Are there any horror movies that really scare you?

so i just got done watching Captivity, as i had it on my Netflix queue and wanted to see what all the hubbub was about. i've never really been into the "torture porn" genre as a rule, and this really didn't change that perception any.

i was thinking that i'd love to write a horror movie script, but it just seems like everything has been done before, and that audiences these days don't really get scared by horror movies anymore.

so i was just wondering what movies have you seen that have really freaked you out?

for me, the original The Exorcist still gives me the creeps. and Se7en has lots of great tension throughout (even though i wouldn't classify it as a horror flick). and of course, Texas Chainsaw Massacre despite its comic camp value at times, still has some great moments of unease. finally, even though there seems to be a lot of popular criticism of Blair Witch Project, i did find parts of it truly disquieting.

what else is there?

I'll have to agree with you here. While my love for slasher flicks and gore is widely known, the ones that truly flip me out are the ones with a tinge of reality to them. The Exorcist still gets me, every time. The Blair Witch Project is another one, especially the ending. And if you've never seen it, check out Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer.

Aside from those, I'm also kinda freaked out by horror films that kinda push the envelope taste-wise. Maybe I'm just jaded from too many generic American crapfests, but some Japanese horror films are pretty good for shock value. Ichi the Killer, Visitor Q (although that's really more of a black comedy) and almost all the Guinea Pig series will really test your comfort boundaries.

The Thing with Kurt Russell scares the crap out of me. Session 9 is fairly unsettling as well, if you like psychological type stuff.

It's interesting you mentioned this one, because I just finished watching it a few minutes ago. It was one of those movies that I kept hearing about and wanted to check out.

Man, I'm still kind of reeling from it. That was probably one of the hardest movies to watch, because it's almost like you're watching a snuff film at times, reminiscent of the forest murder scene in The Last House on the Left. The ones based in reality that are done in that gritty style really unnerve me the most.

And I like your point about Japanese horror. The thing I love about those like Ichi or Audition is that they are taken to a hyper-sensitized level with an almost romantic expression of the horror within the shots and the overall mood; gives it a very surreal quality which I think makes them very effective.

Thanks for the other recommendations! I'll have to check 'em out.

I'll second "The Thing". That movie is all kinds of freaky.

I'm also going to toss in "The Descent": I've watched that movie in a darkened theater, in a living room at two in the afternoon, and any other time imaginable, it always manages to unnerve me even before the Crawlers show up. Cronenberg's "The Fly" is also scary, even if you look past the gross-out factor.

I recently watched "Shutter" and while the J-horror thing is getting pretty played out there were a few moments that made me jump, and I really liked the ending a lot. Along the same lines "Kairo" has a rather creepy atmosphere and an interesting, highly relevant message. The American version, "Pulse," isn't terrible, but does the annoying American thing of over-explaining.

As for oldies but goodies -- there is one scene in "The Sentinel" that made me -- quite literally -- jump across the room and into my older cousin's lap. I was 14 at the time, but it still scared the bejeezus out of me.

Oh, and "The Shining" had me turning on every light in the house when it was over.

The Thing will always be one of my favorites, but the ending to Prince of Darkness always creeped me out a bit. That and a few scenes from Audition.

The Shining always freaks me right the fuck out.

Ack! How could I forget The Shining? One of my all-time favorite films (of any genre). Yeah, that shit is definitely creepy and mind-bending.

Japanese comics? Like this one?



And yes, Mermaid in a Manhole is part of the Guinea Pig series.

I Uzumaki. Also Ito's other work.

Pity the movie based on it wasn't much good. Better than I had thought could be done - it's really tough stuff to translate into a live action film. But not that great.

Really, Asian horror is about all that scares me at the moment, and not that much of that. Memorable films include:
"Ju-On: The Grudge" (not the sequel, not the American remake), which kept me up quite late the night following my first viewing, and had me anticipating another hand in my hair in the shower for days afterwards.

"A Tale of Two Sisters", with an exquisitely creepy scene in the kitchen and some pretty mindbending story twists to boot.

"Infection", which has one of the most dysfunctional hospitals ever committed to film...and plenty of green goop.

"The Eye" (not the sequel, not the American remake): not consistently scary, but some of the images are right up there.

"One Missed Call" (not the remake, the one Takashi Miike did) - it's a really silly premise, but by the end of the movie I think I would have jumped out of my skin if the Ringtone of Doom (tm) had suddenly started up. Plus, some nice twists. And a woman's face sloughing off.

"Audition" - except for the climactic scene, this didn't especially scare me, but it is an *excellent* movie, and the only other thing of Miike's that I've seen that I would describe as a horror movie.

Less memorable:
"Phone" - I think I found this mildly scary, but I don't remember anything about it, so there's that.

"Premonition" - likewise.

"Sorum" - The cover and some other elements make it look like it's going to be a ghost movie, but actually it's a story about a supremely fucked up relationship, so your results may vary. For me, it wasn't what I wanted out of it. But there's a scene that definitely stuck with me...

Other than that, the only other film I can think of that's scared me to any meaningful degree is the original Nightmare on Elm Street. That is some creepy shit.

Tod Browning's Dracula still scares me. And the first 'Salem's Lot. And Pet Sematary. And the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Nope , nothing actually scares me . Having said that , I have no interest in watching the new batch of torture porn movies that have been coming out the last couple of years . Not because they scare me , I just find them to be redundant in scope . I used to really get off on watching a horror movie with effects by someone like Tom Savini , figuring out how he would get a certain effect to work . Now I could care less . I think I'm not scared by them because I grew up watching all kinds of horror movies every chance I got . But I seldom see anything that even gets me thinking about seeing it anymore .

The Exorcist still freaks me the fuck out...by far the scariest movie I've ever seen. Prince of Darkness also has a couple parts that scare the bejesus out of me.

Next though is The Shining. I can't even watch it at night even to this day...those two little girls fucking plague my mind and freak me out!

I'm not a big fan of horror, but as I love movies so much I will watch most anything. It's been awhile though since I've seen a horror flick. Friend of mine I used to work with loves the genre and also loves the B-movie horror flicks...cracks me up...movies like The Screwfly Solution, Black Sheep where apparently sheep are slaying people lol.

Why, yes. Yes, it is.

I ate an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's throughout watching it, just to prove to myself that I could. It wasn't easy.

'Session 9' really brings the slow-burning creepy factor. When I realized what the ending meant, it really shocked me (also one of the 1st major films to be shot in 24P HD).

The same goes for 'Seven.' At the time I watched it, the ending blew my 13 y.o. mind.

I love scary movies. Of course, it's probably better to say "Creepy". I like creepy movies. There's an old, old movie done in 1944 that had Ray Milland in it called "The Uninvited". It's in black and white. It's also REALLY hard to find a copy of it for sale. I scoured the Internet for it and eventually found a VHS copy for $25. A girl inherits a house and there are two ghosts that are there. One is of her mother and the other is of her nanny. The special effects are perfect for giving you just enough of the ghost to freak you bad, but not enough that you can really see that it's just special effects. The other movie that gives me the heebie jeebies is "Darkness Falls". There's just something about the way they did that movie that made me keep the lights on and run from room to room.

I haven't found one that has actually truly scared me. They all have a creepiness factor, but I love the creepiness.

Herby: Fully Loaded

Is that the one with Lindsay Lohan?

Totally frightening!