It's getting to be that time of year... scary movie recommendations?

[cthomer5000]

My long-time girlfriend and I have made a bit of a hobby of watching basically any horror movie out there. In the last year I've seen every bad horror movie of the last 3-4 years, most of them absolute garbage (House of the Dead probably takes the title as the worst of the bunch).

So basically I plan to spend much of October watching as many horror movies as I can, because I'm a huge fan of Halloween (the holiday, although the first movie was good too).

So, suggestions?

[cartman]

Get all of the Friday the 13th movies, and watch them back to back. For added fun, invite people over and make a drinking game out of it. Everytime someone gets whacked, take a shot. Good fun to be had by all.

[Hurst2112]

Paris Hilton Video

Seriously, Salem's Lot (the original, not the cheesy ass made for tv version from last year).

[cthomer5000]

oh, and a few recommendations from me:

The Changeling
The Excorcist

two absolute must-see movies, IMHO.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

The new Jon Gruden... I mean Chucky film looks scary. I mean obsurd.

A funny/ gory film is Shaun of the Dead. Great film! can't wait for the bloody DVD!

[lynchjm24]

Pumpkinhead 2
Halloween 3
Leprechan 1-3 (I celebrate the whole catalog)

[Z²+]

I recommend any of the Vincent Price horror films. They may not be "scary" or all that "good", but they are pretty enjoyable if you appreciate the non-scary B-level horror films. I know I sure do.

Particulary, I'd find a copy of The Abominable Dr. Phibes, and Dr. Phibes Rises Again. You'll definitely get a few laughs, and appreciate the horror master that is, Vincent Price.

[sterlingice]

Are we talking straight up horror or sci-fi horror? Straight up horror rarely does anything for me, but some sci-fi horror I can suspend belief enough to get a little scare or at least some suspense out of it (let's see, off the top of my head, for recent ones, I liked Event Horizon and Pitch Black for sci-fi horror)

SI

[cthomer5000]

Are we talking straight up horror or sci-fi horror? Straight up horror rarely does anything for me, but some sci-fi horror I can suspend belief enough to get a little scare or at least some suspense out of it (let's see, off the top of my head, for recent ones, I liked Event Horizon and Pitch Black for sci-fi horror)

SI
anything you consider a 'scary movie'

[EagleFan]

Gigli?

The Shining
Witchboard (I think that's the name, it's been a while)

[Bearcat729]

Night of the Living Dead (The black and white version)

I still think I'm going to see a zombie when I drive past a cemetery.

[timmynausea]

I'm guessing you've seen the Evil Dead movies. Those are my favorite.

I agree that Shaun of the Dead is pretty good, though not really supposed to be scary.
Ginger Snaps is a good one.
I actually thought the Ring was pretty good, although kind of more of a suspense thing. I watched it with the speakers way up and a few times a long silence followed by a really loud noise startled the fuck out of me. That one scared my girlfriend a lot.

[Schmidty]

I'm a huge fan of horror and have seen more horror movies than anyone I know. I could spend hours and hours discussing the genre, but off of the top of my head, here are some of my favorites:

Recent favorites:

Ginger Snaps (4 years old, but still awesome)
Ginger Snaps 2
Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning
Jian Gui ("The Eye")
Bubba Ho-tep (more of a comedy, but you've gotta love Bruce and Ossie together)
Dagon
Jeepers Creepers (although the director is a dirty pediphile)

....and many more.....

I have to go, but I'll post some all-time favorites later.

[TazFTW]

28 Days Later

[timmynausea]

I guess I should vouch for all three Ginger Snaps movies. By horror standards they are all very good.

[Buzzbee]

oh, and a few recommendations from me:

The Changeling
The Excorcist

two absolute must-see movies, IMHO.

When I read your first post the very first movie I thought of was The Changeling. The ball bouncing down the stairs makes me jump out of my skin every time I see it. I always recommend it because it is one that sort of flies under the radar.

Not a huge horror fan. More of a suspense thriller type. Not sure if you've seen Identity with John Cusack, but it might be in line with a Changeling type movie. More suspense than horror. If you haven't seen it.

Memento, if you haven't seen it. Creeps me out every time. Again, more suspense than horror.

EDIT: I'm sure you've seen it, but going back to the original Hellraiser might be warranted. Gotta love pinhead.

[hukarez]

Event Horizon!

[Cuckoo]

I'm a horror movie buff as well, but I haven't heard of Ginger Snaps. Is it worth trying to find? My wife and I do the horror movie thing every Halloween as well.

