Pardon the minor nitpick, swiddles, but IM-NS-HO, everything Kurosawa did was brilliant. So far as I’ve seen, anyway. 
I have to agree with Ukelele Ike on “Repulsion.” But the curse of the creepiness was taken off thusly:
(minor hijack alert)
I watched “Repulsion” with my mom, her (ex) husband, and a friend of mine. As the movie progressed, we were all riveted. Very creepy and very evocative.
Our TV was set up so that when a videotape ended, it would automatically cut back to the TV as it rewound.
We watched “Repulsion” until about 12:30 on a Friday night.
The TV was set on Cinemax.
The credits roll…the camera pans slowly against very creepy photographs…the tape stops…and suddenly there are huge technicolor BREASTS bouncing across the screen in all of their glory, as hokey country twangy instrumental music plays in the background.
We stared, stunned, for about five seconds, and burst into gales of hysterical laughter.
Better than shock therapy, I tell you.
Creepy, not scary.
Exorcist III
The first one made me laugh. I can sound jsut like Linda Blair when she talks to Father Karas. It freaks out my kids and amuses me greatly.
Shallow Grave
:::shiver:::
Blue Velvet
Not scary, not even really good, but it is pretty creepy.
Definitely Poltergeist. Brrr. After I saw that one, I was absolutely obsessive about keeping the closet door closed at all times. Of course, around that time, my cat discovered a fondness for sleeping in the closet- and he had no problem opening the door, since the knob didn’t work. Poor kitty, he never could quite understand why I freaked when I’d wake up in middle of the night and find the closet door open.
corvidae
I saw that on TV when I was about five. Great little Japanese “horror” movie. (Actually, it was about drugs.) Believe it or not, I actually have this on VHS! Too bad all of my tapes are packed up, or I’d watch it again.
Caught from Behind IV
A naked Ron Jeremy playing a Proctologist…(shudder).
That or The Brady Girls get Married.
Ok, while I will absolutely concur with nominations of the The Vanishing, The Hunger, and Picnic at Hanging Rock, none of these films even comes close to the creepiness of DON’T LOOK NOW with Donald Sutherland as a young man in Venice. If you haven’t seen this one, find it. It’s worth the search.
Two that always weird me out whenever I watch them are Invasion of the Body Snatchers(orginal one) and The Birds
Really thinking about it more, most of Hitchcocks stuff has the ability to make me watch the skies, lookout the rear view mirror and shy away from the Statue of Liberty
After reading all of the posts about The Vanishing, I rented it last night. It was interesting, a bit hokey at times, but overall worth the two bucks and change. I didn’t realize it had subtitles. I haven’t had to read a film in a while. What did Rex write in the two notes that he left on the windshield?
Coldfire (or anyone), maybe you can help. From the movie The Vanishing, what’s up with(IIRC) counting trees?? It appeared to culminate in burying two coins at the base of a tree.
And, are the gas stations over there really like “get the hell in, get the hell out, get the hell out of the way!”?
Good suggestions here. I’d like to thank Brynda for beating me to Freaks, one of the most disturbing films I’ve ever seen. I’ll also second the various recommendations for John Carpenter’s The Thing (the 1951 original is quite effective also), David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Wicker Man, the original silent Nosferatu, and others, especially the Dutch original The Vanishing (not the useless remake). (Oh, and speaking of Cronenberg, don’t forget Videodrome.) Karlz also beat me to the mention of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, one of the all-time greats if you ignore the studio’s bookending scenes; Kevin McCarthy’s reaction after kissing his wife in the cave is a bone-chiller.
Basket Case is a pretty effective bit of low-budget psychological horror, although I checked out after the offensively gratuitous monster-rapes-the-naked-ingenue scene. I’ll also warn people away from Event Horizon. I’m not knocking you if you enjoyed it; I’m just saying you’re in the extreme minority.
A few nominations not yet mentioned:
Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left. Dated and cheaply made, it still has some of the most cringe-inducing moments ever put on film.
Closetland. Alan Rickman and Madeleine Stowe in a two-person movie about psychological torture and interrogation. Not a horror movie, but extremely disturbing anyway.
Roman Polanski’s Knife in the Water, and the similar-but-different English-language reworking Dead Calm starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman, and Billy Zane. The original is more of a drama than a thriller, and I think it’s a better film, but if you don’t like subtitles, the remake is pretty effectively suspenseful and occasionally quite freaky.
The Collector. A late movie from the great director William Wyler. Terence Stamp is an entomologist who decides to try collecting human specimens; he snatches Samantha Eggar and holds her captive, just because he can. Dated, but still worthwhile psychologically.
Peeping Tom. Another from the 60’s, also fairly dated, particularly in the way it shies away from explicit gore. Still, it was very controversial at the time and effectively ended noteworthy British director Michael Powell’s career. Came out the same year as Hitchcock’s Psycho, and for sheer impact it pales in comparison, but if you can overlook the lurid colors and sometimes campy behavior, you’ll appreciate the unsettling conclusion. If nothing else, it’s fascinating to see what freaked people out 40 years ago, given today’s casual bloodletting. (For more of this, check out Lady in a Cage, from 1964.)
Lars Von Trier’s The Kingdom mini-series. It’ll also show up on lists of just-plain-weird movies, but this mammoth viewing experience (eight hours available in the U.S. so far) also has some truly nightmare-inducing freaky-ass shit in it.
