Are there any really scary movies?

[Kislath]

Have you seen any movies that really made you afraid? At work today a customer asked for suggestions on this, but I came up blank. I couldn't think of anything actually scary. Any ideas? What scared you?

Maybe I'm just jaded. Maybe my being a writer of screenplays has taken the magic of movies away from me? I dunno.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Well.... gremlins REALLY scared the crap out of me... when I was 5....

Serious now, the only movie that has scared me was the shining....

[Haruki-kun]

Have you seen any movies that really made you afraid? At work today a customer asked for suggestions on this, but I came up blank. I couldn't think of anything actually scary. Any ideas? What scared you?

Maybe I'm just jaded. Maybe my being a writer of screenplays has taken the magic of movies away from me? I dunno.

I get scared REALLY easily. Seriously. It's like... some sort of over-active imagination thing, I think. Heck, just thinking about scary movies scares me, because I'm scared of getting scared! :smalleek:

I wish it weren't so. Some of the best literature/cinema in the world is horror. :smallfrown:

[Zen Monkey]

I'm a little old to be scared of movies, but it's the right time of year to be watching some of the good ones. In no particular order:

The Descent
The Shining
Alien
The Thing
It

Edit: I'm not sure if Jacob's Ladder counts, and I've heard good things about Session 9 though I haven't gotten to see it yet.

[comicshorse]

I'd second The Descent (particularly if like me you're claustrophobic)
Also The Ring ( the Japenese version )

[Dr.Epic]

Trick 'r Treat is my favorite horror film (and it's actual seasonal).

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Though I may twitch and flinch at a few, only one has actually 'scared' me.

The only exception was The Fourth Kind (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1220198/). Not the original 'Third Kind', but the newish movie.

It may have just been my mindset at the time or my mood, but it creeped me the hell out vastly unlike any have to this point.

My sister on the other hand wasn't phased at all by it and she's much more easily creeped out than me, so I dunno. May just be my particular mentality made it so bad.

That or the fact it had live footage (being a based on a true story deal) and watching people go insane and kill themselves got me. If I intellectually know something actually happened it effects me a lot more. Or it may have been the main lady this all happened around. She was like an alien herself. Never seen anyone who gave me the creeps like she did.

She may be utterly insane herself, so though you know some of the things happened, the reasons and the non-recorded bits could be all in her head. However, knowing she believes it in RL and empathizing with 'what if' is also enough to put you on edge.

I just know I'll never watch it again.




The Shining
I seriously hated that movie. It was more weird than creepy but after awhile you got numbed to even that because It. Never. Ended. Length of movie usually doesn't bother me but I was twitching and thinking, 'WHY IS IT STILL GOING?' after the first 2 hours only to realize it still had one or two more to go!

[Telonius]

Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd.

(Though probably not in the manner the OP was asking about).

[Mewtarthio]

I seriously hated that movie. It was more weird than creepy but after awhile you got numbed to even that because It. Never. Ended. Length of movie usually doesn't bother me but I was twitching and thinking, 'WHY IS IT STILL GOING?' after the first 2 hours only to realize it still had one or two more to go!

It's Kubrick. What were you expecting? :smalltongue:

That being said, the book was really, really scary for me.

[Ashtar]

Scary really depends on your state of mind and how much you allow yourself to be scared.

I was for example scared while watching the US version of Ring at home (* and had to unplug all the screens in the house), but the Japanese Ringu left me totally indifferent. The Blair Witch project registered a flat zero on my "scare-O-meter", same for Paranormal Activity. But for example, Screamers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114367/) got me the chills.

For some movies, the implied horror of the situation or of the consequences can be more terrifying than what is shown. This is why Hitchcock had so much success in his time, for example: "The birds".

Sadly, most films now pander to the shocker and ick, like Saw and others. I don't find them scary.

