I got the day off tomorrow and I want to spend the better part of it scaring the shit out of myself. My roommate has a bigscreen TV and a surround sound system that puts the movie theaters to shame.
I’m looking for a movie in the vein of The Ring, Blair Witch, The Mothman Prophecies, Six Sense, Stir of Echoes, and the Others (all of which Ive seen). Movies that really build with music and gloom, subtle effects, and frightening supernatural forces. Something that will leave me afraid to look out my bedroom window. And it needs to be on DVD, as we dont have a vhs player.
You could try the original Japanese version of The Ring - known as Ring or Ringu. Alternatively, the Japanese horror movie Audition is pretty damn horrifying.
Or if it’s a classic horror/triller you want, how about Don’t Look Now with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. That’s one of the creepiest movies I’ve ever sen.
Definitely agree with Audition. That movie scared the crap out of me and I don’t really scare easily. For psychological horror/thriller you could try The Hole or for horrifyingingly wierd try The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover or Society
Check out David Lynch’s Fire Walk with Me. It’s the stand-alone theatre prequel to the Twin Peaks series and is quite creepy. It’s one of those movies you leave feeling uneasy. On a side note, I never got into the series, but the movie is cool as hell.
“What Lies Beneath” really worked for me. But I’m not sure if it would read for someone younger. Also, if you do B&W, the original “The Haunting.” There are some old Todd Browning movies (silent and sound), and the original Phantom of the Opera on DVD from the fine folks at KINO. These won’t so much scare the crap out of you as leave you with disturbing, haunting images for years.
A duo of films vastly better than their goofy names would imply.
Accept only the originals, not the assembly line sequals.
I would also include:
Aliens and The Blob (1988 Remake) for plenty of scares that would be enhanced by a badass sound system and immersive environment, though they’re not really supernaturally themed
If you thought Ring, Exorcist, Carnival of Souls were scary, imagine a movie that goes like this:
Opening scene: A harmless Fingolfin is seen typing into his computer. As the camera pans around him, we see him break into a smile and hit the Submit button. We then see that he had typed the above post. He leans back into his chair with a satisfied look on his face. Suddenly, he hears a voice. Not a loud voice, but one that is barely above a whisper…
Fingolfin…
Fingolfin quickly spins around in his chair, only to hear the wind blowing in an open window. He gets up and closes the window. Just as he closes it, he hears the same deathly voice behind him again…
Fingolfin…
Fingolfin spins wildly around to find…nothing. He screams, “Leave me alone. It was a joke. I know Santa Sangre is a steaming pile of crap that should never see the light of day.”
I thought Santa Sangre was fun, not scary, but fun in an over-the-top stylistic vein. Love the elephant funeral!
Skip Ringu if you’ve already seen the The Ring. Strangely, I found the American version to be scarier and more stylish (no horses in the Japanese version! Plus, they describe what the girl is in too much detail). It’s still a very strong and very scary movie, but if you’ve seen The Ring you know what’s coming, and it isn’t nearly as effective.
I second The Exorcist and the first Evil Dead, don’t let the fact that the sequels are essentially comedies fool you. Aside from some awful special effects towards the end, it’s truly a creepy film.
The only vein that I considered watching that piece of garbage was opening my own to escape its wretchedness. And I assume that by “fun” you mean you enjoy 2+ hours of being cut shallowly with razor blades and drenched in lemon juice, having your eyes gouged out by cockroaches over a period of 30 years and watching your every loved one dipped in lye. Fun indeed.
I recommend:
The Haunting
Def by Temptation
Creepshow
Silence of the Lambs
You may not find it creepy, but I ralso ecommend “The Innocents” a 1960 TV version of Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw.” It stars Ingrid Bergman and is quite well done, IMO.