Movies that have truly scared you

[Wippit Guud]

Horror genre has been done to death, so it seems, and people who watch them tend to be desensitized to the 'horror' factor, but are there any movies that have truly scared you?

And, for effect, if you're age is/was less than the rating of the movie, it doesn't count.

Only one that comes to mind for me is the remastered version of The Exorcist. They started adding faded images the movie (a demon face behind a door really comes to mind) which really kicked up the fear factor. Not to mention the added scene of her coming down the stairs upside-dpwn and backwards.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

There are a couple that come to mind. The first one being the original Children of the Corn. The other one I can think of right now would have to be the Exorcism of Emily Rose.

[J_Muller]

I second the remastered Exorcist. That is the only horror movie I've ever watched that successfully made me cover my eyes in fear.

[Fale]

Watched The Shining a few days ago. Much, much better then today's horror/thriller films.

[faerwain]

Long, long ago, the first Mad Max. It was less scaring than disturbing me with it's whole brutal and merciless atmosphere. The fact that the whole setting was closer to real life than the two sequels made it worse.
I don't really remember being scared by a movie in the sense I interpret the term, but one of the first who gave me two or three classic "jump scares"(and let me sit in concentrated suspense the rest of the film) was Aliens.

[blackout]

Never really been scared(<---LIE!)but, my favorite movie from the horror-genre's gotta be...A Nightmare on Elm Street. You can't beat Freddy cutting his own finger off to scare Nina, and then laughing like a maniac.

[Timberwolf]

I've never seen a film that scare me at th time. The scary bits have been in my dreams later. Then it's what the filmakers did with a healthy dose of my own insanity added. Resident Evil, strangely enough was one of these films (I've always been terrified of the very thought of becoming undead) but the one that really got me was "It". That disturbed my sleep for a fortnight.

[InaVegt]

Using only movies that count I've never seen any movies which scared me, though watching The end of days when you're six and you've never seen a movie even remotely scary is sure to give you nightmares.

[Jack Squat]

having had to watch over some younger kids, I can say that those barbie movies scare me; but proablby in a different sense than you mean by this.

[Om]

The Witches

I can't believe that some consider that to be children's movie. When I saw it I was so terrified that I refused to look out of a window for two weeks afterward for fear of seeing those purple eyes.

[Telonius]

There's a movie that I saw on TV at some point in the mid 80's, that scared the bejeebus out of me. (I was somewhere between 4 and 6 years old). It involved zombies, and a werewolf-like thing overrunning a town. CCR's "Bad Moon Rising" was on the soundtrack, but it was NOT "An American Werewolf in London." Never been able to find out what the name of it was, but it gave me nightmares for a week.

[Ava]

The only movie that has scared me was Archacniphobia... I saw it when I was in 3rd grade and it has scarred me for life. >_<

[Zophiel]

The remastered version of The Exorcist scared me as well, especially since it was also the first time I ever watched that movie.

Also, Se7en was pretty frightening to me for several reasons. The utter lack of regard for humanity shown by what the killer did to his victims, the knowledge that there really are sick and depraved people like that out there, seeing via the movie's portrayal how such a person can be so calm and otherwise normal-seeming (which was difficult to grasp more than academically until seeing it in action), and finally the realization that I would've blown the guy away as well - thus giving the killer his twisted 'victory,' all combined to make it one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen. That's one of only two movies in my collection that I went out of my way to purchase, knowing I'll likely never watch them.

Finally, and most embarassingly, Event Horizon. Granted, it was my first college date and her constant freaking-out wasn't helping me stay calm, but when I saw that movie in the theater, it was pretty scary. Then I watched it again years later, and I couldn't help wondering how it managed to frighten me at all. Go figure.

[Exachix]

Oh the old Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. When i was young, I saw that, and I was afraid of turning into a Giant Blueberry in my sleep. Seems trivial now =). I don't really watch scary movies though.

[Sereno]

The original _Exorcist_ scared me a lot when I first saw it.

I also found the first _Nightmare on Elm Street_ *really* scary; probably even worse than The Exorcist. And, that scene where he jumps out of the mirror on the door after you think it's over STILL gets me!

