worth the watch!

Hijacking on that note, there's the newer film Shadow of the Vampire. It pretends to depict the "making of" Nosferatu and in it, Max Schreck (played by Willem Dafoe) is claimed by the director to be a very serious method actor who is in character nearly all the time. Really serious, as the plot unfolds.

[Beadalin]

I'd vote for Evil Dead. It's campy and low-budget, but still packs a wallop. The scene where they're playfully guessing cards and the sudden switch into demonic possession rocked.

[woodstockbirdybird]

I want to third Archive Guy and TBG's take on Dawn of the Dead - they put it much more eloquently than I could.

I had an example of my own, but forgot it. I'll be back.