Best horror films?
 

I've been watching a marathon of the top 100 best horror moments on Bravo and it got me to thinking of the best horror films?

My favorites (in no particular order):

1. The Karloff Frankensteins.

2. Aliens (SCARY).

3. Exorcist.

4. E.T. (don't ask, but it freaked me out at the age of 6, and still haunts me).

5. The Thing (1982).

6. An American Werewolf in London and The Howling.

7. Jaws (it had horror elements).

8. New York Minute with the Olsen Twins (shudder).

9. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original).

10. The 1970s Invasion of the Body Snatchers with that scary scream at the end!

11. Blade and Blade 2.

12. Dead Alive.

13. The Fly (1986).

14. The Exorcist 3.

And so many more...What about you guys and gals?

heath

Boris Karloff once complained that "horror" means "physical revulsion"---better, he thought, to refer to scary movies as "terror films."

Stephen King has observed how easy it is to gross someone out---that's what he resorts to (he said in an interview) when he can't summon his deeper desire: the fine, singing fear the best scary storytelling is capable of instilling.

The Alien is scary because he jumps out at you, but I much prefer what is derided as "psychological" horror. Thus my favorites:

1. "The Haunting" (1963), a near-perfect version of Shirley Jackson's novel.

2. "The Innocents" (1961), the only good adaptation of H.James's shockingly frank "The Turn of the Screw."

3. "The Haunting of M" (1980) an out-of-circulation ghost story by Anna Thomas (shot by Gregory Nava), which I saw in its first theatrical release. This movie has the most frightening reveal of an apparition I've ever seen.

I agree with Heath about "The Exorcist III"---an overlooked picture. There's a gag with a bedsheeted apparition in a hospital lobby that invariably makes audiences gasp; it's an expert set-up.

There are moments in the last half-hour of "To Kill a Mockingbird" (when the kids are walking through the forest alone) that I'll never forget.

I'd include "The Blair Witch Project"; that last shot---the payoff of the shaggy-witch tale---made me jump. But like a dirty joke, it's only effective the first time.

I should add what I think is the scariest non-supernatural movie: "Glengarry Glen Ross," James Foley's adaptation of D.Mamet's play. Watching those desperate salesmen wake to their fates is like crawling past a traffic fatality.

JS

I meant to write the original Haunting. How about The Changling? SCARY!

heath

Hands Down!
 

The Exorcist-Good against Pure Evil!

RB

Great choices all! Here are some I love in no particular order:

The Evil Dead
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
PSYCHO
THE EXORCIST
Bride of Frankenstein
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Remake with Sutherland)
The Birds
The Omen
The Romero Dead Films
Halloween
The Fog
The Last Man on Earth
SCREAM
SE7EN
SLEEPY HOLLOW
The UNIVERSAL Horror Films (Not the one's by S. Sommers)

Here's a few worth contention.

1. Dracula (Bela Lugosi)

2. Carnival of Souls

3. The Exorcist

4. The Legend of Hell House

5. A Nightmare on Elm Street (the first one)

I read The Legend of Hell House five years ago--SCARY! Movie was good, but not quite as scary.

heath

Boy, yeah, I'd forgotten about "The Changeling."

And "The Fog"---there's a moment when Tom Atkins hears someone knock on the front door of his bungalow. Goes to the door---through the glass we see a shadow figure slip out of sight---he sticks his head out into the mist and says "Hello ...?"

Carpenter HOLDS the angle for just a beat longer than we want to watch, to really screw down the tension ... and nothing happens.

I remember letting out my breath in the theater; I forgot to breathe!

JS

I saw "The Fog" twice.

Hi
Never saw "pet sematary" but the book was scary enough for Me.
Does the movie live up to the book?

Peter.....

Pet Semetary--never read it, movie scared me bad.

The Fog--I need to see it, and now they're remaking it.

heath

My pics:
Night Of The Living Dead
both Dawn Of The Deads
Karloff's The Mummy
Alien
Jaws
The Others
the original Haunting
Tremors isn't really a horror movie, but I love it so much I have to add it in.
Wow, so many others... I'll leave it at that.

