The best/ scariest horror films

neirbloom

holy guacamole wrote: »

Great shout, one of the few films I've seen that genuinely disturbed me. An unforgettable experience.

Its been a while since I've seen it but cant remember whether I found it disturbing sick or just plain creepy but it definitely left a strong impression. The two lead girls are fine though and course it has to get an unnecessary remake which I haven't seen and probably wont.

briany

I found Martyrs to be a sad, depressing experience, mostly. It does have its moments, and I like the big-picture concept, but it's not a film you'd subject yourself to twice. A certain visual I also found to be derivative of Ringu. Mostly, Martyrs is a mixture of mainly boring/little action & nihilistic violence/torture porn that eats away at your faith in humanity. It has to be said that a lot of French horror films are this way, at least ones that I've seen. Little light at the end of the tunnel.

p to the e

briany wrote: »

I found Martyrs to be a sad, depressing experience, mostly. It does have its moments, and I like the big-picture concept, but it's not a film you'd subject yourself to twice. A certain visual I also found to be derivative of Ringu. Mostly, Martyrs is a mixture of mainly boring/little action & nihilistic violence/torture porn that eats away at your faith in humanity. It has to be said that a lot of French horror films are this way, at least ones that I've seen. Little light at the end of the tunnel.

Yes, Martyrs and Irreversible were the only two movies that left a deep, dark impression on me.

Tony EH

briany wrote: »

I found Martyrs to be a sad, depressing experience, mostly. It does have its moments, and I like the big-picture concept, but it's not a film you'd subject yourself to twice. A certain visual I also found to be derivative of Ringu. Mostly, Martyrs is a mixture of mainly boring/little action & nihilistic violence/torture porn that eats away at your faith in humanity. It has to be said that a lot of French horror films are this way, at least ones that I've seen. Little light at the end of the tunnel.

It's certainly those things, but I found to be a very good film. It's definitely the best effort of the recent New French Extremism cinema of the last 15 years or so. Its no holds barred approach was gripping and the ambiguous ending is absolutely fantastic.

It's a savage film that I think is best seen, before you read anything about it. Take the journey the filmmaker wants you to go on.

Jimbob1977

The Fog (original)

The Others (Nicole Kidman)

The Omen

The Amityville Horror

Salem's Lot (although the special effects are now a bit lame)

Don't Look Now

Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (Donald Sutherland).

Poltergeist

The Ring

An American Werewolf in London

Jacob's Ladder

Thirty Days of Night

Interview with the Vampire

Jeepers Creepers

Liam McPoyle

Martyrs for my money is the pinnacle of the French wave of extreme cinema, one of the few movies to stick with me days after watching it, it burrowed into my soul and tore it out.

Another one that hasn't been mentioned is Ils (Them). Genuine dread throughout it's less than 80 minute run time. Little to no violence in it but it ramps the tension up to the nth degree throughout.

Surreptitious

Nobody has mentioned Gothika. Scared the poop out of me.

briany

Let me give an over-due mention to House of the Devil . This is a brilliantly-executed 80s-styled horror from 2009 (it even had a VHS version). It's not even that I think the scares in this one are that good, but it matches a brooding tension with a fun presentation, strong soundtrack, great acting and just the kind of atmosphere that makes it the quintessential popcorn movie. Perfect for Halloween night, in my opinion. The kind of film you can let the kids stay up late to watch, perhaps giving them a wee complex about tall bald bearded men in the process.

Sugarlumps

Surreptitious wrote: »

Nobody has mentioned Gothika. Scared the poop out of me.

The only thing scary about that film is Limp Bizkits version of Behind Blue Eyes.

WinnyThePoo

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

Don't watch many horror films, Wolf Creek, as mentioned was scary enough, but scariest film I've ever watched (once) was the thriller Spoorloos. The Dutch film remade as The Vanishing (and ending completely changed)

It probably wouldn't even elicit a meh from most horror fans, but It's the only film that gave me nightmares, and I genuinely will never watch it again.

