I believe I have mentioned before that I was torn between starting this political blog or a blog dedicated to movies. However due to my fixation at the time on Kerry's loss to George W. Bush, and my anger at the Iraq war, politics won out.
However I remain a true fan of the cinema and watch dozens, and dozens of movies a year. And my favorite ones are, you guessed it, horror movies.
These last few days my television has been playing nothing but non-stop horror, from the Halloween series, to The Omen, and even including back to back viewings of both the original and updated version of "The Fog." (Yeah, you're right, neither one was very good.)
So I got to wondering. exactly what is YOUR favorite horror movie my IM friends?
Here let me start you off with my favorite horror genre:
The Werewolf movie.
My favorite in that category:
American Werewolf in London.
And my favorite scene (Okay if you are at work you are going to DEFINITELY have to wait to watch this clip until after you get home. It contains inappropriate language, a truly epic and disturbing werewolf roar, and a brutal attack scene. You have been warned.):
One of the best scenes ever filmed for a horror movie in my opinion. Though to be honest it was almost a toss up between that one and the amazing John Landis directed transformation scene, featuring the unparalleled make up of Rick Baker. (Just a bit of trivia, werewolf movies live and die based on their transformation scenes.)
So tell me you ghouls and goblins, what was the movie that scarred YOUR psyche and kept you up at night?
Thats easy. It's "W"
ReplyDeleteMy trama started with "The Oblong Box". Vincent Price and Christopher Lee.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064747/
Scared the sh!t out of this elementry school student.
Bonsai-Jay
Dead of Night, 1945 from Ealing Studios
ReplyDeleteOMG! That's my favorite, too. I'll never forget that scene - that movie is a classic! thanks for the reminder. haha. Kind of makes me wonder who would go first if palin was a werewolf!! yikes
ReplyDeleteI love a good old-fashioned Godzilla marathon complete with Raymond Burr!!!
ReplyDeleterrraaaAAWWRRRRR!
Happy Halloween - there's some pumpkins on my blog for you :)
(and many thanks for all your help this year!)
OK, Gryphen, although TECHnically this is not a horror movie:
ReplyDelete"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"....the one with Gene Wilder
I saw this movie in the drive-in with my family when I would have been six, and the blueberry scene was the most terrifying thing to me, and I had nightmares for a LONG time afterwards.
I knew you'd laugh.
It's been years since I saw that movie. I remember thinking it was good. I'm not a total fan of many of the werewolf/vampire type movies. I have felt sorry for werewolves since I was a kid watching the old movies. I don't really enjoy the werewolf storylines because I find myself in tragedy mode instead of horror mode. As for vampires, I liked the old Count Yorga style, not that Twilight crap. Anyway, here are some of my favorite horror movies:
ReplyDeleteNight of the Living Dead, because some classics live on forever, and, after all, they ARE coming for you Bah-bruh.
The Shining. Of course.
The Exorcist, especially the extended cut, which has a couple of amazing scary scenes left out of the original. This was one of the early shock horror movies, but the green vomit is balanced out by the delightfully foreboding buildup before the fireworks start.
Halloween. I am a John Carpenter groupie.
Nightmare on Elm Street. Only the original is truly scary. The rest of them ruined the lovely nightmare atmosphere the first one created.
The Thing. John Carpenter one of course. One of the best creature horror movies ever.
Dead Alive. Peter Jackson's gruesomely funny movie.
The Ring. I still get scared when I watch it, which I do at least once a year. I also like the original Japanese version, Ringu.
He knows you're alone. An old B movie with some good creepy scenes. Years ago my ex husband and I were watching this movie. We got tired and turned it off in the middle. Went to bed. Ended up having a MUTUAL nightmare. We were both dreaming the same thing and woke up at the same time. One of the weirdest experiences of my life.
Scream and scream again. Another old B movie with a couple of good scares.
Phantasm. Scared the crap out of me.
The Haunting. The original one with Claire Bloom. Very atmospheric and a pretty good take on Shirley Jackson's scary book. The remake had some good moments and was fairly well done, but took too many liberties with the story and substituted special effects in place of atmosphere several times. No one will hear you if you scream. In the dark. In the night.
The one with the babysitter and the phone calls. The original is better than the remake I think, but I'd have to watch them side by side.
There are others that I can't always remember unless I see the title, and a few that I can't recall the title. I used to be more tolerant of gore in horror movies, but I'm not anymore. I prefer more scare and less graphic. Can't watch nasty stuff like Saw.
Funny that you picked that as a favorite b/c I HATE horror movies in general (real life is scary enough) but I love "An American Werewolf...".
ReplyDeleteYes, there is some gory stuff, but it's over quickly and I only have to cover my eyes for a few seconds. And it's got some REALLY funny scenes (and the wonderful Griffin Dunne-- anyone who hasn't seen 'After Hours', go rent it RIGHT NOW!) plus all the great moon-themed songs on the soundtrack.
There have been a few that I feel scarred me for life. Hmmm...Salem's Lot, The Haunting of Hill House (if that's it, I can't seem to find the right movie name but I saw it by accident lol in the lat 60s, it was a black and white - the line that I hear in my head over and over to this day is "Give me baby.....I want baby...as this bloody woman with arms outstretched chases someone with an infant) Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, Carrie, Pet Cemetary, Audrey Rose, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Poltergeist, Soilent Green, The Day the Earth Stood Still....so many more. These all had a big impact on me!
ReplyDeleteThe Haunting, 1963. Scariest movie ever.
ReplyDeleteOk, I'll bite! "The Ring" scared the hell out of me, which is not that easy. When I first saw it, I had a very early morning shift, and I would walk in front of the television set in all darkness. I would get this panic attack and rush to the front door. I could just picture that llittle girl crawling out of the television set drenched in water. The last time I felt that way; it was with the Exorcist, and I was 17 then.
