I saw The Blair Witch Prokject in a packed stadium seating theatre and the whole theatre and i mean the whole theatre was silent throug-out the entire film! The ending still haunts me to this day!
The shining is the scariest film ever made and still haunts me even though I have seen it 100 times. Also, let’s not forget the classic The Exorcist, which still is so damn frightening. The Omen was another favorite scary film which scared me growing up, but I was fascinated and still love the film to this day.
Jesus Camp
Kenneth Anger’s Invocation of My Demon Brother freaked the crap out of me. The images contradict each other (hippies dancing to a burning of a cat to more hippies smoking weed to Kenneth Anger conducting a midnight mass). Plus the Mick Jagger score is pretty cool.
“Jesus Camp” -—————— Ha ha !
The Shining and Halloween rank 1 and 2 for me.
The Beyond, Suspiria, The Devil’s Rejects, The Hills Have Eyes (original), The Thing (Carpenter), The Haunting (Robert Wise), and Martin.
I never get scared by “traditional” scary movies. Zombies? Cool, but campy, not scary. Blood? See zombies. Occult? Getting there, but I can still sleep sans night light.
I have a weird, existentially stemmed fear of time travel. Scariest movie for me is Primer.
Rosemary’s Baby
The Shining or Rosemary’s Baby are the scariest.
House of 1000 Corpses is really scary too but in a different way.
Rec is hands down the most frightening movie I’ve ever watched.
Kiyoshi Kurasawa’s “Cure” (or “Kyua”) is very psychologically unnerving and frightening.
Well when it comes down to movies that actually scared me Audition is definitely at the top of that list.
I agree that the Blair Witch Project is crazy scary! and i want to see Audition really bad!
The Exorcist is still the scariest, But the little-seen Exorcist III (not that disaster Exorcist II) has more moments that caused involuntary reflexes than most other movies I’ve seen combined.
No other movie has so profoundly unsettled me as The Exorcist. (maybe it’s a Catholic thing) And I agree with Chris Doyon, Exorcist III is also pretty damned unnerving.
Synecdoche, New York…lol morality.
4 words: Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Exorcist is still perhaps the only film I’ll turn away from if it’s on; it still does a massive number on me. The sound, mostly: the voice of that devil…I was about 10 when it came out, and I still remember the commercials for it: the bed post, moving up and down, then of course the iconic shot of Von Sydow, outside the house, looking up, Oldfield’s music…
Strangely, River’s Edge still does me in. It seemed so wholly authentic, and the film’s atmosphere was so relentlessly gloomy…I was absolutely immersed in it, and I’ve never forgotten how I felt watching that film.
the ring.(the first one) with naomi watts. that was the last movie that kinda scared me. maybe because i watch so much television..
as a kid this film called " wait until dark" where audrey hepburn plays a blind woman….as a grown up…..i dont i guess " audition"
The Shining by far…
Exorcist is a damn good scary film, though I do enjoy the post-apocalyptic, running-zombie 28 days later.
Damnit! I forgot about 28 Days Later. Great creepy fun. Always good to see the criminally underrated Christopher Eccleston…and poor Ray Winstone, eh?
Terrific little parable-movie, too, if you want to read a bit more into it: this idea that fury is the real thing that’s doing people in, all over the world…
Alien.
it’s got the goods.
My favorites are The Ring and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, but for very different reasons. The Ring gave me nightmare’s for weeks, but The Exorcism of Emily Rose both scared me and moved me.
Without any doubt
Audition
blair witch, rosemary’s baby, the ring
I am going to have to second that 1 + 2 punch of THE SHINING and HALLOWEEN. Exorcist made me laugh even as a kid………
WENDY: great call with RIVER’S EDGE! THis is an old favorite of mine and I agree—Salinas, CA is super creepy in that film—great atmosphere that makes me feel trapped. When I watch that film (did last month again) I feel like my life is over—like there is no escape from dullness—a living hell. Thanks for calling that out—because it is not a “horror” film—but it kinda-sorta is! HA HA!
I only find Susperia, The Shining, Halloween, and Alien scary because of their timing and minimalist pacing. I don’t like speed to my fear development, rather I find the quick burst of pressure after a heavy buildup far more fascinating than the modern approach. I did adore the American remake of The Ring more so than it’s Japanese predecessor; brilliant ghost story condensed in a highly original and stylized piece.
I can laugh my way through shock, which is perhaps unusual. Nonetheless, zombies and gore are usually campy to me, but undercurrents of deep psychological strangeness unnerve me a lot more, which is why – to me – things like Persona and Throne Of Blood and Rosemary’s Baby all spook me much more than most ‘horror’ movies; River’s Edge – is a great call…
The greatest exception to the above would probably be Last House On The Left, which is an absolutely unpleasant film in just about all ways, great in its’ own way, but still…
Jay a.k.a. 6FOOT
A couple of my favorites is The Shining, Torture Garden, and Wicked,Wicked.