Scary Movie

[pancakes3]

I've only been scared by 1 movie in my entire life - Stephen King's It and i was about 6 when i saw it. I didn't go to the bathroom for 4 days. I peed twice in the yard and i didn't poop, shower, or brush my teeth.

Since then, I've tried to watch "horror" movies but they just don't do it for me. The brutality and gruesomeness get to me sometimes - the girl falling into a pit of needles in one of the Saw movies, achilles tendon cutting in Hostel, etc. but those were more empathic winces than legitimate fear.

So tonight the gf wants to watch a scary movie and i really don't want to be bored to tears. She wants to watch some dutch movie from the 70s (the vanishing?) and i really can't get into scary movies as it is, and i don't think subtitles flashing across the screen is going to help any.


SOOO... long story short - what are some scary movies that i can rent? people raved about paranormal activity, but similar ravings were heard about blair witch, which almost put me to sleep.

[kingpengvin]

The Vanishing is quite good. I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand, but if you need some suggestions.

I rather like John Carpenter's remake of The Thing If you haven' seen it before that is best. It is gruesome in bits but there is a real sense of paranoia that works.

Also in the remake Dept I also got a bit of the creeps from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (The Donald Sutherland One) Once again the paranoia factor helps.

The Shinning has great creepy moments but it doesn't move quickly.

The Original Texas Chainsaw massacre also give me the willies. My wife can't stand the sound of the high pitched whine the flash bulb gives when it goes off in the beginning it just makes her uncomfortable

[FriarTed]

Originally Posted by kingpengvin

The Vanishing is quite good. I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand, but if you need some suggestions.

I rather like John Carpenter's remake of The Thing If you haven' seen it before that is best. It is gruesome in bits but there is a real sense of paranoia that works.

Also in the remake Dept I also got a bit of the creeps from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (The Donald Sutherland One) Once again the paranoia factor helps.

The Shinning has great creepy moments but it doesn't move quickly.

The Original Texas Chainsaw massacre also give me the willies. My wife can't stand the sound of the high pitched whine the flash bulb gives when it goes off in the beginning it just makes her uncomfortable

I second The Thing and Body Snatchers. I didn't care for the original TCM but I liked Part 2 which was a horror comedy (with Dennis Hopper as the crazed hero) and I also liked the two new ones which starred R. Lee Ermey as the patriarch of the killer family. Also, why it's a sequel to HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, the much superior THE DEVIL'S REJECTS stands up on its own.

[corvidae]

I haven't seen it for a while (thank goodness), but Poltergeist scares the crap out of me.

[Sister Vigilante]

The Ring and The Grudge both put me off horror movies for good, and I am a horror fan. Those movies scared the crap out of me and The Ring in particular gave me a feeling of general dread throughout the entire film.

But then, lots of people hate both movies. I'm just really scared of ghosts (although I don't believe in them). YMMV

[Shark Sandwich]

I always liked Jacob's Ladder, but it's not so much scary as just...odd.

[halfliquid]

Paranormal Activity is the only horror movie that ever scared me. I barely slept for four days, and it took about three weeks to get the imagery from that movie out of my head. I gave the movie away the day after I watched it. I just found it to be evil.

I don't know if you've seen it, but I always found The Exorcist to be enjoyably eerie.

[enipla]

It’s interesting, Paranormal Activity bored both my Wife and I. Too much hype about it I guess. Both my wife and I love Alien, The Thing and The Ring.

We've probably seen Alien 30 times.

My cousin and I saw Alien at the theater. Not really knowing anything about it. Scared us good, we couldn’t go back to our apartment for a while, went to a nice brightly lit McD’s.

[valleyofthedolls]

Spoorloos (the Vanishing) is a great movie though more unsettling than downright scary. It isn't really fast-paced though, IMHO, it will hold your attention.

If you're looking for horror movies that move a little faster. I might go with:

(as others have mentioned) The Thing and Alien
Evil Dead or Evil Dead pt. 2
Shaun of the Dead (more comedy than horror)
Dog Soldiers
The Descent
May
Session 9 (though slower than the others I've mentioned).
Dead Alive/Brain Dead (early Peter Jackson)
Black Christmas
Halloween

Originally Posted by Pancakes3

Since then, I've tried to watch "horror" movies but they just don't do it for me. The brutality and gruesomeness get to me sometimes - the girl falling into a pit of needles in one of the Saw movies, achilles tendon cutting in Hostel, etc. but those were more empathic winces than legitimate fear.

