What is your favorite horror film?

"Hush" was considered "horror"? LMAO!

Doesn't he look marvellous, Nanny?

Indeed he does, Natalie. Indeed he does.

James Villiers was the Alfred Molina of his day.

The Birds.

John Carpenter's THE THING. The best film ever, imo.

Halloween (1978)

The Mist

I liked Hush, Hush, but to me it was a carbon copy of Diabolique. Is Don't Look Now considered horror?

Yes, R8.

The Nanny? Granted Fran Drescher looks beautiful all made up, but I wouldn't call her sans make-up a horror.

Aliens

The Ring

I also like Baby Jane.

Looking

The tv series, R14?

It was also a movie R15.

The Shining

Wait Until Dark.

The Shining is the worst movie I have ever seen in my life.

Sinister

"The Hunger"

Bride of Frankenstein

Straight-up Horror: The Exorcist

Guilty Pleasure Horror: Lair of the White Worm

Second straight-up horror fave: Let the Right One In

The Birdcage

Bette Davis would be incensed! She said in one of her books that Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte was NOT a horror movie (between the lines, she didn't want to be seen as an actress who did old lady horror movies).

Seriously, probably Child's Play.

R24, well she did, Blanche! She did!

"The Haunting"

Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes without a Face)

The Haunting (1963)

Rosemary's Baby.

Seconding "Rosemary's Baby." I could watch it every day.

The first "Scream", and/or Hostel

Scream was the first realistic (as in, it could feasibly happen) horror film I can remember. I was 15 and I loved it for it's lack of supernatural beings.

Hostel for similar reasons, but the dismemberment scene early on made me close my eyes, which was unusual.

The first "Nightmare on Elm Street"

Rosemary 's Baby is a remarkably satisying and rich film.

Glitter

Albert Noobs

R8

No, it's not. Pierre Boileau's DIABOLIQUE has been remade a bunch of times (REFLECTIONS OF MURDER) but HUSH HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE is not the same story.

"The Next Best Thing"

EVITA

The Vanishing. The original version.

The Bride of Frankenstein

The Uninvited if you're going real old school.

Anything that Madonna stars in.

In a review of one of her movies a New York newspaper described her performance as "frightening".

SiLENCE OF THE LAMBS

Ditto on the original "The Vanishing" and I never want to see it again, it was that horrific.

The Japanese original of the The Ring still makes me feel apprehensive all these years later.

Season 7 of RuPauls Drag Race.

Not horror, because I don't like horror. I liked The Uninvited because it is a ghost story.

I loved The Shining.

Drag me to hell

Sinister 1 & 2.

The Descent

I usually hate scary movies, but this movie had a really good storyline and acting for the genre. It doesn't just take place in the cave. Beforehand, you learn some of the characters are harboring secrets. Not only are the women in danger from the cave dwellers, but also each other. The fact that there were no men to save the women from the big bad monsters made it all the more scary for me, and no I'm being misogynistic. Most films are portrayed with a male savior. I liked the movie theme song and the very emotional ending. Here is the awesome ending (SPOILER), if you are interested.

Carrie

Rosemary's Baby, The Omen and The Excorcist

" 'The Vanishing' and I never want to see it again.."

I know just what you mean. It is a brilliant film, but deeply disturbing. If I mention it to someone who hasn't seen it, I say that I'm not sure that I can recommend it. Such a profound examination of evil.

The Strangers.

I love the setup, the way music is used (managing to make even Mama Tried by Merle Haggard sound sinister), and the way audio is used overall to create such an atmosphere of dread, all those creaks and thumps. And I love the nihilism of it, the sense that it didn't happen for any good reason: 'Why are you doing this?' 'Because you were home.'

If, by horror film, you simply mean scary film, the 'The Haunting' with Julie Harris. A genuinely frightening film.

Another vote for The Vanishing, at least the Dutch original without the "happy ending" tacked on to the Hollywood remake by the same director, which was otherwise an excellent film.

I am obsessive/compulsive and completely understood how the protagonist ended up in his position at the end (trying to avoid spoilers), I saw it very late at night on HBO or Cinemax and went around my apartment turning on all the lights then crawled back into bed with the bedding pulled up to my chin and didn't get to sleep until daylight.