[Zen Monkey]

I don't get the (hopefully fading) obsession with gore and torture. Movies like Saw and Hostel just seem to appeal to some desire for realistic or relate-able suffering. If you want a disturbing (but still safely fictional) film, watch 8mm. The real world has enough senseless pain, so I'll take the sillier movie monsters for my entertainment dollar.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Sadly, most films now pander to the shocker and ick, like Saw and others. I don't find them scary.
Amen to that.

I'm told the stuff I write is extremely creepy and I don't resort to gore. Have a sort of period fantasy/horror I'm working on and it completely unnerved those I showed my notes to. No guts or undead or blood or anything.

To my mind that is the inexpert way of instilling fear. Same with narrow camera panning to hide something that anyone could see in real life and silence that goes suddenly blares out with trumpeting music.

Its lazy, cheap and annoying.

[Haruki-kun]

I'm a little old to be scared of movies

Nonsense. You can be scared of movies at any age.

[Asthix]

I haven't seen the Hellraiser movies in a long time so I don't know if they stand the test of time, but those three movies had me squirming.

Also, I don't know if anyone has seen this but find a Japanese movie called Iron Man. I found it as an unmarked vhs in my friend's collection and popped it in to find a black & white grainy film about a Japanese man who begins... well all I'll spoil about it is that the end is decidedly not horror but the rest freaked me out. (perhaps because I watched alone in a basement at 2 am)

[Athanatos]

The first Paranormal Activity really freaked me out, made sleeping a little difficult for the next few nights. No word yet on the scariness of the sequel that just came out.

[chiasaur11]

Heard Eraserhead is incredibly efficient at building the atmosphere of a nightmare.

Worth seeing some time, I suppose. At night. Alone. With some slight sleep deprivation, and all the lights off.

[Dienekes]

Worth seeing some time, I suppose. At night. Alone. With some slight sleep deprivation, and all the lights off.

It is my firm belief that this is the only appropriate way to watch any horror movie.

The first time anyway. The second time is for friends and lights and jokes.

[Drascin]

Scary really depends on your state of mind and how much you allow yourself to be scared.

This is true. Nothing short of real-life threat of death is scary if you don't let yourself be scared. Conversely, a lot can be scary if you can unplug the "meh, it's just a movie, let's MST the hell out of it" part of your brain at home.

[Tichrondrius]

I haven't watched a movie that actually scared me in years. I've been looking but I haven't found any. I watched a lot of suggestions and "classics" for the first time with the lights off alone but still.. is there just no movie out there that can scare me anymore? I want to be terrified. XD;

[Jaros]

Sadly, most films now pander to the shocker and ick, like Saw and others. I don't find them scary.

I've only seen the first Saw, but I thought they did a great job of being scary on the non-gore parts.

And this isn't really a single film but: have you ever looked into young-Malcolm McDowell's eyes and felt that he's... judging you? And that in that moment he knows whether you're going to heaven or hell? Even though there's no way he could see you?

[Miklus]

I would say "A Clockwork Orange". It hits a little to close to home. I can only too easily imagine the future like that.

[Bhu]

Have you seen any movies that really made you afraid? At work today a customer asked for suggestions on this, but I came up blank. I couldn't think of anything actually scary. Any ideas? What scared you?

Maybe I'm just jaded. Maybe my being a writer of screenplays has taken the magic of movies away from me? I dunno.

Difficult question to answer without knowing what scares the person you are talking to. If someone scared to death of spiders, an otherwise unscary film that has a spider in it could jack them up. And some people can watch people eating babies and not blink. Scary is too subjective.


I'm a little old to be scared of movies, but it's
Edit: I'm not sure if Jacob's Ladder counts, and I've heard good things about Session 9 though I haven't gotten to see it yet.

Session 9 is good, but don't leave the room. There are 2 scenes that make the film, and if you miss either one, you miss the real plot.


Amen to that.

