Horror Movie Fans?

[rockyracoon]

Horror movies are by far my favorite genre. I'm wondering what are everybody's favorites/least favorites. A few personal favorites are:


Phantasm I, II and III
Susperia
Don't Look in the Basement
Halloween(original)
The Evil Dead
Evil Dead II
Army of Darkness


A few that I've viewed recently are:


1408
Dead-Alive
Halloween(remake)
Hostel 2
Silent Night Deadly Night Pt. 1 and 2

 

[J-Dubya 777]

Count me in as well. I dig most of the stuff you listed, & my all time faves are:

The first 2 Hellraiser movies (the ones Barker was actually involved with - The others are just ok)

All of the George Romero zombie movies
Zombie
Hills Have Eyes (remake was ok)
Saw I - III
The list is endless!

 

[DarkOne]

A few personal favorites are:
Susperia

Love horror movies, but never got this one. It was billed to my wife and myself as the scariest horror movie of all time. We laughed our way through it. BTW, the Exorcist is the scariest movie of all time. uke:

In addition to the Exorcist, here's an all time classic:

Silence of the Lambs - one of the best movies of all time

A few that I've viewed recently are:
1408

There hasn't been much luck with Stephen King short stories turned into full length movies (Maximum Overdrive, Graveyard Shift, etc). How was this one?


Steve in Philly

 

[Bryan316]

Exorcist
Aliens
Predator
A Nightmare on Elm Street
I know you'll laugh at this one, but Witchboard was AWESOME when I was little
Relic
Hostel
All the Saw flicks
Puppetmaster
Poltergeist

Most underrated horror flick: Bram Stoker's Shadowbuilder. Coolest villain voice and special effects. The Shadowbuilder's face was sweeeet!

 

[edgeofthorns]

I'm picky with my horror flicks, because I don't dig the blood & guts, zombies, etc. With that said, I'll list my favorites:

Sleepy Hollow (visually one of the best)
The Sixth Sense (very suspensful and erie)
What Lies Beneath (very suspensful, erie, and Michelle Phifer rocks this film)
The Others (it's a slow paced movie, very atmospheric)
An American Haunting (creepy, atmospheric, and a pretty wild ride)
Signs (I love the atomosphere and the characters in this film...this is M. Night's best next to Sixth Sense in my opinion. I can watch this movie over and over again)
The Omen (remake) (this is a pretty cool film, but I'd like to see the original, so I can make a comparison)

~Brian~

 

[J-Man]

The best horror movie in my opinion has to be:

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
followed by

SIGNS
SLEEPY HOLLOW(with Johnny Depp)

 

[booB]

Clive Barker: Hellraiser I and II, Nightbreed, Lord of Illusions, and the first Candyman movie are all among the best ever, IMO.

Takashi Miike's Gozu is one of the freakiest horror movies ever.

Romero's stuff is decent.

Saw I, Silent Hill, and Resident Evil I are some pretty good "recent" ones. The Others is very good.

Other than The Sixth Sense, I have trouble calling anything M. Knight Shyamalan has made a "horror" movie. Suspense drama, certainly. Nonetheless, I like all his stuff as well.

Early Stephen King movies: Children of the Corn, Pet Sematary, Carrie, Salem's Lot, Cujo, Misery, and The Shining are all very good. Dreamcatcher is good as well. I haven't seen 1408.

I liked Eli Roth's Cabin Fever... even though it's stupid and campy, I love the guy's sense of humor. "Is your dog really a professor?" "Yeah, he's a professor. Of being a dog!!!!" Haven't seen the Hostel movies yet.

 

[shaq]

I'll use this as a chance to rant a little about the horror genre. I really can't stand what the genre has become these days, doesn't anybody remember that horror movies are supposed to be scary? There's a big difference between being scary and making you jump because something jumps on the screen and there's a sudden scream or shriek. It seems to me like these days movies go for the shock factor in making you jump and leave behind any of the real elements that made the horror classics..well, classics. Anyone else agree (or disagree) here?

Oh and I can't believe some of you are calling Hostel a horror movie. Horrible, maybe, but certainly not horror.

 

[edgeofthorns]

I'll use this as a chance to rant a little about the horror genre. I really can't stand what the genre has become these days, doesn't anybody remember that horror movies are supposed to be scary? There's a big difference between being scary and making you jump because something jumps on the screen and there's a sudden scream or shriek. It seems to me like these days movies go for the shock factor in making you jump and leave behind any of the real elements that made the horror classics..well, classics. Anyone else agree (or disagree) here?

Oh and I can't believe some of you are calling Hostel a horror movie. Horrible, maybe, but certainly not horror.

Well, I agree with your comments. The blood and guts is so over the top that it's turned cartoonish for me. In other words, it's just plain silly. That's why I go for more of the suspense horror flicks.