Poltergeist

The 1988 version of THE BLOB. The way some of the characters are killed off sends me into psychotic peals of laughter. Plus I love Shawnee Smith's overacting in this.

The Kim Kardashian / R Jay sex tape.

Tom Cruise still trying to act after all these years is a real horror.

[quote]The Japanese original of the The Ring still makes me feel apprehensive all these years later.

Same here. Sadako STILL scares the hell out of me.

Blair Witch Project - it's not everyone's favorite, but witches/woods/strange sounds in the night/foreboding/dread all work for me.

Another vote for The Shining, Halloween, The Omen and Rosemary's Baby

I liked The Shitting.

Liza is that you at R64?

I still say no movie has copied another more than Hush, Hush copied Diabolique. Another plug for Rosemary's...

It would be hard to pick a favorite: Carrie-although I consider this a tragedy more than a horror

The Shining

The Descent-one of the few movies I wanted to see immediately again after watching it the first time

The Mist

Black Christmas (original)

The Crazies (remake)

Halloween (original)

Pumpkinhead-so atmospheric

Guilty pleasures-Happy Birthday to Me and Sorority Row (the one with Rumer Willis)

"House Of Wax" starring Vincent Price. Back in the 50's and 60's they knew how to make real horror movies, unlike the gory, mindless crap of today.

"The Innocents" starring Deborah Kerr. An exquisitely made horror/suspense flick.

Eden Lake

Inside

In Cold Blood Zodiac

Halloween

The Omen

Inside

Martyrs

High Tension

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

In Fear

The Anus

Tod Browning's "Freaks "

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919)

I had a Latin teacher named Dr. Caligari once. We used to open up his desk drawers and speak like Boris Karloff "The Cabinet of.... Doctor Caligari!!!" Shriek, and run away.

R31 is Woody Allen.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The Hills Have Eyes.

The Fog.

Jeepers Creepers.

Phantasm.

Suspiria.

Of the ones that have been remade, the originals.

Also dig 60s Hammer Horror.

Audition, a Japanese film.

Haunted - helped me forgive Kate B for most of what she's done since Underworld I.

Identity - I didn't hate John C. in this one and I usually hate him.

Rosemary's Baby

I certainly am NOT Woody Allen. I find him totally loathsome.

The Changeling with George C. Scott

The Exorcist

Rosemary's Baby

Carrie. As a child it absolutely petrified me. Watched it recently and now see it as an extremely sad story. Spacek deserved the Oscar. Tremendous.

Bump for Halloween viewing

Rosemary's Baby

The Orphanage

Cruising?

The Danish Girl

Another vote for 'The Haunting'

Krampus

Hidden (2015)

Madonna - Hung Up

R5 Carpenter's "The Thing" was almost as bad as any teenage slasher flick out there. t guess it's OK if you like watching educational films about commercial meat markets. I'll take "The Thing from Another World" (original) any day.

The Omen

Silence of the Lambs.

The SHINING

ROSEMARY's BABY is a wonderful film but I think it gets some demerits because it such a straight up adaptation of the book it almost seems unnecessary

Don't Look Now

I can't identify one. Just not possible.

Gun to my head, I think Alien, that amazing gothic horror film transplanted into deep space.

A very short list is more realistic for me, and would add:

The Shining -- a work of pure genius.

Silence of the Lambs -- although I see that more as a psychological thriller than a horror movie per se.

The Thing -- fascinating and keeps you in suspense the entire time. This is horror as it should be. It's that rare horror movie that's so well made it can be enjoyed over and over despite the plot being known.

The Exorcist -- that slow inexorable build, the weird lighting, it's truly disturbing. Ironically once the real battle starts it's somewhat less scary because then the effects just take over.

Signs -- yes I know the film is full of silly conceits, but I love the slow dawning on the family unit that there may in fact be cloaked aliens waiting silently in their community.

Paranormal Activity -- same comments as for Signs, substituting a small malevolent demon for aliens.

Blair Witch Project -- Yes, despite "JOSH! JOSH! JOSH!" I still love this film because it feels real in the mundaneness of the characters and their plight. The more real horror feels, the scarier it is.

