# Scariest movie you've ever seen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2018, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095 "2018-08-23T04:27:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/81 "2018-08-24T11:45:11Z")
At age 6 I was scared to death by the original King Kong. As an adult, the delayed/deferred horror of _Aliens_ made me turn it off the first time I tried to watch it when… > [@](#): > > Ripley: These people are here to protect you. They’re soldiers. > > Newt: It won’t make any difference. That with all the buildup before just terrified me; and I was in my 40’s at the time. Made it through the film later, but that line… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/82 "2018-08-24T12:14:21Z")
Two movies gave me nightmares: 1. Blair Witch Project, the final scene, when he was facing the wall. Up until then, I was just irritated at the characters. “What do you mean you threw the map away, you dipshit!?!” 1. Jaws. Blood coming out of Quint’s mouth. Never occurred to 8yo me that such a thing could even happen! My father took me to see it first run, which gave me major cred at school because the other 3rd graders weren’t even allowed to see the movie. Stupid me saw The Exorcist on major network TV before seeing it uncut (and having read the book long before then), and even then I had to wait for the restored(?) footage of Regan back-walking down the stairs for it to shock me. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/83 "2018-08-24T12:31:16Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Amazingly, I didn’t see Psycho until I was about 20 _and_ I didn’t know the twist about Norman dressing up as his mother and that he was the murderer. > > I knew Janet Leigh would die and had seen the shower scene before. However, when Norman is shown in the dress with the knife over his head, I was totally scared and blown away. > > Jaw dropped. Shocked. A great movie moment and I got it 40 years after release. I made sure to inflict\* Psycho\* on my kids before anyone ruined the twist for them. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/84 "2018-08-24T13:42:06Z")
I was a child of the 80s too, and grew up on the gore-fest latex effects slasher films and don’t find them very scary, just gross. And like some of the others here, the supernatural doesn’t scare me either. However, the more plausible ones can and do get to me. I recently rewatched Psycho for the first time in 20 years and it blew me away. That was with me knowing the twist, too. One film I saw, also about 25 years ago, which I’ve never even heard anyone discuss is “The Good Son”, with Macaulay Culkin. I guess he was trying to branch out away from the Home Alone type roles. Anyway, it’s psychological terror and made me so uncomfortable that I almost had to leave the theater. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/85 "2018-08-24T14:52:28Z")
> [@Marlonius](#): > > I was a child of the 80s too, and grew up on the gore-fest latex effects slasher films and don’t find them very scary, just gross. And like some of the others here, the supernatural doesn’t scare me either. > > However, the more plausible ones can and do get to me. I recently rewatched Psycho for the first time in 20 years and it blew me away. That was with me knowing the twist, too. > > One film I saw, also about 25 years ago, which I’ve never even heard anyone discuss is “The Good Son”, with Macaulay Culkin. I guess he was trying to branch out away from the Home Alone type roles. Anyway, it’s psychological terror and made me so uncomfortable that I almost had to leave the theater. Agree with you about “The Good Son”. The ending could have gone either way, both of them bad choices. If you want to see the bad daughter version, see the 1956 [The Bad Seed](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048977/). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/86 "2018-08-24T15:37:34Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > [Maybe not.](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0701281/mediaviewer/rm1989806336) “Hey! I found a shortcut through your hedge maze.” I’ve never seen that “movie poster” of “The Shinning.” It’s priceless; thanx for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/87 "2018-08-24T15:57:24Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I made sure to inflict\* Psycho\* on my kids before anyone ruined the twist for them. 🆒 I videoed my kids finding out Darth Vader is Luke’s Father. No, I have not shown them Psycho yet. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/88 "2018-08-24T15:59:52Z")
**The Ring** was a bit unsettling for me. I had been under an extraordinary amount of personal stress, and I watched it late at night, alone in a biggish house, on maybe a 13-inch television. Apart from that, the last full length movie I can remember scaring me was Alien. Saw that in the theater when I was 12. I don’t think I was able to follow the plot very well, but the critters were certainly impressive. And Poltergeist–the clown was creepy, but that fucking thing coming out of the closet nearly had 15 year-old me in tears. There was an episode or two in **Stranger Things** that got to me. Being able to get attached to a character really helps, and I can’t normally do that in the time it takes to ‘enjoy’ a scary flick. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/89 "2018-08-24T16:04:33Z")
By and large I don’t watch horror movies (in fact by and large I don’t watch too many movies). Village of the Damned (the 1960 version). I was 10-11 and it bothered me all summer. The one early scene in Jaws shocked me enough to make me jump in my seat, but it had no lasting effect. I was much older then, too. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/90 "2018-08-24T16:37:25Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Two movies gave me nightmares: > > 1. Blair Witch Project, the final scene, when he was facing the wall. > > Up until then, I was just irritated at the characters. “What do you mean you threw the map away, you dipshit!?!” > > 1. Jaws. Blood coming out of Quint’s mouth. Never occurred to 8yo me that such a thing could even happen! My father took me to see it first run, which gave me major cred at school because the other 3rd graders weren’t even allowed to see the movie. > > Stupid me saw The Exorcist on major network TV before seeing it uncut (and having read the book long before then), and even then I had to wait for the restored(?) footage of Regan back-walking down the stairs for it to shock me. This reminded me, when I was 12 years old a friend and I were walking through the mall, and as we passed the movie theater a teenager standing outside with a stack of papers said “hey do you want to see a free movie, it’s a screening?” I think in retrospect he was just bored and trying to get rid of that stack of paper, but any case, we said sure and went in. It turned out to be Jaws. And about 15 minutes in, I turned to my friend and said and what was probably an unnaturally quavery voice, “hey this is boring want to go?” And he said quickly, “I agree!” So we left, both of us terrified, and I don’t think I saw the movie until the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![icantdraw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3ec8ea/32.png) [@icantdraw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icantdraw)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/91 "2018-08-24T16:41:39Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > You mean, “The Shining.” 😉 No, “The Shinning” is accurate. I hate those guys that leave the hitch in the receiver… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/92 "2018-08-24T17:04:41Z")
Young, Catholic schoolboys should not be allowed to watch **The Exorcist** , especially if they have over-active imaginations. The original **Poltergeist** pretty much kept me up all night. For pure jumpscares, _that_ scene in **Exorcist III** is a high water mark, and the monster reveal in **The Descent** is really well done. ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/93 "2018-08-24T17:06:26Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Agree with you about “The Good Son”. The ending could have gone either way, both of them bad choices. > > If you want to see the bad daughter version, see the 1956 [The Bad Seed](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048977/). Finally someone else who saw that movie! I’ve never seen the '56 Bad Seed, but there was an 80s TV remake of it that I did see which also gave me serious willies. “Zodiac” also disturbed me, in particular the murder scene by the lake. So surreal, and to know it was real and accurate was awful. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/94 "2018-08-24T17:31:32Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Two movies gave me nightmares: > > 1. Blair Witch Project, the final scene, when he was facing the wall. > > Up until then, I was just irritated at the characters. “What do you mean you threw the map away, you dipshit!?!” > > 1. Jaws. Blood coming out of Quint’s mouth. Never occurred to 8yo me that such a thing could even happen! My father took me to see it first run, which gave me major cred at school because the other 3rd graders weren’t even allowed to see the movie. > > Stupid me saw The Exorcist on major network TV before seeing it uncut (and having read the book long before then), and even then I had to wait for the restored(?) footage of Regan back-walking down the stairs for it to shock me. Yups on this BWP scene _shudders_ ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/95 "2018-08-24T20:24:58Z")
[Night of the Hunter](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048424/?ref_=nv_sr_2) I first saw it as a kid, saw it again as an adult, and it still chilled me. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/96 "2018-08-24T20:30:52Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What does it say about us as a culture? We find footage of children being murdered, and what do we do with it? > > Why, we release it in theaters! > > Of course. I would. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/97 "2018-08-24T21:00:15Z")
Nosferatu (1922) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/98 "2018-08-24T21:04:56Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What does it say about us as a culture? We find footage of children being murdered, and what do we do with it? > > Why, we release it in theaters! > > Of course. Aw, we’re not THAT gratuitous. It would only happen if there were a decent profit to be made. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/99 "2018-08-24T21:11:22Z")
> [@Marlonius](#): > > Finally someone else who saw that movie! > > I’ve never seen the '56 Bad Seed, but there was an 80s TV remake of it that I did see which also gave me serious willies. I’ve seen the original a few times (I’m old, and it was on TV when I was a kid). To this day, I _hate_ evil kid movies. For pure style – Les Yeux sans Visage. I’m with others, here. Gory movies mostly just make me nauseated. They’re not what I’d call scary. Someone mentioned _Suspiria_. Several of Argento’s films creeped me out big time. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095/100 "2018-08-24T22:56:58Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Oh hell, how could I forget **Night of the Living Dead**? I was standing lonely one-man on-call duty in the military one night in an empty building and was flipping through the few pre-cable channels available, and came across a movie already in progress. Two people walking through a cemetery. Hmmm, what’s this about? An hour later I was ready to start stacking furniture in front of the duty room door, and did NOT sleep at all that night. I saw it at the Orson Welles Theater in Cambridge, where it was the third movie of a triple feature. The first two movies were WC Fields movies. The whiplash from easy comedy to horror was particularly effective. NotLD seemed to last about five hours. Runner up is the original Invaders from Mars which I saw as a kid on TV. We had a big patch of sand in our backyard. _shudder_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/820095.md?page=6)