Horror Films - the best

ehhowaya

I absolutely love horror movies and i have seen most of the mainstream ones. Its so hard to find ones that are genuinely scary and good these days. The last movie that actually disturbed me was 30 Days of Night and before that Switchblade Romance. With the usual crap like black christmas (2006) out these days, and I've seen all the original slashers aka halloween, prom night

does anyone know any good tense horrors that I should see?

Creature

Well the Thing practically oozes tension and has one of the most tense scenes in cinema history. I'd also reccomend The Descent and 28 Days Later.


Oh and as films come, nothing really beats Alien for tension.

ehhowaya

ooooh yeah must check out The Thing, yeah I did like Aliens. Seen the descent and 28 days later, both of which i loved. that new horror Hatchet is coming out soon too so fingers crossed it will be good!

TerrorFirmer

Everyone will probably crucify me for this but I think both the Grudge and The Ring, as well as their not as good but still watchable sequels are quite creepy. Pulse was another OK one. All remakes of Asian films, and although people will tell you that they're far inferior, I watched the originals and found them pathetic (in terms of scares, that is). I'm not saying that all Asian horror is pathetic, mind, there are some great ones. But in the case of the Ring and The Grudge I really don't understand how anyone could maintain that the originals are actually scarier.

Pan's Labyrinth was a good one, not necessarily scary but some very creepy moments in there.

Amityville Horror was quite good, again, the remake being infinitely more atmospheric and scary then the original.

I'm sure you've already seen the Exorcist but that one, and the crab walk bit, will never get old.

Not sure what exactly you mean by horror either, are you looking for a skin crawler, or merely anything that falls into the genre like zombie movies, slashers etc? I can think of absolutely bucket loads of the latter but no point if that's not what you're looking for. You've got Hellraiser, Hills have Eyes, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Return of the Living Dead I-V, Toxic Avenger, Final Destination trilogy, Hostel, Beyond the Limits, House of Wax, etc...you could go on forever, and that's just the newer common stuff. But none of them are really scary. Definitely another vote for The Thing too by the way, that one is brilliant.

Also, while it's not a movie, check out Season 1 and 2 of Masters of Horror. Some dubious quality episodes, some plain stupid ones, but a lot of quality horror in there too.

Tusky

HavoK wrote: »

Everyone will probably crucify me for this but I think both the Grudge and The Ring, as well as their not as good but still watchable sequels are quite creepy. Pulse was another OK one. All remakes of Asian films, and although people will tell you that they're far inferior, I watched the originals and found them pathetic (in terms of scares, that is). I'm not saying that all Asian horror is pathetic, mind, there are some great ones. But in the case of the Ring and The Grudge I really don't understand how anyone could maintain that the originals are actually scarier.

Pan's Labyrinth was a good one, not necessarily scary but some very creepy moments in there.

Amityville Horror was quite good, again, the remake being infinitely more atmospheric and scary then the original.

I'm sure you've already seen the Exorcist but that one, and the crab walk bit, will never get old.

Not sure what exactly you mean by horror either, are you looking for a skin crawler, or merely anything that falls into the genre like zombie movies, slashers etc? I can think of absolutely bucket loads of the latter but no point if that's not what you're looking for. You've got Hellraiser, Hills have Eyes, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Return of the Living Dead I-V, Toxic Avenger, Final Destination trilogy, Hostel, Beyond the Limits, House of Wax, etc...you could go on forever, and that's just the newer common stuff. But none of them are really scary. Definitely another vote for The Thing too by the way, that one is brilliant.

Also, while it's not a movie, check out Season 1 and 2 of Masters of Horror. Some dubious quality episodes, some plain stupid ones, but a lot of quality horror in there too.

Youch. Some dubious recommendations in there! Pulse, House of Wax, Hostel..etc. Really ?

The Thing
The Shining
Night of the living dead trilogy
Evil dead trilogy
Ringu (not the american remake)
Ju-On The Grudge (not the american remake)
28 Days Later
Dawn of the Dead remake
The Decent
Ravenous
The Lost Boys
The Exorcist
Braindead

They are all good places to start! I cant be arsed to give a write up on each one as this thread has been done to death on the horror forum.

ehhowaya wrote: »

ooooh yeah must check out The Thing, yeah I did like Aliens. Seen the descent and 28 days later, both of which i loved. that new horror Hatchet is coming out soon too so fingers crossed it will be good!

