Last week was all about literacy and this week it is all about the lowest common denominator. Fear. The Alfred Hitchcock spread got me to thinking about my favorite horror films. I love the first Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street. Think it is about as good as it gets when it comes to Horror. I like the older horror films, but even though some are really beautifully done, for the most part, they just don't make me want to sleep with my eyes open. In order to avoid a serious ass kicking, I usually tell everyone my favorite horror film is House On Haunted Hill. I love both the 1959 version and of course the 1999 version, because it does what I think a good horror film does and that is scare the hell out of you but also have someone in it for comic relief. Plus it has Ali Larter and Lisa Loeb in it, so really, it doesn't get any better than that. 
My favorite horror poster though is the Blair Witch Project . I remember seeing the poster at a movie theatre about three months before it came out and I just knew it would scare the hell out of me. The movie had been reviewed by Peter Travers of Rolling Stone already and I remember the poster had a quote from the review saying something like "It will scare the hell out of you." Didn't really scare me, but I loved how it changed film and marketing a film. Incredible.
So, what is your favorite horror film?
My favorite horror poster though is the Blair Witch Project . I remember seeing the poster at a movie theatre about three months before it came out and I just knew it would scare the hell out of me. The movie had been reviewed by Peter Travers of Rolling Stone already and I remember the poster had a quote from the review saying something like "It will scare the hell out of you." Didn't really scare me, but I loved how it changed film and marketing a film. Incredible.
So, what is your favorite horror film?
Any. All. Every. Love horror movies in almost any shape and form. 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later are probably my most favorite, though, although they're more sci fi than horror.
ReplyDeleteI've loved Manson since I was a little punk, too. Thanks for the sweet dreams LOL
Scariest movie I have ever seen was "Junior" with Arnold Schwartzenegger.
ReplyDeletehahaha.....
ReplyDeleteBlair witch project scared me because before i saw it people told me it was real. i know , pretty stupid but I guess thats how they made all the buzz. As far as scary movies go, I try not to watch them because of nightmares.
ReplyDeleteThe Evil dead 2 and 3. Ha Ha. Hard question since it's my second favorite genre. Scariest: Last House on the Left, The Devils, The Entity, Amityville Horror (original). Pretty much any horror movie is A Ok with me.
ReplyDeleteHands down The Exorcist was the scariest movie EVER...I still can't sleep at night just thinking about it...
ReplyDelete2.) Serpent and the Rainbow
3.) The Evil Dead
4.) The Shining
Other movies that scared me, but weren't horror flicks:
Wizard of Oz (witch and monkies!)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (baby snatcher)
The Day After-which was a made-for-tv movie back in the 70's that they warned parents not to let their kids watch it. I did anyway and have been completely afraid of nuclear war ever since!
I am not brave.They all scare me. IT gave me nightmares for months. I still can't even look at a clown.
ReplyDeleteDoes Pans Labyrinth count?
LOL hellofire..
ReplyDeleteMy fav movie is Silent hill and the grudge... both those movies got me good. But then again I am the biggest scaredy cat ever!
Ooh. I forgot. The Thing.
ReplyDeleteIce angel i Seen the day after. AND THAT MOVIE SCARED THE LIVING SHIT OUTTA ME!!!
ReplyDeleteI once saw a movie called "Entity" and it was about this woman who had a ghost in her house and it kept raping her. Every time it would show up, her house would shake and rumble. I was watching it with my mom in their old house, and toward the end of the movie, a hot water pan broke in our basement. It made a loud noise and the house shook for a few seconds. And I, I think I pooped a little.
ReplyDeleteBut, on a serious note: Rosemary's Baby. Most newer horror flicks I can't even watch. I paid to see The Ring in the theater and had my face covered the whole time. Kind of a scaredy cat like that...*L*
The original Black Christmas....It was YEARS before I could go into an attic again. Mucho creepy.
ReplyDelete..and the Evil Dead flicks were a staple on a boring Saturday night for us. A case of beer and a few hits and watch it with the sound down and eveyone pick a character...Let the ad-libbed hilarity begin.
