# Scariest movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 14, 2025, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831 "2025-07-14T01:56:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/61 "2025-07-14T21:15:03Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Watch Imprint from No, thanks! And that’s the big part of it, no one really expected X-Files to be _that_ nightmarish. Government payroll aliens and rubber suit flukemen, sure, & maybe Mutato, too. Even poor Johnny Mathis got dragged down into it, too. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/62 "2025-07-14T22:35:55Z")
When it comes to “scary” movies, there’s one scene that stands out in my memory above all the rest, even though it’s been probably 50 years since I saw it, sitting home alone on a summer afternoon. The movie was [_Caltiki – The Immortal Monster_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caltiki_%E2%80%93_The_Immortal_Monster). I loved watching those creature feature movies and everything was fine until [the scuba guy got pulled out of the pool in the cavern](https://youtu.be/sPHw5cmJFX4?feature=shared&t=1272). To say it freaked me out would be an understatement. I had nightmares for a week after that. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/63 "2025-07-14T23:26:17Z")
> [@Calder](#): > > my scariest movies I have seen and what are good ones for us to watch. The movie that scared me more than any other is _The Blair Witch Project._ Saddest movie I’ve ever seen is _Penny Serenade_, with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. I’ve never seen it twice. ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/64 "2025-07-14T23:42:10Z")
Ah you reminded me of another disturbing movie… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ke-sWMXspNA/maxresdefault.jpg "They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Official Trailer #1 - Bruce Dern Movie (1969) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke-sWMXspNA) Did not know it had 9 Oscar nods. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/65 "2025-07-14T23:49:17Z")
LOL. That brings back memories. As a teenager, I was babysitting for a family down the street. Guess what book I found and started reading? 😱 It scared the pants off of me. Unfortunately a stray cat was apparently in heat outside, and so some gawd-awful screeching began. I was scared it was coming from upstairs, where the two children were sound asleep. To my credit, I guess, I bravely went upstairs to check on the kids. First I grabbed a big knife from the kitchen, and held it at the ready as I bravely crept up the steps. Can you imagine how scared the kids would have been if they woke up and found their babysitter headed toward their room with a deranged gleam in her eye and a big knife poised ready to plunge? 🤣 Luckily, they did not wake up. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/66 "2025-07-15T00:39:54Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > That ain’t nuthin’. Watch Imprint from Masters of Horror, directed by Takashi Miike. > > Even Showtime refused to show it. Just added that to my watchlist! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/67 "2025-07-15T00:42:55Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > The movie that scared me more than any other is _The Blair Witch Project._ When I first saw that in the theater I didn’t find it that scary, but then I remember watching it at home alone with my little sister late at night during a storm and we were both _so_ creeped out. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/68 "2025-07-15T01:53:04Z")
If we’re counting movies seen as a kid, then mine is **Invaders From Mars**. When the kid realizes that his parents have been assimilated by the Martians, I first experienced movie horror. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/69 "2025-07-15T02:31:54Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > The movie that scared me more than any other is _The Blair Witch Project._ It hasn’t necessarily aged well, but at the time it came out, I thought it was pretty frickin’ scary, too. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/70 "2025-07-15T03:59:50Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > That would be **Oddity.** I mentioned it in the movie thread. It’s well acclaimed by viewers who are into the genre but I don’t know how wide it’s release has been That’s a good one! Another really scary one is by the same director, **Caveat**. Has the same tone and is so creepy. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/71 "2025-07-15T04:15:37Z")
> [@solost](#): > > The camera panned to a digital clock radio on her night stand-- the red digital numbers showed 3:00 am, the ‘witching hour’ time the possession events would happen. Which caused me to reflectively look up at the time on the same model of digital clock with the same red numbers we had sitting above the TV-- and it showed-- yep, 3:00 am. I thought it was a funny coincidence. This reminds me of how, after seeing The Shining for the first time - pretty darn scary, btw- I kept waking up in the middle of the night and looking at my digital clock, which always seemed to read 2:37 (that’s the number on the room with the bath tub lady). I did _not_ find it a funny coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![GrunthosTheFlatulent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grunthostheflatulent/32/21319_2.png) [@GrunthosTheFlatulent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrunthosTheFlatulent)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/72 "2025-07-15T04:41:53Z")
For me it’s **Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.** The image of Bob behind the dresser is seared into my brain. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/73 "2025-07-15T05:20:54Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > > [@Mahaloth](#): > > > > That ain’t nuthin’. Watch Imprint from Masters of Horror, directed by Takashi Miike. > > > > Even Showtime refused to show it. > > Just added that to my watchlist! Whew just watched that. That was um, quite something. I see now why Showtime canceled it from airing! Yup, “Home” is rather tame compared to that! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/74 "2025-07-15T09:06:18Z")
OMG! that scene in the TV show is when it went from creepy to horrifying! I couldn’t go to sleep after watching it without checking the door and windows to see they were locked, and checking the closet to make sure no one was hiding in it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/75 "2025-07-15T09:35:37Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned _Paranormal Activity_. It’s a unique movie in that it was filmed on a shoestring budget of practically nothing, with rented videocam equipment and amateur actors who were paid little if anything, and set in the filmmaker’s own house. It’s the kind of setup that you’d think would turn out unintentionally comical, yet it’s strangely effective. For that reason it spawned a whole franchise of sequels, none of which are any good, IMHO. But the original exploits the “monster in your basement” (or attic) trope pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![f.coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@f.coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/f.coli)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/76 "2025-07-15T14:51:55Z")
Psycho! Someone has to mention it! The shower scene is one of the most famous scenes in the history of movies. But the horror of it was amplified by the sight of the bathroom door opening and a vague figure approaching, seen through the translucent shower curtain. But for sustained creepiness the scenes of Vera Miles searching Norman and Mother’s bedrooms, then heading into the cellar to see Mother seated in a rocker can’t be surpassed. And the scenes of Martin Balsam stealthily climbing the stairs while Mother’s bedroom door slowly opens to greet him are just about as good. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/77 "2025-07-15T17:25:33Z")
There’s a movie called _The Changeling,_ a ghost story starring George C. Scott that was released in 1980 or 1981. It’s not particularly violent or bloody, but there’s a scene that gave me goosebumps when I was a kid and again when I watched it 10-15 years ago. During a seance, the ghost starts causing a ruckus, and at the top of the stairs the participants see one of those old fashioned, early 20th century wheelchairs roll up. I know that doesn’t sound the least bit scary, but I guess it was a combination of the music, camera work, and the reaction of the actors that really made for a chilling scene. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/78 "2025-07-15T17:43:27Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > There’s a movie called _The Changeling,_ a ghost story starring George C. Scott that was released in 1980 or 1981. My daughter’s been on an “old scary movies” kick lately. This is the one she found most upsetting. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/79 "2025-07-15T19:01:35Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > When I first saw that in the theater I didn’t find it that scary, Apparently the thing that was supposed to be scary is that it was supposed to be ‘found footage’ of real events. I saw it when it came out, but I knew it was fictional. There are a couple of places where I would have added scary things. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2025, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831/80 "2025-07-15T19:44:45Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Whew just watched that. That was um, quite something. I see now why Showtime canceled it from airing! Yup, “Home” is rather tame compared to that! Yeah, Miike delivered something beyond what they were expecting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-movie/1020831.md?page=5)