If you haven't seen the Thing that should be number one on your list. Its probably my favourite film and is about as tense as you can get. Highly recommend it.

eamon234

I love Guillermo Del Toro's The Devil's Backbone it's a brilliant movie - more of a ghost story than a horror but definitely worth a mention.

Wacker

ehhowaya wrote: »

yeah I did like Aliens.

He mentioned Alien, not Aliens. They're very, very different in tone. Alien is a sci-fi/horror movie, while Aliens is sci-fi/action. I prefer Aliens, but that's just me.

Now, no one mentioned Psycho, the single most perfect horror movie ever made. You're all so lame!

Creature

Wacker wrote: »

ehhowaya wrote: »

yeah I did like Aliens.

He mentioned Alien, not Aliens. They're very, very different in tone. Alien is a sci-fi/horror movie, while Aliens is sci-fi/action. I prefer Aliens, but that's just me.

Now, no one mentioned Psycho, the single most perfect horror movie ever made. You're all so lame!

Yeah I was talking about the first one-Alien. It's much more tense and horror orientated and much less of an action film. It's a classic.

The Freeman

The Thing
The Shining
Night of the living dead trilogy
Evil dead trilogy
Ringu (not the american remake)
Ju-On The Grudge (not the american remake)
28 Days Later
Dawn of the Dead remake
The Decent
Ravenous
The Lost Boys
The Exorcist

i'd fully aggree with the above list;)

Mr. Presentable

Blind Terror (1971)
Ghost Story (1981)
The Shining (1980)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Suspiria (1977)

The Freeman

The Freeman wrote: »

The Thing
The Shining
Night of the living dead trilogy
Evil dead trilogy
Ringu (not the american remake)
Ju-On The Grudge (not the american remake)
28 Days Later
Dawn of the Dead remake
The Decent
Ravenous
The Lost Boys
The Exorcist

i'd fully aggree with the above list;)

also i watched 30 days of night and thought it was one of the worst films i saw in ages, structure wise it was woeful imo of course

mikep

Event horizon.

Jeebas!!:eek:

TerrorFirmer

Ah, Event Horizon great pick, forgot about that one. That's the kind of movie I love to call 'Horror', it just feels wrong lumping zombie films, gore slashers and the like in with my idea of a horror movie.

Karl Hungus

HavoK wrote: »

Everyone will probably crucify me for this but I think both the Grudge and The Ring, as well as their not as good but still watchable sequels are quite creepy. Pulse was another OK one. All remakes of Asian films, and although people will tell you that they're far inferior, I watched the originals and found them pathetic (in terms of scares, that is). I'm not saying that all Asian horror is pathetic, mind, there are some great ones. But in the case of the Ring and The Grudge I really don't understand how anyone could maintain that the originals are actually scarier.

Your opinion is wrong!!! Wrong I tells ya! Get it fixed!

Seriously though, I think in terms of "Scares" as you put, we've discussed this before, and your idea of what makes a good scare is the usual hollywood "Jump" scene, something 'unexpectedly' happing, with a striking audio queue. Moments like that may give you a quick fright, but that's it. So sure, the remakes are usually superior in that one reguard, but it's freakin' lazy film-making, and it's about as clichéd as you can get.

What a really good horror does is create an atmosphere, tension, building up the suspsense slowly. It's an altogether more deeply scary experience. Of course, that extends to any horror film, not just the original v remake debate. I don't want a horror film which relies on scares.

I wonder though, have you seen any Asian horrors that haven't yet been remade?

TerrorFirmer

No, I get what you're saying. It's not that I love the jumps, as you put it, in fact, I generally despise them too because of the very lazy film making you've mentioned, every 'surprise' is practically the same in every film, just an inevitability that still manages to shock, regardless of what it is, through an exceptional loud noise or sudden image.... all of which are practically the exact same in any given movie. But they keep churning them out because it works. As soon as it stops working, they'll adapt. People like to be scared, and generally don't stop to think....'Hang on, that's not really scary in the genuine sense, it's just a shock'. They don't differentiate. They just say ah, that was scary. End of. That, though, isn't why I like them.