And I'll agree with ct, House of the Dead is about the worst thing I've seen in... well, forever.

[Cuckoo]

Event Horizon!

You know, I thought this movie was just so-so the first time I saw it, but I went back and watched it again and enjoyed it quite a bit more. It's a solid flick.

[hukarez]

You know, I thought this movie was just so-so the first time I saw it, but I went back and watched it again and enjoyed it quite a bit more. It's a solid flick.
First time I saw this, was at Studio City with my then "gangsta" cousin. In any case, I'll never forget this movie - because the whole time, he was screaming and shrieking at the choice parts of the film. I'll never watch this movie alone, though. Sam Neill (sp? Can't even remember if it was Neil or just O'Neil...need to check the DVD case) and Fishburne did a good job.

After this, I checked out "In the Mouth of Madness" too...I miss movies like this, to be honest.

[sterlingice]

Ooh. I thought of one I liked for cheap, cheesy horror but wasn't all that awful: Tales From the Crypt presents Demon Knight. I really liked Billy Zane, but I think that's about it.

Se7en's a pretty solid movie. But I don't know, is it really horror? It's more a detective movie even if the subject matter is a bit disgusting.

SI

[Buzzbee]

Ooh. I thought of one I liked for cheap, cheesy horror but wasn't all that awful: Tales From the Crypt presents Demon Knight. I really liked Billy Zane, but I think that's about it.

Se7en's a pretty solid movie. But I don't know, is it really horror? It's more a detective movie even if the subject matter is a bit disgusting.

SI

I'd agree with SI. Demon Knight was a little cheesy, but watchable. However, that was the first movie I ever saw Billy Zane in and now I cannot watch another movie with him in it without thinking of Demon Knight. He was good in it.

Agree with SI on Se7en as well.

[VPI97]

Rosemary's Baby
Event Horizon
In the Mouth of Madness

[oliegirl]

May...creepy hard to find horror movie with a Halloween Night final scene that totally creeped radii and I out. We caught it on HBO a few months ago and both still cringe at the thought of the end scene!

Edit: radii is insisting I warn you all that this is NOT a good movie at all, but then again, most horror movies are pretty bad, so go see it anyway.

[Draft Dodger]

Sixth Sense is very scary to me. but, then again, I'm a pussy.

Evil Dead 1 and 2 work for me. Event Horizon is another fine choice.
I don't like any of the slasher crap.

[korme]

poltergeist

[korme]

texas chainsaw?

gothika?

recent mainstream ones that scared me.. i'm not a big horror fan. i got scared seeing the ring. that girl crawling out of the tv, and the distorted face in the closet.. im a pussy

[Kodos]

Play Silent Hill 2. Great game with a suspenseful, dread-inducing, horrific atmosphere. Your girlfriend can watch you play. My old roommate and his girlfriend got caught up enough watching me play that I videotaped the ending for them when I moved out. :)

[AnalBumCover]

I just saw the trailer for The Grudge (http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/thegrudge.html), opening Oct 22. Might wanna check that one out.

[DeToxRox]

Sleepaway Camps 1-3

Not so much horror, but bad ass.

And The Reanimator.. Falls in the same category.

If you have a stomache, Cannibal Holocaust

[DeToxRox]

to dola on Cannibal Holocaust too..

You need to have a stomache for it because the animal violence is all real. It's just insanely graphic.

I am sure someone on here has seen it as well.

[DeToxRox]

texas chainsaw?

gothika?

recent mainstream ones that scared me.. i'm not a big horror fan. i got scared seeing the ring. that girl crawling out of the tv, and the distorted face in the closet.. im a pussy

The original Texas Chainsaw is EXCELLENT. The new one is blah. The suspense in the first one was what made it great.

Speaking of movies based off of Ed Gein, the actual movie Ed Gein is werid. Kind of cool, if you forget its based off a real person.

[DeToxRox]

this thread rules, i am sorry for my exuberance..

but do not rent CHUDS. lewis black did a bit about them before. it's such a bad movie. both are. but if you wanna' see daniel stern and john goodman get their start, its good for a chuckle.

[TazFTW]

I just saw the trailer for The Grudge (http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/thegrudge.html), opening Oct 22. Might wanna check that one out.


In that line of thinking Saw (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387564/) may be a good flick to see on Halloween weekend. It seems to have a Seven-esqe vibe going on.

