Listening to Rico's latest podcast got me to thinking-- what are some of y'alls favorite scary movies?
For me, one would have to be Poltergeist. I first saw this movie as a kid on HBO- it was the middle of the afternoon on a relatively bright and sunny day, but it scared the crap out of me! And it managed to deliver a lot of scary moments without a bunch of gratuitous gore and violence.
For me this would be a difficult question because I would have to discuss it in terms of modern and classic horror films. If we are talking classic horror then I think the best film IMHO is The Wolf Man (1941). I think it is by far one of the best films of the period in any genre. Lon Chaney as the troubled soul, who no fault of his own, becomes a werewolf. He has no control over his deep ingrained passions and his only relief from this torture is death. I think many people feel much like Lon Chaney's character and have inward passions that they do not want and try to control but get they best of them. Whether that be lust, greed, power or a number of other vices. I think you can say that there is a werewolf in all of us. It's just some have more control over the beast within than do others but all of us are capable of the same corrupt behavior if we allow it.
As for newer films I would agree that Poltergeist is a fine film. Although I personally do not find it all that scary. I would say that the film Alien (1979) is far scarier and horrifying. It has all the right elements to give you nightmares for months to come, if you have never seen it. Also, I would say that Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) is a fine example of modern horror. It has the right combination of shock and psychological impact. Some may argue that Psycho fits more into the classic era of horror films but I don't think so. The golden age of Hollywood came to an end when the studios lost control of the local theaters in the late 1950s and 1960 is generally considered the beginning of the modern film age. Although there are some who would say 1970 was. In any case Psycho was unlike horror films that came before it. Just a quick look at just the Universal films I think bear that out...Dracula, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, Creature From the Black Lagoon and all their sequels.
In any case there are many ways to view the question and I have provided only two. I'm looking forward to reading other perspectives.
Kevin
Psycho. To this day, I have never seen any movie from the series beginning to end.
Same goes for Jaws.
Well I had no actual "scary Movie" experience. I hated exorcist (don't ask me why) by hate I mean I just wanted to leave the room. I tried watching "aliens" and I had to leave the room again (mostly because the "OMG SCARY! hype I got) I saw Jaws and it made me jump but nothing else. I saw a few minutes of the shining (end from blood elevator on) It was not scary at all but fun (since my Uncle was scared like heck when he saw it)
QuoteI would say that the film Alien (1979) is far scarier and horrifying. It has all the right elements to give you nightmares for months to come, if you have never seen it.
Yeah, that was a scary one. My parents took me to see it when I was nine; I was expecting something more or less like Star Wars. Man; was I mistaken! :o Chest-Burster scene= nightmare fodder. :(
QuotePsycho. To this day, I have never seen any movie from the series beginning to end.
Same goes for Jaws.
Jaws freaked me out too. There was a recent movie that evoked a similar feeling, but I can't remember what it was called. It was about a young couple who go on a scuba diving expedition in the Caribbean, and end up being lost out in the middle of the ocean for about a week. Things ended up going rather badly for them.
QuoteI tried watching "aliens" and I had to leave the room again (mostly because the "OMG SCARY! hype I got)
I agree; Aliens wasn't very scary. I still enjoyed it though; it made a pretty good Sci-Fi action/adventure movie. :)
Quote from: wraith1701 on October 29, 2007, 11:31:02 AM
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I agree; Aliens wasn't very scary. I still enjoyed it though; it made a pretty good Sci-Fi action/adventure movie. :)
Well I coulden't watch it because of the hype I got so I cannot really say if it was indeed scary or not, yet I did see some chestbusters in it and well I thought it was cool!
My scariest movies for me were the First Ring movie. That freaked me out. When I was young, my scariest movie was Small Soldiers. That movie made me paranoid for the next few weeks. But I was young, what do you expect?
Halloween was scary, but a little more *discretionary* scenes that didn't need to be there. I also didn't like the format I saw it in...hard to see. VHS ftl....oh well. Jaws....sucked.....sorry folks, but it just wasn't that great of a movie. Some jumping, but otherwise, kinda lousy.