Just recently I found _Silent Hill_ both very frightening AND deeply disturbing AND very sad at the same time. I find myself more affected by this sort of "atmosphere" rather than blatant 'jump scares' or gore; but that scene of the little girl skipping and dancing merrily through a shower of blood was really brutal to watch....

[thorgrim29]

Recently... none, not even jump scares on resident evil. When I was a kid Pinnochio scared me though (I mean around 4), the part with the giant whale specifically.
One thing that scared me, but is not a movie, is playing First Encounter Assault Reacon, or FEAR, on the pc. Damn that Alma is creepy, the ending had me shaking for like ten minutes every time, and it took me half a dozen times to complete.

[Yawielas]

I hate horror movies, I don't watch many of them, but when I do (for some reason) I have to cover my eyes and ears most of the time. Embarrassing, I know, for a 32 year old. The movies that scared me the most has to be: The Grudge, Se7en and Aliens. But as I said, I haven't really watched that many:)

[Telonius]

The Exorcist probably would have scared me if I hadn't gone to the university where it was film.

[Blood]

I don't like horror movies. I get nightmares way too easily.

[Flabbicus]

The Grudge 2. It was scarily horrendous.


As for movies that have frightened me... for whatever reason I can't stand The Ring. Creepy girls with long hair that pull people into TV's looked really weird and scared the crap out of me. And Chuckie from Child's Play, granted I only saw the commercial, but that was enough. The Goosebumps book about the murderous dummy never scared me, I guess I can just tune it out or write it off when I read horror (albeit bad ones).

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

oh, another one I thought of that's not tremendously scary, but is really more on the creepy side is The Mothman Prophecies.

[Chunklets]

Alien, the first time I saw it.

The scene where the captain goes into the ducts to try to track down the monster - eek

[Rabiesbunny]

Growing up on horror movies, few things have genuinely freaked me out.

Blair Witch project was one of the ones that did. I lived in a house out in the freakin' boondocks, with woods all around me. Watch that when you're young, after it just came out on video, at 3am in the morning alone in the house? You'll be a cowering wreck afterward.

[adanedhel9]

Movies that try to be horror films usually do nothing for me. I think it's because I go in expecting to be scared, but they really aren't that scary, and so I just get disappointed.

The one movie that scared me big time was Threads (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/). I watched that one late-night shift in the uni's CS lab; it came from the library and so had no packaging, just a two-sentence description. I thought it sounded interesting, and I figured it'd help relieve the boredom of of the CS lab.

I didn't sleep that night.

[Wippit Guud]

Blair Witch project was one of the ones that did. I lived in a house out in the freakin' boondocks, with woods all around me. Watch that when you're young, after it just came out on video, at 3am in the morning alone in the house? You'll be a cowering wreck afterward.

I saw it in the theater, and then had to drive home through 40 minutes of tree-lined countryside roads. I started seeing things all over the place, freaking me out.

[valis]

Only one that comes to mind for me is the remastered version of The Exorcist. They started adding faded images the movie (a demon face behind a door really comes to mind) which really kicked up the fear factor. Not to mention the added scene of her coming down the stairs upside-dpwn and backwards.

YESS!!!! The Exorcist is the scariest movie ever!!!! I had trouble looking at the screen and following the movie. I look back and it's a really simple plot. A little girl gets possessed and they bansh the demon. I'm having trouble recalling the movie while I write this post. Growing cold. :smalleek:

[Arcane_Secrets]

I've watched a lot of movies that were supposed to be scary. The Descent that came out last year was actually scary. It's the first movie I've ever seen that made me jump in my seat.

[Obsidian Blade]

I totally agree with the Blair Witch Project. I watched it a week before school camp, and we all freaked each other out by telling ghost stories before going to bed. I swear there was not five minutes when you could not hear someone crying.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Only film that really scared me was the Lion headed cave in Disney's Aladin. This was in the cinema mind you so it was years ago.

[Nightmarenny]

If I don't get to count Mars attacks when I was 5 then nothing. However "The Forgotten" gets an honorable mention for being the only movie in years to make me jump.

[Thelion]

Jaws, I still hate great white sharks.
The People Under The Stairs and Poltergeist 2 also did the trick for me (I shouldn't have watched these movies at the age of 9). Ah well, I can watch them all now without problems.