I love, love horror movies but I don't like movies like Saw or Hostel, fun for the feeble-minded. IMHO, if you have to rely on brutality to keep your movie going than you're not doing a good job. I'm paraphrasing Stephen King in Danse Macabre here but he believes a horror movie should be about what you think is behind a closed door not what's actually there. I agree with this.

[Surly Chick]

Paranormal Activity didn't scare me in the slightest. The last movie that scared me was Poltergeist but I don't know if it would still scare me today. Scary movies just aren't what they used to be - too much blood and guts and not enough psychological scariness.

[ColonelDax]

One vote here for The Hitcher, and another for Alien.

[Tim R. Mortiss]

To me, "horror" movies are just good clean fun. They are too unrealistic to be actually scary.

The most scared I ever was in a movie was "Play Misty For Me." That was some scary-ass shit, that could really happen........TRM

[enipla]

Originally Posted by valleyofthedolls

Dog Soldiers

Another vote for Dog Soldiers. The atmosphear is just great. As are the wearwolves.

[Shagnasty]

Originally Posted by corvidae

I haven't seen it for a while (thank goodness), but Poltergeist scares the crap out of me.

It is creepier when you know in advance that no matter what happens in the movie, the little blond girl in it still dies in real life.

[DCnDC]

I always liked Prince of Darkness. Might be a little dated now, but it's got Alice Cooper!

[Intergalactic Gladiator]

Young Frankenstein.

[pancakes3]

i think i'm going with poltergeist, but feel free to keep the suggestions coming. i've seen aliens, ring, and the shining.

bodysnatchers seemed to have a few votes so i might give that one a chance some other weekend.

[detop]

The original (1963) The Haunting.

[freckafree]

Ditto The Haunting and The Ring. The former scared me to death as a child. I watched the latter at my son's insistence, even though I have pooh-poohed the entire contemporary horror genre as being all about gore and not much about storytelling.

I was pleasantly (?) surprised by The Ring. It is really creepy and suspenseful.

[needscoffee]

The original Candyman is pretty scary, along the same lines as IT - sort of a Saturday afternoon movie. The Vanishing is good, but a little slow. Dawn of the Dead (the remake) is good and scary. 28 Days Later is also frightening and good. Same for Session 9, which in its building of suspense reminds me a bit of The Shining. The Haunting (1963) is one of my all-time favorite movies.

[amanset]

I echo valleyofthedolls' recommendation of The Descent.

I'd also recommend the Spanish film [rec]. Not only because of the film, but also that lead character is one of the most beautiful women I have seen on film. Not that your wife will be bothered by that.

[LC Strawhouse]

Amityville II : The Possession. Underrated and vicious classic, produced by cynical filmmakers who have no mercy on the audience.

[BigBertha]

I've rarely watched horror movies because I am a big coward. But I really got freaked by Trilogy of Terror (the one with Karen Black if theres more than one)
though if you want to freak your date out, I would suggest Desperate Living.

[Hazle Weatherfield]

The original "Halloween," hands down.

[nancyjo67]

A vote for both The Descent and Dog Soldiers (both directed by Neil Marshall). I especially liked The Descent. It was creepy scary but it also had a lot of depth (pardon the pun) and suspense. If you are offended by bad language though, don't bother. It is peppered with f bombs throughout.

The first two original Omen movies are terrific!!!

I used to watch horror movies all the time, but now I only watch them in the day time or with a friend. The one movie that scared the bejesus out of me that I cannot watch again is The Exorcist. Saw it the first time when I was 13 (TV-13 version on TV) and it is just so unbelievably wrong and horrific. Still cannot watch it as an adult.

[aceplace57]

Big improvement. I noticed after he removed the soccer ball that there was a round blurred/smudged area left behind. It might not be noticeable unless one looked for it.

[aceplace57]

Sorry. ignore the last post. That was meant for a photoshop thread.

[statsman1982]

Originally Posted by kingpengvin

The Vanishing is quite good. I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand, but if you need some suggestions.

I rather like John Carpenter's remake of The Thing If you haven' seen it before that is best. It is gruesome in bits but there is a real sense of paranoia that works.