ReplyDeleteOh, and there are some more, too. (I'm a wimp but I love horror movies anyway LOL)
ReplyDeletePanic in the Year Zero
Jaws (OMG that one made me afraid to take a freaking BATH when it came out LOL
When a Stranger Calls (the original)
Psycho
Silence of the Lambs
My favorite all time whore movie is.....
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin's Alaska!
A lot of whores in that movie.
Womanwithsardinecan, OMG I totally freaked out watching Phantasm with my highschool boyfriend - he was too scared to comfort me, too LOL. THe one with the babysitter and the phonecalls was on my list too -"When a Stranger Calls"..because my name is Jill, it freaked me out even more when my dad would call me while I was babysitting and say in a scary voice "Jill, have you checked the children?" OMG don't even! Now, I live in a house that has walls of windows and all my babysitters tell me they are scared to be in those rooms at night because of that movie!
ReplyDeleteMy fave is an obscure indie film from 1983, "Eyes Of Fire". Takes place in the mid 18th century, with a disgraced preacher and his small group of followers in a previously unexplored forest haunted by spirits of Native Americans. Spooky, dark, atmospheric and scary!
ReplyDeleteHush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte.
ReplyDeleteSaw it in third grade and I still sleep with my hands under the pillow so no one can chop them off. I also stopped watching horror films then.
War of the Worlds, the original radio show by Orson Wells
ReplyDeleteFor those who have not seen The Haunting.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057129/
Chainsaw Vasectomy...
ReplyDeleteAnd although I don't think of them as horror movies, I LOVE Godzilla movies. All of them.
ReplyDeleteHands down, "Alien". Slasher movie where running out the door is not an option.
ReplyDeleteThis one always horrified me !!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jNPlyDa9hA&feature=related
"The Fly" -- early '50s with Vincent Price.
ReplyDeleteLet's see - a horror movie?
ReplyDelete-
Easy: The Undefeated!
-
It gives me nightmares to this day - just thinking how many Americans were actually prepared to vote for this twit for President!
"Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright." - The Wolf Man, 1941. Maria O. was awesome!
ReplyDeleteSo the Lon Chaney Jr. Wolfman qualifies as a great combo of fear and sympathy for the Wolfman.
For Vampire movies there are a couple I'd like to nominate:
Roman Polanski's Fearless Vampire Killers - Sharon Tate is to die for in the this movie, but it also combines humor with horror.
The second is pure horror - Shadow of the Vampire - a movie about making a vampire movie - watch it it will scare the bejesus out of you. It actually has scenes from Nosferatu in the movie added seamlessly!
Finally, The Haunting with Julie Harris & Claire Bloom is a classic and a good book to read: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
These two movies were waaay before your time. To me they were so scary that I've lived my life refusing to watch horror movies. I was seven years old when I saw these two movies.
ReplyDeleteThe Thing and The Creature From the Black Lagoon.
Saw the Exorcist on TV when I was 12. Pretty scarey for a good little Catholic girl!! Later as a teenager liked B horror such as Motel Hell and My Bloody Valentine. Nightmare on Elm and The Ring are right up there. Was The Haunted House on the Hill the one with Vincent Price and the people get thrown into acid?? Also does anyone recall Trilogy of Terror on TV??
ReplyDeleteChuckie movies are good ... Texas Chainsaw Massacre ... The Omen had some scary dogs.
ReplyDeleteThough AWL remains my favorite werewolf movie, the recent remake of "The Wolfman" really blew my mind.
ReplyDeleteAs for other horror movies, I have always put Jaws, The Exorcist, Halloween 1 and 2, The Ring, The Howling, The Thing (John Carpenter version), 3 Days of Night, and the Haunting of Hill House (the 1963 version.)on my list of FACS as well.
To be honest one of the movies that gave me nightmares as a kid was the Boris Karloff movie The Raven. It was the end sequence that jacked me up.
The Haunting of Hill House, which I think the movie The Haunting was based on, was my favorite Horror Book decades ago because it was my ONLY horror book. Swore off the things because of it.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't really a horror movie but it scarred me for life: Psycho. It was playing at the drive-in the summer after I graduated from high school. My girlfriends and I went for 3 or 4 nights in a row - watched it over and over. The shower scene makes me shudder to think about it even now. Since then, any time I've been in a motel and pulled the shower curtain closed, that scene flashes through my mind.
ReplyDeleteHmm...
ReplyDeleteLove the original 'Nightmare on Elm Street'
I too was a fan of 'An American Werewolf in London' (I bought my mom the DVD a few Christmases ago -- she likes it too!)
'Candyman' scared the piss out of me when I was 14. Tony Todd! That voice! The hook!
I'm a huge fan of Asian horror too. 'Audition' is still on my mind years after seeing it. Also love 'The Ghost,' 'Bloody Reunion,' the original 'The Eye,'-- there are so many this post would be two pages if I went on.
For me, The Shining - the viewer gets driven along with the characters on this isolated road miles away from civilization and the winter storm, and well, it's the whole isolated creepy thing that only Stephen King does.
ReplyDeleteWas too whimpy to watch horror films, but I remember "The Fly" - the original one, which was pretty tame at the time but me being a kid, well.....
How about, "The Undefeated". Now that's a horror film!
ReplyDeleteJillyG, I once got so scared watching a horror movie that I jumped up and turned on all the lights. That's when I remembered that we lived in the country and the curtains were sheer. I turned most of the lights back off and cowered on the couch.
ReplyDeleteAs for scary sci-fi movies, Phase IV is really scary. Fear the ants!
ReplyDeleteIsn't the original The Thing based in Alaska? Wasn't it a biography of SP? Seriously! A harbinger of deniers of global warming!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't "Chuckie" esp. in some pictures look a lot like Condi Rice, a scary character from the Bush nightmare years!
