the greatest horror films

[cinema bob]

hey guys what do you think the greatest horror films are?

my short list

night of the living dead
Dawn of the dead (the original not the remake)
the shining (kubricks version)
the ring
friday the 13th
suspirio (spelling?)
audition

their are alot of other great ones out there, so show us your evil side :twisted:

[bamaredwingsfan]

waterworld :rofl:

but seriously, i liked the first scream movie, an the exorcist was wild too.

[Danbry39]

For me,

The Exorcist
Rosemary's Baby
Alien (if that one counts)
The Haunting (only the original)

[Claude D D]

The 1922 classic vampire flick Nosfuratu still gives me chills when I watch it.
Hellraiser.
Jeepers Creepers.
House on Haunted Hill(twitchy fast moving things freak me out.)
The Grudge.
The Ring.
Darkness Falls(the first 5 minutes is so intense)
Return of the Living Dead
Just about any flick with Zombies in it.
The Lost Boys
Dracula(all of them)
too many to list. :twisted:

[David Meek]

The Exorcist. By today's standards it's still creepy and scary, but when it was first released in 1973 it was shattering. 8O

The Omen is another good one.

[Shane Martin]

Exorcist: The Version you've never seen before(the ex mix is even better!)

Halloween. I'm surprised noone has mentioned this until now?!?!?

The Others

Most of the ones on Claude's list did nothing for me in terms of horror. Anything horror nowadays is just laughable. The others was an exception.

[George Bellefontaine]

All of what Keith listed, plus:

THE THING ( original oldie)
THE WOLFMAN ( original oldie)

[Danbry39]

The Wolfman scared the #@%^ out of me as a kid. I just think it helps that it was in black and white and then the fog would roll in or the clouds would move to uncover a full moon and then there were those gypsies and their violins.

I've read recently that wolfmen were based on folklore surrounding people who had rabies. Some supposedly true accounts tell of whole families that ended up with the disease and how people, not just wolves, chomp down when thus infected.

Don't know if it's true or not, but that's what Google has told me.

[Foxman]

The Excorsist
Alien
Hellraiser
Nightmare on Elm Street (Of the slashers this is the one that scared me at the time)
The Ring


These are just a few.

[George Bellefontaine]

Keith, I read something like that too somewhere about werewolves. Yeah, I was a kid too when I first saw The Wolfman. Yes, B&W was the only way this movie would have worked. Just wouldn't be the same in color.

[Kyle]

Hm, a few of my newer favorites:

Suspiria (as mentioned above, amazing Dario Argento movie)
The George Romero "Dead" movies (dawn of the, day of the, and soon to be land of the dead)
The evil dead trilogy
The Fog
The Nightmare on Elm Street movies
Night of the living dead
Return of the living dead
28 days later
The Alien Quadrilogy
Anatomy
Bad Taste (for sheer gore factor) & Dead-Alive
Brotherhood of the wolf (does that count as horror?)
Resident Evil
The ring
They Live
The Wicker Man

[Nick M]

The Exorcist Special Edition
Misery
Apt Pupil
Silence of the Lambs
The Shining
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original, new one sucks)

I think the scariest movies are the ones involving the evil within people, or an unseen terror such as the sharks/jellyfish you don't immediately see in "Open Water".

[jimmyp58]

Exorcist & Halloween

[Claude D D]

Most of the ones on Claude's list did nothing for me in terms of horror. Anything horror nowadays is just laughable. The others was an exception

What can I say.I like a little hummor with my horror.Does Showgirls count?Oh that's a Whore film,not a horror film.
I guess when you need a good scare all you need to do is look in the mirror hey Shane :W

Great List Kyle,we've got similar tastes(bad that is). :T

[John Holmes]

"The Thing" (remake)

Not knowing what or who it would be next, was pretty scary!

[i_amadeo]

1.the nightmare on elm street first one only could not sleep for a month when i first saw it

2.the ring, this movie at many occasions raised the hair on my neck and on other few tears formed in my eyes .......

now understand for me i can never watch a horror movie in a cinima for me to watch a horror movie , i have to be alone at night with all lights closed in my homecinima room and (bed room) witch is outside our mainhouse in my 43 inch tv and my home cinima gear ..........believe me tears will fall ....you will jump and many other times scream in a fast shrilled fright.