Braindead made me sick the first time I watched, does that also count?

[MostlyHarmless]

In MY day we didn't have 'remastering' and 'digital effects' and The Exorcist scared the bejeesus out of us. And we LOVED it. (but we never tried to watch it again).
[/grumpy old man]

Alien is another one but truly the movies that scare me the most are the ones that I believe could really happen and Exorcist takes the cake. The Shining is another one that I actually avoided as long as possible. Blair Witch Project...not bad. Not as scary as the hype, but then I don't live out in the woods.

And two that weren't horror at all but certainly gave me the willies were Deliverance and A Clockwork Orange.

[Telonius]

Ahh, the Exorcist. I used to walk up and down those steps when I was in college, there's a liquor store near the bottom. Nasty, nasty climb. Had a class with the guy who was rumored to be the priest they based Fr. Karras off of. He looks more like the old priest now, though. Good times, good times. :smallcool:

[sktarq]

Afraid? Seven when it was in theatres (So i would have been 13)

I little put out? Silence of the Lambs, Exorcism of Emily Rose, Brazil, Clockwork Orange (go Kubrik) err that's it I think

getting me to jump doesn't take any real skill and just annoys me instead of frieghtens me

Disgusted and horrified at the fact that such stuff is successful marketed in the culture I call home? Many but the Saw Seires, Grudge(s), Turistas, and Hostel (s) earn a particular mention.

[Schlammmeister]

I don't know if this counts, but The Grudge scarred me ****less...but not while I was watching it. Let me explain:

My wife and I had rented The Grudge on recommendation of a friend that told us it was really good. My wife is Hmong (a mountain people from Laos) and resembles the chick from Grudge. Well, we watch the movie and everthing is ok, no problems. Well, later that night, at 3am, I have to use the restroom down the hall. The hall and most of the house is dark. Well, coming back to the room, there's my wife standing in the hallway, not saying a **** thing....JUST LOOKING AT ME!

Yeah, I freaked, I swore loudly.

She was half-asleep and woke up having to use the bathroom too. She hadn't even noticed me in the hallway....she thought it was funny later though...I DIDN'T!

[MostlyHarmless]

Silence of the Lambs! Yes, there's one I missed on my list, but I was about the leave the theater when she was down in that dude's basement. I might have a phobia for dark basements, actually, but add a pit and NO WAY!

[gwendolyn]

The one movie that stands out in my mind is "Wheels of Terror", which I saw when I was six years old. I saw a lot of horror movies when I was little, and probably they all scared me to some degree, but this one sticks in my mind because of the child abduction/molestation theme.

[Tibuis]

I haven't seen Poltergeist said up here so I am going to add my two cents. I saw this when I was about 8 at the babysitter's house. The scene were the guy tears off his face looking in the mirror had me freaked out for months. I would run into my bathroom past the mirror.

Labyrinth: Again saw this as a youngster. Not to oscary but the scene where the creatures are taking there heads off sort of freaked me out.

I'm suprised I didn't see "In the Mouth of Madness" up here. Very freaky and scary movie in my opinion. I don't want to spoil any of it by posting about it. I am really big into Call of Cthulhu and this reminded a lot of Lovecraft's works.

Oh and I though Event Horizon was scary. Saw it again and it sort of freaked me out but didn't have me peeing my pants or anything.

Love the Grudge reference previously listed. After seeing that movie I would stand at the bathroom door when my roomates were using it and make the "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" sound.

[MrsbwcMD]

I'm glad a couple of people mentioned "Event Horizon." That's one of the few movies that I refuse to watch ever again. The whole "man nailed to the wall by his skin with his guts hanging out" scene just freaked me out!
As for creep factor, I can't stand "Minority Report" and the foreign film (Korean, I think, but maybe Japanese) "Audition" because both have scenes of people getting needles stuck in their eyes. I just shudder thinking about it.
And this is really lame, but I saw "E.T." as a child, and I really got freaked out. For a long time, I thought he was going to pop out from under my bed, so I ended up sleeping with my covers over my head for a while. To this day, I have problems with movies depicting aliens. I love them, like "Close Encounters" or "Signs," but I get really creeped out at night, and tend to listen for weird sounds or look for weird lights coming from the sky. I know. Lame-oh.

