Let me see if I have this right madcat. Are you saying that it builds slowly, but if you stick with it the payoff is worth it?
Fun in what way?
As a colossal waste of both time, and money?
Blair Witch is not scary.
EVER.
The movie consists of two semi-asshats and one true bitch stumbling around in the woods for 85 minutes.
Gee, that’s really terrifying.
/Comic Book Guy/
Most Unscary Movie EVER!!
/Comic Book Guy/
Geez, you people have good taste in horror movies. Most of the ones I was going to mention have already been run down at least three times (and I’m yet another fan of the original The Haunting). I have a taste for the slowly building dread kind of horror movie, so The Shining, The Wicker Man, Blair Witch, and others of that school are my thing. Is it possible to get some fans of Itallian zombie movies in here for the other side of the horror coin? 
I think madcat was saying that it builds and builds and builds but if you stick with it, the payoff is worth it, worth it, worth it. And madcat is right about that.
Dont Look Now is the current listing on Roger Ebert’s great movies, and it is one of the great horror movies, but I’d recommend not reading his review if you plan to see it. It’s better to come to it fresh.
The Birds is really creepy without being graphic.
Funny Games is a German psychological thriller that has a couple of clean cut young gentlemen terrorizing a family on vacation.
While I tend to agree with Ray Bradbury in that The Exorcist is more of a love story and better suited for Valentine’s Day, The Exorcist III is one scary movie, and a worthy successor to the original. (Exorcist II, however, isn’t worth the celluloid it’s printed on.)
I’ll second John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness, it scared me years ago when I was home alone. Also House On Haunted Hill was pretty freaky, and I’d recomend grabbing it for some cheap, but cool, thrills.
How timely: Box Office Prophets just released a list of their 50 Favorite Horror Movies of All Time. I don’t agree with their rankings, but there are plenty of good movies on the list.
Of course, The Ring is in theaters as we speak…if you can get away from the kids for a bit, give it a watch, it’ll chill ya.
Just remembered another movie I’d recommend: Rosemary’s Baby. Also Army of Darkness – Evil Dead (II) has too much of the crimson to be anything other than a slasher, but Army of Darkness is more of a campy horror film. Arachnophobia is in the same vein.
I’ll add another vote for The Prince of Darkness and for The Omen.
Dead Calm with Nicole Kidman and Breakdown with Kurt Russell were both good psychological suspense/thrillers.
I liked Flatliners myself. Very interesting concept.
And I second whoever mentioned Jacob’s Ladder. Most screwed-up film I’ve ever seen.
Oh I’m sorry. I’ll check with you first to find out the facts on an opinion. I did like your movie picks for the OP, which were none.
I found The Blair Witch Project to be original and scary in a the same way as The Haunting, or similar ghost stories that are uncluttered with special effects. What makes a good horror film is extremely subjective. I don’t find half the films listed here to be scary, but I’m not going to rag on each person for giving their opinion.
This seems to have struck a nerve. Did something bad happen while watching this movie? 
People under the Stairs. It should be funny, and is after multiple viewings, but I found it surprisingly good and scary (and I don’t scare easily). It’s about a creepy incestuous landlord couple who steal children from the ghetto and banish them to the basement when they do something wrong. A lot of “Ooh, get out of the house!”-type situations, and a very neat set.
Can you get your hands on an original copy of The Ring (Japanese version)? It makes grown men scream.
Thanks for all the suggestions, and thanks Max Torque for the link. Some of these we have already seen, but many we haven’t. Now I will need to check out our local video store to see what they actually have. I am looking forward to a creepy night.
John
You mean besdies people entering and leaving the theater every 5 minutes and then spending another 5 minutes trying to find their seat.
Also, quite possibly being the most over-hyped and falsely hyoed movie in history.
What exactly was so terrifying and scary about it?
The 15 second scene in the basement at the end?
Yawn.
I paid actual money to see it ----TWICE, and that’s 25 I’ll never get back, nor will I get the 180 minutes I wasted back.
EVER.
WSLer,
I share your views on The Blair Witch Project, which prompts me to ask, “Why did you see it twice?”
Just curious.
I don’t get it. You claim it’s the most unscary movie ever, and you saw it twice? At $12.50 a pop?
The OP asked for some opinions on scary movies. You’ve offered none, but chose to debate my choice, which is again, a highly subjective one. It was a very popular film, and many people liked it. You were not one of them, twice. I can give you all my reasons, but I doubt anything I say will make you go “Oh, now I’m scared.”
>I like films that build suspense slowly and are not right in your face.
>I like films that are unencumberbed by CGI FX, eg The Others.
>I felt someone would be bitchy and not thinking clearly in those situations (besides, they’re just acting, so I didn’t let it get to me)
>I go to horror films because I like them, not to find plot holes.
>I enjoyed the pseudo cinema verite style (others did not).
>I found the film fresh and not in the typical Hollywood style, eg Night of the Living Dead.
>I like films that do not need to show the monster but play on your imagination
>I like films that have secluded or isolated settings.
>I felt they presented a rather plausible situation as far as horror films go.
Scared yet?
I’m not sure what it is you want here. I found the movie entertaining and scary. Do you think I’m wrong for that? I do judge horror films by a different set of standards than other films, so I realize this is not Apocalypse Now (a bunch of semi-asshats stumbling down a river for 160 minutes).
Excellent choices: Don’t Look Now, The Shining (those twins!) and The Changeling are my all-time favorites, with the original Th Haunting close behind.
Two other considerations might be Lady in White (sometimes a bit hokey, but has its moments) or Stephen King’s It.
Just my opinion, but for me, The Exorcist doesn’t quite stand the test of time.
Not really all that scary, but still worth seeing is The Abominable Dr. Phibes.
The Legend of Hell House is an old 70’s film with Roddy McDowell. It’s classic and many newer films are derivative of this one.
And yes, I too found Blair Witch to be quite scary.
For me, The Exorcist is far and away the scariest movie ever. I still cannot bring myself to watch it.
Another vote for The Ring. I saw it this past weekend and was trully scared.