Oh yeah, even though it is sci-fi, Event Horizon scared the shit out of me in the theater.

Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" - classic 5 stars. I forgot about that one. Savini's remake? ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz!

I hate to say this, but the original Mummy was a yawner for me...

heath

"Mummy was a yawner"
 

Yeah, it's pretty dated--but the photography! Karl Freund (who also shot Peter Lorre in "Mad Love") got this amazing pearlescent glow from things ... that CU where Karloff's staring into a magic water-bowl, and they have an eye-light on him, is like a painting.

I was scared by the first hour of Alejandro Amenábar's "The Others"---the moonlit mansion interiors were beautifully shot---but the last half-hour was just ... predictable.

And I loved "The Sixth Sense," even before the twist ending.

JS

Poltergeist scared the crap out of me. And as a kid, I screamed and ran out of the theatre crying at some dinosaur movie. I've never seen it again, and don't remember the name...

Scott, so Pascagoula is too big for Mississippi? Just center it in the USA?
(I was born in P'goula)

<<<-- Originally posted by Michael Westphal : Poltergeist And as a kid, I screamed and ran out of the theatre crying at some dinosaur movie. I've never seen it again, and don't remember the name...
-->>>

Was it Land Before Time?


Sorry, I couldn't resist. :)


Anyway, I wanted to add Nosferatu to my personal list. And yeah, The Mummy isn't the most exciting or scary horror movie ever, but something draws me to it. I dunno, maybe I'm strange.


And as for Savini's '90 remake of NOTLD, it isn't the original by any means, but I do like it. It's better than 98% of the zombie films out there, but it's hard to judge it against THE zombie film of all time.

Which "Nosferatu," Dylan? Murnau's or Herzog's remake?

"Dead Ringers" is more about psychological breakdown than supernatural horror, but it's pretty creepy.

JS

Just finished watching The Fog with 2 minutes to spare before Halloween was over. SCARY! Forget the remake, though...

heath

<<<-- Originally posted by John Sandel : Which "Nosferatu," Dylan? Murnau's or Herzog's remake?

-->>>

The original with Max Schreck. I confess I have not seen the remake.

Herzog's remake is fantastic. Most beautiful vampire film ever rendered.
Forget Coppola's Crapula. Tiresome, overwrought.

Strange and frightening films I favor:

Herzog's Nosferatu (1979)

Begotten, (1991) by E. Merhige

films by The Brothers Quay (collection of shorts, Institute Benjamenta)

The Fall Of The House Of Usher (1928, mind, by Jean Epstein, with help from Bunuel; wild stuff!)

Vampyr (1932, by Carl Theodor Dreyer. eerie, dreamlike)

Tetsuo: The Iron Man, (1989) by Shinya Tsukamoto

Hey Michael,

Yes, right in the heart of Kansas! You were born here and I am stuck here (at least for the time being). What's going on in BR that would make you leave such an exciting town?

a lot of the movies mentioned were very good here are some more recent good ones,

Session 9
Pitch Black
Event Horizon (poor ending)
the others

Definitely good picks. Event Horizon scared me pretty good, it's a bit under-rated.

heath

Now that October's done, do we have to change the subject to the most frightening presidential elections ...?

I haven't seen "Tetsuo," but I've heard it's comparable in its strangeness to "Eraserhead."

"Begotten" struck me wrong, I think: amateurish, tedious in parts. But very much Merhige's own, interior poetic vision. (His "Shadow of the Vampire," a conflation of Murnau and his myth, was pretty innocuous.)

The Quay brothers are amazing. I wouldn't call their mood "horror," but there's definitely something unsettling about the dreamlike claustrophobia they cobble together.

Shawn, I've never seen Epstein's "House Of Usher." Is it out on DVD? How's the print?

I liked "Session 9." Their location blew me away---apparently that old hospital was just standing on its grounds, like a ragged derelict ... some of the rooms they shot in required no set-dressing. Brad Anderson's new picture, "The Machinist," looks like it may be pretty strong work.

JS

My wife's favorite is "The Birds." Especially the scene where they found the old person with her eyes plucked out!

