The best horror movie ever???

uncertaintado

Event Horizon

bp_me

I suppose this depends on your definition of horror

Action/horror - John Carpenters Vampires
Slasher/horror - Scream2 (best one out of the trilogy imho)
Sci-fi/horror - event horizon or alien
For it's unpredictability I feel the first "Freddy" deserves a mention
Suspense/horror - phantoms (read the book if you get a chance, much better than the film)

There are obviously loads more, but I think that will do for now.

TerrorFirmer

For me -

The Ring remake
Amityville Horror remake
The Grudge remake

Apart from these 3, no other movie has really creeped me out....therefore to me they stand as the "best" horror movies, since what I expect out of a horror is to be scared.

Armen Tanzarian

Switchblade Romance is excellent

TCamen

Anyone ever seen last house on the left???

Have the DVD, thought it was a huge disappointment, and not remotely like what I was expecting. Only decent thing about it is the tagline.

Suspense/horror - phantoms (read the book if you get a chance, much better than the film)

I really like Dean Koontz's novels. The first 30mins or so of 'Phantoms' is really gripping. The rest of the movie is decent enough, but like so many horrors, falls foul of trying to explain all the cool weirdness of the beginning.

Again, like many others have said, it's tough to narrow it down to just one. Horror is my favourite genre of movie, so really it depends on my mood -- slasher, Asian, supernatural etc. Here's some favourites in their sub-genres :P

Slasher movie - 'Halloween' or 'Black Christmas'
Asian movie - 'Ju-On: The Grudge 2' or 'A Tale of Two Sisters'
Ghost movie - 'The Haunting' (1960), 'What Lies Beneath' or 'Session 9'
Intelligent Action movie - 'Aliens'
Brainless Action movie - 'Resident Evil: Apocalypse'
Recent US horror - 'Dawn of the Dead' (remake)
Non-Asian non-English speaking movie - 'Switchblade Romance'

There's a few movies that have sequences that just chill me to the bone, but they don't necessarily carry the atmosphere all the way through, which is why I wouldn't rate them as my favourite. For example, The Blair Witch Project is hugely overrated for the most part, but I found the end sequence really scary the first time I saw the movie.
'When A Stranger Calls' has a great (if dated) opening sequence, and a gripping final sequence, but the middle of the movie is just too much of a mess and spoils the atmosphere. Likewise with the sequel -- brilliant opening, then absolutely useless after that.
Similarly, 'Darkness Falls'...I was watching it the other night on Sky Movies, having seen it on original release a few years ago. The film is pretty crap, but I really love the opening with the kid in the bedroom. After that it rapidly goes downhill, but damn they got that opening sequence just right.

I do think the 1970s horrors such as Halloween, Black Christmas, Alice Sweet Alice and Don't Look Now -- they creep me out on a whole other level because of the style back then, in both direction and fashion senses.

Karl Hungus

Don't know why I haven't bothered to reply to this thread as of yet, but here's some of my favourites so far in no particular order, and some comments on them, so let me know what you think.

The Shining - Just a masterfully directed film by Stanley Kubrick, and a preformance on Jack Nicholson's part that was nothing short of staggering. Brilliantly paced, earie, suspensefull and damned scary throughout, as we see Jack slowly crack up.

The Devil's Backbone - Quite possibly Guillermo Del Toro's best film to date, it's nothing strikingly original, but it's just a ghost story done to perfection, and Del Toro's vivid use of colour makes it such a beautiful and uncharacteristic horror film altogether. Not to mention the strength of the cast, child actor's included, who really do a fantastic job of breathing life into their roles.

Ring - What can I say that hasn't been said before? Before Hideo Nakata sold his sole, he produced this masterpiece, which was nothing short of one of the most intruiging, suspensefull and downright terrifying horror movies of the last decade, if not ever. It's quite an accomplishment when you sit back and think about the fact that this is a film about a haunted video tape, which is almost as ridiculous an idea as the Killer Condom, but by the time we come to "That" scene, we're so wrapped up in the film that we're practically transfixed, nearly crawling back in our chairs with nowhere to go! Spectacular.

Switchblade Romance - There was a lot to critisize about this film. It was unoriginal, it was clichéd, and it had a very silly twist, but this is a slasher film done right, and no amount of unoriginality could diminish that fact. Many a lesser film is simply dragged down with the usual copy&paste characters who are tedious and uninteresting, so we just wait for them to die, usually in uneventfull and anticlimactic ways. In direct opposite of the films where we barely see a little chase towards the end, Switchblade Romance presents us with an almost unrelenting, adrenaline rush of a bare-knuckle ride from the get go, and it quite simply does not stop untill everything in sight is in gibs. Just an awesome film.

