# The scariest movie you've ever seen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826 "2013-10-21T15:42:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Why\_Bother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19adc/32.png) [@Doctor\_Why\_Bother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Why_Bother)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/81 "2013-10-25T20:10:41Z")
Scariest movie: Rosemary’s Baby. A bit surprised this hasn’t been mentioned yet. Scariest scene: The Exorcist Part III - You guys know the bit I’m talking about :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/82 "2013-10-25T23:17:28Z")
_The Day After_– all too realistic, in the Age Of Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/83 "2013-10-26T01:24:12Z")
> [@Doctor\_Why\_Bother](#): > > Scariest movie: Rosemary’s Baby. A bit surprised this hasn’t been mentioned yet. See post #75. ---
**Author:** ![Orr\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ee59a6/32.png) [@Orr\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orr_G)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/84 "2013-10-26T02:56:27Z")
I envy you guys. Scary movies just don’t scare me, for some reason. I just can’t get into them. The one thing that really got me going was _Marble Hornets_ on Youtube. Well, the first season of it, anyway. There are a few others that have had their moments, but nothing else that really got to me. But _Marble Hornets_ was somehow able to capture my imagination and raise the hairs on the back of my neck. I am discovering, however, that scary video games can do it for me. I played \*Amnesia \*for a few minutes, and I was actually pretty scared for some reason. But I kinda found it more jarring or annoying than scary, so I stopped playing. Lately, I’ve been playing _Metro 2033_. I don’t know what it is, but, damn, that is scary stuff. Every single encounter has me jumping and hyperventilating. The music, the background sounds, the visuals, everything comes together just right somehow to get me well and truly creeped out. Just an hour ago I was playing, and I kept getting distracted by something in my peripheral vision. I kept glancing over, but of course there’s nothing there. Then, just as I’m being swarmed by the monsters in the game, my chair is jerked backwards and I screamed! My cat had jumped up on the back of my chair to hang out with me. It’s going to be a while before I can bring myself to fire up that game again. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/85 "2013-10-26T03:24:15Z")
Yeah, just watched Gaslight. Why again is that scary?? Not a half bad movie, but edge of your seat scary?? Puh Leeease. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/86 "2013-10-26T03:27:41Z")
Just about every horror movie I ever watched has scared the crap out of me. In a supremely ill-advised move, I had the temerity to watch The Exorcist when I was about 15. Life has never been the same again… I must have slept with lights on, and someone for company, for months afterward. To me, that face is _the_ face of horror. Can’t forget. Even today in times of stress I can have nightmares where that grinning malevolent face is staring at me. Been scared silly by Jaws, Aliens, assorted B-grade gorefests, Evil Dead, Omen, Nightmare on Elm Street… Braindead was a particularly gut-churning movie. Of late, I have grown up a bit and actually enjoyed watching the Alien movies again. But I’ll stay the hell away from Exorcist for the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/87 "2013-10-26T07:09:32Z")
[Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069992/). Interestingly, the person who told me about it scoffed at it as being pure cheese. Not even. Three big reasons why it terrified me: 1. Uncanny valley. The creatures are played by heavily costumed and made-up dwarfs, so they retain just enough human characteristics to be creepy. Plus, they talk, which non-humanoids don’t usually do in these movies. 2. Creepy, Poe-ish house. When you live in a big old house in a forest, as I did, you have fear built in. 3. No one believes the main character that something creepy and bad **is** happening, because of course, only she can see or hear it. That’s another reason why children/teenagers are more susceptible. Not being believed is par for them. And the runner-up would be **Phantasm**. Which I didn’t see until I was an adult. Which just proves how powerful it is. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/88 "2013-10-27T14:26:48Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Invaders From Mars (1954 version) which I saw on TV alone at my grandparents’ house in the middle of the afternoon. I was maybe 8. The scariest parts had to do with not the aliens but the parents, who became monsters (but they were redeemed at the end). And then the ending where it all starts over again. That was my experience also. Watched it alone on TV at a young age. I was looking at the back of my parents necks for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/89 "2013-10-27T14:48:29Z")