I'm told the stuff I write is extremely creepy and I don't resort to gore. Have a sort of period fantasy/horror I'm working on and it completely unnerved those I showed my notes to. No guts or undead or blood or anything.

To my mind that is the inexpert way of instilling fear. Same with narrow camera panning to hide something that anyone could see in real life and silence that goes suddenly blares out with trumpeting music.

Its lazy, cheap and annoying.

Some of the camera panning away is to ensure a PG/PG13 rating at the theater. Some of it's a style choice because some fans prefer it. Horror fans tend to go one of three ways as far as films go:

Special effects fans (who quickly subdivide into gore fans, torture fans, and slasher movies fans)

Story fans (who quickly subdivide into fans of creepy dialogue/scenes, mysteries, ghost stories, atmosphere, etc)

and Shock fans, who are those people who for whatever reason prefer films where they start winding down the sound to set tone, and then suddenly crank it up to the max while cutting to a scary face/scene. Never got that last category since I always thought it was cheap. Guts and blood fans aren't really in it for scares, they're in it for the effects. The part I hate about horror film writing is the stupidity of the main characters. For films with a large body count and lots of effects you need to get character a to point b in short order, and the easiest way to do that is to make him an utter fool. I hate that because it's lazy and shows disregard to a fan base who have become so jaded to it they just accept it anymore.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Not an amazing movie, but I felt the last 15 minutes or so of The House of the Devil to be pretty damn scary. They build up tension for so long and then... well you can watch the movie for yourself. Its still on netflix instant streaming I think.

Session 9 I didn't enjoy as much, but that is also on streaming.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Some of the camera panning away is to ensure a PG/PG13 rating at the theater. Some of it's a style choice because some fans prefer it.
Not talking about panning away, but narrowing or panning too close. The view is literally too narrow for you to see anything but what is directly ahead.

Most of our sight is slightly to either side. They cut it out though, so that practically anything can jump out and get you.

[Mordar]

That being said, the book was really, really scary for me.

If you put the book in the freezer it isn't so bad :smallsmile:


Scary really depends on your state of mind and how much you allow yourself to be scared.

So much the truth. Far too many people I know use scary (catch all - horror, psychological, slasher, etc) movies as a vehicle to prove how impervious they are to fear...instead of going along for the fun of the ride.

As an aside, I think many nightmares are our brain's way of entertaining itself while we sleep...sure, there's the whole "expression of our fears and concerns" bit, but some part of it has to be the brain saying "Hrm, I'm bored. What if...zombies attack while I'm mired to my knees in mud with a door slowly closing just out of my reach?"


The Blair Witch project registered a flat zero on my "scare-O-meter", same for Paranormal Activity.

Here's the problem with many "scary" movies - the hype ruins the experience...and in some cases, I root for the bad guy not because I'm edgy, dark or evil...but because the protagonists are so horribly intolerable that I want them to die to ease my pain :smallbiggrin: (That'd be the three in Blair Witch...haven't seen either PA movie).

For me the scary often comes in little snippets - one bit that really strikes a chord and lingers with me for ages. Serpent and the Rainbow has a couple of those for me.


Sadly, most films now pander to the shocker and ick, like Saw and others. I don't find them scary.

Again, you've hit the nail on the head. Doesn't mean Jason, Freddy and Mike aren't a lot of fun to watch...and the Scream movies are a great example of "lampshading" or self-parody...but Saw 37 and Another Wrong Turn are just not my cup of artifically sprayed blood.

- M

[Avilan the Grey]

This is something that has become a nit to pick at for me.

No, not really. (To answer the OPs question). There is, however a lot of movies that will make me physically ill, but as noted above that has nothing to do with being scared. Saw, and Hostel, and Human Centipede... Utterly disgusting. Scary? Not so much.

Now there are some classics that still holds up, particularly Alien, which some people doesn't even think constitutes Horror.

Other than that, I find a movie labeled "psychological thriller" to have a much larger chance of making me uneasy and nervous than a movie labeled "horror".

