The original Diabolique where the guy sits up in the bathtub after being supposedly drownd. Fantastic. The whole theater in Santa Barbara, filled with college students like me, freaked. Just a few years ago. :-)

Not scary
 

Definitely wasn't "Salem's Lot"- that movied sucked. (but not as bad as, "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things")

Scary
 

I don't agree that Salem's Lot sucked. In fact, the scene in the kitchen was a real shocker for me. There is a European version that's even darker but I think the TV version, directed by Tobe Hooper. was well down (so does Stephen King).

Make that "well done" not "welll down". Its early here...

What about the last shot in "Invasion of the body snatchers" where Donald Sutherland points and screams..?

This was one of the scariest moments I have ever seen on screen.

The scariest movie overall I have seen was Halloween. Home alone at the age of 15 at 11pm it scared me shitless.

Cheers, Peter

What about the last shot in "Invasion of the body snatchers" where Donald Sutherland points and screams..?

I agree that that was one of the most chilling moments in horror movies. A great twist at the last minute. Sure got me too! :)

Anyone ever see "Trog"? probably doesn't hold up now, but when I was like eight, it scared the heck outta me. I saw the first "Friday the thirteenth" in an old buck-a-ticket theater. Again, doesn't really hold up now. There was also one called "Don't be affraid of the dark", where these little mushroom people were tormenting this poor girl and *****spoiler alert*****seal her into a fireplace. The original "vanishing" was a bit slow at times, but what an ending!!! But my alltime creepy still has to be "Trilogy of Terror". The one with that little african doll with the knife and big teeth:)

Last night, IFC ran "Taxas Chainsaw Massacre." Not only is it fairly weird, creepy, gross and disturbing, but it's also a great example of highly effective moviemaking on a very small budget. Down here Tobe Hooper's still quite a legend, and "Texas Chainsaw" tops a lot of people's freak-out lists in this area.

Agustin Villaronga's film "In a Glass Cage" was both frightening and disturbing. When I saw it at Chicago's Music Box Theater the night of its premier in the summer of 1989, over 50% of the audience walked out after just half an hour.

The first season of the original (b/w) "Outer Limits" tv series from 1963 had some very frightening episodes. I recall "It Crawled Out of the Woodwork," "The Invisibles," and "Architects of Fear" as being some of the best examples. The show was produced by Joseph Stefano, writer of the screenplay for Hitchcock's "Psycho" - and photographed by the amazing Conrad Hall.

Sadly, with the exception of the episodes Harlan Ellison penned and very few others, the second season of "Outer Limits" was rather poor.

When I was very young nothing frightened me more than the evil Daleks, and their creator, Davros, on the BBC series "Dr. Who."
EXTERMINATE!!!!

Has anybody here ever seen the original BBC "Quatermass" serials ny Nigel Kneal? Or perhaps the "Quatermass" Hammer-produced film from the late 60s called "Five Million Years to Earth" or, alternately, "Quatermass and the Pit"? Great stuff.

Chris, I'm with you on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I had always sort of dismissed it as gory, z-grade stuff until I actually saw it a few years ago on laserdisc. It's really well-made! Very intense! Not really gory at all. I'm now a believer. And man, that opening scene of Suspiria... Wow. I do think it goes downhill from there and that the ending is pretty ridiculous, though.

Yay to whomever mentioned Polanski's Repulsion! That's an all-time favorite of mine. The Tenant is also great stuff in parts... And of course someone already mentioned his Rosemary's Baby.

Anyone seen Don't Look Now? Nic Roeg, 70s, Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, Venice... Just recently re-released in WS on DVD... Worth a look if you like interesting filmmaking and creepiness.

The Wicker Man is kinda cool...

"The Exorcist' when it was first out in theaters. I was only 16 and snuck into the theater to see it. Didn't sleep for about a week. The guy sitting next to me passed out he was so scared.

You mean no one has ever seen the 60s creeper "The Shuttered Room" with Oliver Reed? I'm surprised it hasn't popped up on the list again...really, really scary stuff. The thing about it is the viewpoint of the "thing" that's watching the family through cracks and keyholes...with heavy breathing, of course.

For old-timers, I have another question. Does anyone remember a 60s black & white movie (might have been a teleplay) about a man who accidentally gets locked inside a huge NY department store overnight? After the lights go out, the mannequins come alive...but it turns out the mannequins are nice and they help him escape a run-in with these shadow people with glowing eyes that also come out at night when the lights go out. Sounds goofy when I write it now...but just seeing the slight movement of those dark shapes and blinking eyes in the darkness as they stalk him through the dark store...that was pretty scary.

And I remember one more for old-timers, there was a particular episode of Grizzly Adams where something (again with heavy breathing) is stalking Adams' cabin and watching him from the bushes. Turns out it was just a wolverine...but the build up was so well done, in creating a creepy, suspenseful setting, that it has stuck with me all these years. I remember even as a kid being impressed with the way it was shot.

Bad Seed! Village of the Damned!

You mean the original (1960) "Village of the Damned", right?

Damn skippy. . .not that remake with Kirsty Ally.