[BrokenButterfly]

Braindead made me sick the first time I watched, does that also count?

You're not the only one, not physically sick of course, but there was a great deal of nausea in that lawnmower massacre for me.

That movie was more "No you can't do worse than that! Oh God! You did!!!" Not really scary though. Can't look at custard the same way either, but I didn't eat it to begin with...

Can't really think of something that's reaallly scared me in a film. The Grudge and The Ring did, (Japanese and American respectively I'm afraid).

But that Simpsons bit scared me the most, for anyone who read my post in an obscure thread.

[Joosbawx]

My wife cried when we watched Event Horizon, at the scene where they watch the playback on the bridge of he (seemingly) deserted ship and the captain was holding his recently plucked out eyes in his hands, offerig them to the camera, and reciting latin phrases and scripture.

[slipnslide]

event horizon was freaky. when i was little the blob and critters scared the bajeesus out of me.

[Thes Hunter]

Ringu.

Not the American version that didn't leave enough to the imagination, but the Japanese version. It had me cringing when a phone rang for weeks after.

[Bearofbadnews]

Lord of the Flies, The Ring (American version), The Blair Witch Project, The Mothman Prophecies, Ju-on (Japanese version of The Grudge), The Shining, and Audition (the sound in the last scene really did me in); these all really scared me or wigged me out.

Interestingly, movies with Christian overtones never seem to scare me past simple jump scares. I spend the whole movie grimacing over theology I can't agree with. I've seen most of the exorcism-based movies, apocalypse movies, and devil movies. Nothing.

On the other hand, I love zombie movies, but more for the survival than the horror. It's the perfect survival fantasy. It's you against a sea of enemies, but if you plan ahead you can easily kill hundreds. Plus the whole profound restructuring of society. Cool!

[musicnerd]

I saw Hitchcock's Vertigo when I was little and it scared me so much I can't watch horror films. I'm sure it was about the tamest "horror" movie you could get, too. But there was just something about Jimmy Stewart's eyes in that movie that freaked me out.

[storybookknight]

Another second to the Exorcist, though I was young when I saw it.

Has anyone ever seen the indie film titled The St. Francis Experiment? Very well done, on a low budget.

[LCR]

I have to second The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Not a very good in itself, but hellishly creepy, especially if the girl next to you screams in terror every time Emily starts to speak Latin.

I do remember another horror film I've seen lately. It involved some girl babysitting in an expensive estate in the countryside. Hilarious dialogue, though:

Girl (on the phone): "What do you want?"
Guy (on the phone; completely out of the blue, after 45 minutes of telling her what she's wearing): "I want your blood"

So stupid, I started to laugh. The film was so bad, it was almost creepy.

[Electric_Monkey]

I'm not really one for horror movies. When I found out Night of the Living Dead was in the public domain, I had to see it (I was playing Urban Dead at the time) - but wimp that I am, I watched it at midday. So my account's going to be mainly the odd scenes here and there that got me.

When I was younger, IT really creeped me out. I only saw a few scenes, but I'd been sufficiently "primed" by a friend to expect the worst.

There's another thing that didn't particularly scare me, but is worth mentioning because it did manage to leave a lasting impression. I was channel hopping and came across the end of a movie (or possibly a TV show) in which an escaped murderer is trying to take revenge on the detective or lawyer who put him in prison. There's a scene where the murderer knocks on the detective's door. The detective's wife looks through the eyepiece to see who's there and the murderer sticks a power-drill through it. That got a bit of a jump at the time, but I'm reminded of it every time I answer the door and look through the eyepiece.

[Fat Daddy]

Meh. I get the occasional 'jump scare' in movies but nothing that truly frightens me. You wanna see something really scary just turn on the news my friend. That stuff is real and that makes it truly frightening.

[Swordguy]

Not really impressed by "scary" movies. Far too many simply go for either excessive gore (not scary) or the jump scene (which plays off an instinctive reaction, and isn't scary). That said, I have to give props to The Descent from this last year. The injury that precipated my military discharge was a shattered leg, and the one featured in the movie was in almost the same spot and looked almost exactly the same as the injury I suffered. They even pushed the bone back into her leg sans morphine like mine.