[Serpentine]

That or the fact it had live footage (being a based on a true story deal) and watching people go insane and kill themselves got me. If I intellectually know something actually happened it effects me a lot more. Or it may have been the main lady this all happened around. She was like an alien herself. Never seen anyone who gave me the creeps like she did.

She may be utterly insane herself, so though you know some of the things happened, the reasons and the non-recorded bits could be all in her head. However, knowing she believes it in RL and empathizing with 'what if' is also enough to put you on edge.Alas, it's not nearly as disturbing if you know before you see it that the "true story" stuff is all nonsense. A very interesting technique, but only works if the audience doesn't do their research first :smallsigh:

I liked Trick-r-Treat. Not really "really scary" for the most part, though. How about The Thing?

[Hawriel]

Most movie that are called "horror" are not scarry. They all relly on the jack in the box suprise and CGI. Then spoil the whole thing in the trailers. If the movie builds suspence, tention, or creeps you out its a good horror movie.

Alien, The Thing, Dracula, and phyco are all movies that effected the audiences perseption, emotions, or sence of what is safe.

[Amiel]

Scary really depends on your state of mind and how much you allow yourself to be scared.

This.


However, there are some genuinely scary movies.
These movies have more than one commonality; the greatest of which is allowing the mind to scare itself. We are able to impose our subjective experiences and feelings unto the source of fear and this dread and terror becomes manifestly horrific.

These movies include the Ring (1st)/Ringu (1st) series, the Grudge (1st)/Ju-On series, the Descent, Tale of Two Sisters.
Less scary but still beyond many Hollywood horror movies include REC, the Orphanage, the Others, the Omen.
I have yet to watch Drag Me to Hell, but I hear good things about it.
Slasher movies aren't so much as horror movies as they are thrillers; I don't find or consider them scary at all.

[Avilan the Grey]

Alas, it's not nearly as disturbing if you know before you see it that the "true story" stuff is all nonsense. A very interesting technique, but only works if the audience doesn't do their research first :smallsigh:


EDIT: Mistake. As for the Fourth Kind: The first paragraph is still valid.

Of course I do find it laughable that any one in the audience over 10 years old would believe it to actually be a "true story", given the premise.

Edit: I have the same problem with Blair Witch:

"So this is a group of students that film their hike into the woods as they are looking for a witch and then they start dying. Huh. This MUST be true, because murdering witches are all so common".



However, there are some genuinely scary movies.
These movies have more than one commonality; the greatest of which is allowing the mind to scare itself. We are able to impose our subjective experiences and feelings unto the source of fear and this dread and terror becomes manifestly horrific.

These movies include the Ring (1st)/Ringu (1st) series, the Grudge (1st)/Ju-On series, the Descent, Tale of Two Sisters.

As I said in the Asian Horror thread... I don't find Asian horror scary, because it is too weird for me to get into.
As for the American Remakes: The Ring... The plot holes are so big that you could stuff bodies of people cursed by watching a haunted video tape in them. I kept rolling my eyes; that might have destroyed the scary part. The Grudge bored me to death so I turned it off after half the movie. I have not watched the Descent.

[Serpentine]

Erm... Just to clarify, are you bringing up the Blair Witch Project because it has a similar technique? Cuz we weren't talking about that.

[Avilan the Grey]

Erm... Just to clarify, are you bringing up the Blair Witch Project because it has a similar technique? Cuz we weren't talking about that.

Oh my bad. That's what I get from only half-ass reading.

The fourth kind... Wasn't interesting to me, because of trouble taking the subject seriously. And the rest still stands; I cannot believe anyone over 10 years old would believethe "actual footage" is actual footage.

[† Dran †]

A Serbian Movie is rather scary for more of the wtf where they on to make this movie more then anything else. Worse then the Human Centipede if that helps you understand.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Oh my bad. That's what I get from only half-ass reading.