ReplyDeleteI don't really like horror movies but I used to like the old Vincent Price movies from the 60s. Also I remember watching "The Crematorium" when I babysat as a teenager. I think it was from the 30s or 40s. Scared me to death but I watched the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, I was loving the Halloween marathon yesterday (yes, even the awful Season of the Witch). Rainy cold day, everyone in the house down with a cold... It was just me, a fire and plenty of popcorn.
ReplyDeleteI judge a horror movie if it haunts me afterward. The Exorcist, Jaws, Halloween, The Ring.
True story: My ex and I were watching A Nightmare on Elm Street for the very first time, and in the middle of it the power went out. This was in the 80's in Pasadena. Richard Ramirez was on the loose and everyone was locking the windows and doors, we were all in fear. He tended to choose one story stucco homes near a freeway on ramp, and he never entered a locked home. The fuse box for our one story stucco home (one block from an on ramp) was outside - we would have to unlock the doors to fix it. Needless to say, thanks to being terrified by the movie, we were freaking out. I had a camping hatchet and had our German Shepherd while my husband flipped the fuses. Nothing happened of course.
Four days later we were kept from going down our driveway after work, they had it taped off, and it was swarming with men in suits and uniforms. They found something in an adjoining lot - they refused to tell us what, but they did say it was related to the Night Stalker. They were actually searching the crawl space under our house! We spent a couple of hours sitting on the porch of our neighbors, and they finally told us we could go home. How do you relax after that?
Let's just say that THAT was the scariest movie I ever watched.
I liked American Werewolf in London and Bram Stoker's Dracula best, but American Werewolf in London wins out. I saw it in the theater when it came out and it was funny, shocking and scary all at once. It remains one of the best horror flicks ever. I also liked Poltergeist. Movies liek The Exorcist were just too damn scary for me. I did grow up watching the Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing Dracula movies and was always petrified by them as a child.
ReplyDeleteAnything with Vincent Price. The Conqueror Worm was one I remember.
ReplyDeleteAnother one was one womanwithsardinecan mentioned, Scream and Scream Again. Just the opening scene freaked me out. A guy laying in a hospital bed wakes up and sees he has an arm missing and screams and blacks out. This goes on until all his limbs are missing. ughhhh
Another one that really impressed my teenage mind was "Burnt Offerings" with Oliver Reed and Karen Black. It was about a house that somehow fed off the families that lived there by killing them one by one as happens in all good horror movies.
For a very stark version of a vampire movie, the 1922 silent film "Nosferatu" is pretty creepy.
And the original Frankenstein will always be a favorite with the misunderstood monster.
Rick
I love American Werewolf! Other favorites: The Shining, The Haunting (original), Night of the Living Dead - you know, the classics. Among more recent movies, I liked the Descent and the Others. Oh, and Near Dark, does anyone remember that one? A great vampire flick.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone wants to read a couple of great vampire books, try the Strain and The Passage, both first books in a planned series of 3. If you're the impatient type, the Strain's final book was published this summer. Both books re-imagine the vampire into something far scarier than we've seen in the past.
Gryphen-- if you're into werewolves, you've got to watch GINGER SNAPS-- a kick-ass Canadian gore-fest made in 2000.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a director named Dante Tomaselli has produced several dark and obscure avante-garde films that definitely march to a different beat.
Happy Halloween!
Carrie - the original, with Sissy Spacechick
ReplyDeleteCANNIBAL HOLOCAUST [1980]
ReplyDeleteCan't pick just one. In no particular order, my favorites include:
ReplyDeleteDracula--the original, with Lugosi
House on Haunted Hill--the original, with Vincent Price
The Thing--John Carpenter's remake
The Hearse
Salem's Lot
The Ring--American remake
Memento Mori--the best of the "Whispering Corridors" series, in my opinion.
I Saw What You Did, with John Ireland
Suburbia
Alien
All right, Gryphen, you've gone and done it now. You have rattled my cage. Although I realize that An American Werewolf in London was the first werewolf movie with serious money behind it, in my opinion, there are three better ones. I agree with you that the first attack scene is the best in the movie.
ReplyDeleteThe Howling is ridiculously clever and complete in its scripting by John Sayles, and Robb Bottin, a student of Rick Baker, was the first to make werewolves come alive with something besides a little time-lapse photography, beating your favorite to the screens by four months.
Stephen King's Silver Bullet is very clever, too, particularly in its casting and presentation from the viewpoint of kids. Yes, the setting and storyline are very ordinary, but that is what makes it seem more real, like a good fiction novel.
The remake of The Wolfman shows what REALLY serious money can do for a classic, gothic monster movie in the lush style of Coppola's Dracula. My favorite scene is the one where Mr. Hairy Face rips through the gypsy camp. Honorable mention goes to his ripping out of the asylum.
As a point of comparison, the werewolf in Silver Bullet is large and bear-like. The pack members in The Howling are very wolf-like and have interesting personalities. The Wolfman is more human, yet vicious almost beyond belief.
Readers may want to review the list of 31 top movies for Halloween that I composed in 2008:
http://niafs.blogspot.com/2010/10/thirty-one-classic-scary-nights-in.html
Werewolf movies:
ReplyDeleteWolfen was one of the scariest books I've ever read. The movie not so much, but still scary.
The movie with Benicio del Toro & Anthony Hopkins was nice & gory & scary (sorry, don't know the title).
Scariest movie I've ever watched:
The Descent. With the UK ending. Apparently they like creepy endings more than US audiences, as the endings are quite different. The UK version gave me awful nightmares. If you like scary movies search for it.
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
ReplyDelete"What lies beneath" starring Michele Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford. A truly eery ghost story, with some really scary shocks. (I just can't watch the gore-fests at all.)