3.i saw the grudge in the cinima biggest mistake ....this movie is very scary in the cinema i wonder what it would be like watching it for the first time in my room

4. my wife ......sometimes yikes ....scary stuff

[Azeke]

Hmmm, here is my short list:

The Exorcist
Aliens
Frankenstein (The original with Boris Karloff)
The Thing (Newer version)
Silence of the Lambs
Night of the Living Dead
Videodrome

[Sarahbee]

waterworld :rofl:

but seriously, i liked the first scream movie, an the exorcist was wild too.

Ok, just seeing Waterworodl on a thread with greatest in the title gave me shivers...

My list:

Silence of the Lambs
The Ring
The first Scream (not a greatest but a fun one)

forgetting others at the moment...

[Claude D D]

Hey Azeke,funny you should mention Videodrome.I saw that one in the theater when it first came out.I would say about 1/4 of the audience walked out before it was over.I wasn't one of them.You gotta be a Cronenberg fan to appreciate that one. :T

[NMyTree]

I'm a huge horror film lover, and have been since I was a little kid; so I have quite a few on my list.

In my opinion, besides being some of my favorites, many of these were groundbreaking (trend starting) horror movies. Many of these were inspiration for hundreds of imitators. Others, were just great horror flicks.


Dracula (Bela Lugosi ) (1931)

Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) (1931)

The Mummy (Boris Karloff) (1932)

The Werewolf Of London (1935)

Dr. Cyclops

The Wolfman (Lon Chaney) ( 1941)

The Thing (1951)

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms

Them! (1954)

Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Day Of The Triffids

The Incredible Shrinking Man

It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

Psycho (Anthony Perkins ) (1960)

The Birds (1963)

Night Of The Living Dead (the Original)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The Hills Have Eyes

The Beast Within

The Exorcist

Carrie

Jaws

Alien (the Original)

Planet Of The Apes (The original)

Halloween (original)

Nightmare On Elm Street

Evil Dead

Re-Animator

Silence Of The Lambs

Species

The Prophecy

...........................................To Be continued

[David Meek]

The Birds is another good 'un. :yesnod: I was 12 or 13 when I saw it and was freaked by the gathering of ravens and crows for several weeks afterward.

[George Bellefontaine]

Yah, Tony. those B&W horror flicks from Universal in the 30s scared the living heck out of me when I was a kid.

[Azeke]

Hey Azeke,funny you should mention Videodrome.I saw that one in the theater when it first came out.I would say about 1/4 of the audience walked out before it was over.I wasn't one of them.You gotta be a Cronenberg fan to appreciate that one. :T

Yes, it was definitely an acquired taste.

Which also reminds me of another Cronenberg favorite, "The Fly".

The Re-animator? I thought that was considered a comedy .

Azeke

[NMyTree]

Absolutely George!!

I grew up watching those old horror flicks. They creeped me out and scared the poop out of me :B But they also sparked my imagination and inspired me in a creative way.

You can take all of the best special effects in the world and cram them into a movie; but if you don't have an Intriguing, imaginative storyline, some good characters, and good pacing to the story, you ain't got squat.

Another thing that is important to a horror/sci-fi movie, is creating an ambience......an environment that you can feel when watching the movie. A world that you can feel.

One of the most important things in all movies (not just horror and sci-fi), is creating or portaying the world, landscape, environment where the story takes place, and being sucked right into that world. The veiwer gets drawn into this world to a point where he/she can feel, touch, taste and live in the ambience...the mood and the setting of the movie. Directors who accomplish this goal, are the ones who make the classics.....the Greats of film.

Although, it's different with every individual. Not all people allow themselves to be drawn-in and taken to this world. Some fight it. Some movies are just so downright bad, they couldn't draw-in a starving dog to a thick, juicy steak.

I think some people approach movie watching with an all too critical attitude, and thus exclude themselves from the world the director wants you to live in, for the next few hours.

Then again, there are so many bad movies made, with very bad, low standards....that I can't blame people for being critical.

But essentially, one will never really understand or get a good movie, unless he allows himself to be drawn-in.

I love to be drawn-in to a movie.......love to step right into the world and take a good look around.

But there's always those movies that draw you in, you get in there and take a good look around; only to realize.......there's not much there to look at :B

[NMyTree]

The Re-animator? I thought that was considered a comedy .

Azeke

Well, it is :lol: :lol: But it's also a "horror" movie.

There's a lot of those type of movies, that I love to watch. Evil Dead has some hilarious moments too. Movies like .....Return Of The Living Dead, Student Bodies, Eight Legged Freaks, American Psycho, and dozens of others.