The fourth kind... Wasn't interesting to me, because of trouble taking the subject seriously. And the rest still stands; I cannot believe anyone over 10 years old would believethe "actual footage" is actual footage.

Nobody believes that anyone over 10 would believe that its actually footage. Especially not the people making the movie.

That is not the point, really.

[Avilan the Grey]

Nobody believes that anyone over 10 would believe that its actually footage. Especially not the people making the movie.

That is not the point, really.

The point with Blair Witch was that there actually were people believing that. The point with The Forth Kind (and Blair Witch for the rest of us) is that we are supposed to be more scared because it "looks realistically filmed". We aren't.

And that goes for the Two Hours With Jerks movie, too.

[Myatar_Panwar]

The point with The Forth Kind (and Blair Witch for the rest of us) is that we are supposed to be more scared because it "looks realistically filmed". We aren't.

Yup. Although I don't know, I personally find it more scary for that exact reason.

What little appeal Paranormal Activity had (basically the second half of the movie) would be lost if it were traditionally filmed.

[Melayl]

It (the first half, anyway) -- the real reason people fear clowns...

The First Power -- my brother had difficulty sleeping for weeks after he watched it, and he was in his teens at the time.

Silver Bullet -- started to creep me out when I watched it on TV one night (as an adult). It might have helped that it was a full moon and 1 am...

[Saph]

These movies include the Ring (1st)/Ringu (1st) series, the Grudge (1st)/Ju-On series, the Descent, Tale of Two Sisters.

Another vote for these. Ring, The Grudge, The Descent, and Tale of Two Sisters are all pretty frightening if you let yourself get into them.

Other older ones . . . Alien is pretty good, as are the first two or three of the Hellraiser series (they went downhill fast after that). Mirrors has some pretty creepy bits in it. What Lies Beneath has only a few scary scenes, but they hit hard.

[Dienekes]

It (the first half, anyway) -- the real reason people fear clowns...

I finally saw this movie yesterday.

It's not scary, at all. Maybe because all the adult actors seem to be utter trash, maybe because it boast such dialogue as "We're only taking you in because mom says it's our Christian duty." and "You can't shower with the boys this week." I could not take the thing seriously.

Alright there were some generally intriguing moments thrown in there, but it was not enough to lessen the focus on the overacting, horrid dialogue, and silly jumps of logic that come out of nowhere to wrap up the plot.

[Dragosai]

I mentioned this a few months ago in another thread, but 'Martyrs' is a French horror movie that will mess you up bad. Just behind it is another French film called 'Inside' I watched both these movies at a small film festival, really small like 20 people, but everyone was really bothered by Martyrs, and all agreed that Inside was just one of those rare really good and scary horror movies. I will ware people I am pretty desensitized to most things, but it has been a year since I watch Martyrs and I still get a bad feeling just thinking about it, watch with caution.

[The_Admiral]

13 Ghost I had nightmares for weeks*Shivers*

[comicshorse]

I mentioned this a few months ago in another thread, but 'Martyrs' is a French horror movie that will mess you up bad. Just behind it is another French film called 'Inside' I watched both these movies at a small film festival, really small like 20 people, but everyone was really bothered by Martyrs, and all agreed that Inside was just one of those rare really good and scary horror movies. I will ware people I am pretty desensitized to most things, but it has been a year since I watch Martyrs and I still get a bad feeling just thinking about it, watch with caution.

Yeah a friend of mine saw 'Martyrs' and threw the DVD away, though more from being sickened than horrified I think and he isn't the type to be bothered by these things

[AshDesert]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Night of the Living Dead. It invented the zombie movie! Also, for some reason, it seems like Romero specifically created the movie to creep me the f*** out. No other horror movie has creeped me out that much, maybe because of the black and white (B&W just makes movies creepier). I really need to go watch that now (10:00 pm here, perfect time for a good horror movie:smallamused:).