Also in the remake Dept I also got a bit of the creeps from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (The Donald Sutherland One) Once again the paranoia factor helps.

The Shinning has great creepy moments but it doesn't move quickly.

I can't recommend this last one. It's a very poor Scottish remake of a classic Stephen King story. Instead of croquet mallets, Jack just kicks everyone in the shin to death.

I do have to echo the recommendations for Paranormal Activity. If I think too much about it even now, after seeing it so long ago, I still get the willies. The thing is, I don't believe in the supernatural, and it still got me.

If you want some old school horror, try Tales from the Crypt. No, not the campy HBO-based movies. This one was made in the 1970s and is composed of several horror vignettes.

[wedgehed]

The most recent thing I can think of is The Exorcism of Emily Rose. I think it's a better movie than The Exorcist.

I'm assuming you've seen the original Salem's Lot. It had its moments.

Although not so much scary as tragic, I love the Charles Laughton version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

If Hitchcock's Psycho hasn't already been spoiled for you, it's the one I'd recommend over all others.

[jackdavinci]

I tend to be affected more by people who are about to get into trouble (caught in an uncompromising situation like illegally searching an office) than more strict scariness. As a kid, who was fairly unaffected by films such as Alien, I was scared by the original Amityville Horror and Poltergeist. Paranormal Activity has to it's benefit verité, but it's similar to Blair Witch in that respect. As an adult, I was most affected by The Ring (US), and for some reason Jeepers Creepers kind of got to me.

I think the key here might be to figure out which movies scare you, and then we can analyze which aspect of horror and/or suspense movies push your buttons in particular.

For example:

1) Pure suspense - anticipation that something bad is about to happen, whether it is violent or merely being caught.

2) Gore - blood and guts.

3) Verité / gravitas - the depiction being realistic enough that you have empathy for the characters.

4) Something else...

[Ellis Dee]

While waiting for more information, Salvage is pretty good. It's not a slasher flick, despite the synopsis. It's one of the few movies I've seen in the past few years that left me a little unnerved.

Try to avoid scrolling down to the comments, as the comment titles on that page right now contain spoilers.

[Shawn1767]

Yes, my pick would be Poltergeist as well. It's something about that movie that just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up in certain scenes. I first saw it when I was about 14 in the theater. And I agree with people who think that "seeing" an actual monster is more of a letdown most times than the psychological aspect of thinking "what the f could be out there?"

And for some random, cheesy reason, I was really creeped out by "Fire in the Sky. For days after seeing that movie in the theater, I could not go out by myself at dusk.

[Ellis Dee]

Probably the needle in the eye scene. The ick factor on that was off the charts.

[pancakes3]

Definitely suspense.

gore doesn't bother me too much because my brain just can't shut off as easily as others. however, like i said before, certain gore is just too much for me - specifically the needle pit and the achilles tendon swipe. The exorcist needle eye scene didn't bother me too much, and neither did a lot of the other freaky stuff. (crucifix scene was cringeworthy, but not scary or especially offputting).

however, i think the verite and the suspense go hand in hand. without believability, i'm definitely not as engaged and without my full attention, i can pretty much shrug off anything. as for blair witch, i started to get sucked in but halfway through, the 1st person camera footage was just too much of nothing, and i got disengaged quickly. from the previews of paranormal activity, the camera shots look completely different so maybe it will scare my pants off.

also, ditty jeepers creepers even though it completely contradicts this entire post. i guess the parallels to the mythic jersey devil, and the cinematography set it apart from other monster movies.

anywho, to who cares, i watched Poltergeist and it was freaky deaky. good call. i wasn't scared to the point of losing sleep, but it did leave me with a longer tingle than i had after watching the Ring. (one of the few tingle movies i've seen).

lots of suggestions in this genre, and i think after the positive experience with poltergeist i'm going to give other scary movies that have passed the SDMB seal of approval a chance.

Body Snatchers, Dog Soldiers, and Paranormal Activity are in queue.

btw, thanks for all the responses. it's nice to have some decent suggestions other than "Saw VI" and "Cloverfield" like my buddies offered.

[Sister Vigilante]

I can't enjoy movies "based on a true story" which actually aren't. Especially Amityville which was proven to be a total fake. I also didn't bother with the Emily Rose story which I don't believe is true. Now Excorsist was semi-scary, but not really. Nor was the remake of Amityvlle.