Black Christmas -- the original. It pioneered many conventions that we now take for granted.

House of the Devil -- this movie does horror perfectly. Horror is about fear. You fuck well KNOW something is about to happen but you are kept on edge, not knowing when it will happen. That's why this movie is really only good for one viewing. Perfect horror movies scare the shit out of you and that can't be replicated.

Audition -- disturbing beyond description.

Harvey Weinstein: The Movie

The Shining was the first horror novel that gave me nightmares. However, the movie made me cringe. Cujo was better, scarier and tense. My other favs are the original Haunting with Julie Harris, the first Haloween for being scary with implied carnage, Nightmare on Elm Street for combining gruesome carnage with scary, Alien/Aliens, the new Blob and the comedic yet scary The Frighteners with Michael J Fox. I have a whole collection of horror, The Thing, the original Dawn of the Dead, etc. Horror (non Hostel types) are my favorite.

The Massage, produced by Harvey Weinstein

Another vote for "The Haunting." Claire Bloom's character is a lesbian, although it's conveyed subtly, the movie having been released in 1963.

The Robe

Oh, R99. It's okay. MARY! can be a horror, too.

Antichrist and The Witch. I'm a huge whore for sinister forests.

The Sentinel Rosemary's Baby The Exorcist Burnt Offerings The Omen What's the Matter with Helen?

It seems like the Academy exists primarily for Woody Allen. No matter how horrible his movies are, he winds up with the oscars. And the egotistical bastard is too much of a genius to accept awards.

The Omen

We Need to Talk about Kevin

And another vote for the 1963 The Haunting. I was 11 when I saw it, couldn't sleep well for days...

The Skeleton Key

If you're talking about scariest, then The Exorcist and The Conjuring are the best. You won't find anything scarier than those two.

For me, I'm a sucker for horror films with great atmosphere, and John Carpenter's earlier work is the gold standard in that department. Halloween, The Fog and The Thing have amazing atmosphere and warmth. Other horror films with great atmosphere include The Birds, The Uninvited, The Ninth Gate, The Shining, Terror Train, The Woman in Black.

Love the ending of "Don't Look Now". The explicit sex scene between Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie is embarrassing though.

The Exorcist Carrie Texas Chainsaw

The Thing; The Shining; The Witch; The Brood; Don't Look Now; Lost Highway. For a comedic take that still manages to scare, An American Werewolf in London.

Of all time: "The Innocents." Miss Jessel sitting motionless in the reeds in the pouring rain is one of the creepiest images ever, and the acting is topnotch.

Near the top:

"Rosemary's Baby" -- the funniest horror movie ever

"The Others" -- GREAT atmosphere, and a great freaked-out lead performance (Kidman's best, hands down)

"I Walked with a Zombie" -- literate (basically it's "Jane Eyre"!) and atmospheric, and the zombie in the sugarcane field at midnight is terrifying

"Silence of the Lambs" -- terrifying sequences. it's hard to overstate the impact this originally made, and how scary Hopkins was or how scary Jame Gumb's basement was

"The Witch" -- great psychological drama about how scary living on the edge of the Known World is if you really believe in the Devil and Hell

"Hereditary" --beautifully acted and atmospheric; worth multiple viewings. The ending is genuinely horrifying, and it has the creepy child to end all creepy children

Like many others can't pin it down to one. I think my list of top five would include:

An American Werewolf in London

The Shining

Signs

The Evil Dead 2

Paranormal Activity

I did not include Jaws as I consider it to be an adventure film and not strictly horror, also excluded "Alien" and "The Thing" because they are more Sci Fi than strictly horror, and finally "The Silence of the Lambs" because it's more of a drama at least IMO.

Maniac (1980)

Here's a thread for scary movies without gore.

The Cell (2000) even though it didn't get great reviews from critics.

Pumpkinhead is a cheap gimmick.

The Ring is just an acid trip.

The original Hills Have Eyes is just cheap fight porn.

The Exorcist movies are silly camp.

Phantasm is the most unscary, overrated horror film EVER.

It's just a bizarre weapon in high-key lighting.