That was the closest I have EVER come to having to leave a movie theatre.

Oh, and The Ring was worth seeing solely because I was able to call my girlfriend's cell phone as the credits rolled. It was comedy gold.

[melchizedek]

The Sixth Sense terrified me the first time I watched it. Of course, I was like 13 at the time.

[Jibar]

The Witches


Oh God yes.
I was 13 when I first saw it and it scared the hell outta me.
Never watched it since.

I'll add...Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Child Catcher.

[Hazkali]

Donnie Darko creeped me out for several days after watching it- I kept on seeing Frank everywhere....but other than that I haven't seen many horror films. I am a wuss.

[Leather_Book_Wizard]

The few scary movies I have seen didn't scare me at all. Scary movie commercials scare me more than the actual thing. The commercial for Hannibal where he tells the guy,
" I've given very serious thought...to eating your wife." It got so bad that whenever that commercial came on, I'd hold my ears and breath extremely heavily.
The Butterfly Affect was kinda creepy, especially the part where they have the dynamite in the mail box and the baby reaches for it. And the part where they set the dog on fire.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Basically any horror movie. I have a very bad phobia of horror movies, so someone's so much as watching dawn of the dead in the other room I have butterflies in my stomach. :smallfrown:

[Serpentine]

I don't like zombies. Even Shawn of the Dead worried me, I dislike zombies that much. I also greatly dislike gore - I think I'm too empathetic and think about how it must feel far too much. I also jump at the drop of a hat, even when I know exactly what's gonna happen (saw Sixth Sense a good dozen or so times for school, and I still jumped!). Despite these, I'm strangely drawn to horror movies. I always read the back of the case, and if there's one on TV I'll always at least flick to it occasionally. I think I've figured out that the main problem is gore and zombies. I like monster movies, like Species and Predator and even dodgy ones like Anaconda and Eight-legged Freaks (I'd list Alien but I've only seen the ending), and also creepy ones like the Japanese Ringu (book's great, btw, but what was with the green faces in the US version?) and Dark Water and something Western I can't think of right now I'm sure. I'm even happy with other undead - vampires, werewolves and to a lesser extend ghosts for the win! BUT. I hate guts and the like - so there goes Nightmare on Elm St (though it was kinda amusing), Halloween and, I presume, Braindead - and I have a deep, profound fear of zombies. I can't explain why, but even thinking about a zombie movie means I have to put every light in my path on at night.
Besides zombie movies, the main movie I remember really disturbing me is Arlington Road. It was really well done, great actors, interesting and realistic script, all in all a great movie - there's one particularly well-crafted scene, where the Girlfriend has just found out something about the Possible Badguy Couple and calls the Protagonist to tell him, then turns around to find Possible Badguy Lady. She makes small, friendly talk, then smiles a smile that comes nowhere near her eyes and fades slowly and ominously away.which is a perfectly crafted bit of subtle thriller. I still hate the movie.

[MechaKingGhidra]

It's strange. Zombie movies are simply a little unnerving to me while alien movies make me tighten up to the point where I have to remind myself to let my body go limp so it doesn't have the effect like watching for toast to pop while half a foot away from it.

But anything with monstrous insects/arachnids, vampires and/or werewolves freak me out so much (although werewolves, to me anyway, are FAR worse than vampires) that I have to keep making excuses to leave the room. Strangest thing yet, though. Even if I am at home, all by my lonesome, and I start watching these movies, I can never bring myself to switch the channel, even during commercials.

I guess that is the power of horror at work there, folks. Stupid subconsious wanting to be thrilled..............................

[Axl_Rose]

Stigmata.

I hate my cousin for showing this to me when I was 9.

Made all the worse by my goddamn loony dad who always wants to crank up the Hi-Fi to unnecessarily loud levels.

[Miarae]

I watched Childs Play when I was 11 or so, and after that we went to sleep on a wooden floor and all we heard the entire night was the sound of feet. Turned out to be the cat, but we were scared as hell.

A movie I've seen a few years ago which frightened me was the one about a guy whose wife had died and he kept seeing her on his tv, when there's 'snow' on. I can't remember the name, but since I know that this can actually happen (based on a real phenomenon) it gave me chills. Most other movies don't scare me, Blair Witch actually bored me to death.