~Brian~

 

[edgeofthorns]

Other than The Sixth Sense, I have trouble calling anything M. Knight Shyamalan has made a "horror" movie. Suspense drama, certainly. Nonetheless, I like all his stuff as well.

You're right, but Signs has an erie feel to it that just about tosses into the suspense horror genre. I love the film nonetheless.

~Brian~

 

[Jim LotFP]

Horror is such a joke. But there are some real gems...

Really, the standards and fears of society at large change with such regularity that horror gets dated quick. Rosemary's Baby is just a fucking mess of shit to watch these days ("nice nice... oh no, something weird... THEY'RE AFTER MY BABY... oh wait, nevermind, it's OK then...") The Exorcist is a goddamn comedy between the "shocking language" of the kid and his *gasp how dare they* blasphemy.

Then you have the action/adventure disguised as a horror movie. You know the type, it ends with the final would-be victim finally killing the bad guy and the idea of the movie is not to scare you, but to give you a series of adrenaline rushes. Not very good horror (but can work for more realistic action movies, funny enough).

Then you have the "tragic" horror movies, which are just like the action/adventure horror movies except they don't have a triumphant ending. Ah well.

Then you have the people really going for the throat. This is the (original) Texas Chainsaw Massacre territory, the (original) Dawn of the Dead, we're talking the kinds of movies that get banned in certain territories and have those bad reputations. Most are a bit over-hyped or somehow dated and not as shocking (how much violence is really seen in TCM?) but there is an uneasiness there. These aren't designed to "entertain." A lot of the foreign horror movies from the likes of Argento and Fulci fall into this category. You get the impression that the people who made these movies aren't so balanced in the head.

Then there's the movies that are so fucking far out there that not only do you think the people that made the movie are fucked in the head, but you worry that there's something wrong with you for not turning it off right now. Often these movies have some sort of greater "point" that they are illustrating with pure barbarity that's so realistic/graphic and/or disturbing to people that the movies are the subjects of moral crusades by critics and/or legal action against the filmmakers. Cannibal Holocaust and I Spit On Your Grave fit this bill. Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS tries to be in this category but it's such an inept, stupid, poorly made film that it's more a very, very black comedy. Still, I'm guessing it could seriously fuck up the sensibilities of certain people.

One thing: Any movie-maker willing to edit down to an R to get mainstream distribution is not making a movie designed to really disturb you.

To me, good horror is when you leave a theater completely numb and unable to properly function for awhile. You know what did that to me? The Blair Witch Project. I saw it before the general release and I wasn't really aware what the movie was about... I saw it in some small theater in the middle of the afternoon... front row, maybe 1 other person there. I totally bought into it and aaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!! I also saw it on opening day of general release, absolutely packed theater, and when the movie ended, people didn't know what to make of it. Just... silence... and then I could feel the crowd turn on it in a "what? huh? they didn't show us an ending I can process = this is stupid and unsatisfying!" way and people were just in an ugly mood leaving the theater. It did its job.

 

[Mosquito]

I'll use this as a chance to rant a little about the horror genre. I really can't stand what the genre has become these days, doesn't anybody remember that horror movies are supposed to be scary? There's a big difference between being scary and making you jump because something jumps on the screen and there's a sudden scream or shriek. It seems to me like these days movies go for the shock factor in making you jump and leave behind any of the real elements that made the horror classics..well, classics. Anyone else agree (or disagree) here?

Oh and I can't believe some of you are calling Hostel a horror movie. Horrible, maybe, but certainly not horror.

Would've been funnier if you had said "Horrorble" =p

 

[shaq]

Would've been funnier if you had said "Horrorble" =p

Well, I wasn't going for funny. I'm being serious, that movie was horrible

 

[Rider of Theli]

An American Werewolf in London (somewhat campy, I know) was the first horror movie I ever saw AT the theater. Everything else up until then I had seen on cable on a television. AAWiL scared the ever-loving dog-crap out of me because I saw it at age 14 when those effects were the most state of the art 'real' (i.e. not CGI, not stop-motion animation) effects. And it didn't help that I lived miles from town, so when my bud dropped me off at my house in the dark and with woods surrounding me, I literally ran to my front door. Yes, that movie did it's job.

Not long after this one, I walked out on the movie The Beast Within. That was just a sick movie. I didn't like it at all. And I still don't care for the gross-out rip-'em-up slasher flicks.

A couple of remakes I think they did a great job with:

John Carpenter's The Thing: missed this one at the theater; saw it on cable. :zombie: Still scared the bejeezus outta me! LOL.

The Fly... weird, crazy, suspenseful, scary, wonderful movie. Loved it!

Loved Sleep Hollow too. Though not sure if I would call it 'horror'. Great imagery in that one of course with the cast and crew involved. *two thumbs up*

And years later I finally saw another horror movie at the theater that shook me to the core: Event Horizon. There was just something about that flick that scared me badly. After the movie finished I felt like I was a frail, scared 14 year old again.