Exoricist was just pure freaky. But I'm not sure which version I saw. I saw the one with the girl that went nuts and did....odd stuff.......and the priest bit the dust. Maybe someone could fill me in on the title?
King Linksr
The Ring movie was great up to the point it became a horror movie. I loved the mystery and thought it was over after the scene in the well.
I think Alien and 28 Days Later for me. They both scare the hell out of me.
I don't like horror movies but the ones I did see were pretty scary. First let me say vampires freak me out. I watched one 80's Vampire movie as a kid and it scarred me for life. I can't even remember the name of the movie—but It took place in the 1800's and the vampire could change into a wolf. He killed the daughters of a man who ended up becoming a vampire hunter. The scene that scared me half to death is one in which the father has to stake his daughter. He digs her up to do the deed and finds that she has dug out the side of her coffin. He follows the tunnel she dug and finds her waiting for him. Her face was all white and flaky and I remember she called him "Papa" before she tried to suck his blood. I didn't watch the rest of that movie and didn't sleep for a few days either.
The Shining: "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt ya...I'm just gonna BASH YOUR BRAINS IN!" I loved this movie...probably because I watched it as a teenager and I really like Jack Nicholson.
JAWS (I am afraid of the ocean now) Fare-well an' a-dieu to you fair Spanish ladies, Fare-well an' adieu to you ladies of Spain!
Interview With a Vampire: Armand: "The world changes, we do not, there lies the irony that finally kills us." I like Brad Pitt...Kirsten Dunst was way too good at playing a freaky vampire kid and Tom Cruise is just scary— I think he might be a real vampire.
Salem's Lot...Vampires scary.
Number 1 Scariest movie is: Silence of the Lambs: Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: "It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told."
The Ring...It scared my husband but I found it dumb and laughed a lot. :D
Ouch, your husband was freaked, thats pretty funny :laugh: I think that movie freaks guys out because the girl is really freaky. Imagine if our GFs changed into her?? Thank goodness I don't have one :)
King Linksr
Let's see.
Back when I was a teenager I saw Haloween on HBO, and it was VERY scary. eeek.
The Shining was also very scary, and creepy.
Alien was pretty tense as well, but honestly it has been almost 20 years since I watched another horror movie.
Not a genre that I frequent.
Oh well.
In my occupation I see enough scary stuff in real life sometimes.
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Not a genre that I frequent.
I'm with you there; nowadays, I don't seek out horror movies. It seems that most of the films released nowadays as "horror" films are just freaky, disturbing slasher/snuff films. Stuff like "Hostel" and "Saw" are just not my cup of tea. I hate to sound like an old fart, but the films that scared me the most as a kid seemed to have been better written than a lot of the stuff put out today. They relied more on plot and story telling style to scare the audience, instead of just dishing out shocking and disturbing imagery.
QuoteWhen I was young, my scariest movie was Small Soldiers. That movie made me paranoid for the next few weeks. But I was young, what do you expect?
lol you remind me of my little brother. :laugh: When we were kids, he was scared witless by the movie "Pete's Dragon". When I ask him about it today, he can't explain why it scared him so much.
I just remembered another flick that had some scenes that made me jump when I first saw it- "Twilight Zone: The Movie". Two segments got to me-
The intro part, where Dan Akroyd asks the guy "Do you want to see something really scary?" and the segment about the gremlin on the wing of the airplane. The latter probably got to me because we flew a lot when I was a kid.
You can add me to your no scary movie club. I don't watch them either—only saw the ones I did because when I was younger my friends had them on during sleep overs. I have very vivid dreams and the nightmares are too real.
The one exception: The Ring. David tuned to it one night because he didn't believe his friends when they told him that it was the scariest movie ever. I thought it was just dumb.
Loved this weeks podcast. I have some favorites that are often overlooked but I felt like they were interesting.
I would like to hear from some of you who have seen some of these.
Watcher in the Woods 1980:
This one is really scary even though it's a kids movie. I love it. Holds up really well.
Stephen King’s IT 1990:
my whole generation was given nightmares from this made for TV movie
Sleepaway Camp 1983:
This one is a slasher but it's twist at the end movie shocks the audience.