The Paranormal Activities are just cheap ripoffs of the Blair Witch Project -- only LESS SCARY.

The Sixth Sense is better than Signs.

I think I love every great horror movie equally, so none stand out as my favorite. What I'm looking forward to right now, regarding horror, is Netflix's "The Haunting of Hill House" done as a tv series. The director, Mike Flanagan, is an up-in-comer who wrote, directed and edited many recent acclaimed movies like Oculus, Hush, Before I Wake, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and Gerald’s Game.

HALLOWEEN has warmth?

From all the gas emitted by Dr. Loomis, maybe.

The Witch had no conflict with the dark side, action or character development.

It was just a supernatural snuff film with vintage dialogue.

Don't know if it's considered horror, but I saw "Cujo" when I was high when it first came out. I've never been able to watch it again.

Dear r117,

Jaws, Alien, The Thing and Silence of the Lambs are all LEGIONS SCARIER than any movie on your favorites list.

Carrie (1976)

Sin never dies.

[quote]Pumpkinhead is a cheap gimmick.

Pumpkinhead is a terrible movie with a cool monster. In that way it's like Friday the 13th from the second film on.

[quote]The Paranormal Activities are just cheap ripoffs of the Blair Witch Project -- only LESS SCARY.

No they are not, except for both being found-footage movies. And I hope you don't actually think TBWP invented the genre. It did not.

The only ones I can stand are the first Halloween and Nightmare on elm street.

r133, I'm not whoever you're talking to, but TBWP might as well have invented it, since it was the genre's first true success.

It's not true that something "might as well have invented it" just because it made a lot of money. "Cannibal Holocaust" was the first true found footage horror film and THAT film is the one to influence all to follow.

1. Alien

2. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors

3. Evil Dead 2

4. Aliens

5. A Nightmare on Elm Street

6. Se7en

7. Night of the Living Dead

8. Brain Dead/Dead Alive

9. Hostel

10. The Silence of the Lambs

11. Psycho

12. Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives

13. An American Werewolf in London

14. The Shining

15. Saw III

16. You're Next

17. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 remake)

18. The Descent

19. Slither

20. Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter

21. Halloween

22. Friday the 13th Part III

23. Bride of Chucky

24. The Cabin in the Woods

25. Texas Chainsaw 3D

26. Jaws

27. Lights Out

28. Carrie

29. The Boy

30. Happy Death Day

31. Predator (1987)

32. Seed of Chucky

33. 28 Days Later

34. Scream

35. Frankenstein (1931)

No one saw it, it was a tree falling in a forest that made no sound.

LOL, the creators of TBWP obviously saw it, as they completely ripped off not only the storytelling technique but even the marketing campaign. You poor creature.

You poor purist geek.

Dear r133,

Wrong. How cool is a monster that's basically just an H.R. Giger ripoff? In a movie that's not scary?

Blair Witch is the movie that inspired the Paranormal Activities — it's much closer in form and era to Blair Witch than any obscure shit like Cannibal Holocaust, which Peli and Blum have probably never seen.

And the first five Friday the 13th movies are effectively crafted, logical thrillers that hold up better than 80 percent of horror movies; perhaps 95 percent of slashers.

I love The Cell, r120!

But I think it's closer to Film Noir than horror. The trippy visuals and cinematography make it spectacular.

Fright Night.

Day of the Dead (1985)

My favorites are...

Carrie

Psycho

Carnival of Souls

Candyman

Halloween

House of Wax

Hellraiser

Hell Night

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Friday the 13th

American Gothic

Silent Scream

Trilogy of Terror

Visiting Hours

He Knows You're Alone

Suspiria

Tenebrae

Night School

Deep Red

Demons

Killer Party

The Fly (1986)

Alice, Sweet Alice

The Initiation

Dressed to Kill

Night Train To Terror

The House on Sorority Row

Hellraiser—I have too many. Love horror.

Hellraiser II

I have four lined up for Halloween. The Uninvited. A smashing ghost story starring Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey. When A Stranger Calls with Carol Kane. No Way To Treat A Lady with Lee Remick, George Segal and the king of over-acting, Rod Steiger. And the second sequel to The Exorcist. The scariest of the three. Really creepy. I may break out a few old favorites. The Thing From Another World, Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy circa 1936, and House of Wax. I've done the slasher movies to death but Deep Red and The Bird With The Crystal Plummage could get a viewing.

