The world is divided into two types of people :
Those who thought that The Blair Witch Project was a piece of crap and those who found it absolutely terrifying.
I belong to the latter group.
Words can’t describe how that movie freaked me out!
And when I found out it was based on a true story…
I first watched <i>The Blair Witch Project</i> with my best friend, in a tent, in my backyard (and I live in the woods), on a travel tv running on battery.
Never do that.
Stellablue, you went straight to the one I would have picked – Wait Until Dark. That was a truly creepy movie. The ending that you described hadn’t become such a cliche then and was genuinely terrifying because the suspense had been built up so well. Mancini’s theme music had a lot to do with it too. Excellent choice!
I’m with you SadTomato, that movie scared the jeebers out of me. And infact, I still get nervous going outside after dark by myself (I live in a woody area).
I’d say that Night of the Living Dead (the remake, in fact) has done lasting damage to me, as I saw it when I was younger, but actually not that young, which testifies to my fragile mental state. I’m 100% serious when I say that almost everywhere I go, I formulate a zombie plan in case the dead start to rise.
I thought that was just hype. Or are you kidding?
A 1980 movie, Watcher in the Woods, scared the crap out of me as a kid. And I think it was a Disney movie, too…
[joke]And when I found out it was based on a true story…[/joke]
You nailed it with the Carrie reference. I was in a crowded theatre back during it’s original release and the the whole place jumped in unison. I, even, had a mild stroke <facetious> which was unusual for me as I didn’t spook easily at the time. I practically had to carry my date out. That was a good one.
I’m not sure if I’m thinking of the same scene but the first thing that comes to my head when I think of all-time scariest is from that movie and it’s from the hosptial and it involves something sort of floating past out of the corner of your eye behind someone’s (a nurse’s?) back. I was at the CREEPY FRIKIN DRIVE IN and it made me want to CRY.
Next scariest was when I first saw the Blair Witch tv ad and I believed it was actual footage from actual missing kids and I went to the website that evening in a deserted, dark computer lab and watched the preview. I was seriously ready to urinate I was so scared out of my mind. I found out the whole thing was a gimmick about ten minutes later though.
Anyone remember “When a Stranger Calls?” The guy is calling the babysitter from inside the house. I think Charles Durning was in it. Scared the bejesus out of me.
When I saw this thread the FIRST thing I thought of was the last scene in Carrie. That was pants changer for sure.
And although it wasn’t really scary and had plot holes the size of Asia, that scene in “Signs” when Mel Gibson first sees the alien among the corn stalks made me jump so bad I tore my wife’s earring out of her ear!
No. 1 for me though was The Excorsist because when I was a kid we had a priest over to our house for dinner one night who was present at the excorcism that the movie was based on (a boy in St. Louis). Holy shat - I didn’t sleep for days.
Fuck yeah! I still get scared when I see it…
hrh
The scene in Poltergeist when the clown toy attacks the boy. My sister and I agree this one was among the scariest we had ever seen.
Funny, Exorcist 3 keeps coming up…3 scenes from that scared me. The one discussed above, the one where the little old lady is running around on the roof like a spider, and the scene in the house, with the shears about to cut the girl’s throat, when someone grabs her and pulls her out of the way just in time.
A pretty bad movie in a lot of ways, but someone involved knew how to freak me out.
Unfortunatly, I’ve reached a point where very few horror movies actually scare me. The closest I can usually get is being creeped out by a movie.
Movies that produced the feeling.
Blair Witch Project This movie creeped me out, particulary the bits where they were lost following the river, like things definatly weren’t right with the woods themselves.
**Night of the Living Dead ** Pretty much the entire movie. Zombies creep me out for some reason.
**The Ring ** Unfortunatly, unlike a lot of other people, apparently, I can watch it and still have no problem with being in the same room with a TV set (in fact, I think that showing the girl come out of the TV made it less scary, not more). However, some of the moments were particulary creepy (pulling the fly out of the video, the unknown origin of the little girl, the blurred faces and of course “You weren’t supposed to help her!”)
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Jaws, when ol’ Ben’s head comes floating into view through the hole in the hull of his boat. When I saw that in a movie theater, popcorn literally went up in the air - and not just from my seat!
Another vote for the scene from the Japanese version of Ring. Only time I’ve ever screamed involuntarily during a movie.
Some favourites:
-The view of the empty staircase with the slowly turning fan in the first episode of “Twin Peaks”. It’s just that, but jeez…
-The ending to Peter Jackson’s “Heavenly Creatures”. One of the most raw, chilling moments in movie history.
-The last half hour of “Blair Witch”. It’s a simple gimmick, but it works so friggin’ well.
I hate that Movie for all the right reasons 
When I was younger I watched Dracula (with Frank langella as dracula) with my parents.The sceen that creeped me out was when they open up Mina’s coffin and find a whole through the bottom,they go through it and find this underground tunnel,anyways suddenly they see Mina as a vampire and her eyes are all red.I swear I was like crying after I saw that. Not only that,but I kept watching and was equally freaked upt when at the end he was exposed to the sun and melted.
The one movie that still creeps me out to this day is The Amiltyville Horror where the mom walks into the kids room and the kid is talking to the ghost and you see the rocking chair suddenly stop rocking and then the kid tells his mom that she scared the ghost away and that he went out the window,so the mom looks out the window and you see the red eyes! gah! I hated that! To this day I cannot look outside or in mirrors at night.
Sorry if this post rambled a bit but I think I was actually creeping myself out as I was writting it!