[Tinkee]

The Labyrinth scared the crap out of me as a Kid. Still dont like watching it at the age of 26! =p Also think the Garbage pail kids are creepy as hell too. I know its old school, but i'd have to say "It" was a movie thats left the biggest impact on me. Not deathly afraid of clowns or anything, but the movie definately creeped me out pretty good!

[Kislath]

Going old school, I suppose the first Alien movie was pretty good.

Another pretty good one is "Prince of Darkness." A less-cheesy remake of that one could have some real potential. I recommend seeing this one if only to watch Alice Cooper kill a guy with a bicycle, which is certainly something you don't see every day.

When I was a little kid, that Willie Wonka movie scared the crap out of me.
Now I just love it.

Blair Witch?
Seriously, most of the people in the audience where I saw it were laughing their butts off the whole time. We were heckling the screen, and we made it plain that we thought the victims deserved what they got just because they were too stupid to live.


Event Horizon was scary the first time, but not after that.

So....

What makes a movie scary?
Why is it so hard to make a truly terrifying flick?
I'm trying to make a scary movie, but I just can't seem to get a grip on this.

[Dienekes]

What makes a movie scary?
Why is it so hard to make a truly terrifying flick?
I'm trying to make a scary movie, but I just can't seem to get a grip on this.

Scary like most of the bigger emotions is hard to describe and could be many different things, suspenseful, disturbing, shocking, and so forth.

The problem with scary movies I think is 2 fold.

1) Being scared is all about atmosphere, the feelings you get from a movie. All movies are really like this, but I think moreso for horror movies because one off placed word from either onscreen (IT) or from your buddy sitting next to you(Blair Witch), or even odd music (Nightmare on Elm Street) and all suspense is broken. The moment is ruined. In an action flick, if you're taken out of the world of the movie for a second, well, just look back at the screen when some unspeakably awesome thing pops up and your back in it. Same goes for a drama or romance. But for horror, if the suspense is broken it has to be built back up. Which means that for that big reveal of scary, it's gone, and it will be filed in your mind as silly. We are talking about a genre riddled with ghosts, goblins, and invincible psycho killers. If your taken out of the element of the movie you can see how ridiculous it really is.

2) A lot of people scare by very different things. Simply check the list of high octane nightmare fuel on tvtropes. A lot of what they right doesn't scare me at all. For some the idea of being dismembered or hurt may be the pinnacle of scary and so the Saw films get them absolutely terrified. Others just see it as gore porn and are more afraid of say lovecraftian horrors, which the first group find unrealistic and stupid, another group is afraid of spiders. While there are certain notes to hit in most other genres, what makes a romance cute, what makes an action scene cool that are pretty standard for the audience (most people, no matter who you are, think Bruce Willis taking down a helicopter by firing a car at it will recognize it as an interesting action moment). Then there is the whole batch of people who do not want to be scared, who think it's macho or cooler to not be scared and won't let themselves be dragged in, which is something that most other genre's don't have to deal with or at least not to the same extent. Notably, these people are generally the ones to run the suspense as stated above.

There are probably more reasons, but these are the ones that pop up to me.

[Serpentine]

I think taking your time is an important part of a really scary story. Take your time to build the suspense, get to know the characters so you really care what happens to them, that sort of thing.
I mentioned this a few months ago in another thread, but 'Martyrs' is a French horror movie that will mess you up bad. Just behind it is another French film called 'Inside' I watched both these movies at a small film festival, really small like 20 people, but everyone was really bothered by Martyrs, and all agreed that Inside was just one of those rare really good and scary horror movies. I will ware people I am pretty desensitized to most things, but it has been a year since I watch Martyrs and I still get a bad feeling just thinking about it, watch with caution.It's worth pointing out that Martyrs is... possibly literally torture-porn. It's very, very disturbing, and to me much more gross and squeamishising than scary for most of it.

