Favorite scary/suspense films

[cubby]

Just reading about the death of actress Janet Leigh of "Psycho" fame. That got me thinking, since it is October, what are your favorite horror/suspense films.

The Exorcist-After 30+ yrs, this still tops my list. I still can't watch the crucifix scene

Halloween-Forget the million stupid sequels, give me the first one anyday

The Evil Dead

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The Lost Boys-the quintessential 80's horror movie: Echo and the Bunnymen's "People Are Strange", INXS-"Good Times", Jamie Gertz, Kiefer Sutherland and the 2 Coreys (Haim and Feldman)

Phantasm

The Hunger-Best opening sequence of a horror movie. Bauhaus performing "Bela Lugosi's Dead" in a goth club

Psycho

Dracula(1932 w/Bela Lugosi)-"the children of the night, what beautiful music they make"

Frankenstein(1933 w/Boris Karloff)

And of course the George Romero zombie trilogy: Night, Dawn, Day of the Dead

[phillyidol]

There are so many cubby. I am a big fan of scary movies. Alien was very good.(the first)
o.k. Alien 1
queen of the damned
the shining
van helsing
bram stokers dracula
(I love vampires)
also- dead calm
evil dead
the others
signs!

I'll think of more.... seven : very good one
seven milimeter.....................

[ExRat]

Everything on cubby's list!!!![}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)]

Some of my other favorites:

"Trilby" (1915)
"Nosferatu" (1922)
"Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Grey" (1932)
"The Thing" (1951)
"The Hitch-Hiker" (1953)
"Last House on The Left" (1972)
"Frenzy" (1972)
"The Howling" (1980)
"Wolfen" (1980)
"An American Werewolf in London" (1981)
"The Thing" (1982)
"C.H.U.D." (1984)
"Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" (1986)
"Near Dark" (1986)
"Army of Darkness" (1993)
"See the Sea" (1998)
"Ed Gein" (2001)
"May" (2003)

Plus, I absolutely LOVE all of those Hammer horror films of the sixties.

[wallofboingo]

I'm a horror film junkie, so this topic is right up my alley!

Session 9 (2001) (scared the shit out of me and that's really hard to do!)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) (They don't make 'em like they used to)
The Shining (1980) (Much better than the book, in my opinion)
The Exorcist (1973) (way ahead of its time in terms of content)
Fright Night (1985) (I think THIS is the quintessential vampire flick of the 80's. Much better than Lost Boys)
George A. Romero zombie trilogy (Night, Dawn and Day of the Dead (1968, 1978 & 1985) (agreed, cubby!)
Return of the Living Dead (1985) (If you haven't seen this one, rent it NOW! Awesome 80's horror featuring zombies vs. punks!)
The Hitcher (1986) (Rutger Hauer proved he was the best villain of the 80's with his performance in this and Blade Runner; very creepy)
The Wicker Man (1971) (Slow-building shocker with a really, really good ending)
Don't Look Now (1973) (Another slow burner that features, for my money, the creepiest ending ever filmed)
John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) (Watch this movie and answer me the question: Why do we even need to use CGI for creature FX? This movie proves that we don't with unparalleled make-up and gore creations by Rob Bottin)
Creepshow (1982) (really fun anthology horror movie)
Suspiria (1977) (Another one that scared the crap out of me the first time I watched it! Dario Argento may be the best horror director ever. Plus, it has the scariest musical score I've ever heard provided by Italian rock group, Goblin.)
Dead and Buried (1981) (Very subtle, creepy film that gets under the skin)
Eraserhead (1978) (Very disturbing, surreal film that you won't soon forget. Director David Lynch based the film on the nightmares he had when he was growing up as an abused child.)
Dead-Alive (1992) (Peter Jackson's early zombie masterpiece! I think of this as more comedy than horror, but the gore quotient is so ridiculously high that it is referred to as horror. A must for parties! I have never had someone say they didn't like this movie after showing it to them.)


Ex-Rat, you have good taste in horror flicks! But I did not enjoy the Ed Gein movie because my father grew up about 8 miles from his farm in Wisconsin in 1957 during the time he was caught and the facts are not all true. I have done a lot of studying up on him and the real facts are far, far scarier! This movie could have so much better. But I think that Steve Railsback did a good job as Gein.

[Jimbo L]

"The Haunting" (original 1963 version) is the scariest movie I've ever seen.

[cubby]

I thought of a couple more:

The Brood(1978)-Creepy David Cronenberg film about killer kids and inner rage
Carnival of Souls(1962)
Mothers Day(1980)
I Spit On Your Grave-Nasty film about revenge

[SwampThing]

Anyone remember these ones from the late 70's...

It's Alive
The Sentinel
Motel Hell
The Funhouse
The Tourist Trap
The Changeling
When a Stranger Calls

Ya, I know these were corny, but when your just a kid...

