# Horror Movies That Actually Scare You **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [October 20, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126 "2025-10-20T15:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2025, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/121 "2025-11-05T18:46:53Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > \*\*Eyes without a Face (\*\*Les Yeux sans visage), a 1960 French horror film that, unbelievably, ran on Supernatural Theater on WWOR New York (actually, channel 9 out of Secaucus NJ). It’s unbelievable because it depicts, in surprisingly graphic detail, the removal of skin from a face. You saw that as a kid? Pretty intense. I like that movie a lot, but I like most things Georges Franju has done. I saw it in college during finals week. They played movies in one of the auditoriums for stress relief, and this was one of them. There’s a scene where the woman they’re going to use as a decoy asks about losing something (I’m blanking now on what it was), and some wag in the audience yelled out “No, only your face.” Beautiful ending scene, too. Very poetic. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/122 "2025-11-06T06:27:01Z")
Nitpick: the Hugh Grant horror is just called ‘_Heretic’._ Edit: it is highly effective, definitely deserves to be in this conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Meatwater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meatwater/32/20074_2.png) [@Meatwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatwater)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/123 "2025-11-09T18:34:32Z")
I’m intrigued how much praise Heretic is getting. I thought that Heretic was contrived and pretentious. I liked the premise and especially Hugh Grant in it, but I felt it lacked nuanced and any real meaning. I’m not religious in any sense so maybe any subtly was lost on me. Perhaps I should watch again with a new perspective. On the movie, what was his motivation for targeting 2 Mormon girls? Control is to be god? I thought everyone knew that! I wished the movie just hit the gas and it turned out to actually be some eldritch being. I lament. > **Summary** > > This text will be hidden ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2025, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/124 "2025-11-09T18:56:47Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > > > The Haunting of Hill House 1963 (I think, IMDb search seems to be down at the moment > > The movie’s title (unlike the book) is just **The Haunting**. Make sure to watch the 1963 version, not the remake. Agreed. The remake had such terrible reviews I never bothered with it, but the original 1963 version (directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Harris and Claire Bloom) is the best haunted-house movie I’ve ever seen. It also has more depth than a typical haunted-house story, as one of the character’s psychological background is relevant to the story. For sheer, chilling creepiness _The Silence of the Lambs_ is terrific, although it has no supernatural elements. It also showcases the great Anthony Hopkins at his best as the depraved cannibal Hannibal Lecter. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2025, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/125 "2025-11-09T21:19:32Z")
Every performance in that (TSOTL) is just so good. Foster more than holds her own against Hopkins and Levine as Bill is also terrific, creepy as hell. I also think Anthony Heald, who plays the sleazy Dr Chilton, does a great job. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2025, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/126 "2025-11-09T22:12:59Z")
\*Invaders From Mars \*(1953) has a young boy in danger, only none of the adults believe him. Scared the crap out of me. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WZIznhFeY9U/maxresdefault.jpg "Invaders from Mars (1953) Original Trailer [FHD]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZIznhFeY9U) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2025, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/127 "2025-11-10T00:02:28Z")
I rewatched _Invaders from Mars_ as an adult and it is indeed MST3K worthy, but as a child it was terrifying. Make sure you show it to your kids while they are still credulous. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2025, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/128 "2025-11-10T01:00:18Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > \*Invaders From Mars \*(1953) has a young boy in danger, only none of the adults believe him. Scared the crap out of me. > > [https://youtu.be/WZIznhFeY9U?si=4RnpfUXE3LLyyJUd](https://youtu.be/WZIznhFeY9U?si=4RnpfUXE3LLyyJUd) Oh, yes, me too. I was about 8, alone in the afternoon at my grandparent’s house where I was staying for a week (my grandmother was out shopping, grandfather at work) when it came on TV. This was the late 50s. The kid’s own parents were among the first to “turn,” where they become possessed by the aliens. That, to an 8-year-old, was terrifying. Makes you question everyone. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/129 "2025-11-10T13:15:56Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I rewatched _Invaders from Mars_ as an adult and it is indeed MST3K worthy, but as a child it was terrifying. Make sure you show it to your kids while they are still credulous. As I’ve said many times on this Board, I once watched _Invaders from Mars_ at the Dryden Theater , part of Eastman House in Rochester, NY. It’s an Art House with a capital “A”. People get dressed up to go there. They don’t sell any refreshments (so your feet never stick to the floor). So this was a sophisticated crowd presumably going to see how scenarist and designer William Cameron Menzies succeeded as a director. And this suave, sophisticated crowd started yelling comments at the screen as if they were at an MST3K viewing (MST3K was still far in the future at this point). And I couldn’t blame them. No matter how impressive Menzies’ oversized sets looked, the dialogue and its delivery was appallingly bad. “Mu-TANTS”?? ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2025, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/130 "2025-11-10T13:36:53Z")
Is _Invaders from Mars_ the one where people get sucked down into the sand to get into the alien ship? If so, it is one of my wife’s earliest remembered terrifying moments from watching a movie as a child. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2025, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/131 "2025-11-10T13:44:26Z")
That’s the one. I saw it as kid on our TV on a Sunday afternoon (One channel in my area ran science fiction films early Sunday afternoons – that’s where I first saw _The Thing_, _Them!_, and _Invaders from Mars_). I found it pretty freaky, but I can’t honestly say I was scared by it, the way I was scared by _The Thing_. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2025, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/132 "2025-11-10T16:58:06Z")
> [@solost](#): > > The ironic thing about TBWP, I heard, is that there is very little remote wooded area left in Maryland where the movie supposedly took place. Lost? Just follow the sound of traffic on I-70 😁 I grew up near Burkittsville, I-70 is 8 miles away as the crow flies. There is US340 about 3 miles away. Funny thing is there’s no real woods there except at the top of the mountain, it’s all farm land and has been for hundreds of years. The Appalachian trail is right there as well, all you’d have to do is roll down the hill a few hundred yards and you’d be out. Oddly enough I now live about a mile from where they did most of the filming for the movie. I don’t really care for the movie though. ---
**Author:** ![f.coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@f.coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/f.coli)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/133 "2025-11-10T22:02:45Z")
Two more oldies that shook me up are _The House That Screamed_ from 1969 with Lilli Palmer, and _Diabolique_ from 1955 with Simone Signoret. Don’t bother with the 1996 remake. ---
**Author:** ![IMadeLem0nade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imadelem0nade/32/19241_2.png) [@IMadeLem0nade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IMadeLem0nade)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/134 "2025-11-18T00:41:02Z")
So guys the date went well. Thank you so much for these suggestions! We watched a ton of them, and they were all friggin amazing! we had such a great time, and I wish you all the best. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/135 "2025-11-18T00:42:52Z")
That’s great! Which ones did you watch?? ---
**Author:** ![Meatwater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meatwater/32/20074_2.png) [@Meatwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatwater)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/136 "2025-11-18T18:34:28Z")
I too am curious as to which ones you would consider in maybe a.., top 5 list of scariest or even most enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![IMadeLem0nade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imadelem0nade/32/19241_2.png) [@IMadeLem0nade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IMadeLem0nade)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/137 "2025-11-18T19:29:04Z")
Okay, here are my top 5 picks. 1. Alien Romulus 2. Nope 3. Pet Semitary 4. Smile 1 and 2 5. IT These got us to jump a few times, and thanks for the reccomendations. I have written down every movie on this list and every Friday they come over and we work our way through the movies, then rank them. when we’re done we’ll put up a list on this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/138 "2025-11-18T21:15:51Z")
I’m looking forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/139 "2025-11-18T21:30:40Z")
I love that! So glad you found this useful. ---
**Author:** ![IMadeLem0nade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imadelem0nade/32/19241_2.png) [@IMadeLem0nade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IMadeLem0nade)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126/140 "2025-11-19T00:54:21Z")
Same 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-movies-that-actually-scare-you/1024126.md?page=6)