ReplyDeleteThe Changeling (1980) George C Scott. Amazing movie.
ReplyDeleteNot really classified as a horror flick, but "Fail Safe" scared the crap out of me as a kid. I still watch it whenever it comes around on cable. Fabulous cinematography and editing.
ReplyDeleteAnd not being a horror fan (OK, I'm a wimp!), I'll nominate Mel Brook's "Young Frankenstein" as an alternate for Halloween. With love from "Abby Normal"...
Bubba Hotep with Bruce Campbell. ;-) If you haven't seen it, you really must.
ReplyDeleteIt's not horror, but my very favorite Halloween movies are "Arsenic and Old Lace," starring Cary Grant, and "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken," starring Don Knotts.
ReplyDeleteThe mutual nightmare my ex and I had was similar to a scene I saw years ago in one of the Count Yorga movies. First, the Yorga scene: A VW bus is camped in a clearing. It is night, and the crickets are chirping. Then the crickets go silent. I think what happened next was that one of the occupants flicked back a curtain and found Count Yorga staring in. Now our dream: We dreamed that we were asleep and something woke us up. We went out to the living room and listened. Complete silence. Dark curtains covered all of the windows. I went over to a window and held my hand up to see if I could feel a breeze, so I would know if the window was open or shut. Couldn't tell, so I stealthly turned the little window crank (casement crank style window). Still no breeze, still can't tell if window is open or closed. Turned to look and my ex was doing the same thing at another window. Extreme fear and tension. Then I woke up. So did my ex. We sat up, looked at each other, and started to tell each other our nightmare. That's when we realized we were having the same nightmare. We got up, turned on every single light, and then together went to each window and checked it. lol.
ReplyDeleteHands Down American Werewolf in London... where else do find spot on comic timing with the richness of gore. It just doesn't get any better than that, and no ones even come close!
ReplyDeleteMy little sister is such a chicken that she though Babe, Pig in the City was scary.
ReplyDeleteMy kid wants me to post that his favorite is "Paranormal Activity." Again, not horror, but definitely creepy.
ReplyDelete"The Exorcist." No doubt about it.
ReplyDeleteOMG Gryphen,
ReplyDeleteNight of the Living Dead (black & White, 1968)...I was far too young to be watching and that is some scary $#it.
The Shining
and the worst b-movie horror film, but absolutely terrifying (in which a live woman gets her face plastered over until we see her suffocating...) Some nutty 70 or 80's thing called "Tourist Trap."
Fun post. Happy Halloween everyone !
SunnyVee :)
The more I read your blog, the more I think I'm related to Virginia Voter.
ReplyDeleteEvery movie she said is on my list for the same reasons.
The Exorcist was the one that haunted me for days after seeing it in the theater. It wasn't even close to the experience of reading it beforehand, something that's rarely happened to me.
Happy Halloween Everyone!
Oh, yeah... and I like the Scream movies - though really only the first had that irony and self-parody kind of thing going.
ReplyDeleteAnd...when that FIRST babysitter and phone harrassment movie came out - I was (about 13) literally sitting alone in someone else's house in the dark of night while the kids were asleep. The commercial came on and said, "you are alone, at night, in someone else's home." I said "Ahhh yup !" and never watched that movie !
Most of the "modern" genre of horror movies are more along the line of snuff films - like Chainsaw Massacre. Never could get into any of those - too gory.
ReplyDeleteSo my rule for watching scary stuff is never watch alone - like when I was single and living by myself and went to go watch Silence of the Lambs - whew - went through the apartment with my pistol drawn and searched every nook and cranny - for the next month and a half!
But my favorites definitely include American Werewolf and then Alien and of course the classic - The Shining.
No one mentioned this: The House of Wax with Vincent Price as it was originally shown in 3D. It was back in the 50s; me and my two best friends went to the Saturday matinee in late fall. First movie I ever saw in 3D and it scared the bejesus out of us. We were about nine years old and we were given permission to walk home from the theater which was a few blocks from our street. By the time we got out of the movie, it was almost dark and very dreary. We were terrified and clung to each other for the ten minute walk home. We all had nightmares.
ReplyDeleteThe movie that freaked me out the most, was the book - The Shining. :-)
ReplyDeleteI was so scared while reading it, I couldn't read it unless my family was in the room with me. I'm a bookaholic & that was the only book that's ever affected me that way & I'd read all Steven King's books. I did watch the movie which was scary but nothing like the raw fear I felt while reading it.
Psycho really got to me - the shower scene. There was one other old B movie that was about two teenaged girls alone in a huge house & they were getting phone calls from someone who kept saying "I know who you are, I KNOW what you did." I think that was the name of the movie & there were several more based on the same premise years later. Of course it was a wrong number but the caller terrorized them - me too.
Not big on horror movies in general.
Ditto for the '63 version of The Haunting. I saw it at home alone during a thunder storm when I was 12. I have NEVER slept with my doors closed nor my hands outside of the covers since (I am 53 now). Night lights were no option until I was well over 25. It scared me that much (and nothing much else ever did before or since).
ReplyDeleteBurnt Offerings is DEFINITELY one of the scariest movies EVER. OMG I forgot about that one - thank you, Anon!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you womanwithsardinecan to the link to "The Haunting" - I am thinking that is the movie I mentioned as traumatizing me only I wasn't sure of the name - I guess I will simply HAVE to watch it and see, yes? Only not this week or next, my husband's out of town and I'm too wimpy. My poor kids will have to stay up with me at night LOL
A couple that freaked me out as a kid were The Bad Seed and Village Of The Damned (60's version). The Omen was another that scared me in my teens. Those evil children can really make you jump!
ReplyDeleteOkay this topic really has my horror movie geek side all carbonated up this morning.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree with Floyd that the Howling is definitely right alongside AWL as one of the BEST werewolf movies of all time. In fact there was a time when really could not choose between the two of them.