I love spoorloos. Watched it randomly a couple of years ago. Very freaky. I'm a cycling fan aswell, so it had me hooked.

the purple tin

I watched a swedish ( i think) horror film called goodnight mommy recently and it really gave me the willies.

gmisk

the purple tin wrote: »

I watched a swedish ( i think) horror film called goodnight mommy recently and it really gave me the willies.

It Austrian bizarrely, but really enjoyed that one too!

El Duda

The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a wholly unique, nightmarish ordeal to sit through. It has to be up there imo.

Also...

Suspiria
The Exorcist
Martyrs
Blue Velvet
The Babadook

The Witch is a really interesting film as well.

Lorelli!

Not a horror but I've always found Charlie and The Chocolate Factory scary, the original!

I'd love to watch that film fresh as an adult without any prior knowledge or viewing of it.

the purple tin

Lorelli! wrote: »

Not a horror but I've always found Charlie and The Chocolate Factory scary, the original!

I'd love to watch that film fresh as an adult without any prior knowledge or viewing of it.

Was it the scene where the boat goes through the tunnel and Wonka goes a bit mental? That scared the pants off me.

charlie_says

As a recent horror I really liked The Witch. Dripping with menace and tension.

I thought The Ring (only seen the American one) was pretty scary too. I saw Blair Witch many years after it was released and thought it was excellent, at the time there were many haters if I recall correctly.

For me though, the two scariest horror films I've ever seen are The Innocents and The Haunting, could be argued that they are psychological horrors. They both have supernatural elements to them.

You have to get over how dated they are as black and white 1960's films, but both are really chilling.

kirk buttercup

Babadook

Lorelli!

El Duda wrote: »

The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a wholly unique, nightmarish ordeal to sit through. It has to be up there imo.

Also...

Suspiria
The Exorcist
Martyrs
Blue Velvet
The Babadook

The Witch is a really interesting film as well.

A lot of scary films aren't classified as horror.

Love Blue Velvet. It's so weird! Always think of the Roy Orbison song whenever I hear the film name!

Lorelli!

the purple tin wrote: »

Was it the scene where the boat goes through the tunnel and Wonka goes a bit mental? That scared the pants off me.

Yea and the fate of all the spoilt kids!

laylag

Sinister is a really scary film and recent enough. I couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards!

El Duda

Lawnmower scare aside, I thought Sinister was forgettable fluff.

kirk buttercup

Also OP The new IT is horror in a kinda retro classic way, nowadays the horror genre likes to get people to jump and its more what you cant see is scarier Paranormal Activity etc. IT is taken from the 80s horror genre (the shining , nightmare on elm street , original IT,friday the 13th etc.) that evil walks around on the screen right in front of you ,the 70s had there slasher horror (Texas chainsaw massacre, Halloween, the hills have eyes) blood everywhere" don't go in there" style which I loved too . I loved IT but I just love horror in all its forms really

the purple tin

The Others is probably quite tame for most people but it spooked me good.

Walter Bishop

Paperhouse is worth a look.

mrcheez

"The Autopsy of Jane Doe" was one I was pleasantly surprised by. Very good in fact.

Looking forward to Colin Farrell's new one: The Killing of a Sacred Deer (more psychological than horror I think)


Saw the Belko Experiment recently... pretty good. Not horror, but enjoyable Saw-esque fare.

Skerries

mrcheez wrote: »

Saw the Belko Experiment recently... pretty good. Not horror, but enjoyable Saw-esque fare.

bizarrely there is a VR game/experience for this film

mrcheez

Skerries wrote: »

bizarrely there is a VR game/experience for this film

That's actually what inspired me to checkout the movie

the purple tin

the new Flatliners film has reminded me how creepy the original was. Don't know if you would call it a horror though.

Kenpo

I came home late after a session one night and the original Black Christmas was on.

I'm a massive horror fan but had not heard of it...and it scared the absolute cr*ap out me.

Other great films are Dario's Argento's Italian Galio thrillers (e.g. Deep Red, Tenebre) and Phenomenon is nuts.

PeterParker957

The original Flatliners terrified me!