I haven’t seen many horror movies, but I’d like to start watching them. I want to start slow, because I’m not really into horror (yet), which is why I thought of zombie movies first, especially a “RomZomDramCom,” or “Romantic Zombie Drama Comedy.” But I am open to suggestions about all types of horror movies.
For a little background, I have read quite a few horror books, and I have read most of the necessary material for understanding horror movies, books like “The Werewolf’s Guide To Life,” “How To Survive A Horror Movie,” and “World War Z.” I am actually still a young teenager; there is a limit on how much gore my mom (and, to a lesser extent, my dad) will let me see :smack: so that is a factor as well.
That said, any recommendations? What low-violence horror movies did you enjoy?
This might do better at the Cafe
The Devil’s Rejects.
If you watch it,it is the sequel to House of a 1000 Corpses which wasn’t nearly as good IMO.
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
Thanks.
I was wondering whether to put it in Cafe… guess I made the wrong decision, sorry.
My favorite horror movie is Poltergeist. Some of the special effects did not stand the test of time, but I think this movie is still capable of scaring the pants off you.
Do you mind oldies? My all-time favorite is The Changeling with George C. Scott. It’s a ghost story rather than horror though, but it’s scary as heck, and low on violence.
On preview, ditto for Poltergeist. I was going to suggest Carrie as well, but it’s pretty violent.
In your situation I would highly recommend, before you watch, read (some more): Danse Macabre, by Stephen King, who will tell you (and can you imagine a better authority?) about all the films he considers horror classics and why. (Of course, it was published in 1981 and covers nothing produced later.)
Some of these are rated R but I didn’t consider them to have a really high gore factor. It’s more language and suspense for more of them.
Lake Placid ®
The Mummy - the one with Brendan Fraser (PG-13)
Paranormal Activity (not sure of the rating on this one)
You might also like The Sixth Sense (PG-13)
If you and your parents can handle some gore, I really suggest Shaun Of The Dead. My son and I both love this one.
The Crazies might be pushing the gore envelope, but it’s a good recent horror film.
Also recommend Session 9.
Pandorum is a good science fiction/horror pic.
(Speaking of which, see Alien if you haven’t.)
In Danse Macabre, King expounds on the different emotional levels at which a horror writer can aim – the “Thriller,” the “Horror,” and the “Gross-Out.” The Thriller is the finest. As King puts it: When the thing that has been knocking on the door finally opens it, now matter how horrible it turns out to be, it no longer has the suspense, the special terror of the unknown. A six-foot bug?! Whew!! I was afraid it was gonna be a **twelve-**foot bug!
A really good thriller, or film of suspense as distinct from horror, is Link (1986), where all the killings happen off-camera. This is partly because they used real apes in filming and you can’t train an ape to pretend to tear somebody’s arms off and it might be dangerous even to try; but it might also have been an artistic choice.
The 2004 version of Dawn of the Dead is great. The DVD special features include showing how some of the more frightening special effects were achieved, which made it seem much less gruesome. With my younger teens, we watched the making-of special feature before we watched the movie.
The Haunting (the 1963 version) is still one of my favorite movies.
For fun and creepy, there’s Mr. Sardonicus.
I second Session 9, but it might be a bit gruesome for you or your parents. Most of the grue is not shown, though.
Shadow of the Vampire is my favorite horror film, it’s about the filming of 1920’s horror Nosferatu, with a very interesting premise. It’s more of a psychological horror, and is paced fairly slowly.
Poltergeist is well worth watching, and should fit the bill. It’s creepy rather than gory.
Shaun of the Dead and Gremlins are good fun. There is gore, but it is slapstick.
My all time favorite horror movie is John Carpenter’s The Thing: a bunch of guys at an arctic weather station find spaceship frozen under the ice. The ships passenger proves to be a shapeshifter, who begins killing and replacing the crew of the weather station, one by one.
Pretty gory, though the actual horror part comes from the intense paranoia over who is and is not currently human.
Here are some that don’t rely on gore as much as the slasher-type films, although American Werewolf and The Thing are still pretty bloody, it’s central-to-the-plot blood, not gratuitous blood.
*Poltergeist *- a family has ghost trouble
Lost Boys - moving to a new town can be tough for teens
American Werewolf in London - or - how my vacation went awry
The Fly - or - how my science project went awry
Alien - or - how my trip in space went awry
The Thing - I hope none of your close relatives were ever scientists in Antarctica
Edited to add: *Nosferatu *is a good suggestion
Funny Games.
This movie won’t just scare you, it will fuck you up for life. ISTR there was an American remake which I never saw. I’m referring to the German original.
+1 for Session 9.
If you want Zombies with some comedy, you can’t beat Return of the Living Dead. And when you are ready for some real, haunt-your-dreams scary stuff, check out the original Night of the Living Dead.
Start with Shawn of the Dead for your Zombie comedy fix. While you are there catch Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead to find out why Shawn is funny. Zombieland is pretty good too.
In a similar vein, but not zombies is An American Werewolf in London.
Next. Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness. In that order and back to back. Both funny, scarey, and awesome. Catch Evil Dead the original at some point, but it isn’t necessary (or even advisable) to start there.
Moving to slightly more serious stuff, the best slasher flick of all time is Halloween. Genuinely scary, some gore, some T&A but nothing your folks will likely object to. Watch it *late *at night with all the lights off. Nightmare on Elm Street holds up reasonably well (as does Nightmare 3 the rest aren’t worth your time) but **Friday the 13th **is kind of a snore. Watch only if you are really interested. Finally, catch the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original), again late at night with the lights off.
After you have watched the above check out **Scream **and if you have time Scream 2. Both legitimately good and legitimately scary and funny too if you have some familiarity with the slasher genre.
You should probably go from slashers to monsters. I would start with Alien, which is SciFi horror, but is brilliant, and follow it up with **The Thing **(1980s version by John Carpenter) which is the same.
Get your classic horror film watching in with things like Dracula, and The Wolfman, maybe the original The Thing and Bride of Frankenstein. **Frankenstein **is great too, but from a different perspective.
Then go for the supernatural stuff. The Haunting, The Exorcist, Poltergeist, The Ametyville Horror, and The Shining.
Finish up the best scary animal movie ever, Jaws, and you are set to start exploring on your own.
Have fun.
You are mean. I am still fucked up from seeing this movie years later. The American remake was good too but gets crap because it’s a remake. Worth seeing, not for a beginner.
While I am at it, the first Saw movie is very good and not nearly as gory as you would be led to believe by the follow ups and reputation.
I nominate Silence of the Lambs. And a close second, The Exorcist. Both are completely convincing, to me.
I’d argue that watching Evil Dead first is a good idea, since you really appreciate how freakin’ scary it is, despite the low grade effects
I’d suggest monsters, aliens, supernatural THEN slashers, as slashers are intrinsically more scary. I’m slightly more likely to encounter a cannibal or psychopath than an Alien, or even gigantic shark in real life. Jaws should wait a bit, because it can screw up your enjoyment of the bathtub, much less the ocean.
I’d also suggest you check these with your dad, since some of these are more intense than you’re probably ready for. Silence of the Lambs and Funny Games can probably wait for quite a while - like years - till the end of the slasher queue. You might consider seeing if he’d like to watch any of these with you for starters. You could also start off with some less terrific, therefore less terrifying horror movies. Nothing blunts the edge like some MST3K-style bad acting.
By the way, I meant Shadow of the Vampire, not Nosferatu.