Some are designed to be tounge-in-cheek, others.....just end up being funny by accident :B

I'm in a small minority who think that most of the Star Wars movies are campy and funny. I just can't take those movies seriously. They crack me up. A few of my friends who are HUGE Star Wars fans, get mad at me when I laugh during those movies. But hey, to each his own.

[Azeke]

It certainly kept me laughing, Tony.

Azeke

[NMyTree]

BTW, I love Videodrome and The Fly. Both are great movies. But as you said, Videodrome is out there and probably not everyone.

Still looking for that missing gun? :rofl: :rofl:

[Azeke]

BTW, I love Videodrome and The Fly. Both are great movies. But as you said, Videodrome is out there and probably not everyone.

Still looking for that missing gun? :rofl: :rofl:

I have found the missing gun, a movie called "Brainscan" :E .

Azeke

[Burke Strickland]

Having Adam Sandler in it makes just about any movie a horror. :>) But for titles a little closer to the "horror" genre as more commonly defined, in addition to the gems already listed in prior posts, I'd add:

The Town That Dreaded Sundown -- not a big budget production, but when I went to see it in a commercial theater during its initial run (maybe its only run) people were screaming and I, for one, jumped out of my seat several times.

The Pit and the Pendulum a Roger Corman classic with Vincent Price as a Spanish nobleman whose wife had recently died under mysterious circumstances in a suitably creepy adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's story title. :>)

Deliverance sometimes the scariest monsters are other people or our own imaginations

Lady In White a bit of school days nostalgia from Down Under (you wouldn't want to go back for the reunion)

Poltergeist things that seem benign at first can turn ugly

Shadow of the Vampire sort of a "making of" sequel to Nosferatu

Those are a few -- you guys already nailed most of the "biggies".

Burke

[George Bellefontaine]

An interesting and different list there, Burke. Good to see you back posting again.

[Marcel54]

I don't know if you can really call Frailty a horror movie but if you consider SOTL one Frailty is one too. IMO Frailty is a great movie. Besides that I can find myself in almost all of the movies mentioned before.

Marcel

[ajpoe]

I like movies that really make you jump and keep you on edge the whole time because you never know when that next thing is going to make you $#!+ yourself! Saw had a couple scenes like that and hasn't been mentioned yet. I wish there were more movies that were intense and made you jump a lot... a horror movie with good acting would be nice too.

That being said, What Lies Beneath was pretty good IMO even though there were only a couple edgy parts. I enjoyed some of the others that were mentioned too.

[Azeke]

The Pit and the Pendulum, that was a good movie, I enjoyed that one.

Has anyone mentioned "The Grudge"? That movie made me jump out my seat a few times.

Azeke

[H.T.C]

It seems none of the hammer films got mention in the thread and they are classic horror movies!!!

[Glen B]

The wife and I are horror freaks who have seen just about every horror/thriller movie there is.

Not mentioned:

Tomb of Ligeia (Vincent Price)
Superstition
Evilspeak

[Penningtonsm]

There was a film that I saw when Iwas young called Lets scare Jessica. I was scared for weeks. Also the The Thing really scared me too.

[roundmound]

Two frightening movies for me (at least for their day) are

When a Stranger Calls (1979)

and

The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988

[Kyle]

serpent and the rainbow rules. wes craven at his best!

[ThomasW]

Todd Browning's 1932 movie "Freaks"

This film is particularily disturbing since the 'actors' are real people, not special effects creations.. This movie couldn't be made in today's politically correct world........ 8O

[David Meek]

Oh, now that's just too weird Thomas. :scratchhead:

Maybe it's just me, but I can watch most any movie and not be too disturbed. Because it's a "movie" (I guess), on some subconcious level I understand that it's an imaginary thing and it doesn't affect me. But just looking at that DVD cover well and truly gives me "the willies".

[ThomasW]

David,

The movie is bizarre and disturbing due to our 21th century sensibilities. It's not degrading or exploitive of the people in it. They referred to themselves as "freaks" just like people these days refer to themselves are "dwarfs".

There's one scene where "the human torso", a man with no arms or legs, rolls a cigarette using his tongue.

The male 'star' of the movie is "General Tom Thumb" of P.T. Barnum fame. He's shown below, a middle age man standing beside Barnum. Thumb who was a business partner with Barnum, died a wealthy man, he had a large home, a yacht, and all the trimmings.

[malcky]

a couple more to add to everyones list:

SAW (superb & a must see film)
The Descent (very creepy on edge of seat film)
The Amityville horror (2005. very suprised at this one)