Generally speaking, I’m not much of a fan of the genre but that’s mainly because the standard Hollywood blockbuster shock/splatter/gore fest just doesn’t interest me. It fails the plausibility check. People don’t act like that in real life. People don’t think like that in real life. I’ve heard raving about how good the Saw series is but it failed to impress me. The first one was acceptable but I could barely sit through the next two and I have not bothered with the rest.
I want to be fair though and give the genre a good, fair chance by asking the dopers to give me some ideas about movies that they like. Some ground rules though…
I’m not going to say that there can be absolutely NO supernatural elements in the story but the more the aliens, zombies, monsters, ghost, and demons are kept out the better. Normal people acting from understandable (maybe bitter, sick and twisted but understandable) motives are going to be more interesting to me. Hannibal Lecter was much more frightening than Freddy or Jason.
Major American releases less than 20 years old are generally going to be pretty familiar to me. Older, imported, and smaller independent films are more likely to keep me interested.
Excessive blood and gore, especially when just used for shock value, is pretty much an automatic failure. At the very least, it needs an excellent, plausible story behind it to make it watchable.
The Changeling with George C. Scott holds up remarkably well. I’ve watched three or four times over the years and even though it’s familiar, I still get chills.
If you’re okay with subtitles (or if you speak Spanish), try The Orphanage, directed by Guillermo del Toro. Two boys have disappeared, one many years ago and one in the present. There’s just one brief shot that’s kinda gory, but it’s no worse than something from CSI. Another good ghost story from del Toro is The Devil’s Backbone. It’s set in an orphanage in Spain during the civil war.
The original THE WICKER MAN from about 1970 starring Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee and Britt Eckland- devout Christian police officer searches for missing girl in a Scottish island community devoted to free love & Pagan nature worship as they prepare for May Day- and it’s almost a musical!
The made-for-TV miniseries THE DARK SECRET OF HARVEST HOME, if you can find the complete version.
HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER- kinda gory but not as much as I thought. More disturbing than anything.
ED GEIN- much the same.
MARTIN- young man who thinks he’s a vampire (is he?), directed by George Romero.
FRAILTY- loving single dad Bill Paxton enlists his boys on his Divine mission- kill demons who are disguised as people.
THE RAPTURE- promiscuous Mimi Rogers become decent Christian wife (to David Duchovny) & mother until tragedy causes her to become obsessed with the Apocalypse, leading to a even more tragic spiral with a shocker ending.
Several favorites from the 70s; The Other is the original Good Son. The Mephisto Waltz makes satanism an appealing try. For turning the Hansel and Gretal story inside out, I recommend Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? and Burnt Offerings will make you look at ordinary tasks, like swimming, a little differently.
Despite it’s supernatural element, Dog Soldiers is the best werewolf movie I’ve ever seen.
Ils is a pretty quiet movie until the very end and then what happens makes everything else worthwhile.
Lots of nice suggestions and I thank you for your input.
I do speak some Spanish (in a 25 years ago, first year high school way) and I like some of Guillermo del Toro’s work so this sound great. For the record though, regarldless of language, I do *vastly *prefer subtitles to dubbed in english.
The only movies mentioned so far that I have seen is Frailty. I thought it was pretty good but for some reason Matthew McConaughey just ^%$#@! me off. I can’t defend it, I can’t explain it but that’s the way it is.
"Let the Right One In" is, in my opinion, not only the best horror film released in the last few years, but the film to be released in the last few years.
It’s Swedish, so be sure to watch it with the English subtitles and not the English language dub (which, for some reason, is the default on the DVD), which will ruin the experience for you. If renting or buying, also beware the original Magnolia DVD release with the crummy subtitles. Look for the words, “Subtitles: English (Theatrical)” on the DVD case. This means you are getting the subtitles that were originally written for the theatrical release of the film, not the dumbed-down subs that appeared on the release of the first batch of DVDs. The dumbed-down subs aren’t as much of a deal-killer as the English dub, but it is such a good movie that you should experience it the way it was intended.
i’ve found that decen j-horror can really get my blood pumping. the ringu movies and ju-on series were good stuff as are the “dark tales of japan” series. and on the comedy horror side, the series “the great horror family” by the director of “ju-on” is hilarious.
Did you see 28 Days Later? Not zombies, but infected people attacking the uninfected. I found the suspense very good, and the human stories were very affecting.
Session 9 - I can’t say anything about supernatural vs psychological without spoiling it, so just see it. Great suspense, and creepy.
Don’t Look Now with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie
Wait Until Dark (1967). Drug dealer terrorizes a blind lady. Suspenseful as hell, with possibly cinema’s all-time best “jump” scene. Those of you who have seen it know exactly what I’m talking about.
Already mentioned, but The Changeling with George Scott is going to stay creepy for a long, long time. Zero blood, guts, monsters and I don’t even think there was much of anything in the way of special visual effects.
I second the suggestion to look into J-horror. They do a great job of being creepy with minimum gore.
Ghost Story is another that works well with only a couple of scary ghost scenes. Thanks to the wonderfully creepy Alice Krige. Excellent musical score in this one, too.
Some wonderful suggestions here folks and I thank all who shared.
needscoffee, I have seen 28 Days Later. I would call it watchable but not really memorable. Part of my complaint about modern films is that half the movie seems to be about setting up for the sequel and 28 is a prime example of this.
I have seen both the '63 and the '99 versions of The Haunting. I agree the first was superior but the second is decent in a predictable way.
Whatever happened to Baby Jane? was great when enhanced by tequila shooters but I should watch it sober.
Spiral Staircase was amazing and brilliantly filmed. If nothing else this film should be required viewing for budding cinematographers learning the best way to shoot a movie.
Ghost Wife and Let the Right One In both sound fantastic.
While there is some intense, gory violence, I think you might like Severance. It has a sly sense of humor and plays with some horror movie tropes. It also has some really scary, adrenaline-inducing scenes.
Seconding Session 9. Very, very creepy.
Quarantine was pretty good. Lots of people got bent out of shape that they remade the Spanish film [REC] so fast, but I liked the American version. Again, considerable gore, but not simply for gore’s sake.
You beat me to it. And whatever you do DO NOT watch the 1999 re-make crapfest. At least not until you watch the 1963 masterpiece.