Suggestions for scary movies

[Dimenhydrinate]

Blair Witch made me motion sick... I almost threw up in the theater. When I went outside and the bright afternoon sun hit me I REALLY almost lost it.

 

[Jamdin]

For really scary Vincent Price movies, try the following:

The Last Man On Earth - based on Richard Matheson's I, Legend

Both Dr. Phibes' movies: The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again!

Theater of Blood

The Tingler

Other horror movies that I enjoy include: Race With The Devil, The Devil's Rain, Dan Curtis' Dracula (with Jack Palance giving a great performance as a sympathic count), The Satanic Rites of Dracula, Dracula AD 1972, Count Yoga, Vampire, The Night Stalker, Black Sabbath and so many more that I have only scratched the service.

 

[AuroraGyps]

movies that scare me

Thought I'd mention a few of the movies that I have seen and scared the crap out of me.

Exorcist III- old lady + ceiling
Poltergeist- I saw this when I was really young (under 10) so it still creeps me out
Alien & Aliens- scare me even more since I watched them both one night and then baby spiders hatched in the light fixture and were running around casting shadows and repelling down on webs
Prince of Darkness- the bug guy
Evil Dead- things JUMPING out at me
Stephen King's IT- the whole thing creeped me out (bad ending though)

Suspense gets me really bad... waiting for something to happen. Things jumping out are the worst. So, movies with containing that are good. I really wanna be scared. Too bad for my Mom, she's coming up the next day. "Mom, can we sleep w/ the lights on?"

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Oh man, I totally forgot about Jacob's Ladder. That movie was so friggin' creepy. While it did telegraph the "surprise" ending somewhat, the overall tone of the movie is so bleak and horrifying that I feel it succeeds on that alone. The hospital, with all the weirdo Thalidomide mutants, the dance scene with the lizard thing, the train station, ugh. I'm getting freaked out just writing about it.

When I saw Blair Witch, I had to walk back to my car by myself, in the middle of the night, in this really scuzzy garage on the outskirts of the shopping district of my town, and then drive back to my loft. Every noise set me off, and every shadow had me looking over my shoulder. THAT was how to experience that movie.

 

[Black Omega]

I'll second The Others. Very atmospheric and creepy.

Sleepy Hollow is also excellent, but I'm generally a Tim Burton fan.

Blair Witch is very much a love or hate movie. No soundtrack, it's not written according to the normal rules all Hollywood movies have to be written by. This can be a plus or minus, if you don't like things that are different and experimental, you probably won't like it. Personally, I loved it.

 

[Alzrius]

Cthulhu's Librarian notes that the special effects aren't what makes a movie scary - and it's also that the original didn't really have all that much in common with the remake other than the name. The original's more of a murder mystery than the straight ghost story that was the remake. I concur that the remake was a lot better from a horror movie standpoint.

I'm glad you picked up on this, since CL managed to take my comment completely out of context.

I never said that better special effects equals a better movie period. I said that I couldn't see how the original House on Haunted Hill could be scarier than the remake since the remake must have had better special effects. The reason I said this, as Andrew picked up on, is that the remake is a supernatural horror, and special effects lend themselves to than subgenre of film.

If the original version had tried to be what the remake was, it would have failed utterly, because they simply didn't have the technology to make those supernatural scenes back then.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I'm glad you picked up on this, since CL managed to take my comment completely out of context.

Sorry, my bad.

I just love old horror films, many of which are truly scary, and I haven't watched anything in years that are really the same. I hate getting excited about an upcoming film, only to be disappointed yet again when it ends up being another special effects extravaganza with a really bad story. I've heard "Yeah, the story was bad, but THE SPECIAL EFFECTS WERE SOOOO COOOOL!!!" far to many times. To me, that doesn't make a scary movie. I can appreciate them, but if thats all that a film has going for it, I'll pass.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

A few "me too!"s and a few additions:

Night of the Living Dead (original, not the remake) - scary, gory for it's time. b+w. I can't wait to show this one to my kids. "They're coming to get you, Barbara!"

Dawn of the Dead - a technicolor comedic remake of Night of the Living Dead. Much gorier, too. "Blood pressure: 000 / 000."

Creepshow - George Romero and Stephen King collaborate to make a modern day (er, for 1981) EC Horror comic. For the most part, they succeed. Five stories, with a wrap-around vignette featuring King's son Joe. King himself stars in story #2, "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" (which is pretty much just a re-write of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space"). With 5 different stories, at least one of them will push a button. And not in a good way. "It's Father's Day, and I want my cake!"

Re-Animator - classic 80s gore film. Not really scary (except in a few scenes), but gory and fun to watch. "Dr. Hill, I'm very disappointed. You steal the secret of life and death, and here you are trysting with a bubble-headed coed."

Dagon - If you like Lovecraft, you may delight in this creepy updating of "Shadow Over Innsmouth." If you don't like Lovecraft, you may just creep yourself out. From the team that brought you Re-Animator.

Psycho - the one that started it all. This movie was #1 on AFI's 100 Most Thrilling American Films list. Again, be sure to get the original, not the <<shudder>> remake. "Mother!"

M - Fritz Lang's masterpiece brought star Peter Lorre international fame. There are at least two different endings, and I've read a different ending in the published screenplay. It's in German, so get subtitles.

Any dubbed versions should be destroyed on sight. You'll never hear Grieg's 'Hall Of The Mountain King' quite the same way again.

The Omen - kind of odd, really. Respected actors (Gregory Peck and Lee Remick?) in a grade-b thriller with great music by Jerry Goldstein.

Halloween - the one to blame for starting the "slasher" craze.

Ed Gein - a true story. Creepy as hell. Ed made Jeffrey Dahmer look like a boy scout. They were both from Wisconsin. So am I. Go figure.

I didn't really like The Others - it had great atmosphere, but the plot was too predictable.

 

[Alzrius]

Ed Gein - a true story. Creepy as hell. Ed made Jeffrey Dahmer look like a boy scout. They were both from Wisconsin. So am I. Go figure.

I didn't really like The Others - it had great atmosphere, but the plot was too predictable.

Interesting point of fact - Ed Gein was the man who was the inspiration (loosely) for both Psycho and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Sometimes reality is much more horrifying than fiction.

If real-life horror is something you enjoy, trying checking out H. H. Holmes, America's First Serial Killer. This is a documentary film, not a true theatrical film, but anything about someone so monstrous is horrifying, IMHO. Go check out http://www.hhholmesthefilm.com/ for more information on the documentary. Any Google search should turn up information about Holmes himself.

 

[Kesh]

M - Fritz Lang's masterpiece brought star Peter Lorre international fame. There are at least two different endings, and I've read a different ending in the published screenplay. It's in German, so get subtitles.

There's a reason for the two endings: the Nazis altered the film to fit their propaganda.

In the original, the villain ends up confessing his crimes because he was abused as a child. (IIRC)

When the Nazis got a hold of it, they changed the confession so that he claimed to be a Jew, and felt the compulsions to commit his crimes because of his heritage.