Best Horror Film ? - Page 3

Berzerker · October 21, 2003, 00:49

Quote:

The Birds (I saw as a little kid, which is why I thought it was so scary)

Yup, I think the scare level depends on how old you were when the movie was first seen. I saw the Omen as a teen so I was still young enough to get scared and I was even younger for the Birds. Like I said, the Exorcist was scary when I originally saw it but when I saw it again as an adult it was funnier than scary. The scene with Blair's head turning around and when she pukes had become funny. Unlike the Exorcist, the Omen retained much of it's scare appeal...

The problem with comparing Alien and Aliens is that the sequel lost alot of the shock value since viewers were already familar with the creature. Given that dis-advantage, Aliens did a great job.

Berzerker · October 21, 2003, 00:50

Yeah, but Hammer films always have some hot chicks getting bitten or shredded by the monster.

st_swithin · October 21, 2003, 01:22

Those pants he used to wear are pretty scary...like the blind tranny harem reject.

The Mad Monk · October 21, 2003, 03:00

No horror movie has ever scared me as much as serious mob films.

Why?

Because they remind me that there are real monsters out there, who actually do that ****.

molly bloom · October 21, 2003, 03:43

Polanski's 'Repulsion'- the contrast between the glacial beauty of Catherine Deneuve and the chaos of her disordered mind as her personality disintegrates.

George Sluizer's original Franco-Dutch 'The Vanishing'- far superior to the Jeff Bridges/Kiefer Sutherland American retread, especially as you realize that the protagonist's heart's desire was met- he finally found out what happened to his beloved Saskia.

'Near Dark'- I love the Western flavour of this vampire film- the coven of undead wandering the highways of the United States, preying on the unwary.

George Romero's 'The Crazies'- beats 'Outbreak' and anything else like it into a cocked hat.

'Witchfinder General'- stunning evocation of period and mood with very little in the way of budget, and superb use of landscape to suggest unease and tension.

'Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer'- the banality of evil, the matter of factness of serial murder has rarely ever been portrayed so well. I saw this on a double bill at the old Scala Cinema in London's Kings Cross, and I actually felt unclean after watching it.

Urban Ranger · October 21, 2003, 04:36

Ringu was quite funny.

Nubclear · October 21, 2003, 04:46

Frolic in Brine, Goblins be Thine....A japanese person said that it was more like "Dont stand near the water or monsters will kill you"

Tripledoc · October 21, 2003, 06:08

No one has mentioned any John Carpenter movies I think. You don't hear much about him now, but once he was a very respected direcor if horror movies.

The best one I think is THE THING. It is set in Antarctica on an American scientific station. They discover a stange distorted body on a Norwegian station, and take it back to base. What they don't know is that within that body an Alien lifeform, which is a sort of DNA parasite, has attached itself. It infects people, without changing them, so nobody knows who is infected and who is not. The only thing the monster is afraid of is fire. If it is exposed to it it will freak out and immediatley begin to morph into the most grotesque forms. Of course the men on the base turn increasingly paranoid.

Another good movie by a director I can't think of now is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It has been made in three versions, where by far the best is the one made in the 70s with Donald Sutherland in the lead. It has a really psychodelic mood to it as it explores what happens to a number of bohemian types in San Fransisco who are exposed to yet another virus from outer space. Creepy.

Berzerker · October 21, 2003, 06:59

The Thing was mentioned by several people. I did like the scene where the guy's hair stands up out of fear.

SpencerH · October 21, 2003, 08:01

Aliens was a good movie but I wouldnt classify it as a horror film (more science -western really). Aliens simply doesnt have the sombre mood and great artwork that Giger brought to Alien.

Has Halloween been mentioned? The first of the unkillable psycho movies.

Dr Strangelove · October 21, 2003, 08:09

If you're asking about sheer terror, then I'd say Failsafe had to have been one of the scariest movies I've ever seen, since nuclear terroro was a very real phenomenon at the time the movie was released.
ANother very scary non-horror film was the TV movie about the limited strike hitting the midwest. I think it was entitled something like The Morning After orThe Day After .

