Movies that truly are frightening (1 Viewer)

[Morgan Jolley]

Chairman of the Board

 

[Chris]

To quote Norm McDonald in the only moment I enjoyed him (on Conan)

"You know what they should call it? Box office Poison"
"Actually, it's Chairman of the Board"
"I bet that's spelled B-O-R-E-D"

As to a movie that really scared me:

SAFE

There is something strange about that film that I find terrible and petrifying.. how she gets wrapped into the whole thing.

The first time I saw "Prophecy" did that (though it doesn't hold up that way on subsequent viewings, despite my enjoyment of it)

Aliens

And for strange scary:

Never has a moment in any film made me jump out of my chair the way that the Large Marge scene in Pee Wee's Big Adventure did. It wasn't that it was truly terrifying, it's just that you aren't expecting it at all, I thought I was watching a lighthearted comedy and then BAM that happens and I jumped out of my chair the first time.. *laugh*

 

[Brian W.]

Try "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer." Only time I've ever witnessed people walking out of a movie because they couldn't take it. (It was during the scene where the family is abducted.)

The movie's particularly scary because it's loosely based on fact, though it's highly fictionalized. (The three main charactes were real people, though -- Henry Lee Lucas, Otis, and Becky.)

 

[Tim_C]

I really like horror movies, but I haven't really gotten a chance to watch very many, since neither of my parents approves of scary movies. (They didn't even want me to watch a Hitchcock movie until I showed them that only Psycho and The Birds really count as horror.)

So most of the ones they have let me watch are either old or PG/PG-13, and don't involve the supernatural.

Here are ones that I've found scary and or creepy, although, as I've been saying I really haven't seen all that many so most people probably find these mild:

Signs - I know there are quite a few people who really didn't like this show, but I found to be completely brilliant. Very suspenseful, well-filmed and acted, and the soundtrack just adds to the suspense.

The Haunting - Another one where the suspense really builds up until the very ending of the movie.

The Birds - Ok, the first hour or so isn't scary, but I find the rest of the movie, and the overall premise to be very disturbing. (Just think of all those birds, and what they could do if they decided to attack us...)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1958) - Most people probably don't even classify it as a true horror film, but I was quite scared by it.

One of the reasons I probably find some of those movies scary is because most of them I watched alone in my room, at night, with my door closed and the lights off.

I've never really been scared by a movie after I've finished watching it, and I don't take any of it seriously, but it does make for great entertainment while the movie is on. (It's like riding a roller coaster, it's really 'fun' to be scared as long as you know you're going to be safe in the long run.)

I'd really like to see some others like The Shining. Alien, Aliens, and Se7en, but it'd probably be better if I just wait another year and a half until I graduate from high school and go to college, so I don't feel like I'm completely rebelling against my parents by watching rated-R horror movies. (Though someone I know owns The Shining and I might consider asking him to let me borrow it.)

I've also found that the best stories I write (according to my teachers/friends at least) are those with horror or suspense. So I guess I just have something for the genre.

And I'm sure none of you really wanted to know all of my feelings for the horror genre, so I'll be quiet now.

 

[Steven.W.T]

Event Horizon always creeped me out. I saw it when I was a kid on HBO by myself at night. I could not go to sleep after that.

 

[Justin_D]

I want to add one to the list. Gacy. Oh....my....god. I may never look at serial killer movies the same again. The actor (can't remember who it is off hand and I'm about to go to sleep) captured John Wayne Gacy. The movie itself, yes, could have been better, but it really was a blood curdling story. Especially considering we all know what happened, but its captured on film.

 

[Dave Mack]

Anybody else remember "Let's Scare Jessica to Death"...
Oof.... SEVERAL scenes in that.
The Changeling, DEF... The Ring, The Shining, Blair Witch, Parts of Creepshow, Halloween, Alien, The Eye, Serpent and The Rainbow, Salem's Lot, D-Day scene in Private Ryan scared the HELL out of me.

 

[Dana Fillhart]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Poltergeist. The scene with the kid counting the lightning-thunder interval is one of the scariest things I remember seeing. Actually, that film had lots of scary moments -- chairs rearranged in the kitchen, maggots in the meat, face-peel, Carol-Anne's initial disappearance ... I'm getting creeped out just thinking about those scenes!

I'll toss a nod for The Ring, Prince of Darkness and The Exorcist as well. Signs had some edge-of-the-seat moments, too, but I don't think it's as effective as the others on repeat watches. The Sixth Sense still creeps me out for the girl in the tent scene, plus the videotape revelation still really hits me hard, moreso than the film's (in)famous ending.

I'll add another that had two or three really creepy scenes: Jian Gui (The Eye), which came out last year. That elevator scene ... whew!

I've not seen the original, but the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers still does a good job of creeping me out.

Hmm ... I think I'm gonna have to watch one of these films again soon!

 

[Justin_S]

Indeed, its one of my most wanted films on DVD. Definitely severely creepy at times.

 

[Brian W.]

Is that the one with Donald from "That Girl"? I remember the scene where he's painting the statues with red paint. (Are they totem poles?) I think he's an artist of some sort. And of course, "I'm Jennifer!"

If that's it, I only saw it once... when it was first broadcast when I was a kid. But since I remember it, I guess it made an impression.

 

[Scott_E]

"IT" scared me out of my mind when I saw it when I was a kid. I remember locking my self in the bathroom that night and sleeping in the shower.

 

[Tom Oh]

Japanese film, Audition, scared me. A first film in a long time to make me squirm.

 

[Joey Skinner]

"Alien" made me so tense my jaws ached.
I still have trouble swimming in the ocean because of "Jaws".
Has anyone mentioned "The Exorcist" yet? Fear of demons and Satan always works for me too.

 

[Mike Williams]

Joey, "The Exorcist" is on my list.

Scott E, I was gonna sleep in the shower after I saw IT, until I remembered Psycho.

 

[Shane Gralaw]

I would hove to second Kairo . I'm not sure the plot entirely holds up, but for actual chills felt during the scary scenes, this one delivers. And I am someone who is usually too jaded to ever get chills in a movie.

 

[Zen Butler]

The Ring
Prince of Darkness
Stigmata
Se7en
Silence of the Lambs
The Haunting (Original)
The Exorcist
May
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Village of the Damned

 

[Garrett Lundy]

So far, The Ring (and to a lesser extent, Ring) is the only movie I cannot rewatch because it scares me so much.

There are films that I will not rewatch for two more reasons

A. Anger me too much: House of the Dead, The Blair witch project.

B. Disturbing: Vulgar.

 

[JohnRice]

Uh oh, Justin and I are agreeing again. Maybe The Day After Tomorrow really is true.



Someone mentioned {Safe}. Interesting choice. You should check out The Rapture, a movie which is just as scary in a very similar way, as in how people are consumed by obsessions.

 

[Chris]

Yep, Rapture is a good one. i like the psychologically scary.. the thing about {Safe} is that she kept feeling as though she was saving herself and they kept praying further and further on her fears.. it was one of those sinister "how you can take over people and make them like you" kind of films that, like Jim Jones type events is just spooky.

 

[JohnRice]

The Rapture does the same thing, don't you think?