Gems of the Horror Film Genre

JupiterKid · 20-10-2021 11:02pm #1

So, as Halloween approaches, the nights close in earlier, the witching season will soon be upon us... 🎃🎃🎃

I know quite a few regulars on AH are horror film fans, but what are the gems, the really clever and disturbing films that left a real mark, as opposed to the obvious scary blockbusters? What would be on your Horrorthon 2021 list, AHers?

One such gem in my DVD collection is sci-fi horror Event Horizon, a film that was criminally underrated at the time of its 1997 release and is worth a watch.

https://youtu.be/OVlnER8SxfQ

nj27 · 21-10-2021 12:20pm

Event Horizon is a good flick for sure. More recently I liked The Ritual, nothing hugely original with the "lost in the scary woods" trope in full effect but it was well executed.

steddyeddy · 21-10-2021 2:31pm

Candyman (the original) is one of the best horror movies ever made IMHO.

ancapailldorcha · 21-10-2021 2:33pm

I remember when I was younger, I got a DVD of Hallowe'en II in a newspaper. I remember watching it and really liking it. Watched it again on Netflix and it's not the masterpiece I remember it as.

Now, the original is definitely one of the best horror films of all time. Also saw Scream at the cinema recently and it's a wonderful homage to classic horror.

21-10-2021 2:52pm

Hereditary was the last horror movie that stayed in the memory for a good time afterwards. I always find horror movies with a satanic undertone to be more memorable than slasher/serial killer types.

The Raging Bile Duct · 21-10-2021 3:08pm

My Horrorthon list would probably be something like this:

Ringu

The Shining

The Mist

Last Shift

[Rec]

Martyrs

Eden Lake

Jacob's Ladder

The Descent

The Midnight Meat Train

Triangle

Oculus

The Autopsy of Jane Doe

Ghost Stories (2017)

Event Horizon

DJ_Eoghan · 21-10-2021 3:10pm

The Devils Rejects

EmmetSpiceland · 21-10-2021 3:25pm

Off the top of my head, more recent than “classic” films:

It Follows
The Host (Korean)
Hell House LLC
The Others
Grave Encounters
As Above So Below
The Void
The Borderlands

EmmetSpiceland · 21-10-2021 3:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118053805#Comment_118053805

Found the feckless son character incredibly annoying. Not to the level it would ruin the film like with ‘The Babadook’ but still annoying.

Ush1 · 21-10-2021 3:53pm

Trick R Treat is a modern classic.

Atticus Jung · 21-10-2021 4:10pm

I watched Us recently and thought it was well done.

BrianD3 · 21-10-2021 4:13pm

Too many to list but off the top of my head

Dawn of the Dead (original)

Quatermass and the Pit

The Wicker Man (original)

And this cult classic!

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgu0f5

El Gato De Negocios · 21-10-2021 4:15pm

Possum is the best of the modern bunch that I've seen, genuinely unnerving throughout.

silliussoddius · 21-10-2021 4:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118053805#Comment_118053805

I've started to prefer the psychological horrors of recent years. I enjoyed Hereditary, but probably preferred Midsommar. I would also recommend The Witch, which stars Chris Finch (bloody good sales rep).

Riddle101 · 21-10-2021 4:30pm

I've always preferred the Japanese version of The Grudge over the American one. They make great horror movies.

https://youtu.be/xbWH5MgU9J4

bigar · 21-10-2021 4:32pm

The original A Nightmare on Elm Street. It's reputation has suffered somewhat due to lesser sequels but taken on its own merit is an excellent horror movie

JupiterKid · 21-10-2021 4:32pm

Trilogy of Terror - Act III (1975)

This three part film is a real gem of the horror genre, especially the terrifying third part where an possessed evil Zuni doll terrorises a thirty something woman in her apartment. Starring the late Karen Black and released in 1975, during the Golden Age of horror film which IMO spanned the 1970s and 1980s.

https://youtu.be/o_TLtKeGvhY

Hangdogroad · 21-10-2021 4:50pm

The Wicker Man (original, as if it need saying).

Blood On Satan's Claw.

Witchfinder General.

All great examples of British folk horror from the 60s and 70s. This even seeped into childrens tv of the period. Children Of The Stones is pure folk horror. Very spooky opening sequence.

https://youtu.be/-V6dSNlh0_k

silliussoddius · 21-10-2021 4:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118054322#Comment_118054322

I used to love the old Hammer Horrors, there was a time in the late 80’s that they were in regularly. Prince of Darkness and The Devil Rides Out were my favorites.

Hangdogroad · 21-10-2021 4:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118054345#Comment_118054345

Love the Hammer movies with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Also Roger Cormans Edgar Allen Post movie adaptations with Vincent Price. RTE did a season of them one year.

mzungu · 21-10-2021 5:10pm

Psycho is definitely up there. Pretty much started the slasher genre and it stands the test of time. Hitchcock even throws Freudian psychoanalysis into the mix (although he did this with a lot of his films). There is a lot going on in this movie. It works on many levels.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Nowhere near as gory as the title suggests, and it's all the better for it. Tobe Hooper knows how to create suspense and an eerie atmosphere. The cinematography is top-drawer, too. It also works as a tale of the decline of industrial capitalism. They don't make them like this anymore.