What I like about the remakes, is not so much their method of scaring, but the way in which they can do it. Take the Ring for example, the remake, to it's credit, didn't have many of the shock cliche scenes but still managed to instill some serious scares, most of which took place in the absence of any actual physical stimulants on screen of the shock variety. The make up is vastly superior to the original film, as is the quality of many other aspects such as sound, look, etc, which all contributes highly to a good and particularly credible film. One of the creepiest scenes in the film, the part where Sadako (is that her name, I can't remember and amn't googling it) climbs out of the TV, is deliberately slow and drawn out. The sound, the visuals, are what make this scene so damn creepy, and in that regard, make it far superior to the original, at which I almost laughed when I saw the very same scene. It just paled in comparison, and while visuals and sound aren't everything, they form a very important part in forming credibility and suspension of belief.

TerrorFirmer

Also, it's important to mention that my viewpoint really only applies to the lower budget Asian affairs versus their Hollywood remakes (The Ring, The Grudge, etc). I'm not saying I'd blindly follow any remake, and with the increasingly amount of high budget Asian horrors going mainstream it's clear to everyone that some of them, a remake could add very little, both plot and visuals included. But whether or not they'll remake them is another story.

Karl Hungus

I can't believe what I'm reading! You actually thought that the final scene was better in the remake!? Holy crap, I think you're trolling with that tbh, or that you're very, very mixed up.

The fact is, in the remake, it is not slow and drawn out, it's much quicker than in the original, and it's been cut back and forth with the Naomi Watts character racing through traffic, thus killing any tension the scene might have had, but the whole CGI static Samara was just silly.

The same scene in the original had a fixed viewpoint, and that was much more drawn out, without cutting away for a second. It was incredibly brooding, and the whole movement of Sadako was just creepy as hell. It seriously scared the **** out of me when I first saw it, I was edging back in my seat. I don't think I'd ever see anyone defending the remake's particular take on that scene, even those who prefer the American one generally agree that scene is poor. :eek:

If it's a big effects thing that draws you to a movie, fair enough, I'll just smile and nod. But the fact is, the remake just relied on big special effects, and a big fast driving scene intersected with the shot of the girl coming out of the TV. It was terrible!

And frankly, budget doesn't mean a better film. The Evil Dead 2 was essential a remake, and that had a much larger budget, yet I will say without doubt, the first film was far, far scarier.

TerrorFirmer

I never advocated that bigger budget = better film, but that it has the potential to and I think it does in the named remakes. Frankly, Ringu's climax looks like a normal person, climbing out of a TV set. No amount of atmosphere can, for me, make that scary. A sense of doom perhaps, but not actually scary.

The Ring, owing to vastly superior special effects as well as sound, presents Samara/Sadako as a far more believable and gruesome entity, and something to be rightly afraid of it's in own right, not just because we're supposed to think so.

Actually, I agree the static, projected Samara was stupid and I hated that aspect of it. It's cheap and to be honest it near ruins the very factors that I felt made it so much better. Ditto, the traffic scene - I didn't like that either. But the scenes where she's treading along the floor, and looks decayed, inhuman and leaving a trail of murky water behind her....that is good, and it is far more convincing then the original, and thus far scarier.

In my opinion.

I'm not saying Ringu is a terrible film but in terms of which one is creepier, and inspires fear, I can't say Ringu did anything for me and I contribute that directly to the lack of convincing visuals to accompany an otherwise good story and pace.

What are your thoughts on the actual tape itself from both movies? You can guess my opinion.

TerrorFirmer

Ringu and the Ring, respective scenes here and here.

spooky donkey

ohh big row brewing. I havent seen the the jap grudge or ring movies. Even if they are better id rather not have to read the whole script if i can watch it in english. That said I watched infernal affairs and then watches that one with leo de craprio and mat deamon and thought the jap one was better.

trellheim

When you guys are saying "The Thing" you are talking about the 1982 carpenter remake yes ? or the 1951 version ?

- as for other films

Poltergeist I and II


jaws

the shining

event horizon


Amityville II - a seriously scary movie.

Creature

trellheim wrote: »

When you guys are saying "The Thing" you are talking about the 1982 carpenter remake yes ? or the 1951 version ?

Yeah the 1982 film. Though its not really a remake of the original film (which was quite poor if you ask me) but more of a proper adaptation of the original short story.

Fysh

Woo! Go Team Hungus! I'm basically +1ing everything you said on the asian horror originals vs remakes there.