[bloodlover]

Night of the living dead
The Shining
Alien

As a personal favourite I would also say Nosferatu (while listening to orchestral music in the background, late at night). It gives you a certain creepy feeling.

[Dragosai]

Yeah a friend of mine saw 'Martyrs' and threw the DVD away, though more from being sickened than horrified I think and he isn't the type to be bothered by these things

Huh I can see that, well I guess I can see that depending on what "sickened" him. What I mean is while the movie does have it's share of blood, I would not call it a 'gore' based horror movie at all. But if he was sickened over the whole subject matter and idea behinde the movie then yeah I can see that. At the film festival I saw it at they had a drawing and the first prize was the 6 movies we watched, I found that funny because I can't see myself ever watching Martyrs again only because it is that bothersom. Huh I think about that as I write it and change my mind, I would watch it again with people who had not seen it yet only because it is one of those movies that must be talked about after you see it to get other opinions on what they just watched.

[Dragosai]

I think taking your time is an important part of a really scary story. Take your time to build the suspense, get to know the characters so you really care what happens to them, that sort of thing.It's worth pointing out that Martyrs is... possibly literally torture-porn. It's very, very disturbing, and to me much more gross and squeamishising than scary for most of it.

I have heard this term "torture-porn" and I guess like most things the meaning is at least a little different form person to person. When I hear or read the term I think "yeah I don't want any part of that". I can agree applying the term to Martyrs makes since, however I think of movies like Hostel I guess or at least related the term torture-porn to it since I had never seen it because I didn't want to sit through 1.5 hours + of people being tortured. Anyway my point being that if someone had said to me hey lets watch "Martyrs" its a torture-porn movie I would have said no thanks. Not trying to defend the movie really like I said I think calling it torture-porn is not wrong, but to me that part of the movie, while very aweful was kind of short and it was more the idea behind the whole thing and the OMG 'twist' if you will that lead up to it that really made the movie have such an effect on me and others that I watched it with.

[Bhu]

Going old school, I suppose the first Alien movie was pretty good.



Event Horizon was scary the first time, but not after that.


Get the newer release that has the cut scenes. Some of those could be considered pretty disturbing. Kind of wish they'd left them in.

[mikeejimbo]

I still contend that Idiocracy is the scariest movie I've ever seen.

[Bhu]

I still contend that Idiocracy is the scariest movie I've ever seen.

Especially since the world it predicts seems to be coming to pass.

[mucat]

Jacob's Ladder scared the hell out of me. Not just because of whatever was happening on the screen at the moment, but because you knew the protagonist's world was inexorably turning more surreal and nightmarish, and whatever happened next would be even worse.

And then it would.

[Melayl]

I finally saw this movie yesterday.

It's not scary, at all. Maybe because all the adult actors seem to be utter trash, maybe because it boast such dialogue as "We're only taking you in because mom says it's our Christian duty." and "You can't shower with the boys this week." I could not take the thing seriously.

Alright there were some generally intriguing moments thrown in there, but it was not enough to lessen the focus on the overacting, horrid dialogue, and silly jumps of logic that come out of nowhere to wrap up the plot.
To each their own.

As I said, the first half was scary. Keep in mind that I was about 10 years old the first time I saw it, and it was close to Halloween. I thought "It" was some type of supernatural horror until the last half when it turned out to be some lame alien, which made it much scarier to my young mind.

I have a friend from college that is absolutely terrified of clowns because of that movie.

[shadow_archmagi]

When I livestreamed Rocky Horror Picture Show for Forumite Movie Night, I think everyone agreed it was...

Well, I'm not sure what emotion they were feeling. I couldn't see their faces but the chat was full of

"OH GOD"
"WHAT"
"WHAT IS THIS"
"OH GOD"
"SHADOW YOU ARE A MONSTER"

[Bhu]

Seriously?

I always thought of the RHPS as pretty tame.