The Shining scared me to death because of the bathtub lady, but I've said I'm afraid of ghosts, and will elaborate to add I'm especially afraid of the ones that look like corpses.

Paranormal Activity was ruined for me because I saw a totally scary clip online that freaked me the hell out. So in the theater, I spent the whole movie hiding my eyes when it looked like that scene might happen. It happened at the VERY END, and WAS THE ONLY SCARY THING IN THE MOVIE.

Poltergeist scared me when I was 13, and not for the ghosts, but for the face ripping scene and the chicken with maggots. (You said you saw it so I didn't use spoiler boxes.)

[aruvqan]

Originally Posted by Tim R. Mortiss

To me, "horror" movies are just good clean fun. They are too unrealistic to be actually scary.

The most scared I ever was in a movie was "Play Misty For Me." That was some scary-ass shit, that could really happen........TRM

I feel that way about Misery ... it is the stuff that could possibly happen that is the scariest, not the stuff that is imaginary [and even though I have had paranormal experiences, I consider any paranormal in movies as imaginary]

I do not like the "torture porn" movies like Saw and the ilk, as was said so eloquently by Valleyofthedolls:

I love, love horror movies but I don't like movies like Saw or Hostel, fun for the feeble-minded. IMHO, if you have to rely on brutality to keep your movie going than you're not doing a good job. I'm paraphrasing Stephen King in Danse Macabre here but he believes a horror movie should be about what you think is behind a closed door not what's actually there. I agree with this.

I like psychological horror the best, but sometimes a bit of blood and gore is ok like in Prince of Darkness or even Evil Dead [which I see as more comedy than horror to be honest.] I found Psycho to actually have stood up to time well, with the caveat that you have to somewhat understand the time. You can not watch movies from 30 or more years ago and expect to use todays society standards with them [a nooner with your boyfriend? no big deal, just make sure to get back to work on time ... back then - the horror of unwed/premarital/extramarital sex!!1!1eleventy] Though that also goes for nonhorror movies as well

[sandra_nz]

If you're both Stephen King fans then I can recommend The Mist.

[jjimm]

I watch horror movies with a certain young lady, every Wednesday night. The scarier the better, because when she gets scared she leaps into my arms and stays there - so I'm always on the lookout for recommendations. The most effective so far have been the Japanese versions of:

Originally Posted by Sister Vigilante

The Ring and The Grudge both put me off horror movies for good, and I am a horror fan. Those movies scared the crap out of me and The Ring in particular gave me a feeling of general dread throughout the entire film.

I know the OP doesn't like subtitles, but fucking hell the originals of those two movies are off the freaking scale frightening compared to the Hollywood remakes. Both elicited the most effective terror effect in me of any movie I've seen before. I cannot recommend them highly enough - and in my experience they're so good that you forget you're reading subtitles about five minutes into the movie.

Has anyone else seen the Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In? That's not scary really, just bleak and sad, but it's a very good movie.

[Zebra]

I think what scares a person is a very personal thing like what makes you laugh and what you find sexy and what scares you at one point in your life may not bother you later. Personally I don't find killer dolls scary or little kids to be scary. So your mileage may vary but...

28 Days Later
Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz both had scary parts.

The Twilight Zone episode The After Hours has me looking very closely at mannequins to this day.

Misery and Silence of the Lambs are both very scary.
Dr. Chilton is the scariest person in Lambs. Just like Nurse Ratched is the scariest person in a movie ever. (One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest)

[valleyofthedolls]

Originally Posted by aruvqan

I like psychological horror the best, but sometimes a bit of blood and gore is ok like in Prince of Darkness or even Evil Dead [which I see as more comedy than horror to be honest.] I found Psycho to actually have stood up to time well, with the caveat that you have to somewhat understand the time. You can not watch movies from 30 or more years ago and expect to use todays society standards with them [a nooner with your boyfriend? no big deal, just make sure to get back to work on time ... back then - the horror of unwed/premarital/extramarital sex!!1!1eleventy] Though that also goes for nonhorror movies as well

Don't get me wrong. I love gore. Gore is wonderful but it has to be done right. If I had to point to the one thing the directors of movies like Saw and Hostel do wrong is that they try to shock the audience. Me? I don't want to be shocked, that grows tedious. I want to be scared.