Hi John.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005ABVH/qid=1099369245/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-0100329-3840022?v=glance&s=dvd

The printer of Usher is plenty watchable, and the medieval music used as score is a good part of what makes this film so incredible to watch. A must own, for me at least! The most modern film to come out of the twenties I've ever seen.


My above list was partly a liberty taken to present some interesting films not usually mentioned in a lot of circles, and indeed, I don't feel terribly partial to many horror genre films, so I did what I could to contribute here.
Upon this reflection, films that have creeped me out over the years are as follows...

more recently:

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the original

jesus, this film is so rough and raw and f**ked up, it's admirable (from a distance).

American Psycho

Very very disturbing and scary. Young Mr. Bale has my utmost respect. Because of him am I curious in The Machinist. Talk about an underrated film.
Brilliant.

Angel Heart

Somehow, all of the films I've mentioned are period films. The 70s, the 80s, and, with Angel Heart, the 40s and 50s. This film, while utilizing some little-too- obvious sound-derived atmospherics, threw me for a loop, because of such grounded performances from Rourke and Bonet, and because of such detailed work with New Orleans and voodoo images.

Hellraiser

This one, and it's worthwhile sequel, had me intrigued as a teenager. The puzzle box, the sense of transition into otherworldliness when it finally opened, and the exploration of judgement and soul. The most striking monsters I've seen in these kinds of films.

The Shining

Probably the first scary film I'd ever seen. The most memorable at any rate.
Those twin girls appearing everywhere! Running scared through the snow covered maze at night. Dead woman in the tub. A benchmark for me as a very budding film enthusiast.

CANDYMAN
 

CANDYMAN
CANDYMAN
CANDYMAN
CANDYMAN
CANDYMAN

(waits)

Roger, make sure you post again tomorrow, just so we know you are safe....

Halloween!
 

Any Horror film that doesn't use computers is what I like...

Halloween scared the crap out of me when I was like 9 years old. My parents wouldn't let me watch it, so I snuck into the living room and hide behind the couch while they watched it. I remember being SOOO scared and wishing I'd never seen it. How terrifiying is that?? You're 9 years old and you can't tell your mommy you're scared of something because you'll get into trouble!! It's like 2 nightmares in 1!

Halloween's the best. The scene where she stabs him in the eye with the coat hanger - then she sits in the doorway. You seem him in the background out of focus sit up and turn towards her (us!). That is CLASSIC horror...you see something the actor doesn't and start yelling at the screen. Also, you feel like he's after you because the angle of the shot is such that he's looking directly at YOU and her!!

Any raw pre-computer age Horror is great!

Murph

I guess I fit in the category of not liking Candyman, sorry. Just didn't scare me...

heath

scariest movies:

when I was 12:

1) the exorcist
2) jaws 1 to 9

when I was 25:

1) silence of the lambs
2) mickey mouse in playboyland

Jaws 1 - 9?

heath

Joke.

JS

spanish joke

I lost count with the jaws movies. The same with the well articulating sylvester stalone ' rocky' movies.

I really liked how sylvester acted in the first ROCKy movie. Then in his later movies he freezed up and he became a commercial actor.

All of the Arnold zwarsnegger's movies are about horror. It is just so damned horrible to have to listen to arnold talk. His acting is worse than clinton smoking a joint.

At least my Governator inhales when he speaks.

Sorry--off-topic ...

JS

<<<-- Originally posted by Jose di Cani :
All of the Arnold zwarsnegger's movies are about horror. It is just so damned horrible to have to listen to arnold talk. His acting is worse than clinton smoking a joint. -->>>

So? He kicks ass.

Throw me down for Dario Argento's "Suspiria" from 1977. Best. Horror. Ever.

Gotta love the soundtrack, the M.C. Escher-inspired art direction, and Jessica Harper.

Just thinkin' about it gives me the willies -- wooo!

Chris,

Don't forget about the Technicolor craziness!

heath

Next to some great movies mentioned here (The Shining, Jaws, Se7en,...) I would like to add RINGU, the first Japanese original.
Great mood, perfect music,creepy sound effects and a twist at the end that kept me up all night :-)

I thought My Little Eye was good to, especially that everything was filmed through the eyes of the camera. Shame they made the last part like a slasher triller.