Another vote for Kubrick’s The Shining. Although, if we talk about scenes instead of movies, the ending of Carrie would win hand down. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/90 "2013-10-27T18:26:27Z")
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. 14 year old Jodie Foster has never acted better or more frightening. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/91 "2013-10-27T22:46:23Z")
> [@Art\_Rock](#): > > the ending of Carrie would win **hand** down. Is that deliberate? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/92 "2013-10-27T23:15:39Z")
> [@diggerwam](#): > > Yeah, just watched Gaslight. Why again is that scary?? Not a half bad movie, but edge of your seat scary?? Puh Leeease. Ever been “gaslighted” and you couldn’t easily get out of the situation? I have, and that’s why it was so scary for me. It falls into the category of psychological thriller. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/93 "2013-10-27T23:18:43Z")
> [@Art\_Rock](#): > > Another vote for Kubrick’s The Shining. > > Although, if we talk about scenes instead of movies, the ending of Carrie would win hand down. I was completely freaked out by that ending. It still gives me goose bumps. _Burnt Offerings_ has a similarly upsetting ending–not to mention the rest of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/94 "2013-10-27T23:39:24Z")
A documentary on Guinea Worms. Wow. I will never look at bait the same way again. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/95 "2013-10-28T02:23:40Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > A documentary on Guinea Worms. > > Wow. > I will never look at bait the same way again. It sure made me grateful I live in an area with safe drinking water, that’s for sure. I Tivo’d this a few days ago, and watched it earlier this evening. > **[Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria | FRONTLINE](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/hunting-the-nightmare-bacteria/?)** > > FRONTLINE investigates the rise of deadly drug-resistant bacteria. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/96 "2013-10-28T07:22:57Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > […] > Invaders From Mars (1954 version) which I saw on TV alone at my grandparents’ house in the middle of the afternoon. I was maybe 8. The scariest parts had to do with not the aliens but the parents, who became monsters (but they were redeemed at the end). And then the ending where it all starts over again. > […]Roddy I was a kid too when I first saw that one…I thought it was just weird; and I hated that mastermind-in-a-bubble and his/its android servants. What I most remember was the scene near the end where the kid’s face appears like a bobblehead (I guess he was running from something). ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/97 "2013-10-28T09:59:55Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Is that deliberate? Of course. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/98 "2013-10-28T15:53:21Z")
As a teen in the 90s I watched all the Nightmare on Elm Streets, Pet Semetary, Friday 13ths, and various other sleepover classics. So don’t think I’m an \*utter \*lightweight when I say the scariest film I ever sat through in the cinema, sneaking glances at my watch to see if it would be over soon so I could escape, was Jurassic Park. ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/99 "2013-10-28T16:16:05Z")
I saw Jaws 2 before I saw the original. It was at a drive-in. I was 9. The scene where the teenagers are on an upturned catamaran and they’re trying to get the youngest Brody kid, who’s clinging to the keel of another upturned boat, to catch a rope so they can pull him to their dubious place of safety stuck with me. And then the shark eats a helicopter… And (please don’t judge me for this), I was in exactly the right mood when I watched _Cloverfield_. I really got immersed in that movie. A couple of times I had to remind myself to breathe. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826/100 "2013-10-28T17:04:42Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > There are certainly scarier movies out there but seen at a young impressionable age no movie has emotionally scared me like Pet Cemetery. [This just in](http://metro.co.uk/2013/09/29/is-hotel-that-inspired-stephen-kings-the-shining-brave-to-dig-up-adjacent-pet-cemetery-4127598/): > [@](#): > > The owners of the hotel which inspired Stephen King’s The Shining have decided that in order to accommodate the building of a new pavilion on its grounds, they are going to have to excavate none other than a pet cemetery – what could possibly go wrong? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scariest-movie-youve-ever-seen/671826.md?page=6)