The Beyond - Lucio Fulci is somewhat of an aquired taste as far as film-makers go, especially with the early 80's synth scores of Fabio Frizzi, and ultra low-budget quality, but he was an absolute artist as far as the gore movie goes. He's probably best known for Zombie Flesh Eaters, but The Beyond is my personal favorite of his. It has it all! The eye gouging, the rampage of zombies, the gore piled on thicker than fake tan on a knacker girl, yet it so much more than just a gore movie, because it has such a creepy horrofic storyline, atmosphere as thick as cheese, and that fantastic score!

The Thing - John Carpenter is definetly a favourite director of mine, and this is undenyably his best work. There's simply no film remotely like this, and very few films that have held up so well over the years. Infact, the effects are still better than a lot of today's CGI. A masterpiece of sci-fi horror.

The Others - Personally I thought this was one of the best horror films of recent years. Again, it's nothing particularly original, but it's a good ghost story that's done to perfection. Moody, suspensefull, starkly beautiful, and very creepy. The preformances of the child actors is also excellent. Falls short of the brilliance that is The Devil's Backbone, but it's certainly a scary film that warrents mentioning.

Don't Look Now - Totally fantastic film, which I'm sure I've bleated about plenty of times before, so I shalln't miss this opportunity to mention what an excellent slab of beautiful, suspensefull and eerie horror that this film is.

Thoughts?

Dizzyblabla

The Ring scared me half to death...
I actually thought that Gothika was quite scary too in parts, and a good movie!

TCamen

I actually thought that Gothika was quite scary too in parts, and a good movie!

No......just no.

To respond to Karl Hungus' choices ^^^^

I always found 'The Shining' to be a tad overrated, maybe that's just me! Has some good sequences but I think I just saw too many parts out of context before I finally saw the movie fully from start to finish, so it could be that either

Haven't seen 'The Devil's Backbone', and I'm not sure why! I saw the trailer in the cinema back when it came out and I remember really wanting to see it. Must chase it up.

'Ring' - again I really like the Asian original and the US remake, but personally I feel that 'A Tale of Two Sisters' surpasses 'Ring' in terms of creating a suffocating, intense atmosphere with spectacularly scary moments and an excellent climax. Of course, without 'Ring' providing the breakout spotlight, who knows what state the Asian horror market would be in.

'Switchblade Romance' - I adore slasher/chase movies so this was just such a treat late last year. Like Hungus mentioned, it gives us what other movies doesn't in the shape of an unrelenting chase with fantastic pacing that just doesn't let up. Highly recommended.

'The Beyond' - again I haven't seen this, but I have 'Zombi 2' on DVD waiting to be watched so I can't comment on this director til then.

'The Thing' - I like this movie, haven't seen it in years though, and I think based on the replies to this thread it's time to re-watch pronto!

'The Others' - another movie that has some wonderful moments, but the first time I saw it, I felt a little disappointed by the movie as a whole. However I found watching it on DVD @ home for a second time was much more rewarding and I enjoyed it A LOT more. Still not a favourite, but certainly a very good recent (non-remake) Hollywood picture.

'Don't Look Now' - Only saw this towards the end of last year (had the DVD for nearly two years before finally sitting down to watch it). As I said upthread, 70s flicks just get to me in the worst way, the camera work, the disturbing close-ups of various freaky looking people (in this case the sisters) and the fashion! It is a very odd movie in that nothing overtly supernatural happens for long stretches, but the atmosphere and slow pacing really REALLY pay off in the end. I was wowed by the climax. 'Eerie' is perhaps the best one word to sum this movie up.

spooky donkey

Heresy wrote:

I going to zee cinema tonight and was thinking of going to see "The Amityville Horror". Any reason why I shouldn't, i.e. is it rubbish?.

Well i havent see it but so far the only reason not to see it is it may be to scary for some, people were leaving the cinema over is. Though this is only what ive heard from the lads here in work.

Hugh Hefner

Ah,the lads in work. As reliable as ever I hope.

garred wrote:

I'm going with The Relic. I'll probably be stoned and shunned for picking it but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Oh God! Please kill him. Lol.

Xcom2 wrote:

Also Michael Reeves(Withfinder General).Pity he died!

X

I'm not sure if you're actually saying The Witchfinder General is good so I'll simply state that it's not: It's not good.

MobileInfantry wrote:

For me -

The Ring remake
Amityville Horror remake
The Grudge remake

You madam (I think), would probably be afraid of a plank with a nail in it. I'll give you that they all had some jumpy parts (at which I did not jump) but for a film to truely scare me I need more than slow tracking shots and..... well...... scares!