Have them watch Tetsuo the Iron Man. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZLumUZicGI

[Serpentine]

When I livestreamed Rocky Horror Picture Show for Forumite Movie Night, I think everyone agreed it was...

Well, I'm not sure what emotion they were feeling. I couldn't see their faces but the chat was full of

"OH GOD"
"WHAT"
"WHAT IS THIS"
"OH GOD"
"SHADOW YOU ARE A MONSTER"What? :confused:

1. They hadn't already seen it?
2. They hadn't even heard of it?!
3. They were that freaked out by it? Sad :smallconfused:

[Cristo Meyers]

Jacob's Ladder scared the hell out of me. Not just because of whatever was happening on the screen at the moment, but because you knew the protagonist's world was inexorably turning more surreal and nightmarish, and whatever happened next would be even worse.

And then it would.

Jacob's Ladder was probably the only time I'd ever actually been somewhat surprised by a twist ending. Usually I can see them coming a mile away (I'm still amazed that people are actually surprised by Knights of the Old Republic's "twist"), but not so much with this one.

Knowing that it's also one of Lewis Black's first acting roles doesn't hurt :smalltongue:.

[Avilan the Grey]

I still feel the need to point out that I refuse the idea that Disgusting == Scary.
This is one of my major problems, and it goes for non-fiction too. The final challenge in Fear Factor is usually something incredibly gross, but very rarely actually scary. When the challenge is decided not by who is braver, but who can keep their food down with that stench in the room... NOT the same thing. AT ALL.

Same thing with movies. Making me physically ill is not a way to scare me. You're just pissing me off. Which means suddenly Disgusting != Scary.

[hamishspence]

Disgusting does not always equal scary.

But are there any cases where Disgusting combines with Fridge Horror in just the right way for a really scary thought?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeHorror

[Avilan the Grey]

Disgusting does not always equal scary.

But are there any cases where Disgusting combines with Fridge Horror in just the right way for a really scary thought?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeHorror

Oh I agree with you. My point was that using "Disgusting" as a replacement for Scary does not work with me, it just pisses me off, which makes it certain that I will, in that movie, find Disgusting != Scary. (I can't both be pissed off at the people making the movie while watching it, and scared by the movie).

[hamishspence]

True. Can you think of any movies where Disgusting was used that well- not to replace scary, but to supplement it, and lead to Fridge Horror?

[Avilan the Grey]

True. Can you think of any movies where Disgusting was used that well- not to replace scary, but to supplement it, and lead to Fridge Horror?

Alien, obviously. There are others, but this one is the first that comes to mind.

[faceroll]

I thought the Descent was scary. I was hoping that their would be no monsters in the movie, only the insanity of being trapped in the bowels of the earth, but the monsters were still pretty creepy.

I've always found the Birds scary. I consider it the first "zombie" movie, actually.

After I watched the Ring for the first time, I wanted to hide in the dryer for a week. The cinematography lended real well to be scary, as did the slow reveal of the movie blending with the protagonist's reality.

I always thought the Exorcist was scary because you had this ancient, hateful evil just hanging out, upstairs, in an upper-middle class bedroom. The protagonists then had to suck it up, walk upstairs, and face it. They always had the choice to run, but they never took it.

[hamishspence]

I've seen spoofs of it, but not the movie itself- only bits from it in "100 greatest scary moments"

One of the things I liked in Dragon Magazine, was a Demonomicon article that explained that the ancient evil in the Exorcist movie, was Pazuzu.

[Bhu]

Pazuzu is mentioned in the Exorcist II (which was separate from the continuity in the novels the films were based off of) and at least one of the prequels. I think it's generally assumed to be Satan or Legion in the 1st and 3rd films (I know it is in the books).

[Hida Reju]

Harrison Bergeron (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113264/) Adapted from Kurt Vonnegut's futuristic short story Harrison Bergeron.

It was in my opinion the Smart man's Idiocracy.

I had nightmares for weeks afterwards.