Amityville Horror original. knowing its based on a 'true'story is fucked.
ReplyDeleteold school cheesy horrors like Happy Birthday to Me and Student Bodies made me laugh. It was the Scary Movie of the 80s.
Not so much a horror but The Shining still scares the shit outta me.
1) Original version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre
ReplyDelete2) Psycho
3) Original version of The Haunting
4) John Carpenter's The Thing
5) Count Yorga Vampire
6) Last House on the Left
7) Dead & Buried
8) Evil Dead
9) Showgirls
Mostly, there are parts of scary movies that stay in my mind: The ends of the first Saw and The Ring, lots of scenes in the first Halloween, but probably the shower scene in Psycho is the granddaddy of them all. For suspense, Rear Window sent my face into the couch pillows. Dial M for Murder and Wait Until Dark were great! And the first Alien. Was physically SO tense watching it and exhausted afterward.
ReplyDeleteShowgirls! LOLOL, ObitGuy!
ReplyDeletewrong turn. anything that has inbred freaks chasing kids through the woods will pretty much have me sleeping with the lights on.
ReplyDeleteI'm a scary movie wimp, and its the supernatural ones that creep me.
ReplyDeleteWhat Lies Beneath, The Others, Sixth Sense, The Ring, Blair Witch, etc.
Obitguy, I agree with "The Haunting." Scared me for days when I was a kid. The new one, not so much. And "Showgirls?" The scariest thing about that one is that I actually PAID to go see it. Terrifying. Must have been possessed by that hack screenwriter who got millions for the screenplay. Hollywood is so stupid. And scary.
ReplyDeleteThe Little Girl who Lived down the Lane - Martin Sheen scared the pants off me.
ReplyDeleteDon't be Afraid of the Dark.
Alien
Night of the Living Dead.
ENTY, I WANT TO MARRY YOU. Every Your Turn post makes me totally giddy! I LOVE HORROR FILMS!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy all-time favorite scary movie is definitely The Shining. I wrote a paper on it back in college for a Kubrick film course and probably watched it about fifteen times; it STILL disturbs me. I don't care. Stephen King is a fucking prolific genius -- his stories are so original and detailed.
And you know what the freakiest part of that whole film for me was? The part with the two people in the animal costumes doing sexy-time. Remember how Shelley Duvall (who I think was absolutely underrated and outstanding in that movie -- just PERFECT in that role) is trying to get away from Jack and glances in that random room? It's the WEIRDEST scene, and I love how it doesn't really make any sense. *Chills.*
I could go on and on. But you know. It's just an absolutely brilliant film.
28 Days Later scared the bejesus out of me, too. I LOVE the part where the dad glances upward and a single, solitary drop of blood lands in his eye and he starts screaming at his daughter to stay away from him because he knows he's gonna start going buck nutty in a few seconds. I LOVE apocalyptic films in general, but I really thought that one was outstanding. It freaked me out way more than I thought it would. I'm a pretty tough judge when it comes to this sort of thing.
I also loved Rosemary's Baby, and in keeping with Polanski, the movie Repulsion is SUPER FREAKY. It stars a young Catherine Deneuve, too -- another of my eternal girl crushes.
Hitchcock is the obvious auteur. I love the crap out of his movies -- even the ones that aren't really that scary, like North by Northwest, or To Catch a Thief. I actually didn't KNOW the twist to Psycho when I watched it in another college film class. I remember walking out of the auditorium in a sort of haze, just TOTALLY fucked-up and disturbed by that image of Mama Bates' skeleton in a rocking chair, and the bright air and fresh Virginia sunshine did NOT jive with what I had just watched.
The last movie to FREAK me the FUCK OUT was Alien, though. LOVED that movie! Sigourney Weaver is such a badass in that movie -- the part where she's alone on the ship in her skimpy little outfit and the alien is chillin' out, just waiting to lunge at her...
I know I'll think of a billion more, and I can't WAIT for more suggestions in this thread!
LOVE scary movies! Love all movies, but scary ones are the greatest. Still, the scariest for me is"The Haunting of Hill House", the original one from the early 60s, with Julie Harris and Russ Tamblyn. Nothing graphic on screen, just sounds and banging on the walls, all to make my mind work overtime filling in the scary spaces. Also still scary, The Exorcist, The Ring.
ReplyDeletejax - I will forever love you for mentioning Student Bodies. I love that movie to an unholy degree and have the half-sheet for it waiting for a proper frame. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a love-hate relationship with horror as a genre, because it almost always seems to fall short. I LOVE being scared, but most of the time I'm just bored or disgusted. I seem to be in the minority these days, but gore does not a good scare make in my opinion. That said, Rosemary's Baby scared me so much that I spent the entire night pop-eyed and jumping at every sound. Ju-On (the original version of the Grudge) was also pretty strong, and to this day my husband only needs to make the croaking sound to make me jump.
Most recently, the Strangers got a good review from me. I half-joked that everyone entering the theater should have been issued a Depend before entering. I can't remember the last time I was so frightened. :)
ice angel, "Serpent and the Rainbow" was one of the first scary movies I ever saw. Dad told me I couldn't watch it, 'cause I was too young, so I thought I'd be sly, and set myself up in the stairs and watch it over his shoulder. I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep for a week. And couldn't hold in my horror when they 'nailed' that guy in the testicles... *shudder*
ReplyDeleteI don't really watch scary movies, I more or less 'listen' to them. I can't remove my hands from my face. Totally lost on me. But suspense, that I like.
The first time I saw Alien and the first time I saw the first Jurassic Park both pretty much scared the hell out of me.
ReplyDeleteremake of 'the thing' with kurt russell. very creepy.
ReplyDelete'the exorcist.' i worried about hearing from captain howdy when i went to bed at night for months after that. i bet a lot of people did.
'saw.' only the first one. never saw anything like it. the sequels sucked.
'the ring.' i found that scary as shit.
I have to agree with some of the previous posters - Last House on the Left - I think it's early 70's. I believe it was one of the first horror movies as graphic as this one is in terms of sex and realistic gore, but I don't feel these things were gratuitous. The story was so horrifying and disturbing that any less sex/gore would not have sold it as well. Absolutely a classic.
ReplyDeleteEvil Dead and Motel Hell
ReplyDeleteOhh...Blair Witch scared the crap out of me too because we saw it when it was still only in limited release on the first weekend and though I knew it was actors and how it was made, I was still under the impression that the story was based on a true story. I woke up at 5am the next morning from a nightmare about red palm prints on the walls.
ReplyDeleteI've become a wus as I age. Used to watch Poltergeist all the time as a kid when it was played every day on HBO. Now I don't think I could sit through 5 minutes.
And my parents let me watch the Amityville Horror when I was 5. FIVE!!! It's scarred me for life. I tried to exorcise the demon a while back by reading the book and watching the movie again..only made it worse. Yet, I'm compulsed to watch the new remake. My husband won't let me; he doesn't want to deal with me if I do..hahahaha
lol Audrey..no problem. i just remember the scene where the killer is looking for a weapon in the drawer and bypasses the gun, rope and knife and takes the paperclips!
ReplyDeleteHere's one for ya: The Changeling. Scares the sh^t out of me even today. Also, I hands down agree with the original "The Haunting."
ReplyDeleteAnother old one that's not well known: Dementia 13. Scared the beegeezus out of this 12 yr old. Had to get up and walk around. Didn't go anywhere; just had to move. Lol.
ReplyDeleteExorcist and The Omen. Just because they are devil related and hence, could actually come true in my young eyes. LOL I did shit a brick on the first Friday the 13th too though. Halloween is a classic.
ReplyDelete"Session 9"
ReplyDeleteand not just because of David Caruso's acting. Demonic insane asylum? Dissociatve Identity Disorder where one of the personalities is actually the devil? Nifty!
Dudes, I'm updating my netflix queue as we speak! Thanks for all these suggestions! Is it Halloween yet, or what?
ReplyDeleteI'm totally curious: did anyone else get violently nauseous during Blair Witch? I think I disliked it specifically because of the handheld camera angle. Same with Cloverfield.
Well, no. I take that back. Cloverfield was just a fucking horrible movie. Probably the biggest cinematic piece of dogdoody I've ever seen in my life, actually.
Definately the shining, you've got gory horror movies and those that mess with your mind. The shining messed with me so bad I had to watch Disney movies before bed just to calm my mind down.
ReplyDeleteThe Exorcist, The Omen (original), Jaws, American Werewolf in London, and lastly--because it's a true story and the body count was over 100--The Ghost and the Darkness. The opening scene is truly terrifying, and the scene where Val Kilmer is meeting his wife at the train station is also terrifying. I don't think I've ever been as drained watching a movie as I was after that scene at the train station.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the Entity. Scared crap out of me.
ReplyDeleteMy nomination goes to Phantasm. Horrifically scary. Dwarves, undertakers, daggers in eyes, children in danger. Horrible.
But only the first one.
I don't like horror films. I'm chickenshit. I only like the Evil Dead movies because 1) Bruce and 2) they're kinda funny.
ReplyDeleteI watched an episode of "Psychic Kids" on A&E, and THAT scared the bejesus outta me.
I am a big fan of the originals of "One Missed Call," "The Grudge," and "The Eye." [Big time "Asia Extreme" fan on Sundance .. only problem is I am on the Western Satellite here in Minneapolis and so we get the films at 2 AM on Monday Morning. : / ]
ReplyDeleteI also like a lot of the better Stephen King films .. "Carrie," "The Shining" .. and the recent one which I - of course! -can't remember the name. I think Thomas Jane was in it?? "The Mist" .. maybe??
And you just can't go wrong with the original "Night of the Living Dead, " "28 Days Later," "28 Weeks Later," .. Give me Zombies or give me death .. cuz I'll just come back and eat your brains! ; )
[Guilty kitschy horror/thriller pleasure .. "Grindhouse" .. all of it .. but I wish Quentin Tarantino would have put the longer version of "Death Proof" into that than the shorter one.]
Oh Crap! Ernestine .. you totally reminded me!! "Rosemary's Baby" .. you can't go wrong with Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Ralph Bellamy .. and Charles Grodin as Mia's first OB who is just certain she is nuts. Great movie!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me .. I have to go buy that in DVD immediately!!
I'm a big horror movie p*ssy... had to walk out of the Grudge 20 minutes in 'cause I couldn't deal with the fact that SMG would have to go looking for that cordless f-ing phone... I don't even know if it became a plot point, just the fact that it could was enough to send me to the exit.
ReplyDeleteBlair Witch, each 30-second stretch of that movie is just too eerie and creepy, really awesome.
The Ring creeped me out but it was so pessimistic that I couldn't deal with the message... that no matter what lengths you go to, it doesn't make any sort of difference. Guess I'm too American that way :-)
Amityville Horror original, I have to laugh at myself. After all these years I can still wake up and have to pee at exactly 3:15 am. NOOO way do I get up. I have to wait until at least 3:25 am or later. In the movie everything that happen happened at 3:15 am. Although I have to admit I am scared of my own shadow, I could NEVER watch a scary movie alone.
ReplyDeleteAfter "Night of the Living Dead" original, I would go two blocks out of my way just so I wouldn't have to go by the cemetary at night.
OH shit it's 1:43 am, I have to hurry up and be in bed by 3:15. I'm getting scared...just thinking about all this.
for me nothing beats the original Halloween - sweet jeebus that scared the crap out. I'm more the screw with my head scary movie person then the gory movies.
ReplyDeleteLOL @ Student Bodies. Blair witch scared me (i know) and made me sick to my stomach from the handheld camera as well
Any one from PA remember Dr Shock on saturdays and his creepy movies? He showed some great one and i remember abbot and costello meet the wolfman,dracula and the mummy (can't remember the original title) but as a little kid it really scared me... and made me laugh.
and there was this movie with vincent price in it where someone put a pair of binoculars up to thier eyes and spikes came out of them and stabbed them and I wouldn't look thru binoculars for many many years!! LOL
Poltergeist. Still scares the bejesus out of me even after all these years.
ReplyDeletep.s. For those of you who mentioned The Entity, they're doing a remake.
ReplyDeleteTHE SHINING.
ReplyDeleteThe Omen, Blair Witch and The Silence of the Lambs.
And I know that no one asked, but Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" is the most disturbing thing I have ever read.
The ORIGINAL "When A Stranger Calls" with Carol Kane and Charles Durning, hands down one of my all time scariest movies...total suspense and at the time, a totally unexpected twist. And "The Exorcist". For years I couldn't even listen to "Tubular Bells".
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAyesha, I don't think you ever need to justify adding a book recommendation here!!! :)
ReplyDeleteAyesha -- I totally second what mooshki just said, and will definitely pick up a copy of The Road the next time I'm out and about. Thanks! Creepy books are just as rad as creepy movies.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE scary movies.
ReplyDeleteA Nightmare on Elm Street
Night of the Living Dead (any Zombie movie)
The Lost Boys (love vampires)
The Exorcist (loosely based on a true story?)
I could just keep on going......
I love horror movies. The most disturbing ones I have ever seen are:
ReplyDelete1) The Exorcist (I can watch it now alone - but not before I go to bed..)
2) Salems Lot (original) - I still get freaked out by any sound at a window.
And that basement scene with all the vampires takes my breath away every time. Scary as hell.
My personal faves include The Ring and the Battle Royale series.
ReplyDeleteThe First Two Freddie Krugers and the First 3 Halloweens. I loved Johnny Depp in Nightmare! Goodness, he laid there gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteMy fav horror movie is House on Haunted Hill as well as The original and new versions of Amittyville Horror! but they needed to stop with the first one tho...sequels didn't do a movie good!
ReplyDeleteHorror movies freak me out so much I won't even read the rest of this post.....
ReplyDeletewith one exception. Vampire movies. I love the whole erotic overtone....
OK, I hafta tell a sorry. Please ignore the above comment since I saw this film a loong time ago. I got talked into seeing Dracula (Frank Langella) by my dad and sis. So I am watching the film thru my fingers (packed house by the way) and there's this one part where they are walking thru an underground cave. All of a sudden this (dead) zombie girl pops out of the darkness. Well, apparently my father had been waiting for this as he took that moment to reach around my sister and poke me inthe neck. I screamed bloody murder. The people behind us could not stop laughing. Rotten dad.....
i love all scary movies. even the ones the folks over at pajiba like to call "torture porn". if a movie is scary and intense, i love it. "wolf creek", "the hills have eyes", and "the descent" are really, really creepy.
ReplyDeletemy personal scares are anything involving drowning. you'll think this weird, because water doesn't scare me, i've been a swimmer all my life, lifeguard, swim team, refuse to wear a life jacket, you name it. but when i see people on the screen drowning or about to, i can't watch. i have great respect for water, i know what trouble one can get into. that scene in "the abyss" where she has to drown in order to get back to the main post or whatever? freaks me out. i saw a movie yesterday called "turistas" where these kids had to escape by blind cave diving. i'm still very disturbed by it.
and yet, i'm fascinated by REAL cave diving with instructors.
i think i must have died by drowning in a previous life.
i love all scary movies. even the ones the folks over at pajiba like to call "torture porn". if a movie is scary and intense, i love it. "wolf creek", "the hills have eyes", and "the descent" are really, really creepy.
ReplyDeletemy personal scares are anything involving drowning. you'll think this weird, because water doesn't scare me, i've been a swimmer all my life, lifeguard, swim team, refuse to wear a life jacket, you name it. but when i see people on the screen drowning or about to, i can't watch. i have great respect for water, i know what trouble one can get into. that scene in "the abyss" where she has to drown in order to get back to the main post or whatever? freaks me out. i saw a movie yesterday called "turistas" where these kids had to escape by blind cave diving. i'm still very disturbed by it.
and yet, i'm fascinated by REAL cave diving with instructors.
i think i must have died by drowning in a previous life.
sorry about the waffled post, there.
ReplyDeletesee, i told you it was scary!
and i need to change my avatar to show the grown up
coco the bunny!