I also own Gingersnaps and think it is devilishly clever, and a truly unique, take on the genre.
I have a funny story about my first viewing of the movie Alien in the theater. I sat right behind these two African American women who jumped and screamed at EVERYTHING in the movie which, for me, added to the tension building on the screen.
When the little alien popped up out of John Hurt's torso, they screamed at the top of their lungs and I almost jumped out of my skin.
Right afterward they both got up mumbling "Uh uh, oh no, uh uh," and made a beeline for the exit.
For me the rest of the movie was relatively calm since they were no longer there to add to the experience. And yes both the original Alien, and the sequel Aliens ("Leave her alone you BITCH!"), are in my DVD collection.
I have two oldies. The Creature from the Black Lagoon which I saw when I was a child and had to leave the theater in the middle of it because it was too scary for me.
ReplyDeleteThe other was Dracula with Christopher Lee in which I fell madly in love with him (I've never had very sensible taste in men) and my heart has never been won by another vampire (well, Spike...but like I said...)
So answer me this - how does my 7 yr old watch Beowulf - no problem - creeps me out! But is terrified of Gremlins? There's just no accounting for what scares someone.
ReplyDeleteMolly @4:51
ReplyDelete"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" with Gene Wilder was just plain creepy. What an odd movie.
Boy, this one generated some comments.
ReplyDelete"Sarah Palin's Alaska" Hahahaha!!
Isn't amazing how scary movies can change/effect your life?
I was living on the Florida coast when Jaws came out - at the same time we had a very big red tide episode and the beaches were covered with all sorts of huge sharks - kinda stopped my ocean swimming at that point.
Psycho - why I have clear shower curtains.
Silence of the Lambs - why I started carrying protection.
Aliens - why I'll never get on a spaceship and travel to another planet. ;-)
And ALWAYS listen to what the cat (or dog) is telling you!
Happy Halloween!
not horror (as i don't do horror) but an annual viewing of young frankenstein is a must!
ReplyDeleteOooh, B, the Haunting of Hill House is super scary! More recently, I love 28 Days and 28 Weeks Later for genuine scares. And I haven't had a good night's sleep since Paranormal Activity (and won't see any of the sequels, though my teens love them).
ReplyDelete"The Haunting of Hill House", the '60's version, not the Zeta-Jones remake. It still scares the pants off me.
ReplyDeleteChildren of the Corn...The Omen
ReplyDeleteRosemary's Baby
ReplyDeletePlay Misty for Me
The Birds
Sarah Palin's Alaska - all of 'em, any of 'em.
Happy Halloween everybody!!
I remember this movie from when I was a kid! I used to hate the scene where he transformed into a werewolf! Scared the piss out of me every time! But I was also scared of Michael Jackson's Thriller video, so I was pretty much a chicken! As far as horror goes, I have to go with The Undefeated. That's some scary shit right there!
ReplyDeleteThe first scary movie I saw that stayed with me was "The Birds" (Hitchcock), when I was 5. I was terrified to go into any room with a window after dark for 6 months or so. I, like others here, get my real scares from books. The Shining, real ghost stories, The Amityville Horror (my sister & I read that in high school & had a mutual freak-out & had to get the book out of the house). Recent movie scare would be "The Sixth Sense" - the scene where the boy is using the bathroom late at night & you get the glimpse of something moving past the room--SO creepy! That one really stayed with me.
ReplyDeleteNot exactly horror, but 28 Days Later is pretty damn scary as far as zombie flicks go!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a young'n Bambi and Dumbo scared the shit out of me: losing your mother was a terror for that moment in my life.
ReplyDeleteAlthough a bit older, I was still a young adolescent the first time I saw Todd Brownings (1932) Freaks. (!)
In my late teens I was a fan of the Hammer and Universal horror movies of the time. Any of em - all of em. Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, Karloff, Peter Cushing, Chrisopher Lee...
Possibly the most disturbing movie I've ever seen would be Eraserhead. (It's like a bad fever-dream.)
I don't know if Videodrome counts as horror - but it's a damn good one if it fits the genre.
The original Night of the Living Dead.
Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.
The original Halloween.
The 1982 version of The Thing.
But as an adult male in the 70's - one of the most teeth-gritting, white-knuckle movies I ever saw was:
Deliverance.
Oh - I must pick just ONE? OK:
Psycho
I was still in primary school when I saw it - and the realization that the monster is real - that the monster can be us - bothered me for a long time.
Happy Halloween
I'm with Anon 4:43 -- I watch Dead of Night every Halloween. And 7:48 must be my long, lost evil twin! I remember reading The Shining with all the house lights on (Sorry Al Gore!) and wouldn't let my husband leave the room. "REDRUM!" and "Daaannnneeee!" I had the same problem reading the Amityville Horror. But for movies, The Omen, The Other, Rosemary's Baby and 1408 really get me. And recently, I liked Shutter Island, too. Happy Halloween, everyone. Boo!
ReplyDeleteWolfen!
ReplyDeleteI was watching it with two of my sisters, and our little brother when a gust of wind blew open the door.
Because of the screaming, a neighbor came running over to see who was being murdered.
Exorcist - look carefully at the kitchen stove hood - the devil's face is there on the shiny stainless (!) steel hood.
The Hand - scared me really bad when I was little.
Great post, Gryph - I loved reading all the comments.
MotorCiy Begonia
ReplyDeleteOMG, "Trilogy of Terror" was fantastic! I can still be freaked out by remembering Karen Black, crouching by the door, chanting and pounding her spear on the floor!