JohnT · October 21, 2003, 09:24

Quote:

ANother very scary non-horror film was the TV movie about the limited strike hitting the midwest. I think it was entitled something like The Morning After orThe Day After .

You're thinking of The Day After, a 1985-ish miniseries about a limited nuclear attack on America. Compared to the contemporary British film Threads, however, TDA is little more than movie of the week material. Watch Threads and tell me differently.

Rufus T. Firefly · October 21, 2003, 10:01

Quote:

Originally posted by Tripledoc
No one has mentioned any John Carpenter movies I think. You don't hear much about him now, but once he was a very respected direcor if horror movies.

Bah! Carpenter's a hack who made 3 good movies in the 70's -- Dark Star, Assault on Presinct 13 and Haloween -- and has spent the rest of his career trying unsuccessfully to remember how he did it.

Quote:

Another good movie by a director I can't think of now is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It has been made in three versions, where by far the best is the one made in the 70s with Donald Sutherland in the lead. It has a really psychodelic mood to it as it explores what happens to a number of bohemian types in San Fransisco who are exposed to yet another virus from outer space. Creepy.

Philip Kaufman (Kauffman?), and as far as I know that was his one foray into horror. He's better known for more highbrow material like The Right Stuff and The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Most of my favorites have been named here -- The Haunting (original) would be at the top of the list -- but, out of curiosity: was I really the only one here who had the bejeesus scared out of him by The Others? I saw that thing at a 2:00 matinee, walked out into broad daylight afterward, and was nevertheless creeped out all the way home. Admittedly, I'm a complete sucker for ghost stories (1944's The Uninvited, anyone?), but that film really got to me.

Dis · October 21, 2003, 11:46

Quote:

Originally posted by molly bloom
Polanski's 'Repulsion'- the contrast between the glacial beauty of Catherine Deneuve and the chaos of her disordered mind as her personality disintegrates.

George Sluizer's original Franco-Dutch 'The Vanishing'- far superior to the Jeff Bridges/Kiefer Sutherland American retread, especially as you realize that the protagonist's heart's desire was met- he finally found out what happened to his beloved Saskia.

'Near Dark'- I love the Western flavour of this vampire film- the coven of undead wandering the highways of the United States, preying on the unwary.

George Romero's 'The Crazies'- beats 'Outbreak' and anything else like it into a cocked hat.

'Witchfinder General'- stunning evocation of period and mood with very little in the way of budget, and superb use of landscape to suggest unease and tension.

'Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer'- the banality of evil, the matter of factness of serial murder has rarely ever been portrayed so well. I saw this on a double bill at the old Scala Cinema in London's Kings Cross, and I actually felt unclean after watching it.

how exactly does the original vanishing differ from the american version? feel free to use as many spoilers as you want. I'll probably never be able to find and watch the european/dutch version. Those things aren't likely to be in a hollywood video store. I did like the vanishing though. Sandra Bullock's first major film (of course she dies pretty early in it

)

Dis · October 21, 2003, 11:49

as for the day after, it wasn't really scary. The only creepy scene is watching those minutemen missiles rise up from the launching pads/tubes. After that it turned into a standard tv movie mainly based in hospitals and shelters.

Dis · October 21, 2003, 13:29

wow!

just saw previews for the release of Alien- the director's cut in theatres on halloween.

anyone know how the director's cut will differ from the original?

st_swithin · October 21, 2003, 18:32

I forgot to mention the Sixth Sense, only because the little kid has a lock of hair that turned white, and I've got one of those. But instead of dead people, I see white people.

vlad · October 21, 2003, 18:47

I would have to say any H P Lovecraft flicks are classic horror films, the sheer horror and gore along with comedy of Re-Animator makes it a must see halloween flick, a double feature with bride of re-animator is a good twosome

Necronomicon is also good, but a bit jerky to get the concept the first view times you see it.

Berzerker · October 21, 2003, 18:58

Carrie

SpencerH · October 21, 2003, 19:41

Carrie was good.