The Devil's Backbone was a very good film, however I don't think it was a great horror. It didn't scare me at all. I could be better described as a drama with ghosts.

I'm not sure what my favourite is. I guess I really liked Scream for just being the trend setter and very well done for what was there. There's no better slasher in my opinion. Alien was great but you're kinda reaching into the Sci-Fi in that case.
I guess I'd have to go with either The Shining or The Exorcist. I dunno I'll have a good old think!

Tusky

Karl Hungus wrote:

Don't know why I haven't bothered to reply to this thread as of yet, but here's some of my favourites so far in no particular order, and some comments on them, so let me know what you think.

The Shining - Just a masterfully directed film by Stanley Kubrick, and a preformance on Jack Nicholson's part that was nothing short of staggering. Brilliantly paced, earie, suspensefull and damned scary throughout, as we see Jack slowly crack up.

The Devil's Backbone - Quite possibly Guillermo Del Toro's best film to date, it's nothing strikingly original, but it's just a ghost story done to perfection, and Del Toro's vivid use of colour makes it such a beautiful and uncharacteristic horror film altogether. Not to mention the strength of the cast, child actor's included, who really do a fantastic job of breathing life into their roles.

Ring - What can I say that hasn't been said before? Before Hideo Nakata sold his sole, he produced this masterpiece, which was nothing short of one of the most intruiging, suspensefull and downright terrifying horror movies of the last decade, if not ever. It's quite an accomplishment when you sit back and think about the fact that this is a film about a haunted video tape, which is almost as ridiculous an idea as the Killer Condom, but by the time we come to "That" scene, we're so wrapped up in the film that we're practically transfixed, nearly crawling back in our chairs with nowhere to go! Spectacular.

Switchblade Romance - There was a lot to critisize about this film. It was unoriginal, it was clichéd, and it had a very silly twist, but this is a slasher film done right, and no amount of unoriginality could diminish that fact. Many a lesser film is simply dragged down with the usual copy&paste characters who are tedious and uninteresting, so we just wait for them to die, usually in uneventfull and anticlimactic ways. In direct opposite of the films where we barely see a little chase towards the end, Switchblade Romance presents us with an almost unrelenting, adrenaline rush of a bare-knuckle ride from the get go, and it quite simply does not stop untill everything in sight is in gibs. Just an awesome film.

The Beyond - Lucio Fulci is somewhat of an aquired taste as far as film-makers go, especially with the early 80's synth scores of Fabio Frizzi, and ultra low-budget quality, but he was an absolute artist as far as the gore movie goes. He's probably best known for Zombie Flesh Eaters, but The Beyond is my personal favorite of his. It has it all! The eye gouging, the rampage of zombies, the gore piled on thicker than fake tan on a knacker girl, yet it so much more than just a gore movie, because it has such a creepy horrofic storyline, atmosphere as thick as cheese, and that fantastic score!

The Thing - John Carpenter is definetly a favourite director of mine, and this is undenyably his best work. There's simply no film remotely like this, and very few films that have held up so well over the years. Infact, the effects are still better than a lot of today's CGI. A masterpiece of sci-fi horror.

The Others - Personally I thought this was one of the best horror films of recent years. Again, it's nothing particularly original, but it's a good ghost story that's done to perfection. Moody, suspensefull, starkly beautiful, and very creepy. The preformances of the child actors is also excellent. Falls short of the brilliance that is The Devil's Backbone, but it's certainly a scary film that warrents mentioning.

Don't Look Now - Totally fantastic film, which I'm sure I've bleated about plenty of times before, so I shalln't miss this opportunity to mention what an excellent slab of beautiful, suspensefull and eerie horror that this film is.

Thoughts?

Nice choices. I would definately agree with The Shining, Ring and The Thing. The Others was a well made film, sure, but I dont kno if it deserves to be in with the rest of them. I'll have to check out the devils backbone and the beyond. I have Switchblade romance here but havent got around to watching it, I look forward to it.

dondonjordan

Aliens is one of my favourite flicks. Its more of a SCi Fi than a horror though. A group of space marines against an army of aliens is cool man.

Aliens v predator I thought was good, it respected both series and didn't f**k up much. The comic books are cooler though. Especially the Alien who is friends with the humans and can talk...and has a motherf**king cigar in his mouth all the time.

I'm also a great fan of the Evil dead trilogy (even though the first and second are praticly the same)

Glipmac

Trilogy of the dead (original Version)

Classic

or the Evil Dead Trilogy

oh and Bubbah ho tep

koneko

Hmm, I'd probably change this list every couple of days/weeks, but at the moment I'd say:

The Shining
Ringu (JPN)
Evil Dead 2
The Thing
Hellraiser
Dawn of the Dead (original)

Loobz

I have not yet seen The Thing yet. Has there been a remake? If so, which is the best? I presume the original. I may get my hands on this film. Would it be as scary nowadays if I looked at it?