The first time i saw "The Haunting" with Clair Bloom and Julie Harris it scared the bejesus out of me. It's still not something I'll watch at night when I'm alone. Other good ones are "Legend of Hell House," "Forbidden Planet," the first Nightstallker movie with Darren McGavin as the reporter, and one of my favorite early SF movies, "Them!" When a car goes by in the night with a worn fan belt that makes the same sound they used for the giant ant, it still makes me sit upright, heart pounding.
We had folks over Saturday and we we watched both Howard Hawks' "The Thing" and then John Carpenter's remake. Man, that was some good, creepy viewing!
Aresenic and Old Lace. The classic with Cary Grant.
ReplyDeleteGreetings! I was raised on horror/sf movies. When I was 11 or so, the Sunday Night Movie was Howard Hawks's "The Thing" and because they said it would be considered a classic one day, my parents let me sit up to see it. Oh, man, it thrilled me silly and scared me to the same degree.
ReplyDeleteThe same with "Them!" - to this day a squeaky fan belt on a passing car brings me upright in my chair with my heart pounding.
"Five Million Years to Earth," a Brittish Quatermass movie from the 60s is a favorite. Those tall construction cranes that tower over the buildings around it always make me remember this one.
One of the scariest movies I've ever seen was the original "Haunting" with Julie Harris and Claire Bloom. (The recent remake was a total dog, in my opinion. Really a waste of film.) I also loved "The Legend of Hell House." Vampire movies were my favorite genre horror flicks and I spent a lot of my earlier years in love with Christopher Lee - his Dracula was one of my favorites. I also liked the version with Louis Jourdan as Drac and Frank Findley as Van Helsing - excellent casting!
I like Stephen King's "Silver Bullett" for a werewolf movie, although like others have said above I usually feel too sorry for whoever the poor sod that gets bitten to enjoy a lot of the movie. "American Werewolf inLondon" is one the best - I still grin every time I hear "Bad Moon Rising" on the radio.
Saturday we had a gathering at our place and we showed both Howard Hawks' and John Carpenter's "The Thing." Good pair of scary flicks!
A good Halloween to all!
Absolutely, Nightmare on Elm Street.
ReplyDeleteOne, two, Freddy's commin for you...
The first and only horror movie that had ever kept me up at night was "Return of the Living Dead." Those zombies could run (fast), and they could talk. "Braaaains!"
ReplyDeleteI actually thought "The Exorcist" was quite funny, really.
ReplyDeleteI am such a wimp, still traumatized by the witch and her flying monkeys from the Wizard of OZ.
ReplyDeleteI agree with several here, the book "The Shining" by Stephen King
disturbed by sleep patterns for weeks. I can still remember how vivid and terrifying those dreams were that the book inspired. Movies made from books I've read usually disappoint me, as did the movie version of "The Shining."
Silence of Lambs is very high on the creepy meter for me. Truth be told I prefer not to have the crap scared out of me.
Actually, about the scariest movie I ever watched was Misery.....because it's absolutely plausible.
ReplyDeleteWhen she broke his legs with the maul I about fainted.
My most fave werewolf movie: Dog Soldiers. It stars Sean Pertwee and Kevin McKidd. "What are you afraid of? Spiders. Women. And spider-women."
ReplyDeleteNot really scary, but I try to watch every October: Something Wicked This Way Comes.
I remember seeing 'The Pit and the Pendulum' with Vincent Price when I was really young. It was way too scary for me.
ReplyDeleteI'll do a Palin. Many horror films.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I'll pick one which scared me as a kid:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062168/
USA title:
Five Million Years to Earth
(UK title: Quatermass and the Pit)
Now I laugh at my kid self, though I'm still a horror film/book wimp. Especially blood and gore. Yuck.
Though I did like American Werewolf in London. Kudos Gryphen, it's a great film.
It still makes me cringe, though I love it. Silly me.
I also still like seeing Jenny Agutter in it. Though some of her other performances (the film, not her) haven't aged well. Such as, Logan's Run. It's now very dated. I thought it was a great film when I was in high school in 1975. Again, silly me.
25 Awesome Horror Films You Probably Haven’t Seen (But Really Should)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/10/25-unknown-horror-films/
Sharon1943 wrote at 6:24 AM: The shower scene makes me shudder to think about it even now. Since then, any time I've been in a motel and pulled the shower curtain closed, that scene flashes through my mind.
ReplyDeleteHave you noticed how, since that time, shower curtains tend to be transparent, at least at eye level? So you can watch for Norman?
Jeepers Creepers, the first one. Terrifying.
ReplyDeleteYes! Trilogy of Terror. Little dolls scare me (so why do I own a hundred barbies?).
I loved Them when I was a kid. It's still scary.
Some Satanist movie from the 70's that I think had Peter Fonda in it, but I'm not sure. I think it had Devil in the title. Ends like a 70's movie.
Oh,oh, oh!! Carnival of Souls! The original. Also Freaks.
Top 100 Horror Movies of All Time 2011 Edition
ReplyDeletehttp://www.365horrormovie.com/2011/09/26/top-100-horror-movies-of-all-time-2011edition/
'Last House on the Left'. Chilling.
The original "Psycho". For many years, I wouldn't take a shower unless someone else was home. I still will not take a shower at night if I'm home alone. It seriously gave me a deep rooted psychological scar. Other movies - Rosemary's Baby, Exorcist, Night of the Living Dead, Candy Man, and the original Halloween. All scared the crap out of me at various times in my life. I haven't been scared by a movie in years. Seriously creeped out, yes. Scared, no.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, the BOOKS that scared me to death are "The Shining" and "The Stand". Excellent scary, creepy books that still make me shiver. I think I'll go read The Stand again!
ReplyDeleteThe 100 Best Horror Films of All Time From Best-Horror-Movies.com
ReplyDeletehttp://www.best-horror-movies.com/100-best-horror-films.html
Top 100 (and more!) Scariest Movies of All Time
http://www.ghostwalks.com/hh_scariestmovies.html
Top 100 Horror Films
http://www.imdb.com/list/QiGak8mMTIE/
Top 50 scariest movies of all time
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/gallery/top_50_scary_movies/
Sorry about the double posts. . . (Headbang on desk.)