[hexicon]

Well, it's not a movie, but the thing that always scared me is on Melrose Place where Kimberly goes nutty and checks Michael into a mental hospital, telling the docs that Michael is crazy and will claim that he is a doctor and Kimberly is crazy! The X-Files episode "Folie a Deux" had a similar "I'm not crazy" theme.

[bruiser]

i LOVE horror films. favorites (or ones that made an impression on me)
in no particular order:

argento movies: deep red, suspiria, tenebrae, phenomenon. THE HOLY QUARTET! i'm a big of fan of "phenomenon" and a lot of people aren't. i love it, it's like a crazy alice in wonderland. "suspiria" is a no-brainer. some people love "inferno" but i don't- it's too nonsensical.
and "opera" has great deaths but ugh, that STOOOPID ending. p.s. viva daria nicolodi!

"zombi"- cannibals in new york! on an island! eyeball-on-a-stick! wow!
there are other fulci movies of note, and the gore is always great, but the narrative is always f*cked up (like "the beyond"). zombi gets it right though.

phantasm- so much freakiness going on here. who cares what it means? this movie scared the crap out of me as a kid and still does.

deathdream- another walking dead movie, and really good and sad. one of the first vietnam movies. just was released on dvd this summer! i saw this as a kid on the late show and it really warped me. in a good way.

halloween and friday the 13th- the originals. duh. although i have a particular affection for halloween 3. i don't know why. "it's time!... it's time!...."

the omen- wow i love this movie. i love the second one too, for the crow/18 wheeler scene and the elevator scene. oh and the frozen lake scene. well, all of it.

exorcist- duh.

happy birthday to me- guilty pleasure. the deaths are great.

hellraiser- freaked me out in high school. truly disturbing.

evil dead- great mix of horror and laughs. and icky gore effects.

dawn of the dead- duh. hey, go see "shaun of the dead" -it's funny!

the brood- just great. i love cronenberg. "scanners" is good too.

the fog- great carpenter, great score, and adrienne barboobs! zombie pirates always freak me out a little. well, zombies in general i guess.

poltergeist- not gross, or terrifying, but thrilling and fun nonetheless. i remember being 13 and thinking it was the greatest movie i'd ever seen. i still really enjoy it and watch it anytime it's on t.v.

alien- duh. was there ever a movie so cool and influential on movie "style"? until "blade runner" i mean?

carrie- a blood drenched sissy spacek with those bugged out eyes blowing up the prom and chopping betty buckley in two? bring it on. this movie rocks. oh, i like "the fury" too, although it's pretty silly. de palma was a master from "sisters" to about "body double"...

i'm worn out. there are many more, but i'm tired.

cubby we have a lot of the same tastes!

[ebbhead]

RIP to Janet Leigh of Psycho shower scene fame. [:(]

Not a horror fan, but a suspense fan, myself. Hitchcock was a genius. Seven, Silence of the Lambs, even American Werewolf in London among my faves of all time.

[WoodlandParkPunk]

Original Texas Chainsaw
The Sentinal
The Exorcist
Carrie
Jaws
Finding Nemo
Any movie with Keanu Reeves frightens me.

[phillyidol]

I have more!

Hellraiser- all of them. Very disturbing! Gave me nightmares of hell.

*In The Mouth Of Maddness* This was a very strange movie that made me
think about it for weeks!

EVENT HORRIZON- Totally freaked me out. Another that made me think
for weeks.

Blair witch 2- did not get alot of credit but it was very scary!

The ring- makes you think

And I agree- John Carpenters Thing was very suspenseful and scary

*****PLEASE WATCH THESE MOVIES!*************

[design_femme]

I love this thread. You guys keep reminding of all the movies that I've enjoyed. I won't even bother repeating what everyone else has listed already, but I will comment:

Session 9. Beautifully disturbing shots of inside and outside the asylum, esp. with all the props (abandoned wheelchair, peeled paint from walls, long corridors of plumbing). Haunting score, great cuts.

Event Horizon. Even though I was sorely disappointed with the outcome of the movie, I did enjoy the first half of the movie. Loved all the blues and greens in the set design and lighting, which really made the ship look gorgeous but also presented a cold, detached, unsettled feeling in the air.

Alien. The actors who played the crew were simply amazing. They contributed more to the true horror of being on that ship than the creature itself.

oh I could go on.

And speaking of horror movies, have you guys seen the uncensored trailer for the upcoming movie SAW? It looks sick! I think this may be the first horror trailer that made me too scared to see it!

[Frau_Blucher]

If we're talking quintessential 80s? How can we forget "Blood Simple", the Coen Brothers' first hit?!

How about Brian de Palma's "Body Double" also in 1984. That great Frankie Goes to Hollywood cameo!!

[phillyidol]

New movie coming out with Buffy whats her name. Its called Grudge. The trailer scared me!