Other horrors to check out...well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari (the 1920 one, not the remake). Arguably not a horror, and quite possibly it's a bit unfair to recommend a silent film in these threads, but screw it, it's an amazing film.

While on the note of films which could arguably be considered not to be horrors, I might as well mention Eraserhead as well. Excellent example of oppressive atmosphere and tension, although it being David Lynch you kind of need to take loads of drugs if you want it to make sense.

The Phantasm series hasn't been mentioned yet (and, in fact, tends not to in these lists) - I wouldn't hold it up as a pinnacle of horror, exactly, but it does hold the honour of being the only series of horror films that managed two things:

1) each installment had its own vibe rather than being a pale rehash of the first/previous film, and
2) the series had an overall storyline which was resolved at the end (although the resolution was darker than you might have expected).

Also, Angus Scrimm as the Tall Man should be counted as a plus for any film.

Other suggestions:
Severance
Idle Hands
Bubba Ho-Tep

(Yes yes, I know, technically horror comedies. Still worth watching though.)

Karl Hungus

Hmm... You know, I'll kind of agree with you on the Phantasm films, they were quite epic really, but I think they really dipped in quality. It wasn't resolved, was it? There's going to be a 5th one.

Severance I though was a good laugh, but I remember absolutely hating Idle Hands.

Also, only one mention for Argento so far? Oh my... Suspiria, Profondo Rosso, awesome films!

Fysh

My limited dabbling with Argento compels me to suggest Terror At The Opera and The Stendhal Syndrome, now you mention it.

As for the Phantasm series, it's a bit weird. There was a resolution of sorts in the fourth film, which was

basically Mike discovering a gateway to parallel worlds and the history of the Tall Man. It ends with Mike fighting & killing the Tall Man but being mortally wounded along the way. Another Tall Man appears from an alternate dimension and the implication is that Mike dies and fails to save the world from the Tall Man

.

There's been talk of a fifth one for a while, but it was perpetually postponed due to budget issues - it was basically going to be a post-apocalyptic setup with the Tall Man controlling a big chunk of the USA and a special ops team being sent in to try and kill him. Wikipedia and IMDB both suggest that it's going into production next year for a straight-to-DVD release in July, but we'll see how far that gets.

There was also talk of remaking the first film for a theatrical release with Coscarelli on board with a view to possibly remaking the whole series as a horror trilogy, although I haven't heard anything about that in a while.

I liked Idle Hands but it is pretty much a slacker comedy with zombies, with all that this entails. I liked the way so much of the humour was gore-related though (the guy who gets beheaded and has to tape his neck up after sticking his head back on so that his food won't leak down his neck, or the Evil Dead-esque fight between the main character and his possessed hand). It's not for everyone though.

Creature

I've only seen Phantasm II, and while I was scratching my head most of the time wondering what it was all about I did find it fun.

Also since we're on comedy horrors now I can't go without mentioning Tremors. One of my earliest loves in cinema and without a doubt the one film that I've watched more times than any other. Also the teaming of Kevin Bacon with Burt Ward is genius. They make that film, giant worms or none.

Fysh

Yeah, the Phantasm series don't really make sense if you watch them out of order. I got the special edition box set (with the Sphere case for extra fanboy points!) and its quite good to watch all of them back to back because they follow on from each other quite nicely.

I will probably pick up Phantasm's End when it comes out next year, but I don't have high hopes of it...

TerrorFirmer

As far as Argento goes the one film I'd have to recommend is Demons. One of the best gross-out-gore films ever...

tritium

Loved Demons, great messy gore

Also loved

Event Horizon
The Devil Rides Out (cheap and cheesy but great fun)
Hellraiser
Lifeforce (just thought it was clever when I first saw it - looks really old now though:()
Alien

Karl Hungus

I'm probably going to be the only one to say this, but...

Hostel & Hostel Part II



I know people love to hate them, but I really liked those films, and I think that Roth is a far better director than people give him credit for. The 2 films just mesh together incredibly well, and it's not a case of the sequel just offering more of the same, like most sequels do, there's a great continuity and really expands on some of the themes of the first film.

Probably not a popular opinion, but I'm putting it out there anyway.

Neo#

Nice one Karl. Im with ya! I love those films (in a sort of sick way!:D). The first one in particular. They are extremely well made. There is a menacing atmosphere throughout the first one. I was on edge the whole way through and nothing usually gets to me in films anymore.