Xcom2

Loobz wrote:

I have not yet seen The Thing yet. Has there been a remake?

The Thing was a remake of The Thing from another world(a classic).

What can I say? there all classic's!!

X

kinkstr

Loobz wrote:

I have not yet seen The Thing yet. Has there been a remake? If so, which is the best? I presume the original. I may get my hands on this film. Would it be as scary nowadays if I looked at it?

Tis an absolute classic loobz, there hasnt been a remake, theres an excellent tense atmosphere through the whole film which ive always enjoyed.

Cravez

I love Zombie Horror movies, id probably say Zombie Flesh Eaters my favourite ( Zombie Flesh eaters 2&3 are rubbish though ) Zombie Flesh Eaters one has to have the most scariest zombies and some parts in the movie are really gross ( example a womens eyeball gets stabbed out of her head by a zombie trying to grab her ) Excellent stuff! havent seen Cannibal Holocaust yet though, seems pretty good. Dawn of the dead (Original) is brilliant also. City of the Living Dead is a very eerie zombie film ( they dont eat the flesh of people but rather crush their brains, and a guys head gets a drill right through his head ). By the way these are all Vipco Vaults of Horror Films.

Vipco Rules!

Fysh

kinkstr wrote:

Tis an absolute classic loobz, there hasnt been a remake, theres an excellent tense atmosphere through the whole film which ive always enjoyed.

1951 Original

1982 Remake

However. There hasn't been a remake since then, which is probably a good thing, given the general quality of remakes in recent years....

kinkstr

Fysh wrote:

1951 Original

1982 Remake

However. There hasn't been a remake since then, which is probably a good thing, given the general quality of remakes in recent years....

Ya learn something new every day, i had no idea the 82' version was a remake.

Creature

It's not really a remake of the 1951 film. It's more a faithful rendition of the short story which both films are based on. Can't remember the name of it but I read it online and it's pretty much exactly the same as John Carpenter's film save for a few different scenes. The alien is the same too, as opposed to the one in the earlier film.

monkeyfudge

Creature wrote:

It's not really a remake of the 1951 film. It's more a faithful rendition of the short story which both films are based on. Can't remember the name of it but I read it online and it's pretty much exactly the same as John Carpenter's film save for a few different scenes. The alien is the same too, as opposed to the one in the earlier film.

I think the original story was called 'Who Goes There?'

I watched The Thing again only last week actually. It's still very good, and the special effects look great.. it would look rubbish if it was made now.. it would all be crappy CGI morphing.

Creature

monkeyfudge wrote:

I think the original story was called 'Who Goes There?'

Spot on, give that man a coconut! I'd reccomend anyone who likes the Carpenter film read it (if you can find it). It's like an alternate version to the film where the characters get killed off in different ways than those seen in the film.

phenix0

i like ..house on haunted hill.....was a mad movie.....x

Riamfada

I havnt actually read any of the previous post. GO me . But I would count George A Romero's "Of the Dead" Series among the best. The remake however raises the scare factor much more however.

Creature

Just a heads up for anyone interested The Thing From Another World is on tonight on BBC2 at 23.55. I know it's short notice but I only just found out myself.

John

I'd have to agree with Mr. Hungus on Don't Look Know. An exceptional and unique horror movie. One of the best films I've seen, horror or not.

Other great horror movies:
Ring (Jap)
Alien
The Shining
Hellraiser
28 Days Later

melancholymaidn

Saw freaked me out quite a bit when i saw it the first time, though when i rented it again it didnt have the same effect!
the shining gets me every time though and the scene with the beautiful / turns old and creepy woman in the bath...... :eek: !!!!!!!!!!! every time!

Maynard.

All time scariest, Event Horizon or the original ver of The Haunting.
latest scary, Amitylville Horror.

Alot of films in the horror genre are good films, but not so much because they're scary.

Romero's living dead was highly enjoyable and funny, Hardly scary tho.
Hellraiser series was gorey and had some really fantastic characters. Not so scary tho.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre had leather face
Etc etc, not so many scary films about anymore, everything is thriller.

I know its not so viable here, but if you like scary films, and dont mind games, then look into the Silent Hill series, It tops any movie I've seen for proper horror.

Loobz

Maynard. wrote:

I know its not so viable here, but if you like scary films, and dont mind games, then look into the Silent Hill series, It tops any movie I've seen for proper horror.

Also, The Suffering is a bit freaky. Can get it for about 15 notes. Well worth a look :eek: