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All time scary films?


erialc

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So Loco you didnt know The Blair Witch Project was based on a "true" story when you went to see it for the first time. You where in a way lucky. I went to see it at the start when they where selling with the movie the story of it being based on a true story. Damn that was some extra fear factor to it. I will agree with you its one of the best all time movies. But the main impact of the movie is when you see it for the first time. :gun2:

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So Loco you didnt know The Blair Witch Project was based on a "true" story when you went to see it for the first time. You where in a way lucky. I went to see it at the start when they where selling with the movie the story of it being based on a true story. Damn that was some extra fear factor to it. I will agree with you its one of the best all time movies. But the main impact of the movie is when you see it for the first time. :gun2:

 

Nope, learned that on the way out of the theater. Probably what kept me up all night.

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  • 3 months later...

This thread seems to keep coming to life as new people spot it ... or even when old people spot it.

 

We never watch horror films, but that doesn't mean that one or two quite harmless films haven't spooked us.

 

I remember as a kid having to leave the cinema during 'The Invisible Man' - couldn't take the tension. And our kid hid behind the sofa when watching 'Ring of Bright Water' - terrified of the otter!

 

It doesn't need to be a horror film to scare some people. The few "horror" films we saw by mistake we found screamingly funny.

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How do you define a scary movie?

I am german and I don't know the exact translation. Is it a film which scares you and has to be a fantasy theme with some mystery, which you can't explain with nature laws?

I am a bit older and not that easy scared by new movies, when I was young probably Wolfen would be in this category?

Phase IV, which had a lifeform inside a human even befor Alien

The Birds, the original from Alfred Hitchcock

The best vampire film of all times in my eyes close to 90 years old: Nosferatu from 1921

 

Would Jaws disqualify because such a shark could theoretically exist?

 

Or does it just have to scare you?

Like the nature documentations when doctors in africa were pulling metre long real parasite worms out of the legs of a kid?

 

So what defines a scary movie?

 

I know what the most scaring moment in my life was, not collecting bodyparts as a volunteer firefighter. Our oldest daughter, then 2 was sleeping and I was doing some repairs in the house while my wife was at work at sunday in hospital. When I did my hour-ly check if she was still sleeping our daughter was gone. I searched the whole house, the garden, the barn, the forst a few 100 metres away, ....

I couldn't find her, so I decided to get the dog and do an extended search and call the police. And then she was sleeping in the hut we made for our shepherd/st.bernhardt mix of a dog. The dog was curled around her and looking at me as if wanting to say, she is sleeping, don't be so loud.

 

Years back I remember it as funny, but at that moment .... can't describe it... from total panic and adrenalin push to total relief .... was sitting in the gras for minutes

Edited by chattius
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I would say it has to hold you in semi-terrified suspense for a reasonable length of time. Going back to Claire's original post I am not sure that the instant shock of Linda Blair leaping out of the screen would qualify - though it might give you a heart attack.

 

Nosferatu, yes. Possibly Caligari. And a scene in the 30s Ivan the Terrible with its very over exagerated acting, where the assassin lurks down in the courtyard and the B&W screen is suddenly hand-tinted blue. The old B&W films had a head start for atmosphere.

 

But as you say, life itself is scary enough.

Edited by Bondbug
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  • 1 month later...
Two words:

 

The Thing.

 

John Carpenter in his prime, Kurt Russel in a beard and Ennio Moricone on awarding winning form (ok, the award was a Razzie but dammed if I know why).

 

The horror fans alternative ET (released two weeks before) is still Carpenter's best work in a very uneven career and although grossing significantly less than Spielbergs alien lovin' tale, holds up much better when compared side by side, 25 years after the event. It's dark, brooding, claustrophobic, fast, clever and yes, gore filled. And given all the effects are models (pre-CGI) it could have been cheesy. For me though, Bottin spent his portion of the $14mil budget well - the effects are creepier and downright unexpected. And Cudney's photography just seals the deal, adding to the sense isolation and being sealed up in some tents with an alien shapeshifter.

 

And the cast finish it off. Some great performances - notably from Russel in his best performance (in my opinion) as pilot Macready who desperately wants to be the hero of the piece, if only the supporting characters would let him. Brimley (you may recall from Cacoon) as Dr Blair who slowly slips into madness is my favourite of the incidentals. I particularly enjoy the scene where he tells Macready that he's not mad and ready to rejoin the group - behind him swinging in some unseen breeze is a noose.

 

But my favourite scene is where one character goes into cardiac arrest - Doctor Cooper (Dysart - LA Law) puts defib on his chest, which turns into a giant mouth and bites his hands off. First time I saw it I nearly crapped myself. Second time I laughed so hard I nearly wet myself. And the head turning into a spider? Inspired, with 'Windows' deadpanning "Oh you gotta be F***ing kidding me" as he watches it scuttle off.

 

To end a horror film without closure though, without a neat ending with all the lines tied together. That's the scary part.

 

Oh and if you own it on DVD, watch it with Kurt and John C's commentary. It's so funny - the two of them are drinking beers and chatting having not seen the film in 10 years. Hiliarious.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TevQS4qgE_Q

 

Totally agree. The first time that I saw this I was 17, and I slept with the lights on for a week :lol:

 

My second scariest movie was "Signs" with Mel Gibson. M. Night Shyamalan found the perfect way to squeeze every bit of tension in the situation of being scared by what you DON'T see. It is that barely glimpsed bump in the night, when you're already on edge and keyed to overdrive, that gets me every time :P

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I did like the sound from Signs. Unfortunately, that was the last of his movies I enjoyed...oh wait, I liked The Village as well. Great attention to sound, he uses it to increase anticipation while pacing our stress levels.

 

Delicious

 

:lol:

 

gogo

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Probably wouldnt have the same affect now... But I watched Freddie Kreuger 3 when I was young, and the vein scene haunted me for a long while.

 

I think the more you watch, the easier it is to (subconsiously)disassociate yourself with it. In my opinion that is key, it prevents you from not just letting yourself be scared, but getting the most out of the film, that goes for other genres as well. Of course its not as simple as just losing yourself in the film, most people today are pretty much desensitised to everything. How do you reaquaint yourself with the imagination you lost many years ago? Drugs help, but thats not a solution.

Edited by Rusto
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How do you reaquaint yourself with the imagination you lost many years ago?

 

 

Jewel!

 

It's a strange catch 22 we have going on here... we use that experience garnered from everything we do to help keep us alive... but when it comes to movies, it seems like we also lose something incalculably huge. I do try so hard to maintain a tabula rasa as much as I can, and this forum certainly gives me practice...but is it enough?

 

:)

 

gogo

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How do you reaquaint yourself with the imagination you lost many years ago?

 

 

Jewel!

 

It's a strange catch 22 we have going on here... we use that experience garnered from everything we do to help keep us alive... but when it comes to movies, it seems like we also lose something incalculably huge. I do try so hard to maintain a tabula rasa as much as I can, and this forum certainly gives me practice...but is it enough?

 

:)

 

gogo

They will have to come up with new things to scare us, things that are plausible. Nanite plague, bio-engineering run amok, physics experiment/black hole/ exotic matter accident. And ofc the whole spiritual / meta convergence with 2012 coming up will intensify as we get closer :)

 

Or recycle some of the old stuff. I think that humans have some intrinsic fears that we will never shed nor become desensitized too. They are built into our psyche, our DNA, our collective conscious. Evolutionary fears that have served mammals well will always be a hot button for us :)

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Honestly at the time it scared the heck out of me, I didn't Swim in the Ocean for the next two summers, yes JAWS.

 

Suppose it had alot to do with my Age at the time. :)

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Jaws was just...incredible. I don't believe first of all that peeps could even become scared like that... and not only for that high fright scare in the theatre..but that feeling of dread that shadows you out back home into your bed, tween your sheets, in your dreams, where you, all of a sudden, beyond your control, found yourself swimming in a very dark, deep ocean... alone.

 

:)

 

gogo

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hands down the most psychological trauma comes from the spiritual manifestation sub-genre.

 

We all know how we feel after watching, "The Exorcist" as this movie has widespread appeal & is well known. Although possibly mis-understood. :Just_Cuz_21:

 

I introduce you all to, "The Grudge" Japanese release only! I wont give specific details, as this may become a tease killer.

 

Like horror movies? Like spiritual manifestation sub-genre? Like feeling strange & not complete? The sense of helplessness inspire your very being?

 

WATCH THIS FILM!

 

I remain, Etherian

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Etherian and Sirius I love the picks. Salem's Lot broke a lot of ground when it first came out. Course, the book is a must read.

 

Exorcist still has effects that will scare people. What they did in that room, how they made it become something so alien to what we had expected was a work of art. I still remember seeing Regan's face the first time...how they pulled and contorted it...sort of like a fright mask of a clown..but much more menacing.

 

The Grudge...well I still don't know how /what they did. Making a movie in full sunlight that still can jump anyone I know that hasn't seen it out of their seats.

 

Ground breaking sounds, angles... a keeper for the dark.

 

:Just_Cuz_21:

 

gogo

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The scariest movie I've ever seen is IT. I love all of Stephen King's work, it's all beautifully crafted horror.

 

Yes, Stephen King.

He's the master of horror, isn't he?

After watching "The Mangler", I swear my washing machine has been giving me the evil eye.

Also my fridge gets grumpy when I buy salads.

I guess I'm doomed to a life of frozen pizza and joy..

Alas..

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Alot of good horror movies out there, yes.

I especially like Hellraiser. Also Poltergeist is among my favourite thriller/horror films.

 

But still, Scandinavians has been scarred since childhood.

I'm talking about a show the was sent in the children's hour on TV.

Together with sesame street and some other kinds of mindless innocent colortrips, was a cartoon-show called "The moomins".

 

This show alone was responsible for thousands of wet sheets in childerns rooms throughout scandinavia. (Or was it just mine..?)

It nearly frightened me into a catatonic state as a child.

Anyway, I would like your opinion on this.

Is this something you would like your 3-year-old kid to watch alone in a dark room?

 

The language spoken here is Finnish, with English subtitles.

 

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Not bad Sirius. I can see how that would be spooky... I like the part where the thing walks away down a well drawn lane.

 

You really got me into a great mood to spend some time today in tracking down a trailer for a very very very special collection of black and white stories that tingle us. The description for the pastiche is on Apple Trailers,

FEAR(S) OF THE DARK is a wildly inventive and visually dazzling collection of fearful tales by six of the world’s most renowned comic and graphic artists

 

and if you want to you can see the trailer here:

 

 

I will one day, I promise, hunt down this movie and watch it. Until then, it occupies a place under my bed, always at night.

 

We all have a comfort in cartoons, thinking them to be safe.

 

Think again

 

:)

 

gogo

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Perhaps you noticed that they build up the tension excactly like a good horror movie.

And when a freezing gust of wind suddenly blows out all the lights, the traveller stands up and says: "It's here..."

If that doesn't send a chill down the spine of a 4-year-old, nothing will.

 

Nice trailer, gogo.

I think I'm gonna check it out. Looks very dark and obscure. I like it! :)

Edited by Sirius
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  • 6 months later...

So Loco you didnt know The Blair Witch Project was based on a "true" story when you went to see it for the first time. You where in a way lucky. I went to see it at the start when they where selling with the movie the story of it being based on a true story. Damn that was some extra fear factor to it. I will agree with you its one of the best all time movies. But the main impact of the movie is when you see it for the first time. :gun2:

 

Witch Blair was scary for awhile then when the suspense started to really build the one woman started dropping the F-Bombs left and right. Not that I blame her(she really didn't know what was going on because it was all improvisation) but still kind of ruined the mood.

 

One movie that scared ca-ca out of me because I was too young to watch and too stupid to realize it was Nightmare on Elm Street. To this day I can't even watch most of the Elm Street movies.

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One movie that scared ca-ca out of me because I was too young to watch and too stupid to realize it was Nightmare on Elm Street. To this day I can't even watch most of the Elm Street movies.

 

 

I kind of mirror your sentiments here I think. Freddie can get downright spooky at times. His humorous banter and antics kind of pull you in closer, then when he whips out those claws, I think it's the surprise of him turning into a psycho killer that shocks us.

 

:oooo:

 

gogo

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  • 8 months later...

:pump2: With Halloween right around the corner, I thought I would toss two more titles out there, in case anyone wanted some new (to them) scary movies to watch. :pump2:

 

---

 

One is called "The Haunting," and this part--used in the synopsis and the movie itself--never fails to give me goosebumbs:

 

"Hill House had stood for 90 years and might stand for 90 more. Silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House and whatever walked there, walked alone."

 

What it's about: "Dr. Markway is an anthropologist with a special interest in psychic phenomena who wants to try a true exercise in terror. Intrigued by the legend of Hill House, he invites two women, psychic researchers, to join him in his adventure. Mrs. Sannerson, who has inherited the old mansion, is suspicious of Dr. Markway's intentions and insists that her young nephew Luke go along with the group. Luke is a skeptic about the supernatural, until he entes Dr. Markway's eerie world.

 

If someone decides to look this one up, make sure it's the 1963 version. The 1999 version is rather garbage in comparison.

 

---

 

The other movie is called "The Changeling." I actually can't say much about it without spoiling it, but it's a horror/mystery combo instead of straight up horror.

 

If you're interested in it, you're looking for the 1980 version.

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