ReplyDeleteSo far, nobody has mentioned Blood Simple, which suggests to me that nobody here has seen it. And recovered.
ReplyDeleteI do like American Werewolf in London. Having Jenny Agutter in it didn't hurt…
Scary books! Nope don't do those anymore since I was a young woman working on a research project up in the N.C. Mtns. I was alone on the mountain that day, my partner having gone to pick up supplies and would be gone for the day and night. Our camp was on top of a bald mountain - no one around for miles and miles. I was reading a collection of Stephen King short stories that included "The Fog" - while sitting by the camp fire. I was so engrossed in the book that I didn't notice that the fog had risen, and I was surrounded by thick fog. All alone. Needless to say I dove for the tent and tried not to imagine giant mosquitoes coming for me.
ReplyDeleteTed, I have seen Blood Simple. It was the first of the Coen Brothers' movies and one of the earliest movies shot in Austin to get attention. Yes, it is an excellent movie, but I would not call it a monster movie; more of a thriller with a twisted plot.
ReplyDelete"From Dusk Till Dawn" Best Vampire movie ever. Scary, gory, funny, and kinda sexy.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 10:26, for a scary book, try Thomas Tryon's Harvest Home (yes, the book upon which the Bette Davis TV movie was based).
ReplyDeleteAs a horror movie fan, I love seeing this list. I don't care too much for the slasher films, but I adore the paranormal/ghost/haunted house films.
ReplyDeleteI have been checking out the films talked about here with Netflix. Most of them I have seen, but there are a few that I haven't. Unfortunately, the ones that I haven't are listed as DVDs. I'm only getting the streaming videos.
Here is a good list of different horror movies. If you haven't seen the web site, 'Listverse', it might be one you should check out. My favorite one is, 'The Top 10 Great Lesser-Known Horror Movies'. One I thought was great that was listed there is, 'Dead End'. It was scary, but it has some good comedy thrown in also. You can check out the trailer.
Top Ten Lists About Horror Movies
I'm not really into horror movies, if blood, gore, bones, body parts, etc., are on the screen, then I have to look away! (I am into ghost stories, though, real ones. I love nothing better than reading about real experiences in haunted houses.)
ReplyDeleteHere are a couple of old atmospheric b/w ghost movies, set in England, that I recommend:
The Innocents
The Uninvited
And the depiction of banshees in this movie scared the crap out of me when I was a kid (now banshees make me think of Sarah Palin):
Darby O'Gill and the Little People
This one scare the crap out of me when I was a kid, too:
The Screaming Skull
Another favorite is The Others, a really spooky ghost story.
Jack Nickolas as a wolfman pissing on the leg of an associate.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look it up, I'm probably not remembering it correctly.
I see homage has been paid to "The Ring" a few times. I didn't really think of it as a scary movie, until a couple nights ago.
ReplyDeleteIt was already about a third of the way through, when I channel surfed onto it...stopping mainly to watch Naomi Watts (and recalling how it was so easy to fall in love with her, in that Sandra Bullock, girl next door way).
I'm sitting there on the couch, alone, late at night, when one of the many super creepy scenes comes on, and I feel that weird sensation like being given a light electrical shock...eyes getting instantly big as saucers, the whole bit.
I jump to my feet and turn off the TV, saying out loud, "What the hell are you DOING?" to myself.
One more plug, Gryphen:
ReplyDeleteBrian DePalma's movie Sisters is outstanding. It was released in 1973, a few years before he became more famous for Carrie and Phantom of the Paradise.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070698/
"Blood Simple" is a great movie, but I'm not sure it belongs in the horror genre.
ReplyDeleteI tend to like movies that are scary because they could be true. Nightmare on Elm Street? Nah.
"The Talented Mr. Ripley" kept me up at night.
Another stylish horror movie is "The Orphanage". Yes, it's a foreign film, but it's both scary and very well done. My husband, who indulges me in my predilection for foreign and genre movies, said "that was a really good movie" when it was over.
Also, if y'all aren't watching American Horror Story, you're missing something special!
It isn't exactly a Halloween horror movie, but it horrified me all the same. 'Soylent Green'. I had nightmares for YEARS when I realized what exactly IT WAS!
ReplyDeleteCreeeepy.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070723/
In an overpopulated futuristic Earth, a New York police detective finds himself marked for murder by government agents when he gets too close to a bizarre state secret involving the origins of a revolutionary and needed new 'foodstuff'.
The same ex I shared the nightmare with scared the crap out of me one year in the High Sierras. We were alone by a lake above timberline, very desolate. We were sitting on a rock above the lake, waiting for moonrise (full moon). Joe, who liked to make up ghost stories, started telling me that there was a psycho killer on the loose in the mountains. The killer had just killed the high country ranger about a mile from where we were camped. Joe used the descriptive phrase, "...eyes gazing sightlessly at the rafters..." to describe the dead ranger in the cabin. Joe then said that the ranger who might stop by the next day and check for fishing permits wasn't actually the ranger. That's when I demanded that he STOP telling stories.
ReplyDelete10:58 - I totally forgot about Darby O'Gill! The wailing banshee sent me screaming, trying to hide under the theater seat. One of the other kids with me pee'd her pants, she was so scared. Loved that movie! Afterwards, I remember the Priest at the Parish near the theater invited the families to come eat water melon with him. He had an Irish accent, and I was too terrified to go with him because I was sure the banshee was going to come get us.
ReplyDeleteFloyd Orr, "Harvest Home" was a great book. I was thinking of it over the past weekend. It seriously gave me the creeps when I first read it.