Scariest Movies
 

There are too many for me to list all, but here are a few:

(the first) TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (theatre)
JAWS (theatre)
EXORCIST (theatre)
(the original) THE HAUNTING (home)
ALIENS (for some reason the second one scared me more than the first - theatre)
THE BIRDS (home)

One of my favorite "suspenseful" movies is the original CAPE FEAR with Robert Mitchum - "Counselor, I got all kinds of thing in store for your family", and "Your daughter's lookin' real juicy now, Counselor"! Or something like that.

I quite liked THE OTHERS and EVENT HORIZON.

When I was a kid, the original BLOB scared me, but then I grew up!

How about these???
 

Watch these alone late at night with the lights out & the volume up, I dare you!

1) Session 9 (shot on Hi-Def too I believe) scary, disturbing & utterly brilliant!

2) Phantasm (the Tall Man) saw it when I was 10 on network TV and didn't sleep for a week.

3) A Nightmare On Elm Street

4) Candyman

5) The Changeling

6) The Exorcist 1 or 3 (ignore part 2 at all costs!)

7) Any of my elementary school productions ;-)

anyone remember the orginial "children of the corn"? i think they made 26
sequels after that but i remember watching this movie when i was young..
man this was disturbing needless to say...not sure how it would be if i watched it now...i might just never see it again, just to retain the authentic
fright from what i remember.

Anyone ever see "Somthing wicked this way comes"? Jason Robards and those two kids, creepy circus comes to town... Errie, Also, anyone ever play Resident Evil (the Directors cut) on PS1? About 1:30 am, after work.. quiet apartmet... Wife asleep... Boy, look out! Prepare for heart racing! Aslo, the last 1/4 of Jaws II, when that helicopter gets pulled into the ocean! When your a kid, that is terrifying stuff!

Resident evil! Whoo Hoo! Also see, Silent Hill, and Resident Evil Zero for Gamecube. I'm sure I will be told this is a movie forum by the next person who answers this thread.

Resident Evil is/was the scariest video game I ever played. ALthough the original Alone In The Dark was tension filled. Of course, there were quite a few points in Quake that startled me into dropping my keyboard off my lap. The commercials for Silent Hill (2?) looked scary enough.

PD1501974, I'm going to go rent Session 9. It better be scary, OR ELSE! ;)

Session 9
 

Dylan, it is both scary & disturbing; As well as beautifully shot (except for one or two minor complaints) and incredibly well acted. But you HAVE to watch it in the dark with the volume up, preferably alone.
And Silent Hill 2 IS the scariest/eeriest game ever. Way beyond Resident Evil or Alone In the Dark. It is a masterpiece.
And for just plain disturbing, check out the film Audition by Takeshi Miike. Kinda slow but well worth it.
Hope you enjoy!
Erik

I've played the first Silent Hill, but not the second. Excellent game.

Was not that impressed by Session 9. I don't know about scary, but I know a really f*cked up horror movie--it's called Nekromantic, and proudly proclaims on the cover of the box (at least where I rented it) that it was banned in Germany, where it was made. Not for the faint of heart.

Well allthought it seems that modern movies are not considered scary at all, i must say that 6.th sense scared the bejeezus out of me when i saw it first. Of course, all the suspense in that movie is kinda lost the second time, but oh.. the first one. And i managed to see it without any spoilers beforehand. So it was pristine moment.

Other than that i must say that Aliens 1 is one of the most scary movies i've seen in a long time. And if possible, go get the spec. edition DVD with the isolated soundtrack. It's very educational to see how they use very customized musical background to enhance the mood and scary parts.

/Henrik

Dawn of the Dead, and Alien (1).

What about Day of the Dead (I think that's the one I'm thinking of). . .that one's pretty creepy. Really graphic onscreen violence, and they're all trapped in a mall.

Yeah, the orgianl Alien was scary. Edge of the seat stuff back then. Especially if you saw it in a theater.

Friday The 13th.(Theatre)
The Excorcist(Home)
Halloween(Theatre)
Amityville Horror(Theatre)

I'm looking back on my younger years when they had more effect on me than does movies I watch today. I guess I've hardened up to horror flicks these days but back then this type of horror was relatively new compared to what it is today. The sudden scenes and suspense in Friday The 13th scared the wits out of me back in 1980 when it was originally released.

Your most favorite horror or suspense movies(not necessarily the scariest)
 

Some of mine are:

The Changeling
The Omen
The Amityville Horror
Psycho (Original)
The Birds
Burn't Offerings
Black Christmas

* * FEAR INVOLVED * *
 

Here they are:

The Hills Have Eyes
The Omen
The Shining
Alien
The Serpent and the Rainbow
The Exorcist - - New Version (Damn Face still haunts me)
The Dead Zone

Enjoy!

Cheers!

Derrick

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte
7 Deadly Sins

There are many scary movies but The Shining was one that sticks out in my mind. I was a registered nurse at a state psychiatric hospital, on the night shift, when I say The Shining. Man, I was looking behind me every minute !

Yikes ! Nick

Nick,

Haw, Haw! I haven't laughed so hard since the pigs ate my li'l brother!

I just finished watching "The Others"...alone and at night. That was more creepy than I thought it'd be.

Watching this reminded me of another film with almost the same name that I saw way back in the 70s...and that scared the bejesus out of me. It was called "The Other." Anyone remember that?