Oh, and if you want just disturbing imagery, without any other cinematic value, then try any of the Ilsa: She-Wolf of the S.S. movies, or the cheap Eurotrash horror flicks by Lucio Fulci or Jess Franco. Totally exploitative and pulpy, and usually unapologetically misogynistic; if they don’t make your skin crawl, you need to see a shrink. Ditto for the completely deranged Bloodsucking Freaks, available from Troma Video; I just hope the people who were involved with that little bit of sleaze got the psychological help they so clearly require.
Oh, man, I know this is bad form, but I forgot one:
Men Behind the Sun. A Hong Kong movie about Japanese WWII prisoner torture. I won’t say too much about it, other than to relate that some of the on-screen vileness is totally authentic. One of the few movies that actually triggered my gag reflex and brought me close to vomiting, and I’m not exaggerating. If that appeals to you, then by all means, check this out.
I’ll now do my best to forget all the images that have resurfaced from this one…
OK, don’t laugh, this is entirely serious. The scariest/creepiest movie I ever saw was called The Watcher in the Woods, and it was a disney children’s movie. I remember seeing it years ago, and memories of it always terrified me. I rented it again about two years ago to see if I was just an impressionable kid when I first saw it, and it was still freaky. My little sister saw it and insists its the only movie to ever scare her too. The fact that it’s G rated doesn’t matter, it’s still creepy as shit. Anybody else seen this one?
Please correct me if I’m wrong
Don’t mean to be a nitpicker, but I think that the movie in question is “Onibaba”. here’s a link
I think “Throne of Blood” only had one woman in the forest, filling the part of the Three Crones in MacBeth. “Onibaba”, however, is about a mother and daughter-in-law forced to murder travelers in a forest/swamp. Verrry eerie…
House on Haunted Hill.
Not the one with Liam Neeson and others (Never even saw that one, looked stupid). Only scary movie I’ve seen thats actually creeped me out. Turn off all the lights and watch it in the dark and you’ll freak.
OK, we have “The Haunting” based on “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson remade badly 1999 with Liam Neeson.
We also have “The House on Haunted Hill” with Vincent Price (cheesy early sixties horror) remade in 1999 and I’m told not too bad.
Now, if you’re talking about “Hell House” you’re on your own. Yes, one can get easily confused.
“Seven” with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. It was bad enough, but the guy tied to the bed who looked dead really creeped me out.
Also, the Gimp story in “Pulp Fiction” creeped me out. The idea that people can be captured like that is creepy. Also puts one in mind of The unbelievably creepy Dutch “The Vanishing”. Leave it to Hollywood to screw up another movie by giving it a happy ending. Completely misses that way.
I’ll cast a vote here for the Dutch version of The Vanishing as well.
I’d also go for The Stepfather - Terry O’Neill is terrific in the lead role. Saw this one in the theater with some friends without knowing what the movie was about and got the bejeesus scared out of us.
Don’t worry, I will not laugh.
I first saw that movie at a tender young age (8, I think)and it freaked me out for a week. The scene were the little girls writes the dead girl’s name backwards on the window… FREAKY!
I remembered another few classics:
DEMON SEED
about a guy who builds a computer automated house, and the CPU goes nuts, develops consciousness, intelligence, and terrorizes the Dr’s wife.
ITS ALIVE
Very creepy! I have always thought some babies know more than we “think” they know. EEEK!! :eek:
KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS
despite Shatner, a movie that creeps the poop out of me. I hate spiders!
THE CAR
Recently re-released on video. This used to scare the shit of me when I was a kid. The dialogue/acting is hokey, but the CAR itself, is quite terrifying. I still get the willies late at night if am walking down the street, feeling for the headlights to blaze on and bear down on me! Aaaaaaaaaahhh!!!
NAKED LUNCH
This is one sick twisted movie!
Peter Greenaway’s The Baby of Maçon was pretty creepy, if stomach-churning. Actually, you could say that about everything he’s made.
Bah.
Vanishing is good. As is that Danish movie that was remade with Nick Notle and Ewan Mcgregor “Nightwatch”, again see the original. Repulsion is creepy. I also liked In Dreams. That was entertaining and slightly creepy.
However I do have to point out that you guys are being pretty limited in your choices. No one has mentioned Dario Argento, an italian film-maker who has made some trully frightening creepy movies. Go rent some.
Also “the believers” with Martin Sheen, was an actually creepy movie from the 80’s about voodoo. Pretty good.
For sheer creepy terror. NOTHING and i mean NOTHING can beat Japanese horror films. The best/worst. EVIL DEAD TRAP. That movie is FUCKED UP. From the very begining you are crepped out and horrified. And then when it starts getting into it. Yech. But, also very well done. If you can, go rent that movie. The eyeball scene in the begining is enough to set it apart from eveythin else.
And for an actually creep movie. One that made me feel creppy and dirty just watching it? I STAND ALON
After I watched this movie, I was ashamed to be a man and human in generall. It is honestly the most violent movie I’ve ever seen, and yet not a single act of violence is carried out (except for one). That’s how good it is. To quote from the Chicago reader "
Put more simply, I Stand Alone is a movie that removes your head, fucks with it for a while, and then hands it back to you"
You are subjected to a constant stream of consiousness dialogue from the main character, A very ugly ugly experience. And yet no movie has affected me in that way in some time. As such I have to comend it for being a great movie.
Here is the review. http://www.chireader.com/movies/archives/1999/0799/07099.html