Best Horror Movie Ever

[Jon Hastings]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

[Vibilo]

I always thought that Jacob's Ladder was a great movie. Not really all that scary but just a plain good movie. Though some of the things that Jacob sees are pretty horrific. Also Rosemary's Baby; the movie itself isnt scary but the a idea of what happens and really how plausible some things in it are is pretty scary. Especially if you are able to empathise witht he characters.

(to lazy to log in)

[Darren Hill]

It seems appropriate that in a discussion of horror movies, a thread should be raised from the dead.

My vote goes for for a real oldie: Dead Of Night.
Probably the founder of those horror anthology movies, and unusually, the linking segments are part of a story of their own that lead to a literally nightmarish conclusion.

[Frank T]

I only watched the Hollywood version of The Ring, but that surely scared the shit out of me. I don't really like movies doing that. Also, though not a horror movie, I think The 6th Sense had some really, really creepy moments.

[Lisa Padol]

Hm. 6th Sense isn't horror, and Charles Williams would've loved it. But, yes, some very creepy moments, and "something I can't pin down is wrong, wrong, wrong" moments.

I detested Blair Witch, but at least part of this is because I was shown the fake documentary first. Bad -- this means I was waiting for the Heather-apology-scene the whole movie, and it lost its punch.

Very much agree on American Werewolf. I knew the premise, and it didn't matter. My hand flew to my throat in the dream sequence where someone gets his throat cut. And they didn't wuss out on the ending.

I loved se7en, but not sure it's horror. Being John Malkovich, oh yes, creepy little film.

The play version of Wait Until Dark I saw on Showtime years ago really creeped me out. Nothing supernatural, but very scary. And smart. I like that.

-Lisa

[talysman]

I kind of dislike "Best Horror Movie" discussions because they seem to mostly be "most recent horror movie that I liked alot" discussions. And I just don't get modern horror movies. Too much gore, not enough scariness/creepiness. And too much humor. Plus, I rarely get to the theaters anymore. I'd have to say the best modern horror movie (because it doesn't have the flaws I just mentioned) is The Ring, either version, although the American one is better.

I like the old stuff, mostly. Corman's Poe movies would be up there in my favorites, but I suppose I like them more for style than for horror; same with the Hammer films, or "Incubus". I can't think right now which one I'd call the best horror movie ever. "Freaks", maybe. "Seconds" is also very creepy and very well done, although it starts getting more into a conspircy genre rather than horror, which is where "Pi" is, firmly.

The things that scared me the worst as a kid were "The Andromeda Strain", "Trilogy of Terror" with Karen Black, and the opening of "Night Gallery". Also, one movie whose name escapes me at the moment, but it was really a "Gaslight"-type plot, which wasn't scary in itself, but the nightmare that the victim has scared me pretty badly.

[timfire]

My favorite horror movie is probably John Carpenter's The Thing, but not because its scary. It's just a cool ass movie.

I guess I don't really get scared by movies. I was mild creeped out by Ju-on, but it faded after a couple of hours. I'm surprised people are mentioning Event Horizon, I thought it was disturbing, but not scary at all.

One of the scariest movie experiences I ever had was watching Steven King's It back when it was first aired. I was young, and it scared me for days. I got nervous everytime I went to the bathroom. Of course, when I went back and watched it a second time a couple years later, I couldn't believe how cheesy it was and that I ever thought it was scary.

Actually, the scariest thing I've seen in recent memory wasn't a movie at all, it was Silent Hill for the playstation. Creeped the shit out of me. Oh! I got a great story I love to tell... I was visiting my parents after just finishing the game. It was Saturday at noon, and I went out to their backyard for some reason. Just then I heard a siren (the near-by firestation always tests it Staurday's at noon) and I looked around---everything else was silent, and noone was to be seen. Yes, I suddenly got really creeped out... I'm hoping the soon-to-be-released movie version does it justice.

[DP]

All of my faves have been covered except for Legend of Hell House, which conveys horror without that American urge to go "booga-booga!" with a monster at the end.

Also nicely subtle is the recent Below, by the director of Pitch Black I believe.

[Matt Snyder]

I'm nowhere near the horror afficianado that Scott Knipe is, say.

And, I'm nowhere near the skillful dissecter Ron is.