Sleepy Hollow

The Village up to the point where everything is explained and you feel cheated.

The Innocents

Eyes without a Face

Carnival of Souls

Rosemary's Baby

Nosferatu

The Love Witch

The Black Cat (Edgar Ulmer)

Horror Hotel

Many of Val Lewton's films: Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The Seventh Victim, The Leopard Man

The original "Halloween." Did exactly what a horror movie is supposed to do: be scary as hell.

Impressive list, r116. Let's all go to your house. What snacks will you be serving?

First Place: The Haunting (the original)

Second Place: Curse of the Demon (in Britain, known as "The Runes")

Third Place: Rosemary's Baby and the Exorcist pegging level.

Honourable Mention because it is just so atmospheric: the original "The Cat People" with Kent Smith and Simone Simone - complete with that quote from John Donne's Sonnets at the end . . .

1. Carrie (The best horror film ever made. Period. That fucking St. Sebastian statue is the creepiest thing I've ever seen)

2. Halloween (Runner-up for the best horror film of all times. Too bad its reputation has been tarnished a bit by all the crappy sequels and that stupid family angle they introduced)

3. The House of the Laughing Windows (One of the scariest film endings EVAH!)

4. Viy (the original one of course, not that horrible remake that came out a few years ago. You haven't lived until you've seen Natalya Varley surfing on a flying coffin).

5. Open Water (I know pretty much everyone hates this film but I still find it very disturbing to watch)

Not a classic horror movie, The Night of the Hunter, but scared me witless as a child watching it on tv. Rosemary's Baby was scary?

R148 - Well done to you to remember "Horror Hotel". I'd forgotten it!

Factoid: the young victim in Horror Hotel was played by Venetia Stevenson, who was briefly married to Russ Tamblyn, who had a role in the original "The Haunting" - this means husband and wife each made it into two of the best horror films in cinematic history.

Adding in: "Burn Witch Burn" (known in UK as "Night of the Eagle") , with the delicious Peter Wyngarde's biceps featuring in a starring role in his eternally rolled up sleeves (whatever happened to him?)

You must give credit to Jacques Tourneur for those Val Lewton films - he worked on both Cat People and Leopard Man and Seventh Victim and I Walked With a Zombie

We'll need another thread for Noir films . . .

I believe Tourneur also worked on “Maine Coon Cat Nephew.”

R152 and many others. Carrie !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you've got a taste for terror, take Carrie to the Prom!

There are many films listed here I count as favorites, oi I'll add some that aren't listed:

The Blood Spattered Bride: Controversial Spanish version of Le Fanu's "Carmilla". The original ending was cut and is lost forever. Who Can Kill A Child?": Another controversial Spanish film. Part of the prologue was cut and is lost forever. Thrill of the Vampires: Jean Rollin film 1971. Venus in Furs: Jess Franco 1969. Could almost be considered a horror musical as Manfred Mann, Barbara McNair, and James Darren all perform musically. The Last Man on Earth: 1964. A plague leaves Vincent Price as the last human being left in a world of zombie vampires. A great Price performance that is strangely unappreciated to this day. Most faithful version of "I Am Legend" to this day.

I think the 1963 "The Haunting" is the greatest horror film ever made, precisely because it is slanted towards auditory rather than visual unease. Great use of VO as well.

"The Shining" is brilliant.

Of films not already mentioned I would cast a vote for "Session 9", which is like a blue-collar "Shining" with a far more disturbing location and for "The Mothman Prophecies"which features a solidly low-key performance from Laura Linney and an overwhelming feeling of increasing malice and dread. Tobe Hooper's follow up to TCM, "Eaten Alive" is so bizarre and so unsettling that I can't actually tell if it's any good. It's like Tennessee Williams play as conceived by Ed Gein.

Two films by Lucio Fulci "Don't Torture a Duckling" and "Lizard in a Woman's Skin" are highly unsettling.