 

[Cheiron]

Shaq and Jim I agree with both. Horror is a genre I've been delving heavily into lately. And shock horror is one of my more hated genres.

I'll try to post fuller comments later. But it is rare that a movie is true horror. I've been pointed in the direction of Cronenberg and I'm making my way through his films... but I've only seen a few of his classic horror ones. I did see Scanners and Dead Ringers though. And in Dead Ringers the 'horror' is not so much one of 'omg I'm scared .. ahh that was a cat that suddenly appeared', but one of 'what the hell... these men .. are just.. undefinable... "

True horror in movies will be those that what I like to say... mindfuck you. It just doesn't sell. So unless production groups/studios get tricked, or the director/writer is capable of doing it low budget it is less likely to exist. True horror movies can also be difficult because its a visual medium, as opposed to the written word where one's imagination can realize horror, in movies you are being force fed visuals, and many things can take away from that feeling of horror.

Cube (first one) had many elements of true horror for me too. The overall feeling of dread, and an inescapable fate (or perception thereof). These are things that Lovecraft found to be true/cosmic horror/fear. That's why torture movies can work to an extent. The problem is that the true lure of most torture movies is in the visuals. And that frankly is disturbing more than frightful. But anyhow, Cube just failed in other ways to fulfill its potential in that way. But it otherwise was a good movie (but not a true horror movie).

So any true horror movies that people know of let me know. Jim, I agree with you in part about Blair Witch. Sadly I went into it knowing about it. I had friends that didn't and they were surprised when I told them the truth afterwards. But that movie still did numbers on me, due to my past experiences of being lost in the woods, and the reactions were so real (partly due to the genius way in which it was done and that the actors were truly afraid).

Going to continue to work through my movie queues, and also think more on pats movies to better illustrate what I mean when it comes to true horror.

 

[thedelicateflower]

i really liked thirteen ghosts...but then again, i am more into the ghost stories than the horror ones....

 

[yardleybates]

Exorcist
Pet Sematary - just so freaky with that cripple sister running around!
There was one that really freaked me out but no one else seems to have ever seen it.... Alice Cooper was a homeless guy in it .... hang on, looking up the title... Prince of Darkness

Really bad at thinking of what would be my favorites, other than those 3.

I love vampire movies, campy, scary, whatever. (and books, for that matter).
Werewolf movies tend to be pretty bad, but there are some great ones, like American Werewolf of course.
Old school horror movies are awesome! (black and white type)

The ones that I tend to really like are the occult/ghost ones, they really freak me out, which is pretty much what you're going for with a horror flick, right?

I've never been much of a slasher fan personally, I like the suspense type horror flicks.

 

[rockyracoon]

There hasn't been much luck with Stephen King short stories turned into full length movies (Maximum Overdrive, Graveyard Shift, etc). How was this one?Steve in Philly

Decent until the ending, which was pretty awful. However, I didn't expect a whole lot out of another John Cusack attempt at something scary. Identity was one of the worst pieces of garbage ever. I really wish these "psychological thrillers" would just go away. Identity, Secret Window, the Number 23 are all perfect examples of a movie formula that has been fucking played out since the likes of Fight Club and Memento. And many of them get billed as horror movies.

 

[yardleybates]

Decent until the ending, which was pretty awful. However, I didn't expect a whole lot out of another John Cusack attempt at something scary. Identity was one of the worst pieces of garbage ever. I really wish these "psychological thrillers" would just go away. Identity, Secret Window, the Number 23 are all perfect examples of a movie formula that has been fucking played out since the likes of Fight Club and Memento. And many of them get billed as horror movies.

I don't consider Fight Club a horror movie, but that has to be one of my favorite all time movies. Just well done! Awesome!

 

[Ruthven]

I love horor movies, but I don't love all horror movies. I tend to skew towards older films, like the Universal and Hammer classics, but I like a lot of newer films as well. Gore is not an issue, storytelling is; of modern films, I particularly love the first Hellraiser and the first Candyman. Both the original Halloween and Texas Chain Saw Massacre films are excellent, and are textbook examples of how to use the power of suggestions. Seriously - any of you who don't like "gore" films, watch the originals and see how little gore actually shows up onscreen!

Sleepy Hollow is definitely horror (and one of my all-time favorite movies of any genre), it is just horror of an older style.

And EoT...if you saw the remake of The Omen, for all intents and purposes you've seen the original. That was the most pointless remake I've ver seen because it didn't deviate from the original. There were a couple of purely cosmetic changes, but they used the same shooting script! The annoying thing is, it coulod and should have been better. The original Omen was not a great story, it was just a cool idea. It was the ideal sort of movie that could have been remade with a different approach and a different story while retaining the original concept.