All excellent suggestions, but Netflix only has The Changeling. (There are a lot of old tv-movies I remember that I wish they’d put out on DVD, like Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.)
If you’ve never seen the 1963 movie The Haunting, it definitely falls into the first category (pschological thriller/ghost story). I’d also recommend the excellent ghost story The Uninvited (1944), but for some reason that’s not available.
Curdled is more dark comedy but it’s lots of fun, totally underrated and is quite gory (it’s about a morbid woman who joins a crime scene clean-up crew and is obsessed with a serial killer).
The Tenant. Superb, especially if you’re familiar with Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski directed both, and assumes you have, which is part of what makes it great). The final scene is chilling.
Some great suggestions so far, thanks! I am quite familiar with The Haunting (one of the best EVER, IMO) and The Changeling and Rosemary’s Baby and even Firefox (heh! Good old Clint) but I’ll be sure to check out some of the others that have been mentioned.
A Tale of Two Sisters is a great, creepy, very atmospheric Korean ghost story. Probably one of the best horror movies I’ve seen that isn’t one of those jump-out-and-scare-you types.
I have a secret, quite irrational, warm spot in my heart for the Klaus Kinski “Venom” (1982), mainly because I enjoy watching him, and Oliver Reed, and Nicol Williamson, and having all three of them together in the same “snake on the loose” potboiler is just gravy. Then add Sarah Miles, and Susan George, and Sterling Hayden of all people. Plus, a special added bonus: Michael Gough! Not to mention a thoroughly unpleasant non-cute child actor, the kind with pasty skin and a runny nose–you’ll find yourself hoping the kidnappers (or the snake) off him …
…although I must confess that having him die of the asthma would be what would make me happy. Every time they go through that “OMG! He needs his inhaler! Or he’ll DIEEEE!” crisis I found myself going, “Yesss!”
Perfectly trashy and silly, the equivalent of one of those 300-page beach reads. I think it’s Leonard Maltin who says, “Half the cast looks drunk, and half the cast looks like it wishes it were.” Um, yeah.
I videotaped it off TBS ages ago, probably oughta just buy it on DVD…
There’s a movie called May, that I rented from recommendations here. It can’t be more then 5-6 years old or so It was very good, creepy, and not over the top horror, at least not with lots of blood and stuff.
To give some examples of others that I’ve enjoyed:
I actually prefer the American remake The Ring over Ringu. Hard to explain why, maybe it’s the language aspect or the setting or something being more familiar.
Conversely, I thought Ju-on was far better than the remake The Grudge.
The Shining has a permanent place in my personal pantheon.
Session 9 is another favorite.
Below is an underrated ghost story, IMO.
I’ve seen or will soon see most of Dario Argento’s ouvre.
I love John Carpenter’s version of The Thing.
Stir of Echoes has a special place in my heart.
I liked the freaky bits in Event Horizon.
Jacob’s Ladder is a classic.
Among more recent titles I really liked Mad Cow Girl, May, and The Manson Family.
I confess that I like flicks like Last House on the Left, House on the Edge of the Park, and I spit on your grave.
Lately, I’ve been enjoying horror that goes a bit against convention and expectation; the two recent films based on Jack Ketchum books (The Girl Next Door and The Lost) exemplify this; the people you think should save the day never do, and the resolution never seems to satisfy; you want the punishment to fit the crime, but as in real life that rarely works out as planned.
Although not really in the horror genre, I loved Pan’s Labyrinth and No Country for Old Men.
My guilty pleasure is werewolf movies; The Howling, American Werewolf in London, American Werewolf in Paris (I know! Cut me some slack!), Dog Soldiers, Ginger Snaps (all of the series), even Bad Moon (the book, Thor, is WAY more interesting) and *Wolf *all float my boat.
I’ve been looking for this movie for some years now. Didn’t know the title but recognized it instantly. The Uninvited. One of my mother’s favorites. I remember it being seriously creepy.
Only the sequel. Sigh.