Halloween. An obvious choice, but hard to argue with. Suspense, not gore, is the way to go. Something that all the sequels (except Part II) seemed to forget!

Scream was mentioned above. A good call. It kickstarted the genre in the 90s, giving it a much needed sense of postmodernist irony, mixed with a dash a self awareness.

Ringu. A masterpiece. Enough said.

There is a Spanish movie called REC that's really good, too. The Descent should also get a mention.

buried · 21-10-2021 6:39pm

Halloween III : Season of the Witch. I think this film is very underrated. Sure, its highly silly in parts, but half of that is the fun of it, its not meant to be a chilling terrorfest anyways. The pacing, sequential editing and the sets are all brilliantly crafted. Dan O'Herlihy is brilliant in it and at least they utilise our own ancient festival of Samhain, the actual origin of 'Halloween' into the storyline. Its on Netflix currently at the moment.

iamstop · 21-10-2021 7:26pm

The Hills Have Eyes

EmmetSpiceland · 21-10-2021 7:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118054735#Comment_118054735

The jingle from the ‘Silver Shamrock’ ads will be stuck in your head for a long time after. Years even.

EmmetSpiceland · 21-10-2021 7:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118054946#Comment_118054946

The remake was pretty “full on”, where the original pans away the remake zoomed in.

Would go well paired with ‘Bone Tomahawk’.

Anesthetize · 21-10-2021 7:35pm

I prefer movies with a creepy, eerie, ominous atmosphere, rather than all-out horror and gore.

Vargtimmen (Hour of the Wolf) and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre do it nicely.

Mad_maxx · 21-10-2021 8:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058214105/gems-of-the-horror-film-genre

The directors cut of event horizon is about the only scene in movies I can't watch

All kinds of fcuked up

Great movie

Mad_maxx · 21-10-2021 8:27pm

A relatively recent movie I find quite disturbing is Sinister with Ethan Hawke

iamstop · 21-10-2021 8:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118054974#Comment_118054974

Must admit, don't think I've seen the 1977 version. Was thinking the 2006 version.

ErnestBorgnine · 21-10-2021 8:30pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBiuIabIduI

If we're including Horror Comedy this is a gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBiuIabIduI

buried · 21-10-2021 8:42pm

'Near Dark' from 1987 is very very very enjoyable. I think it may still be up on 'shudder'

Pherekydes · 21-10-2021 9:00pm

The Ghostbusters remake was a horror.

On topic, Suspiria (1977) was a classic.

21-10-2021 10:06pm

Rewatched The Omen recently. The original with Gregory Peck. Still a good horror movie.

Hangdogroad · 21-10-2021 10:38pm

An American Werewolf In London, healthy dose of black humour among the scares.

Neil Jordans the Company Of Wolves, very different type of werewolf film. All kinds of weird Freudian stuff going on and very gruesome transformation scene early on.

storker · 21-10-2021 10:50pm

The Changeling (1980) has some nice moments of terror, including a post-séance scene that really makes the hair stand on end. Don't watch the trailer on YouTube; it's full of spoilers

The Innocents (1961) has some very spooky scenes:

JupiterKid · 21-10-2021 11:37pm

A film which scared the bejaysus out of me at the tender age of 14 was Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot (1979). I had nightmares for months afterwards... 😰😱😱

https://youtu.be/P43PvM5a8Is

Tony EH · 22-10-2021 8:28am

'Day of the Dead' (1985).

Grim, nasty, and has some of the best practical gore effects ever put onto film. It's part of George Romero's original zombie trilogy, but it can be watched on its own cos nearly everyone is familiar with what a zombie apocalypse looks like nowadays.

cavemeister · 22-10-2021 8:56am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h57cI4aUfQs

This is an absolute gem of an indie horror movie.

American Mary is a 2012 Canadian body horror film written and directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska and starring Katharine Isabelle, Antonio Cupo, and Tristan Risk. Isabelle plays a destitute medical student who begins taking clients from the extreme body modification community to solve her financial troubles.

It's on Netflix at the moment.

JupiterKid · 23-10-2021 12:39am

Hellraiser (1987). Stunning debut by Clive Barker. Intelligent, serious, original and very gruesome.

https://youtu.be/8mOn4h0lgKQ

bazz26 · 23-10-2021 1:05am

Zac Snyder's remake of Dawn of the Dead. One of the first zombie movies at the time where the zombies could actually run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq-oVyxJJUs

Dynomutt · 23-10-2021 2:29am

"House of the Devil" and "The Void" really feel like they were made in the '80s and are pleasing if you like John Carpenter films.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM3NAtGR2qc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkmSNt4moNg

Dynomutt · 23-10-2021 2:54am

For an Irish based horror, "Wake Wood" is sufficiently creepy. It stars a non-whispering Aidan Gillen and, whom I thought was Amy Huberman, but instead turned out to be Eva Birthistle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypfG8-GcPAc