The Triangle. It's a B movie from Australia. We've all seen the big ones. This is different. It's a really insidious, nasty, tricky movie. There's some gore and shock. Then freak-out realizations and Groundhog Dayish recycling that will drill into your brain. Happy Halloween month!

One that hasn't been mentioned yet: Goodnight Mommy.

Dracula 1992, Sleepy Hollow, Aliens

Forrest Gump

the secret video of joe scaborough and his intern......

"Aliens" is one of the best films of the genre ever made, but there are arguments about whether it belongs to Sci Fi or Horror. It has elements of both, making it somewhat problematic on this list. I would never argue its quality or terror, but I'm not sure I'd call it a bona fide Horror Film.

Otherwise, you could add in films like "Arachnophobia" (which I have a guilty partiality for), and "Tremors".

Where would you place, e.g., the original "The Fly"?

R164, I think both the Alien films and The Fly could be classified as Lovecraftian Horror in the sense of science breaking down reality or life forms which, while not "supernatural" are so alien as to be nearly so. Plus there is fairly intense horrific imagery in both. I thought the fate of the fly/human - about to be consumed by a spider now the relative size of a Buick - was as horrible as anything Ripley had to deal with.

R165 - Fair points on both films, particularly "The Fly". Appreciate the response.

Let's just admit there's nothing scary about the Hellraiser movies.

They're just blood and gore, gross-out sessions. Spectacular designs, though.

Everyone saying "Rosemary's Baby," "The Exorcist 1 & 2," "The Changeling" or "atmospheric movies" are lightweights from a bygone era.

Call me addicted to the action, gore and production quality of modern horror, but the aforementioned movies are just campy to me.

Halloween - it's an almost perfect slasher film. Fuck anyone who claims that Carpenter stole from Black Christmas. The Omen - superbly acted, sophisticated, atmospheric, and brutal. Jerry Goldsmith's score alone was terrifying. The Exorcist - over forty years later and is still regarded as the scariest film of all time. Texas Chainsaw Massacre - scary, disturbing and raw. American Werewolf in London - the best man to beast transformation in the history of cinema. Salem's Lot - still marvel at the fact that Tobe Hooper made vampires terrifying in a made for television mini series. High Tension, Martyrs and Inside - Proves that "Torture Porn" doesn't need tits or tired cliches. It can be smart and well-written.

Aliens, Arachnophobia and Tremors are all Horror Enough to be called Horror.

Just because Aliens is also Sci-Fi doesn't mean it's disqualified from Horror. It means it just competes in both categories. And the first, two Aliens are in the Top 50 of any Horror OR Sci-Fi list of any critic who's worth his salt.

Truth is, Alien and Aliens are the scariest movies I've ever seen -- still. They're the only movies that gave -- and continue to give -- me nightmares. I've had Freddy and Jason turn up in my dreams, but they were just chillaxing

The Innocents, The Haunting, and Cat People are my favorites, so I guess I’m biased towards black and white horror movies.

Did any of you guys see Hereditary this year? I think it has the makings of a classic.

Psycho

And Tremors isn't a horror movie just because it's a lighter tone for a children's audience?

Poppycock. It's still horror. Scooby Doo is Horror because it has the archetypes and it's trying to scare little kids a little.

They certainly aren't "The Best Horror EVER." If you want to narrow down your pick to "Best Horror Movie for Adult Audiences," so be it.

Yes, Hereditary is one of the best horror movies ever because of it's clinical relevance and great acting.

Um, r169 must not have seen any movie since 1981.

Visual effects have vastly improved since American Werewolf in London. But its metamorphosis was certainly the best until perhaps The Brendelfly. Its great writing and direction transcend time.

Salem's Lot doesn't get near the respect that it deserves. In terms of scariness and atmosphere, I'd put it up against almost any theatrical release. It's a masterpiece.

R176 - Ah, you and whoever remembered to bring up Horror Hotel are on the mark! Salem's Lot was fantastic. I read the book, by the way, and the film did a good job. One measure I use for these films on whether I'll watch them alone if my partner is travelling and thus not home. I won't watch The Haunting, Horror Hotel, The Innocents, The Exorcist, or Salem's Lot if alone.

