IT- the Stephen King one or IT with Roddy McDowell summoning a golem? Seen both.
Hellfire! I meant to say It’s Alive. Deformed baby monster terrifies town.
btw- can’t believe I forgot about THEATRE OF BLOOD- so I will see you that & raise you THE ABOMINABLE DOCTOR PHIBES and DOCTOR PHIBES RISES AGAIN
also can’t believe I forgot DEAD ALIVE & the EVIL DEAD films
I didn’t think FREAKS matched his criteria but it IS a great film
WARNING- do NOT waste time with the recent 1990’s CARNIVAL OF SOULS starring (I’m not kidding) the usually great comedian Larry Miller- you will plead for that 90 min of your life back
Try The Devil’s Backbone, a nice little ghost story from Spain.
Also, Session 9, a very creepy movie set in an abandoned asylum.
For a good, old-fashioned ghost story done really, really well, I recommend The Changeling. Not a gore-fest, but a really scarey story. Or at least, I thought so.
Horror movies by their nature are very hit and miss propositions. Because it is more or less one of the least respected genres, it’s more difficult to find stellar acting and high budgets. Many horror movies are hit and miss within the movie itself. No matter how many I watch and how often, I tend to find a ratio of about 4 not-so-good to 1 good. It’s easy to go wrong with sequels. Exploitation is typically the name of the game. I have rarely seen a Hammer studio film I didn’t like and own many. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing usually mean a good movie. Amiscus is a good Hammer knock-off studio, sometimes with Lee and Cushing roles. Old William Castle movies are sometimes cheesy but fun (The Tingler, The Haunting, etc.). It’s hard to go wrong with a movie with Vincent Price. Remakes typically fail to understand what made an original good. Asian horror films in the last 10 or so years have been good, and quite unique. If you like a director or studio, try to stay with those and see what happens (Romero, Carpenter, Miike, etc., though Wes Craven has been losing his touch for quite a while, so I don’t really bother with his work anymore). Italian horror movies are often victim of small budgets, and sometimes horrifying dubing in its own right, though they tend to be an acquired taste (Argento, Fulci, D’Amato, the Bavas, etc.), but sometimes have amazing ideas and visuals unlike any other horror films. I can second most of the movies suggested above, except I thought Hellraiser III was a mess (I’ve heard Hellraiser 5 is supposed to be good but havent’ seen it), Event Horizon clumsy, and Coppolla’s Dracula trite (great sets and costuming though).
EVENT HORIZON?
Okay people, either I’m the dumbest schmuck around or I must have had a fever when I watched that piece of dreck.
It was not especially scary. Gory yes, scary no.
It wasted the talents of some fine actors/actresses.
It had little substance, it was mostly style. Not what I want in a horror story.
Ooooh, scary hellish moments out by Neptune. How about some
storyline with explanations and resolutions?
Perhaps someone can explain the lure of this movie to me; or even better, explain the “story”.
People Under the Stairs is a personal favourite. It manages to be both polished and scary and has a nice flow to it, a far cry from the random '80s crap at the movie store with stilted dialogue, horrible camera work, exploited women.
Friday the 13th 1-9.
I forgot to mention that the above is a good pick if you liked the X-Files episode “Home.”
In addition to to the 1956 and 1978 versions, there’s a little-know 1993 remake, directed by Abel Ferrara and called Body Snatchers, that is extremely scary. I can also recommend his 1992 b/w vampire film, The Addiction, which stars Lili Taylor (Nate’s wife on Six Feet Under) and features a cameo appearance by Christopher Walken.
In addition the excellent recommendations of John Carpenter’s The Thing and In the Mouth of Madness, his 1980 film of ghostly revenge, The Fog, is a nailbiter.
The Exorcist always scares me. And I’ve always been a big fan of the Evil Dead Trilogy, of course.
I second Phantoms and The Devil’s Backbone.
The former is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen (I’m one of those people who don’t find The Ring or Session 9 or Event Horizon scary- In The Mouth Of Madness on the other hand. eek! But Phantoms is even scarier. If you’re me, anyway)
I had no idea when I rented The Devil’s Backbone that it would have subtitles, and I’m fairly anti-subtitle since I don’t have the ablity that a lot of people talk about- being able to “forget” you’re reading the dialogue. I usually find it too difficult to read and pay attention to what else is going on. Anyway, I nearly didn’t watch it, but I decided that since it was in a somewhat familiar language, I’d give it a try anyway. It’s an incredible movie. I think anyone who liked The Ring, as a movie scary or not, would probably like it a whole lot. There were parts of it that had to do with little kids that were even more brutal than in The Ring, so be forwarned if that’s really upsetting to you.
If you’d like a non-gory horror movie for a change, I’ve Been Waiting For You is a pretty decent one. Since I’m one of the few people who apparently have ever heard of it, I was able to get it for a song through the “other-sellers” option on Amazon. That might be the only way you’d get to see it, since I’ve only seen one video store that carries it, unfortunately.
I’ve gotta chime in with my vote for Evil Dead and Evil Dead II. The first one is your standard slasher flick, but with Sam Raimi’s stylish directing. The second one is actually a little better, and adds some comedy to the mix. You may want to pick up Army of Darkness, the last of the Evil Dead Trilogy, but AoD isn’t as horror-based as the other two, has even more comedy but is still a fun watch.
The first Scream is also very good for the genre and I love the John Carpenter remake of The Thing.
(underlining mine)
You must mean * The House on Haunted Hill*. The original The Haunting was directed by Robert Wise, probably the best haunted house movie made. Otherwise I agree with the rest of your post
Okay, it’s uneven…But every few Halloween’s I like to bring out ** Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors**. (1965)
It has Lee and Cushing. And a young Donald Sutherland, too.
Black Sunday, with Barbara Steele as ancient vampire and her great to the nth granddaughter. Very well made, good performances, atmospheric as hell…
More of a thriller than a horror (but those two are close enough), Identity is the best of its genre in awhile.
Yes indeed. I confuse them and switch them around sometimes. Neither of which are to be confused with The Legend of Hell House, with Roddy McDowell, directed by John Hough (who also did Twins of Evil and the Witch Mountain movies). Which is also not to be confused with the recent documentary, Hell House, about Halloween haunted houses created by Baptist churches.
In addition to some great ones already mentioned:
Rosemary’s Baby
Dawn of the Dead
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Evil Dead series (all of them)
Pretty much anything directed by Dario Argento:
Phenomena
Opera
Demons
Demons 2
The Devil’s Daughter (Demons 4)
For his best, though, start with his masterpieces, Suspiria and Inferno.
Also from European filmmakers:
Anatomy
Funny Games
The Vanishing (Stick with it to the ending, it’s a humdinger).