It is that time of year again. Ghosts and ghouls will soon be descending on our neighborhood in search of sugary treats. I love this holiday season. I am however at a loss as to what would be a good scary movie to watch with my wife when the little goblins go to bed. Please help me out.
Some information that might be helpful. We like scary suspenseful movies. We both liked Silence of the Lambs and Sixth Sense and of course The Exorcist. We generally are not too fond of the slasher types as they tend to be ridiculously unbelievable. But Halloween was pretty good. Recently we watched Stir of Echoes and liked it.
What say you fellow dopers? What is a good movie that will scare our pants off?
Perfect Blue is an excellent psychological thriller, though it’s also a cartoon (so don’t bother if you don’t care for cartoons). Event Horizon is something of a sci-fi slasher, but if you want to avoid gore then Alien or Aliens would be better choices in the sci-fi department (as both have a minimum of the old crimson, IIRC, and they’re better movies in general). I’ve always been partial to The Prophecy as well, though I’d be hesitant about recommending the sequels (especially before watching the original – Aliens can be seen and enjoyed without seeing Alien, but this is not true with the Prophecy sequels). I also liked Angel Heart, but others’ reactions to this one were not nearly so positive as to the other movies I’ve recommended, so take this one with a larger grain of salt than usual. Pitch Black is a good mindless piece of suspense. Psycho is good, but unfortunately the surprise ending isn’t much of a surprise for pretty much everybody at this point (the curse of the famous movie – Citizen Kane had the same problem, since by the time I got around to watching it I already knew what Rosebud was thanks to the fifty thousand Rosebud references I’d seen by that point). The Usual Suspects might not be scary enough for what you’re after.
And that’s all that I can think of off the top of my head.
For serious creeps, Roman Polanski’s Repulsion (1965), and The Tenant (1976).
For a great campy good time plus the creeps, Island of Lost Souls (1933).
For a flat-out campy good time – lots of shuffling, strangulation, and tanna leaves – all of the post-Karloff Universal Mummy movies: Hand, Tomb, Ghost, and Curse.
[sub]Not to spill BLOTT, DAT is da Law! Are ve not MEN…?[/sub]
Near Dark. Great sound track by Tangerine Dream, and the movie bears the distinction of being the best vampire movie where they never actually say the word “vampire.” (“We’re… different…”)
I have to recommend some… strange… flicks from the 80’s. Because it’s my job, dammit.
Nomads. Pierce Brosnan plays a dead French anthropologist. Bizarre, but interesting.
The Hitcher. C. Thomas Howell, on the road trip from hell.
Tremors. If you haven’t seen it… well, you should.
And, the all-time scariest movie I’ve ever seen, from 1963: The Haunting.
Based on Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, and having nothing at all to do with its recent remake, this movie makes my hackles rise just thinking about it. Great stuff.
I agree with the original The Haunting. A good ghost story that does not rely on special effects. A similar, but more modern one that I recommend is The Others. Nicole Kidman was great, and the kids in it are creepy.
Most people have already seen it , but** The Blair Witch Project** is always fun.
BLACK SUNDAY aka MASK OF THE DEMON aka MASK OF SATAN also early 1960s & B/W starring Barbara Steele
NOSFERATU - either the 1922 or the 1979 version
MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH with Vincent Price
BRIDES OF DRACULA with Peter Cushing & David Peel
CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee
THE WICKER MAN Chris Lee & Edward Woodward
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS Ingrid Pitt & Peter Cushing
TALES OF TERROR- a Poe trilogy with Basil Rathbone (Case of M Valdemar), Price (Morella) & Price & Peter Lorre (The Black Cat
mixed with Cask of Amontillado)
THE DUNWICH HORROR with Dean Stockell, Sandra Dee & Ed Begley Jr
THE RESURRECTED (Lovecraft’s Case of Charles Dexter Ward) with Chris
Sarandon
and one almost brand new one! SOUL SURVIVORS with Eliza Dushku
The Innocents (1961) starring Deborah Kerr. Great adaptation of Henry James’ Turn of the Screw. Still not on DVD
Another vote for The Haunting (1963). Along with The Innocents, one of the best ghost movies ever made. Ignore the execrable remake.
Don’t Look Now (1973) starring Donald Sutherland & Julie Christie. A psychological chiller set in a Venice that never looked more ominous. As a bonus, it includes one of the most erotic sex scenes ever filmed.
The Shining (1980) dir by Stanley Kubrick. A source of great controversy amongst King & Kubrick fans. I happen to think both the movie and the book complement each other and refuse to pick a favourite. The TV mini-series sucked, though.
The Changeling (1980) starring George C. Scott. Simple plot about a house haunted by children builds unrelenting tension.
Session 9 (2001) starring David Caruso (yes, that guy) and a bunch of talented unknowns. A Hazmat team have to remove asbestos from an abandoned mental institution. It builds suspense through character devevlopment and the eerie atmosphere of the building. A real hidden gem.
Once again, I spend too much time working and not enough time browsing the board!
So I can only offer additonal votes for the following:
The Thing - great, great movie. I watched this a couple of years ago for the first time since I was in high school and had a completely new appreciation for it and for John Carpenter. Wilford Brimley and Kurt Russel are both awesome in it.
The Changeling - thinking about that ball coming back down the stairs is giving me goosebumps as I write.
The Haunting (1963) - another great movie.
My own submission: The Entity with Barbara Hershey. Another cool and creepy ghost movie.
I’ll concur on John Carpenter’s The Thing. The 1950’s version is also good.
I’ll also concur on Session 9 (very creepy - give this one a look) and on The Hitcher (very creepy and very underappreciated). The Others is also good, if a bit predictable.
I’ll add a couple of classics which you must see if you haven’t: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1950’s version), and Village of the Damned (1950’s version).
Also, try The Devil’s Backbone, a ghost story set during the Spanish Civil War. (Spanish w/ subtitles.) Came out last year, I think.
The Innocents (1961) starring Deborah Kerr. Great adaptation of Henry James’ Turn of the Screw. Still not on DVD
Another vote for The Haunting (1963). Along with The Innocents, one of the best ghost movies ever made. Ignore the execrable remake.
Don’t Look Now (1973) starring Donald Sutherland & Julie Christie. A psychological chiller set in a Venice that never looked more ominous. As a bonus, it includes one of the most erotic sex scenes ever filmed.
The Shining (1980) dir by Stanley Kubrick. A source of great controversy amongst King & Kubrick fans. I happen to think both the movie and the book complement each other and refuse to pick a favourite. The TV mini-series sucked, though.
The Changeling (1980) starring George C. Scott. Simple plot about a house haunted by children builds unrelenting tension.
Session 9 (2001) starring David Caruso (yes, that guy) and a bunch of talented unknowns. A Hazmat team have to remove asbestos from an abandoned mental institution. It builds suspense through character devevlopment and the eerie atmosphere of the building. A real hidden gem.
<i>The Reflecting Skin</i> creepy & weird, weird, weird, thriller in a David Lynch sort of mode,
<i>Dark City</i> actually a sci-fi/neo-noir flick, but with some great creepy villains,
<i>Picnic at Hanging Rock</i> mystery about sexually-repressed boarding school girls who vanish without a trace, and are never seen again. This also is not really a horror movie, but disturbing & unsettling in a deeply profound way.
I second “The Others.” Also consider “The Vanishing.” (the original Dutch(?) version. It’s not ghosts and ghouls but it’s not B movie slasher either. Creep factor is very high.