EDIT: Thanks to boyfriend: the movie is called white noise

[Callos_DeTerran]

There have only been a couple of movies that have honestly scared me before. Theres always jumpy scares and edgy for a couple of days after kind of horror movies but few were ENDURING fears.

Gremlins: I know what your saying, that movie isn't even scary! But when your four-five years old and have lots of stuffed animals that resemble Gizmo...I have nightmares for two-four years, no joke.

E.T. : Also afraid of because I was young. But now I realize I was afraid because E.T was an evil little SOB and deserved what the goverment would have done to him.

Silent Hill: Many reasons. Had excellent atmosphere, just the right amount of violence, didn't degenerate into a meaninglessly dark action movie (Like lots of horror movies do), had an excellent plot....and it looks alot like Silent Hill were I live so I freaked out on the ride home when the fire whistle went off.

Boogeyman: I can't believe this hasn't come up yet. I have a constantly open closest and every night for a week since I saw that movie I was either sleeping on my couch or facing the closest so I'd know when he was coming for me. >.>

[MechaKingGhidra]

Actually, that is a good point. My oldest sister, to this very day, cannot watch Gremlins without shrieking every time any one of them comes on which as a result has contributed to me never having seen it. Also, it doesn't help that my second-oldest sister had a plastic Gremlin toy. I've only seen part of the second one. All I saw was a very intellectual monster who sounded like a mixture of Stewie from Family Guy and Charles Emmerson Winchester III from M*A*S*H mixed together (personality-wise) complimented by a deep, sophisticated voice. The first was and still is simply always inconveniently just out of my grasp. I'd like to see it very much, though.

As for E.T., I personally cannot help but be creeped out by the little munchkin of an alien. If anyone suggests watching it, no joke, I give an approximately 8-minute long speech why that if it were to be watched in my presence, BAD, EVIL, AND ALL-AROUND DISTURBING THINGS WILL HAPPEN.

[Jibar]

I'll 3rd ET. I have never, EVER liked that movie. ET himself is still the god damn freakiest alien I've ever seen.

[Om]

I'll add...Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Child Catcher.Actually I think that's scarier when you're an adult. Certainly I didn't think the Child Catcher was too bad as a kid, he was just another bad guy, but when you grow up you can fully appreciate his sinister nature.

[slipnslide]

happy feet...i have a fear of penquins.

[sethdarkwater]

Mothman prophicies and grudge oi.

[Muz]

I had a bit of trouble with Gremlins, myself. My parents wouldn't let me see scary movies at that age (I was 10), but I got hold of the novelization for the movie and read that. I was freaking out for two weeks after that. (When I finally did see the movie 5 or 6 years later, I was watching expecting it to freak me out based on previous experience, but it was fine then.)

I also got rather freaked by American Werewolf in London. A bunch of my friends watched it at night in junior high (or maybe early high school), and immediately afterward went outside at about midnight to play Lazer Tag in my friend's 4 acre yard, which was primarily bushes and tall grass...and a big white Alaskan malamute running around who just loved pouncing out of the bushes at us. (Friendliest dog I've ever met, but that was NOT what I needed right then.) :smallbiggrin: I was crouched in the bushes waiting in ambush because I was too freaked out to move. :smallsmile:

[Penguinizer]

They, I only watched half an hour of it, yet I still was somewhat nervous of the dark for the next couple of weeks XD

[BoneLord]

Terminator 3 wasn't really a horror movie, but left me with a feeling of how empty and hollow life was. The ending was very effective at making it seem like no matter what John Connor did, he was a slave to what he must do, and powerless to really change anything.

The Descent was a really good, gory, scary horror movie. I went to see it because I had read the book it was supposedly based off of, but the only things it had in common with the novel were a female main character, spelunking, and half-human cave dwelling monsters. The very end of the movie left me wondering "was that real, just now, or a hallucination?"

Darkness Falls creeped me out because I had to go home alone to my empty apartment afterwards with low wattage lights. I didn't get to sleep for several hours, and I put a flashlight next to the bed when I finally did.