I can handle Aliens alone, for all its heart attack moments, and stuff like Arachnophobia, and Rosemary's Baby, and Cat People because it's more sad and atmospheric than terrifying (except for that walk across the Central Park transverse at 67th Street and the scene in the swimming pool) but not those other five films.

Most of the Draculas have been failures in my view. I read the original book in my early twenties and had to sleep with the light on for two weeks afterward. None of the films match up to the book.

Anyone remember Wolfen, with Albert Finney, from the 1980s? I thought that quite a good job and a good blend of suspense and horror?

Salem's Lot bored the shit out of me. Couldn't get farther than the first hour.

R178 - Well, de gustibus and all that. It scared the shit out of me. Of course, it's a long time since I've seen it, I'm much older now.

And there are different levels of film fright: none of these films scare me quite the way Robert MItchum's Max Cady did in the original "Cape Fear".

R179, nobody could be as scary as Mitchum in villain mode. He wore clamminess like a cloak.

Blue Velvet - the greatest horror movie of them all

[quote] Anyone remember Wolfen, with Albert Finney, from the 1980s? I thought that quite a good job and a good blend of suspense and horror?

Wolfen is rather underrated. One of the best things about it, is how the filmmakers made Manhattan, of all places, seem desolate and eerie.

R182 - Glad you appreciate the film and feel as I do that it is underrated. It is truly suspenseful and the premise I thought ingenious. I believe the abandoned church at the center of the story (don't want to spoil it for those who might want to give it a try) was in the South Bronx. And Finney is always interesting to watch - how he figures out the riddle and responds I thought was very satisfying.

What Michael Wadleigh did for sections of NY and the South Bronx in "Wolfen", Jim Jarmusch did for Detroit in "Only Lovers Left Alive". But that's another thread altogether.

Romanticising urban desolation has an honourable tradition in film - I think Kazan's photography in "On the Waterfront" achieved some of that for the Hoboken waterfront, without sacrificing the hard grittiness.

But that too is another thread altogether.

R183 - interesting trivia - the church, while in the South Bronx, was entirely fictional- it was built as a set for the film specifically and never existed as a real building in either exterior or interior form. A well known magazine running a story on the South Bronx - I believe it was National Geographic - published a photo of the church standing among bombed out-looking ruins and received a letter from the makers of the Wolven explaining that the brick-strewn site was recently cleared for planned development and that the church itself was merely a prop, removed after the film was finished shooting.

"Let's Scare Jessica to Death" (1971) "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) "The Shining" (1980)

Mitchum in Cape Fear and The Night Of The Hunter. Though when Harry is pretending to be a righteous preacher in NOTH Mitchum played it with a wink and a nod to camp. That might have been due to Laughton's expert direction. It's when he shows his true colors to the the children, and the audience, that he is scary as shit.

The People Under the Stairs.

Mitchum in Cape Fear and The Night Of The Hunter. Although when Harry is pretending to be a righteous preacher Mitchum plays it with a wink and a nod to camp. That might have been due to Laughton's direction though but I love his line readings. It's when he reveals his true colors and motivation to the children, and the audience, that he is scary as shit.

The Nanny? Actually my favorite is Who’s the Boss.

R188, Mitchum is brilliant in that film, which is otherwise a bit uneven, despite the presence of Shelley Winters at her most tragically brow-beaten and the great Lillian Gish.

I think the pacing throws the whole thing off, and Gish's final speech, delivered explicitly to the Fourth Wall, casts a sickly veil over the ending.

1. Drag Me to Hell - no gore or violence, yet very creepy and effective. That's on the list for Halloween night!

2. Poltergiest - same reasons as above.

3. The Ring

I, Madman

Creepy as fuck.

Well, I watched the Dutch VANISHING on recommendation of this thread.

It sucks. It's not scary and neither the killer nor the hero would act that way.

The Others

BRAVO whoever recommended CARNIVAL OF SOULS.

I now get what all the hype is about. It had some amateurish acting and effects -- but it was a GREAT horror story. That is one of my favorites now. One of the all-time bests!