[pjstp20]

28 Days Later
I'll second this. The first half of this movie was very good, and quite surreal.

[gottimd]

In that line of thinking Saw (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387564/) may be a good flick to see on Halloween weekend. It seems to have a Seven-esqe vibe going on.


The reviews for the movie "Saw" that I have seen so it is the most scary movie and very grotesque with some big twists in it. Supposedly very good. I would not advise watching it if you have a weak stomach.

Press here to view trailer (http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=4517)

[BreizhManu]

to dola on Cannibal Holocaust too..

You need to have a stomache for it because the animal violence is all real. It's just insanely graphic.

I am sure someone on here has seen it as well.
found it interesting but not really scary, really violent but not that scary.

Else Necromantik is much much worse than Cannibal Holocaust

[Eagle458]

The Shining!!!
Excorist
The Ring

[Cuckoo]

I'll second this. The first half of this movie was very good, and quite surreal.

Agreed. Unfortunately, I thought the second half left a lot to be desired. Maybe I was affected by the hype on it since I didn't see it until it came out on video, but I was disappointed.

The Ring is a pretty scary movie as well. I haven't seen the original Japanese version Ringu, but I hear it's even scarier. And at the risk of having people jump down my throat, I thought the new Texas Chainsaw was pretty decent actually. It's obviously not the original, but if you try not to watch it with the original in mind, it's a moderately well made horror movie, especially when you compare it to the other teen horror dreck like that one with Eliza Dushku. Ugh.

[Cuckoo]

BTW, I agree with DeTox. This thread rules. I never have anyone to talk horror movies with. My wife only watches them because I like them, but she hasn't seen near as many as I have.

For the folks who also appreciate the campy slasher movie, my Dad found me the DVD of Silent Night, Deadly Night. I haven't seen it since I was about twelve, and I'm pretty sure it's of little quality, but I've been wanting to watch it again for a long time and none of the video stores had the first one.

[timmynausea]

I've seen Ringu and Ringu 2 and I think the American version was vastly superior. I'd say Ringu is quite a feat for what I'm guessing to be a low budget horror film, but this is one case where pumping a bunch of money into the production of a remake and whittling two movies worth of material down into one ended up being a huge improvement. A lot of the changes in details they made were for the better.

[Cuckoo]

I've seen Ringu and Ringu 2 and I think the American version was vastly superior. I'd say Ringu is quite a feat for what I'm guessing to be a low budget horror film, but this is one case where pumping a bunch of money into the production of a remake and whittling two movies worth of material down into one ended up being a huge improvement. A lot of the changes in details they made were for the better.

I heard a rumor that they're making The Ring 2 and that the original Japanese director was going to direct. He felt like his original versions were better (obviously) because, according to him, they did less explaining. He felt like the Americans had to have everything explained in detail or we didn't get it. :)

[timmynausea]

I guess I would agree that they did less explaining, and I think in some cases less explaining would be a good thing. Ideally the less explaining a scary movie would do, the scarier it could be as it leaves more to your imagination, which is what allows you to be scared. Ringu, though, in parts, did a poor job of explaining pretty basic elements of the story. The relationships between the characters was a lot more mixed up and complicated and they did a good thing to remove that in the American version as it doesn't add anything. Also the original movies don't have the same kind of atmosphere, which to me was a lot of the appeal in The Ring.

The footage on the tape in the original was kind of lame, too. I guess I can see what he's saying, though, cause in the Ring they tie a lot of the footage on the tape together with what's going on in the movie, and I don't think there was nearly as much of that in the original. I actually thought that was a good thing, though.

Actually, according to IMDB, that guy will be directing The Ring 2 and it'll be out next year. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377109/

[cthomer5000]

I'll second this. The first half of this movie was very good, and quite surreal.
'good' movie I guess, but I thought it lost a lot of steam as it progressed.

[cthomer5000]

I'm trying to think of all the recent teen 'scary movies' I've seen, and give my brief opinion on them:

Wrong Turn - (starring Eliza Dushku) pretty damn bad. Like any horror movie, it'll have it's moments, but overall a shit movie that had me and my girlfriend laughing at it most the time.

House of the Dead - one of the worst movies I have EVER seen. So bad that it almost has to be seen to be believed. This undoubtedly set the bar for most blatant product placement in the history of man. It's basically an advertisement for the game. The regularly splice footage of the video game into the movie! So bad it's amazing, really.

House of 1,000 Corpses - The Rob Zombie produced (and I think direceted) movie. Starts off pretty good but quickly turns to crap. Just gets worse and worse as it goes on. Not a good movie overall.