Signs made me jump a couple times during the movie, but it was good enough that I had a lucid dream where an alien was standing in the shadows in the corner of my room, watching me sleep while I kept telling myself it wasn't really there.

The Ring was a good scary movie that left me afraid my phone would ring. When I tried to go to bed, I realized the TV was about 4 feet away from the foot of the bed, looking at me like a giant black eye. I think I had to turn it around toward the wall before I got to sleep.

Aliens is one of my favorite horror movies. I rank it with Terminator 2 for coolness and horror-action. I was an adult when I finally saw it, though so it never scared me...but it's just such a freaking cool movie!

Deep Blue Sea had the best jump scenes ever. The one where Sam L. Jackson I giving his dramatic, inspiring speach and you're almost cheering him on out loud, then the shark lunges out of the water and crushes him in its jaws. The girl screams, everyone panics and tries to get out by opening the pressure door in the undewater room, and water just starts pouring in as Sam Jackson is being torn apart by the genetically engineered sharks.

On a similar note, Jaws was the movie that kept me scared of the ocean for over 10 years. I was in the Navy for almost 3 years before I got over it. :smallredface:

[Phoenix Talion]

28 days later. There's the bit with the kid and the pictures and... *shuddder*

I don't like zombies or ghosts. Vampires? Fine. Serial killers? Erm, sure, though they tend to be too gratuitously violent for my tastes. Though the wimpy-vulnerable-chick stereotype really bothers me.

[Neon Knight]

As a child, Jurassic Park freaked me out. Darn raptors. Although they were actually closer in size to Deinonychus.

[Jack Squat]

As a child, Jurassic Park freaked me out. Darn raptors. Although they were actually closer in size to Deinonychus.

You're not the only one who hates raptors (http://www.xkcd.com/c87.html)

[RTGoodman]

I've never really been bothered by any sort of movie, but there have been a few. I saw Jurassic Park as a wee lad and have been terrified of velociraptors ever since. Like, I used to regularly have nightmares of being chased around my house by the things.

Also, I saw Pan's Labyrinth a couple of weeks ago, and the thing with hand-eyes freaked me out a bit.

[Jack Squat]

I didn't see that, but is it hand-eyes like Krumm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Krumm.JPG)?

That might be pretty freaky depending on the realism of the animation

[Flakey]

Alien like several people have already mentioned.

Second one no one has yet is "In the Mouth of Madness". A bit of blood and guts in it, but its main feature is the wierd/scary things going on to the protagonist throughout the film and getting worse.

Starts off with a picture on a wall changing. The changed picture is like they moved for about 10 seconds between glances, down a path. The changes happening to his life get faster and worse, a very nice build up and gets you really going with his descent

[RTGoodman]

I didn't see that, but is it hand-eyes like Krumm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Krumm.JPG)?

That might be pretty freaky depending on the realism of the animation

Well, sort of . . . here (http://www.indiewire.com/biz/panslabyrinth2.jpg) and here (http://www.deltorofilms.com/featured_pix/paleman.jpg) are pictures.

[Jack Squat]

yeah, that's pretty creepy, but for some reason I think of him saying "Peek-a-boo" in the second pic.

[Arcane_Secrets]

I've never really been bothered by any sort of movie, but there have been a few. I saw Jurassic Park as a wee lad and have been terrified of velociraptors ever since. Like, I used to regularly have nightmares of being chased around my house by the things.

Also, I saw Pan's Labyrinth a couple of weeks ago, and the thing with hand-eyes freaked me out a bit.

I finally got the chance to see Pan's Labyrinth last week (for some strange reason there were practically no theaters that showed it around here), and that was a truly creepy monster. Especially when you see it at first, and you know that it's eventually going to move...but you don't know when or what's going to trigger it.

Truly a great movie. If I get two movies on DVD any time soon, it'd be that and V for Vendetta or replace Empire Strikes Back.

[Phoenix Talion]

Well, sort of . . . here (http://www.indiewire.com/biz/panslabyrinth2.jpg) and here (http://www.deltorofilms.com/featured_pix/paleman.jpg) are pictures.

Maybe it's worse in context... but that's kinda cool in a wierd way.