And in Psycho (which IMHO, is one of the best movies ever made and not dated at all), the scandal factor is not sex out of wedlock but rather that Sam Loomis, Marion's boyfriend, is married.

[Algernon]

Psycho and Play Misty For Me are good for suspense.

A more recent, highly suspenseful movie is The Ruins. This had me on the edge of my seat.

[GargoyleWB]

Mrs G and I just watched a Thai movie called Shutter on Netflix streaming. A very creepy revenge-ghost movie similar to Ju On (the Grudge) or Ringu (the Ring). Highly recommended

[aruvqan]

Originally Posted by valleyofthedolls

Don't get me wrong. I love gore. Gore is wonderful but it has to be done right. If I had to point to the one thing the directors of movies like Saw and Hostel do wrong is that they try to shock the audience. Me? I don't want to be shocked, that grows tedious. I want to be scared.

And in Psycho (which IMHO, is one of the best movies ever made and not dated at all), the scandal factor is not sex out of wedlock but rather that Sam Loomis, Marion's boyfriend, is married.

Divorced, he complains about paying alimony which is why they are screwing around and not married themselves. Marion comments she would rather be married and live in the back room of his shop [IIRC Sam said something about her licking the stamps on the alimony checks.]

Just checked IMDB, Marion said she would lick the stamps.

[Pyper]

Sorry, I'm making two subtitled recommendations, because they're scarier than anything I've seen listed here so far with the exception of "The Ring."

The first is the Spanish film "The Orphanage." The second is the Korean "A Tale of Two Sisters." Both of these films are extremely, extremely scary and do not involve blood and gore. At the heart of both films is a theme of family secrets and tragedy that give them depth that you don't often find in the horror genre.

[Ellis Dee]

Oh yeah, just remembered. It wasn't as good as the hype but The Strangers is still pretty good.

Just ignore the "based on real events" stuff. Apparently in real life a couple went missing, never to be seen or heard from again. That's the sum total of the "real life" on which it's based. The story of the missing couple came to the attention of the filmmaker as a kid, and he always imagined what happened to them. This is his vision of that. So (obviously) there's not one shred of real-life detail in the film; the entire story is made up out of whole cloth. Just an FYI.

[aruvqan]

Originally Posted by Pyper

Sorry, I'm making two subtitled recommendations, because they're scarier than anything I've seen listed here so far with the exception of "The Ring."

The first is the Spanish film "The Orphanage." The second is the Korean "A Tale of Two Sisters." Both of these films are extremely, extremely scary and do not involve blood and gore. At the heart of both films is a theme of family secrets and tragedy that give them depth that you don't often find in the horror genre.

I saw The Orphanage, and it was good. I will have to check around for the other one.

I saw part of an interesting movie, I will have to ask my brother what it was but it involved a very disturbed girl making dolls. Eve or something like that I wanted to borrow it to watch all of it but the part I saw was very creepy.

There is another movie that is interesting, The Gathering. Not overmuch gore but some good psychological suspense. I like the old house the family lives in [that used to be some sort of orphanage/boarding school]

[Autolycus]

I vote for whatever genre of horror is the closest to your vision of reality. What I mean is, when I was Catholic I was scared shitless by The Exorcist and the Emily Rose movie. Now that I'm atheist, I get scared by movies like Kierkegaard's The Sickness Unto Death and Nietzsche's Uberzombie.

[jjimm]

Originally Posted by Pyper

The second is the Korean "A Tale of Two Sisters."

We watched that a few Wednesdays ago. The girl I mentioned screamed so loud I thought someone was going to call the cops.

[Unauthorized Cinnamon]

Another vote for Session 9. I have it in my Netflix queue to watch again, but I'm a little scared to!

I also agree with The Descent and Dog Soldiers.

Severance is a hidden gem - it's horrifying and scary and brutal, and yet also has some fun winking at horror movie conventions. And yet no one has ever heard of it.

Slither is a lot of fun. More silly and gross, but very entertaining.

[Hampshire]

One of my favorites has to be The Others. Nicole Kidman as a widowed mother in a creepy house with two creepy kids and creepy servants. Then the weird stuff starts to happen.
Tense and suspenseful throughout with zero gore. It'll make you shiver and your heart drop.