Scariest horror movie ?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by alexpop, Jul 13, 2020.

  1. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    I read the start of this thread yesterday and it was suggested that THE EXORCIST III was an answer to the OP's request. I've never seen III, but I did see I and II many years ago.

    THE EXORCIST, the first film, is what I still consider the scariest film of my life. I don't claim to have seen them all, but surely I've seen many of the popular ones, probably not so many of the cult-type horror films. When THE EXORCIST was making headlines in its first run, and most showings were close to sold out, I and a buddy and his girlfriend went to see it one Friday evening. Unfortunately, the 8 PM showing was sold out, so we had to opt for the 10:30 show.

    Even the 10:30 show was eventually sold out and when we were scoping out seats, the only place with three in a row was in the second row of this smallish theater. At that distance, the screen was huge, filling my entire field of vision. The stories of the day were that people had to get up and leave the showings they were at. I couldn't tell since the entire audience was behind me. I recall slinking down in my seat every time that damned camera started dollying up the stairs or down the hallway to that door. It seriously scared the Hell out of me.

    I was a young adult at the time, still living at home. My parents had gone to our summer cottage about 90 minutes away for the weekend, and I had to go home afterwards. Five minutes in our house afterwards was enough to send me back to the car and to make the 90 minute drive to the cottage. This was the early 70s, and I was headed into the rural areas away from Philly. There wasn't much radio out there. It seemed all I could find was some station playing a spooky-sounding organ recital. So off went the radio. The parents were surprised to see me at around 2:30 in the morning, but at least I felt somewhat more safe in the company of others.

    Several weeks passed, and most of them were spent in a bit of fear. Empty corridors, spooky noises, all sorts of imaginary fears terrorized me. It got better after awhile, and I recognized that someday I'd have to face these fears. It happened in the latter part of the decade when THE EXORCIST played on HBO. I was torn as to whether I wanted to watch it or not. All the old fears began to stir in me as I thought about it. But, I made a decision. I was going to watch that film and not let it get to me. It might help me get past it.

    So I watched it - up in my bedroom with all of the lights on, and I survived. Seeing it on a 17" TV was a lot better.

    Yesterday, I watched THE EXORCIST III. It's currently free on Prime. It was, as stated, a decent police procedural with a horror bent, but not the scariest movie I've ever seen.
     
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  2. Nice Marmot

    Nice Marmot Nothin’ feels right but doin’ wrong anymore

    Location:
    Tryon NC
    I think I’m having a seizure!
     
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  3. Nice Marmot

    Nice Marmot Nothin’ feels right but doin’ wrong anymore

    Location:
    Tryon NC
    I caught glimpses of two movies that scared the crap out of me when I was young. The Exorcist and the first night of the tv series Helter Skelter. I’ve never been as scared of movies, since.
     
  4. John Moschella

    John Moschella Senior Member

    Location:
    Christiansburg, VA
    I must live in a different universe. Most of the films folks have listed I would describe as suspenseful, not scary. Jaws comes to mind.

    My list is:

    Don't Look Now
    Rosemary's Baby
    The Omen
     
  5. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    The American Ring is better than most divisive opinions would have you believe, but I still prefer the first Japanese film (the remakes fail to capture the creepiness of the original, IMO).

    Have you seen much Japanese horror? The best ones tend to operate on a different plane to Western horror films. Where the Japanese excel is in creating an atmosphere of slow, creeping dread that may not necessarily end up being resolved in a wash of violence, the way most Western horror films are. The Japanese have a long history, going far back beyond the dawn of cinema, of ghost-storytelling. Ugetsu, considered one of the greatest films ever made, in any genre, is a classic example of this tradition.

    In terms of more modern J-horror, I would again recommend the original Japanese version of Dark Water (forget the Jennifer Connolly remake) to anyone not familiar with it. A rare, truly emotional horror film.
     
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  6. Etienne Hanratty

    Etienne Hanratty Forum Resident

    Location:
    uk
    I don’t know if it’s been mentioned or not but the two scariest films I’ve ever seen are Don’t Look Now and Dead Of Night (specifically the ventriloquist dummy part, though the bus story was also very unsettling).
     
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  7. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits.... Thread Starter

    Dead Of Night ?
    Very effective for a 1940s film.
     
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  8. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    Don’t Look Now has been mentioned by several of us. It is a personal favourite of mine. So much so, that I have visited many of the film’s Venice locations.

    Dead of Night is a good call. I tend to prefer British horror over American.

    The Uninvited (1944) straddles the Atlantic in the sense that it was set in England and directed by a Brit, but produced and filmed in the United States. Often cited as one of the first films to portray ghosts as legitimate entities.
     
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  9. Chemically altered

    Chemically altered Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ukraine in Spirit
    I agree. Because of it's slow build up I put it at number 3 on my list but the second I start watching it I get totally absorbed until the very creepy end. "What have you done to it's eyes?"
     
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  10. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits.... Thread Starter

    Dark Water seen it in the cinema(2002), liked it.. but didn’t find it scary ... more atmospheric.
     
  11. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits.... Thread Starter

    Don’t Look Now enjoyed it in the seventies ( double bill with The Wicker Man). Find it a bit morbid now.
     
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  12. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits.... Thread Starter

    Didn’t see The Exorcist in the seventies( unusual for me), but eventually seen it in a cinema in the eighties. Remember watching it and thinking what’s the big deal, then the priest scene with Blair and revolving head + profanity. Ha! I see what the big deal is now.lol :).
     
  13. Claus

    Claus Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    Saw
     
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  14. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    I am trying to get a handle on what you consider scary. Is it gore? Jump-scares? Something else? I suspect we have very different tastes in this area.

    Personally, I don’t mind the odd jump-scare, but the very nature of them is fleeting; overuse them and they quickly become boring. Gore for the sake of it I don’t find interesting at all. I much prefer atmospheric horror of the sustained, psychological variety. An interesting story is essential, for me. It is not enough to put a bunch of likely victims in an isolated situation then see them get picked off one by one.
     
  15. blackstar

    blackstar Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    Wolf Creek. That killer really freaked me out. Great performance.
     
  16. Brenald79

    Brenald79 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Running Scared (2006) is my favourite scary movie. It’s an action thriller but there’s some shocking twists that scared the hell out of me.
     
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  17. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits.... Thread Starter

    Tarantino rates it. So it says on my dvd cover.
    More an action/crime/drama movie I thought.
     
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  18. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    Heh. I remember the big hype around THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, that it was supposedly the scariest film ever, and I went out and bought the DVD. We were all prepared for something really scary - and - well - is that it? It's over? Where's the scary part?
     
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  19. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    I saw it at the cinema, and wasn’t taken with it, either. A friend asked me afterward what I thought of it. “Students whining in the woods,” I replied. I stand by that off-the-cuff review to this day. This film was all hype and no substance, IMO.
     
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  20. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits.... Thread Starter

    Thought you were cut if there Claus. :)

    Saw? I seen Saw 1&2 more gore ..sorta ffs.
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2020
  21. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits.... Thread Starter

    Scream & And I know what You did Last Summer? Slasher genre never found scary.
    Rose McGowan was in one. :)
     
  22. Chris Treece

    Chris Treece Forum Resident

    Location:
    Haworth, UK
    The Relic looks rather good. Been hoovering up a few awards I think....

     
  23. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    I prefer the 'video-tape' from the American "Ring"....
     
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  24. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits.... Thread Starter

    Strange no Ring 2 ?
     
  25. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    I presume you’re talking about a sequel to the American film?

    Anyway:

    The Ring Two - Wikipedia
     
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