Final Destination (1 &2) - Pretty enjoyable films, although certainly not pure 'horror' films, more of a 'scary movie.' I thought the 2nd one was a bit better than the first, FWIW.

Cabin Fever - Not very good. Another teen horror movie sort of thing. Some of the worst acting you'll ever see.

[Cuckoo]

I pretty much agree with you on those, ct, although I like FD1 better than the second. House of 1,000 corpses was kind of strange, but I enjoyed it well enough I suppose, certainly not as bad as a lot of the others.

[oliegirl]

I am a total scaredy cat, am still afraid of the dark and jump when radii "sneaks up on me" all the time...but I was NEVER scared during any part of 28 Days Later...thought it was silly and didn't live up to the hype.

I thought the same thing about The Blair Witch Project...at the end I thought, "when was that supposed to be scary"?

[cthomer5000]

I thought the same thing about The Blair Witch Project...at the end I thought, "when was that supposed to be scary"?
I found it scary in the theatre, but the movie absolutely does not stand up to re-watching.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Alien
John Carpenter's The Thing
Pumpkinhead
Hellraiser
Psycho (the remake isn't that bad either)

[cthomer5000]

When I searched FOFC for 'horror movies' Ifound a cool link Bearcat posted a while ago to the scariest movies scenes of all time, I'm sure there are many good recommendations in here. Also, I love how the river boat scene from Willy Wonka makes the list. ;)



Link (http://www.retrocrush.com/scary/index.html)

Lists are great. Found this link on FARK and I thought I would see what the FOFC crowd thought was the scariest movie moment.

[Cuckoo]

The Birds
The Serpent and the Rainbow
and Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Three more from that list that haven't been mentioned.

[DeToxRox]

Black Christmas is really good as well.

[JeeberD]

The Ring

Scariest movie I've ever seen...



Jeepers Creepers (although the director is a dirty pediphile)


Worst movie I've ever seen (though 'Wrong Turn' and Cabin Fever' are up there as well)...

[JeeberD]

Dola-

Can't wait to see 'The Grudge'

[cthomer5000]

I also thought Jeepers Creepers was easily in the top 5 worst movies I have EVER seen. Sorry to bash your recommendation Schmidty. :(

[Cuckoo]

Well, to back him up, I love Jeepers Creepers. It gets a little goofy at the end, but is downright scary, in my humble opinion, throughout the majority of it.

Now, the second one... ugh again.

[Qwikshot]

Session 9
The Last Broadcast
Alien
The Thing (John Carpenter version)
Halloween

[JeeberD]

Session 9

Meh, rented it after numerious FOFC recommendations but the scare never really was there. More of a spooky flick than a scary flick, IMHO...

[Qwikshot]

Meh, rented it after numerious FOFC recommendations but the scare never really was there. More of a spooky flick than a scary flick, IMHO...
Atmospheric, it was just a creepy movie but not an outright scarefest.

Some others which have been recommened but not seen by myself

Near Dark
Suspira
Dead Alive
Videodrome

While I think An American Werewolf in London has some moments, I don't find it outright horrific (save for the hallucination dream sequence and the man in the underground (scarier still because I've been in London's underground)).

Horror movies don't seem scary anymore. Scream revived them but it crucial or at least integral to have humor. Final Destination and the Scream offshoots have their moments and Silence of the Lambs is a horror of a different sort, but generally a bump in the night isn't as popular anymore (Blair Witch may have caused a backlash).

I didn't find Ginger Snaps scary, interesting, funny, but not scary.

I thought Session 9 was scarier more for the reason that it was plausible rather than supernatural. The disintigration of the mind is quite frightening.

The Last Broadcast is scary but I did not like the ending. (The most horrific part is watching someone murder another human being by suffocating them with plastic wrap). As a whole, when the monster is shown it tends to weaken the climax (unless you are leatherface or the alien (fully matured) or Jaws)

The Shining is a good movie (I like Kubrick, I like his work a lot) but it left some questions.

I guess for a while horror movies became too formulated (ala Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street).

The Exorcist is scary (specially that newly added spiderwalk scene) is dynomite. I heard the prequal thing sucked terribly because it was made by one, fired after initial viewing, and remade with a lot of gore added. Amazingly, they original version will wind up in stores (so I've been told).

The Changeling has faded from my memory save for the bouncing ball, and the angry wheelchair.

[Bearcat729]

For those who have HBO Zone Ginger Snaps is on tonight at 9pm EST