The GF and I like to watch scary movies together. Scary, not necessarily gory.
We like more of a supernatural angle. Ghost stories and whatnot. We loved the Paranormal Activity franchise, and you can never go wrong with Zombies (I lnow they are gory, but still cool). We don’t really like slasher flicks or torture-porn.
So…whatyagot?
I recommend the original Haunting of Hill House. Nifty creepy moments despite its age. Avoid the remake at all costs.
Same for X the Unknown, a Brit flick dating all the way from the 1950s. Some more very nice creepy moments in that one, too and also *The Creeping Unknown *(Quatermass Xperiment) which is of a similiar age and still gives me chills today.
The Woman in White, a bit more modern, is a fun watch as well.
I found Fallen to be deeply creepy, without gore. And Poltergeist still works for me, even after 30 years.
I liked The Strangers.
Donnie Darko is not real scary, but I think you’ll like it.
A spooky masterpiece that has no gore, The Others. The cloaking atmosphere is so strong you can feel it.
To elaborate, that would be The Haunting, from the book The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (of The Lottery fame). One of my all-time favorite movies.
Much older movie, but one of my favorite horror movies is Stir of Echoes. Probably the best psychological horror movie I’ve ever seen.
Even the trailer gives me chills.
I’ve watched The Changeling (George S. Scott) several times over the years, and it doesn’t get old, or less scary.
Also The Orphanage (directed by Juan Bayona) and The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro) – creepy, subtle, not gory at all.
An oldie but goodie that’s often copied so might not have an impact is Dead of Night, four interconnected stories.
I won’t watch these movies by myself, or at night.
The original “Omen” was the first movie my mom said I could stay up to watch that freaked me out enough to leave the room. We used to watch The Nighstalker together on Friday nights, so scary didn’t bother me. But that movie gave me the CREEPS!!
Session 9 is a supremely creepy flick about the otherworldly effects on a crew of workmen renovating a vast, empty former mental asylum. Of recent movies, I found Insidious effective, even if it did veer a bit over the top.
It’s a bit dated nowadays, but I just recently watched *Poltergeist *and it held up surprisingly well as an old-style spooky movie with just a little bit of gore.
I think the Ring is the scariest movie I’ve seen as an adult, which was also a decent movie regardless of genre.
Second scariest but very intriguing was Communion.
Blair Witch was great in its time but I don’t think it would be effective any more.
The Mouth of Madness was a lot of fun and super creepy, with some Lovecraftian undertones.
It wasn’t totally successful, but Silent Hill is worth watching just for the ambiance.
As a kid I was scared shitless by Poltergeist and Amityville Horror (the original).
Pan’s Labyrinth. Utterly beautiful, completely compelling, and absolutely terrifying.
My two favourite horror films are Shadow of the Vampire and The Wicker Man. Both are psychological horrors with little in the way of gore. Shadow is a film about the making of the famous silent horror Nosferatu. The acting is superb, and there is an undercurrent of humour. The Wicker Man is about a policeman’s investigation into the disappearance of a young girl on a remote Scottish island. It draws heavily on British folklore. (Please god, don’t go anywhere near the recent remake with Nick Cage, I’m talking about the 1973 original.)
As **Beastly Rotter[b/] says, Pan’s Labyrinth is a superb fantasy film. However, it’s not primarily a horror. It’s set at the tail end of the Spanish Civil War, and the most terrifying parts are set in the real world. There is at least one genuinely upsetting moment.
Poltergeist is also pretty good if you haven’t already seen it.
If you’re not one of those inexplicable people who eschews subtitles (strangely preponderant on this board, though it may be cultural), the original Japanese versions of The Ring and The Grudge are out of this world creepy. Ringu is the first movie that ever actually made me shriek, and Ju-On is quite staggeringly spooky. Even though I’ve seen both American remakes, the Japanese ones still get me good - especially Ju-On.
I’m always on the lookout for new horror that isn’t a splatter-fest, and is genuinely scary. Sadly there isn’t much available. I just got hold of the original Thai version of Shutter so I’ll have a look at that and report back.
If you are fearful of clowns, you will have nightmares for the rest of your life. If not, you can still indulge in the horror that the madness of others engenders in us.
I rather liked Quarantine (you can also try the Spanish-language original, [REC]), but most of its scares are of the OHMYGODSOMETHINGJUSTJUMPEDOUT variety. It has a nice claustrophobic sense of dread to it.
I recently saw a little indie horror flick that disturbed me greatly: Megan Is Missing. If you can make it through the first two-thirds, the final 22 minutes are a major gut-punch.
I’m hoping to see this one soon; it sounds great and the trailer looks awesome: Absentia.
**Alka Seltzer **beat me to my choice: the original Wicker Man. No ghosts, no goblins, no supernatural at all. But scary as all get out.
You’ll love The Woman in Black. (in theatres now)
Also very effective at slowly becoming terrifying. At first, the movie seems like a dark comedy. Then it gets less funny. And eventually, it isn’t funny at all. 