So, I just shrug and say that pretty much the only two movies that fucked me up are The Wizard of Oz and, much later in life, Jacob's Ladder. Remember when CBS (or whichever network) showed Oz once a year on TV? Yeah, pretty much fucked me up every year until I hit double-digit age or so. Fucking witch and her freaky ass monkeys!

[talysman]

Remember when CBS (or whichever network) showed Oz once a year on TV? Yeah, pretty much fucked me up every year until I hit double-digit age or so. Fucking witch and her freaky ass monkeys!

I've heard lots of people say this, and I've never understood it. I always *wanted* the winged monkeys, when I was a kid.

The little evil African hunter spirit doll that came to life, though, now *that* was scary.

[Alex F]

KingstonC - Funny Games is by Michael Haneke, whose latest offering, Hidden, is out in the cinema in Europe (and his The Piano Teacher is the only film I had to stop-midway because I thought I was going to faint...) and is way tough. I wouldn't exactly call it horror, but it is intensely fucked up, in the best way.

I also second Jacobs Ladder, which used visual effects that have been pillaged since, like the rapid head-shaking shit. Also, the premise predates all the Donnie Darkos and 6th senses you can throw at me, and is much more ambiguous to boot. Yikes, I'm getting creeped just thinking of that hospital scene.

Don't Look Now was one of those movies where you see something coming from the  beginning - after all, it's been foreshadowed throughout the movie - and yet, when it happens, you're still 'aaaa god no!' It's a truly beautiful movie also.

I think I have to give super mega points to Spoorloos (The Vanishing, original dutch version) for taking a totally normal fear - losing a loved one, and not knowing their fate - and twists it to unbearable levels. It's chilling.

Most recently, I saw Old Boy. Hm. My initial take on this film was that it awkwardly meshed the totalitarian evil of Funny Games with the inexorable tragic drive of Spoorloos, and the two cancelled each other out leaving nothing to say. But the bottom line is the plot is a byline to the pay-off, which is my textbook definition of horror. As in, the horror, the horror <mops brow>.

Oh. Wicker Man?

[talysman]

I never thought of Wicker Man as a horror movie. It's a great movie, but it's not scary. Only one person died, and he deserved it.

[Lisa Padol]

I think I have to give super mega points to Spoorloos (The Vanishing, original dutch version) for taking a totally normal fear - losing a loved one, and not knowing their fate - and twists it to unbearable levels. It's chilling.

I want to see that one.

-Lisa

[timfire]

I think I have to give super mega points to Spoorloos (The Vanishing, original dutch version) for taking a totally normal fear - losing a loved one, and not knowing their fate - and twists it to unbearable levels. It's chilling.

The Vanishing, horror? I own the original version, and while it's definitely suspenseful, I wouldn't call it horror. It's a really good movie, though.

[Alex F]

(Warning, in what follows I talk vaguely about filmic content, which should trouble nothing but your waning interest, but in the case of Wicker Man, a little more about its ending. Nothing definitive,  but skim over if you haven't seen it. And see it!)

Hmm, my horror movies don't seem to be working for you guys: if spoorloos isn't horror then neither are any of the others. My definition is a little fast and loose: a story with disturbing, distressing or shocking content, that induces empathy with the victimised by placing you in their position, and has a strong element of the unknown.

So Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is not horror, no matter how horrible the film is, as you walk the road behind Henry, not him behind you. Neither, as I understand it is a film like Salo (which I haven't seen, nor wish to), rather, it's cruelty-porn that obviates any suspense. (It's into this other-category that Funny Games ultimately falls, in my opinion. Haneke credits Salo as his favorite movie.)

In Old Boy, you get to walk in Oh Dae-Su's shoes, and hence experience with him the horror he is subjected to, not knowing where it will all end up. Ditto Laurie Strode in Halloween. And ditto, I would say, to Rex Hofman in Spoorloos. (However, it is complicated by the other perspective you get - Raymond Lemorne's - which runs a parallel Henry-esque strand through things).
The Wicker Man is interesting. In Sergeant Howie, you are forced to follow an unlikeable character. Empathy is muted, and I found myself almost wishing they would kill the pompous prick. But his eventual fate is to me so dehumanising as to flood my feeling back. I definitely 'felt his pain'. But I agree, probably not a horror movie. A musical anthropological study?