# what is the scariest movie ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2001, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839 "2001-09-15T17:22:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![aztec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@aztec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aztec)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/61 "2001-11-01T06:17:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TV time \* > \*\* > **Freddy Got Fingered** when I heard there might be a sequel. \*\* NO! NO! GOD IN HEAVEN NOOOOOOOOOOO! That movie did permanent mental damage to me. [Homer Simpson to Mel Brooks] “I saw that movie, ‘Young Frankenstein’, SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME!” ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/62 "2001-11-01T06:37:32Z")
_Interview with a Vampire_. It’s the scariest for me because about half way through I got the feeling the movie would never end. ---
**Author:** ![McStain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@McStain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McStain)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/63 "2001-11-01T06:45:49Z")
OK, I’m a little confused that no one’s even mentioned **Rosemary’s Baby**. I’ve never actually seen it, but I thought it was supposed to be one of the scariest movies ever. Is this a filthy lie? Can someone give me some input here? ---
**Author:** ![Ace\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Ace\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace_Face)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/64 "2001-11-01T06:52:57Z")
I don’t watch many horror movies, but I guess I’d choose **Rosemary’s Baby**. I think part of it was I didn’t really expect it to be scary (I usually end up laughing at typical horror movies), so I was taken by surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Ace\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Ace\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace_Face)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/65 "2001-11-01T06:54:24Z")
Geez. I’d call it a simulpost if I weren’t such a slow typist. Kudos to **McStain**. ---
**Author:** ![McStain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@McStain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McStain)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/66 "2001-11-01T07:02:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ace\_Face \* > \*\*Geez. I’d call it a simulpost if I weren’t such a slow typist. Kudos to **McStain**. \*\* No, kudos to you. Until this, I was afraid that you were mocking me. ---
**Author:** ![Ravendriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dc4da7/32.png) [@Ravendriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravendriver)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/67 "2001-11-01T15:16:29Z")
**"Fallen"** with Denzel Washington. **No** special effects (hurrah!), just really good acting and a very well thought-out story. No end-of-the-world stuff, just a demon who just detroys people because that’s how it gets it’s jollies. You get to know the demon’s personality much more than in other films, and that surely adds to the scariness. The scene where it passes from one person to the next, through the police station and down the street, just to show Mr. W. what it can do, is terrifying - all the more so because it was **just done with acting skill**. I highly recommend it, but **make sure you see the very, very beginning:** “I’d like to tell you about the time I almost died…”\*\* Disagree if you want, but please, no spoilers! ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/68 "2001-11-01T15:20:35Z")
Man-- several very good shocks in the movie. Very underated movie as far as fear. Damn shark kept popping up and nearly making me wet my pants. ---
**Author:** ![kaiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@kaiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaiju)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/69 "2001-11-01T16:14:46Z")
Definitely The Vanishing. I was scared green and I think it’s fun to watch horror movies at bedtime. Also The Haunting The Sixth Sense (jusy because the kid is a damn good actor) Jacob’s Ladder and The Other. I’m not sure of this title, but it’s a story about a boy and his evil twin. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/70 "2001-11-01T16:23:20Z")
The Amityville Horror-The way the house lights up as eyes. Anything involving the ‘supernatural’ scares me. ---
**Author:** ![k.os](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@k.os](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k.os)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/71 "2001-11-01T16:26:45Z")
The movies I was thinking about were all already listed, so I’ll just throw in my vote with: [ul][li] **Henry, portrait of a serial killer** , it’s just so gritty that you don’t feel like you’re watching a movie.[/li][li] **Amytiville** , that movie is just plain unnerving. The music is just _soooo_ creepy.[/li][li] **Damien** , great movie.[/li][li] **Exorcist III** [/li][li] **Prince of Darkness** … “This is not a dream…” :eek:[/li][li] **The Serpent and the Rainbow** [/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Niobium\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/72 "2001-11-01T16:42:47Z")
Carry The Fog ---
**Author:** ![Tommy\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Tommy\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tommy_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/73 "2001-11-01T16:51:19Z")
**Pet Semetary** scared the crap out of me. The part where the woman with menengitis creeps towards the camera saying “…never sleep again, never sleep again…” If I see the movie on TV, I still have to turn it when that scene comes on. ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/74 "2001-11-01T18:14:46Z")
I have been made fun of in the past for admitting that **Night of the Living Dead** frightened me. I think it was mostly the beginning, when the first zombie is sighted with the cut-up clothes. I had never thought about clothing needing to be cut to get them on a cadaver, so I guess that put me in the correct mind-set to be scared. I’ll also add another vote for **The Exorcist** , and one for **Hellraiser**. I remember seeing **A Nightmare on Elm Street** when it was in the theaters. At the time, it was just awful, someone killing kids in their sleep, just the concept. I remember my friend sitting next to me almost hysterical, yelling out, “How can you stand to have your feet on the floor?!” I didn’t tell her it was because I couldn’t move. The looks we received from her screaming seemed to break up the terror a bit, but I still had a sleepless night(s). I think the main difference from the first Nightmare and the sequels, was that they never really showed Freddie. His face was so shadowed, just enough to be able to recognize he was burned. In the other films, you can pretty much see him and know what to expect, turning them into more of a gore-fest. Not nearly as scary to me. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/75 "2001-11-01T18:38:01Z")
[BOLD]Halloween[/BOLD] That creeped me out. No real Gore, but the suspense that just built and built. Man the Daylight scenes freaked me out. Michael just stalking the peopple and always partially hidden. Scary! Scary Scary! Try listening to that music in a dark room by yourself at night… ---
**Author:** ![naughty\_wicked\_zoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@naughty\_wicked\_zoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naughty_wicked_zoot)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/76 "2001-11-02T23:39:57Z")
i am a horror movie afficianado. i’ll watch just about anything that looks even slightly scary. because of this, i’m pretty jaded when it comes to horror/suspense/scary movies. you’ve really gotta work to scare me. that said, i recommend a Danish film, by Lars von Trier, called “Kingdom”. it’s about a haunted hospital. i understand that it’s being made into a tv miniseries, with stephen king scripting. i hope it’s as good as the original. it’s one of the few movies that has actually frightened me enough to make me change my behavior. at the time that we rented it, i was working in a hospital, and after watching that movie i refused to take the elevators in any hospital ever again. there is no gore, no cats jumping out of drawers and scaring people, just real honest-to-crikey fear factors. try to find it!! ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/77 "2001-11-03T06:40:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoggie \* > \*\*Yeah “SSSSSSSSSS” is a bit corny, but I make an effort to see it when it comes on. One of those movies I rather personally like. That whole turning into a snake thing is so…creepy. So was the attachment the scientist and his daughter formed with their snakes. 🙂 But Dirk Benedict was very hot. 😉 \*\* That movie scared the livin’ crap out of me when I saw it all those years ago. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/78 "2001-11-03T06:42:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ITR champion \* > \*\*Hasn’t anybody else here seen **The Night of the Hunter**? Now that was seriously frightening, with very effective use of the camera. \*\* Well, I ordered it for my dad’s birthday, so when it arrives I’ll finally get to see it. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/79 "2001-11-04T11:56:36Z")
**Phantasm.** An oldie, but wonderfully atmospheric. If you don’t know about the Tall Man and the Silver Sphere, then go and rent this movie **right now**. ---
**Author:** ![RenMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@RenMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RenMan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839/80 "2001-11-04T15:39:13Z")
The Cube! What a frightening concept. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scariest-movie-ever/81839.md?page=5)