Deadly Friend 1986:
His girlfriend dies and a boy genius brings her back. Cute movie with Kristy Swanson.
The Burning 1981:
Jason Alexander as a camper in a slasher. Pretty enjoyable movie just to laugh at Jason.
Night Life 1989:
Boy meets girl, boy works at funeral home, bullies torment boy. Bullies die and come back as zombies!
The House by the Cemetery 1981:
Best foreign horror movie I’ve ever seen.
The House on Tombstone Hill 1991:
A group of teens try to fix up a house but the former owner’s ghost won’t let them leave!
Video Violence 1987:
An armature attempt to make a horror movie about a video store clerk who’s horror crazed customers don’t stop at renting.
Believe 2000:
A kid is kicked out of a private school and sent to live with his grandfather in a haunted house. Very cool.
Frankenstein and Me 1996:
Kid plays Frankenstein,
These are some of my favorites, I like the more well known horror movies as well but these often go overlooked. Have you guys seen or did you like these?
QuoteStephen King's IT 1990:
my whole generation was given nightmares from this made for TV movie
I saw this one, and I enjoyed it. I read the book first, so there weren't really any scary moments, but I liked the story.
In an earlier post, I said that I don't seek out horror movies anymore-- this is true, except for when it comes to Stephen King. I plan on seeing the adaptation of his short story "The Mist" when it comes out, and I think that in a perfect world, someone would adapt the entire "Dark Tower" series into a series of movies.
Yeah, I read the book later and it expanded the story because of all the new charictors and events not covered in the movie. There is talk of a remake in 2008. I think they should get tim curry in the same makeup and costume but change everything else to be more like the book.
Like I said on the recent podcast, "Halloween" for me is tops at this time of year. Not exactly the scariest thing I have ever watched, but I just really like the movie and think it's Carpenter's best. Probably the "Alien" and "Aliens" movies are the most most pulse pounding and scariest for me. Fun stuff!
You did and awsome job on this podcast Rico. I enjoyed it a lot. I agree with you about Halloween being an awsome movie for people this time of year. The only thing about scary movies is that they start to lose their sting after you have seen them a time or two.
So being part way through Rico's spooky Halloween podcast, I got to thinking (yes it does happen on occasion) what was the scariest movie I've ever seen.
Now like Rico I'm not a big horror/slasher film fan, but I do like the old Hammer House of horror films and a few others so here goes my top three scary moments.
Salem's Lot - (David Soul & James Mason). There is a bit when the brother is in hospital and his now vampire brother comes floating up to the window, scratching at it to be let in. Its all foggy and the vampire boy is illuminated by a ghostly light. - now the reason this spooked me was because I watched in in my old house all on my own. when I went to bed I had moonlight streaming through my window, as old house do it made creaking noises during the night and then finally there was a feint scratching noise at my door. At this point I was almost rigid with fear, eventually my brain kicked in and like all good horror movies I went and opened the door, there sat my cat looking at me, I swear it was snickering.
Arachnophobia - yes I know its a PG (parental guidance like most Disney films) but I'm a big girls blouse. I started watching it on my own in the dark, a quarter of the way through the film the lights went back on, halfway through I was taking short breaks to allow my heart rate to slow down.
Alien - not really a horror film but the suspense in it is just awesome, that little blip moving then disappearing was great.
Talking John Carpenter, I luv the fog (original not the remake).
so whilst we are here, lets move on to discuss the stupidity of the horror film
1. Listen to the music, if you're walking down the steps to a cellar and the orchestra is going into overdrive, turn round and go and have a coffee.
2. If you are trapped in a cabin in the woods and you see shape moving in the woods, don't go outside and look for it, that's what curtains were invented for.
3. DON'T SPLIT UP, nothing more to add to this really
4. I can out run it/fly it/swim it/drive it - no you can't you are the equivalent of a red jersey on TOS, accept it
5. Women wear more clothes, they always seem to be falling off!
6. If the weird guy in the last chance gas station has a banjo.. walk away!
feel free to add your own