ReplyDeletePan's Labyrinth is one of the most haunting movies I've ever seen. Has elements of horror and the supernatural and an unforgettablel heroine.
ReplyDeleteTakashi Miike's "Audition".
ReplyDeleteNo question--the original, black & white, Haunting of Hill House. You NEVER see anything, i.e. everything is left to your imagination. Creepiest film ever.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this whole thread! I've made a list and I'm trying to find them on my live stream Netflix...can't wait to watch them all!
ReplyDelete1. The Bad Seed
ReplyDelete2.American Werewolf in London
3. The Birds
4. The Other
5. Christine
King Kong,when I was 5.I woke up screaming for a week. lol.not that scary now in retrospect but hey, I was 5.
ReplyDeleteAnother scary one from childhood was the Wizard of Oz, those damn flying monkeys!
High school,Exorcist. Freaked my parochial school mind out.
Currently, Idiotcracy.
Also does anyone recall Trilogy of Terror on TV??
ReplyDeleteHell yes!
We called it screaming doll with knife.
Karen Black ROCKED that roll!
I don't know whether Repulsion counts as a horror film, but the central character was certainly experiencing horror.
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin Undefeated.
ReplyDeleteOh. I thought you had said Whoreor not Horror.
Well, let's go with Carrie, then, although, The Eyes of Laura Mars is pretty good.
Pan's Labyrinth was amazing. All the old Roger Corman especially the original Little Shop of Horrors (although I loved the musical remake, too).
ReplyDeleteAnd why hasn't anyone mentioned Rocky Horror--nothing like the Midnight Movie participation nights!!!!!
Saw Rosemary's Baby as a teenager. Completely freaked me out that the neighbor's infant son I used to babysit looked EXACTLY like Rosemary's baby. Especially when the baby smiled. Never sat for that family again!
ReplyDeleteBait with Jamie Foxx and David Morse; I also recommend Skeleton Key with Kate Hudson and Gena Rowland.
ReplyDeleteI prefer the Alfred Hitchcock-type thriller instead of slasher flicks.
Exorcist.
ReplyDeleteOh and the "Lady in White" and "I Know Who You Are and Saw What You Did" (an especially good movie for teenage girls).
ReplyDeleteFor me, I have been around a long time, but for sure it was the original , Mummy. I lost sleep over that one as a kid. Should have never watched it. Checked under my bed and left the light on for a long time. Of course we are talking early 60's when I first seen it. Of course it is tame compared to today's standard.
ReplyDelete1. Hitchcock's "Psycho"
ReplyDelete2. "White Noise"
Anne in CO
Right on, I love werewolf movies too :) While it's more a horror/comeday, I'm a big fan of "Black Sheep". It's kind of like "Shaun of the Dead" with slightly more twisted humor. Oh, and it's a were-sheep.
ReplyDeleteAlso a low-budget one called "Wild Country" was pretty interesting.
Non-werewolf movies: I love "The Thing", and "Pet Sematary" still freaks me out.
Finally(!) at 4:17PM, someone mentions a MUMMY.
ReplyDeleteThe monster movies lately (last couple of decades) have featured vampires and werewolves because those monsters have been given the sexy treatment: attraction and repulsion providing inherent tension, much like romantic mysteries posit the lover as a suspected killer. (Why ANY person would date someone they fear is beyond my comprehension.)
Handsome vampires and werewolves are easy... they are human most of the time... and with clothes, grooming, and good manners can easily sway a gentle heart. A related example would be David Bowie's Goblin King in Labyrinth: he put on the seeming that SHE had wished for, and was *extremely* attractive (yum)... yet what did he really look like without the glamour?
It is far more difficult to make a mummy or zombie into a love interest. They have decomposed. Their joints are mostly gone, so they can't move with grace or power. They can't flutter their eyelashes or kiss without lips. However, they can try. :evil grin: But then they become pitiful.
The Mummy with Branden Frazier was perhaps scarier than the original black & white film (memory is faltering, I think it was set in a pyramid in Mexico in the 1930s???). The reimagined mummy was sexy, powerful, and determined to be eternally united with his lover... and managed to regain enough parts of himself not to be revolting. IIRC, our heroine kissed him as a distraction... and it worked because he was NOT a rotted corpse.
Zombies are terrifying because they have neither will nor intelligence of their own. To get around the disgust of necrophilia, someday we'll probably have a bunch of movies about zombie masters.
Why the romantic angle? To get teenage girls into the theatre, repeatedly. Why the fear factor? to get them into the arms of teenaged boys.
Meanwhile, Kraken are the new vampires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwM6uoQAh50
Steel Magnolias.
ReplyDeleteRepulsion. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best scenes ever filmed for a horror movie in my opinion is the day Sarah Palin walked on on the stage and said Barack Obama pals around with terrorists and then smirked while the crowd yelled "KILL HIM".
ReplyDeleteThe Blairwitch Project. Both my sister and I slept with the lights on for weeks.
ReplyDeleteOMG, 6:16, I still remember Karen Black in Trilogy of Terror when she turned into that little pygmy monster.
ReplyDeleteOh, and thanks for reminding me about The Ring...as I lay in bed at 11pm! Also, I could have lived the rest of my life without knowing what Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte was about!
I agree with KarenB- American Horror Story is really good.
ReplyDeleteOne movie I saw recently still haunts me. I think it was called The Other Sister. Kevin Costner was surprisingly good in it. Creepy, creepy.
Why, oh, why did I read all the comments so late at night??!!
I watched scenes from Wolf with Jack Nicolson on Halloween.
ReplyDeleteAwesome werewolf. Great acting all round.
Oops! I want to edit my comment at 8:46:
ReplyDeleteThe scary Kevin Costner flick is The New Daughter (not The Other Sister). Very creepy movie, especially the end.