Queen of Spades (1949). A British horror starring Anton Walbrook and Dame Edith Evans. Martin Scorsese called it a masterpiece. It's never been available in the US on DVD, streaming, or TCM, but you can download it at the link (which is safe--I tested it).

Raw, a recent Belgian film, is great horror film with vampire and cannibalism themes. There's some interesting feminist stuff in it too.

I saw a cute little movie called - Saw. It has dismembering themes and interesting plot lines.

I'm the person who recommended Horror Hotel. Its British title is City of the Dead. There's a decent quality video of it on YouTube at the link.

I also recommended Carnival of Souls. Here's an HD copy on YouTube.

Dead of Night (1945), a British horror anthology made up of four short films. The Michael Redgrave one about the ventriloquist is the scariest.

Not a movie, but the Amelia segment from the made-for-TV movie Trilogy of Terror is one of my favorite horror things ever. And it stars DL fave Karen Black!

The horror film The Other (made in 1972 and not to be confused with the Nicole Kidman film The Others), scared the shit out of me when I saw it as a kid. It's about twin boys who live on a isolated farm. I haven't seen it since but I am trying to track it down.

Yes, r200, I saw a beautiful, restored Black-and-White version of Carnival of Souls free on Amazon to Prime members.

The Ten Commandments

Your tongue will dig your grave, R205!

Horror!

Just finished watching one that was more of a thriller than horror but worth watching called "shadow of the vampire" with John malcovitch and Willem Dafoe. A fictionalized version of the making of Nosferatu.

Creepy as hell and leaves you wondering.

Diabolique scared the hell out of me - especially at the end. I literally screamed.

Leaves you wondering what, R208?

Can we get clarification on the difference between horror (monsters?) and supernatural (things that go bump in the night?)

Aliens is a horror film. The Haunting is a ghost story. Are we lumping them together for this thread?

R201 - Props for even knowing about Dead of Night.

The Haunting (the 1963 original, not the mess of a remake) still ranks at the top for me.

“Rosemary’s Baby”

“The Exorcist”

Both films were superb.

R212 - seconding both of those.

Haven't we done this before?

My vote, "I, Madman"

Clayton Rohner, yumm. Jenny Wright from "After Dark" who starred with my butt-baby daddy, Adrian Pasdar.

Drag Me To Hell.

I love "Rear Window." I guess that is really more of a suspense movie though.

"The Haunting" (the original)

"Rosemary's Baby"

"Horror Hotel"

"The Exorcist"

R190 - I'm a huge fan of Mitchum's memorable performance as Max Cady in the original (and far superior) "Cape Fear" but that's a suspense film, not a horror film. Ditto "Night of the Hunter".

R182 - A third vote for Wolfen, one of my all-time favourtie indie horror films.

The Best of Everything

R220 - You ain't kiddin'.

The Haunting is not a horror film. There's not a single scary moment in the entire film. Julie Harris gives one of the most laughable performances in history.

Even the terrible remake with Catherine Zeta-Jones is better.

The Funhouse. Carnies are terrifying anyway

The fact that The Haunting didn't scare YOU doesn't mean it isn't a horror film. It's one of the best, and the remake was a total mess.

I fuckin' love that movie, R223. Little freakshow Elizabeth Berridge and the delightful Cooper Huckabee.

Nosferatu

The Haunting couldn’t scare a toddler.

Mute Witness (1995)

Haute tension (2003)

R222 Julie Harris was amazing in that film.

Just for that, whatever you are, you will walk alone...in the dark, where no one can hear you.

Knock it off with the insults, will you? You don't like the film, that's your privilege.

Do try and have an adult discussion here.

Horror.

Thanks for bumping this thread, R231. I missed it when it was around. My favorite is Let The Right One In, the European version. It was so original and I loved the ending.

Also, The Hunger. Disturbing.

The Thing (John Carpenter) Great creepy atmosphere, and such a heavy feeling of impending doom.

Bay of Blood is pretty shocking

R7 The Mist was great! And the ending - so shocking and heartbreaking.

Watching it now, it's a great metaphor for the Trump era. Crazy ol' religious wingnut Marcia Gay Harden starts convincing people to follow her and ignore the truth about what's happening all around them, to their detriment, of course.

The Exorcist. Still scares me today!