[Serpentine]

I've heard that Pet Sematary is really scary, mostly because they're not afraid to kill kidlinks, but I've never seen it so can't really say.

[LotharBot]

Duel (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067023/)

Spielberg's breakthrough movie... it's really creepy. If I see that type of truck in the rear view, I kinda freak out...

[Freelance Henchman]

David Cronenberg's "The Fly" remake was damn creepy. Apart from the gore (the woman giving birth to a maggot, the guy getting his hand enzyme-digested) the metamorphosis of Jeff Goldblum into a human-fly-hybrid was pretty awful. I still hate flies. Dirty little things, grrr.

[Jimp]

The one movie that scared me big time was Threads (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/). I watched that one late-night shift in the uni's CS lab; it came from the library and so had no packaging, just a two-sentence description. I thought it sounded interesting, and I figured it'd help relieve the boredom of of the CS lab.

I didn't sleep that night.

Seconding Threads. It's so gritty and matter of fact about trying to survive a nuclear attack it's scary. Especially in more recent years. Definitely an underrated movie.

Silent Hill for the fantastic atmosphere and the sheer creepiness of everything without resorting entirely to shock gore. Pyramid head is one of the spookiest evil-forces EVER. Just pure relentless power and focus on the goal of taking your life, or maybe just whatever part of you he feels like. *shudder*

The Grudge. I watched it in the dark and boy did I regret it. It made my 'spooked' button become stuck. I had trouble sleeping for weeks afterwards :smallredface:

Event Horizon. Just plain spooky.

[Athelgar]

I live for Horror movies, as a child I could be scared at the drop of a hat. The one day I just stopped being scared. And let me tell you, it SUCKS! So now that i'm older i look for anything i can fidn that might get my heart pumping, just to relive those good old days of hiding underneath blankets.

The Exorcist and any movies with spiders got to me very well. But nothing and i mean NOTHING matches to Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. I saw this cursed thing when i was tiny and i STILL jump when ever i see a clip or even still picture of that decrepit creature.

[Innis Cabal]

high tension...had its moments

[Rama_Lei]

Legally Blonde 2: Red White, and Pink.

[Corlindale]

I don't generally like horror movies, I've always hated the mandatory "jump-effects" they feature. Fictional gore usually doesn't bother me, though(but I become freaked out if I am to watch a documentary which displays actual eye-surgery, for example)

The movie that has creeped me out the most is probably Funny Games(It's a German film, but I believe an American version is scheduled to come out this year). It's just so effective at being extremely nasty, without resorting to the primitive tricks of jump-effects and excessive gore. The way the instructor has just tailored the movie to really toy with the viewer's expectations is really incredible.

[Tharj TreeSmiter]

The ring was actually fairly good as a scary movie. Fake blood and gore aren't really scary, nor do the standard "boo" effects, you know when they're brushing their teeth and in the mirror you see nothing behind them then they lean over the camera follows then down and back up he comes and OH what a surprise there is somebody behind him now.

Good scary movies are rare nowadays, personally I think it's because people are more into splatter porn movies than scary movies these days.

[Om]

I don't generally like horror movies, I've always hated the mandatory "jump-effects" they feature.I'm in full agreement. What I like are those films that craft a disturbing atmosphere without resorting to cheap tricks. The sort of movie where you feel that something just isn't right... but you don't know what.

Not a very scary movie, well not to my mind, but The Machinist is an excellent example of what I'm talking about. A very unnerving atmosphere.

[zachol]

For some reason, I am excessively susceptible to J-Horror. The Grudge, The Ring, etc.

The problem is that the part of my brain responsible for musings (the sort of odd, daydreamy creative part) sees absolutely no reason why similar things wouldn't happen in my own home.
So the part of my brain that usually keeps me from being bored by thinking about random things usually becomes hyperactive and freaked out after watching one of those.


Also, the move Alien gave me some strange, nonthreatening (that is, I knew there was danger, but I wasn't actually scared) nightmares as a small child.

[TheRabidWalnut]

Yound Sherlock Holmes for that damnable stained glass knight.

Oh, my bedroom window that night may not have been stained glass, but it was there, behind the curtain... lurking...

[Miklus]

A Clockwork Orange.

Because you can see it happening already....

[Piedmon_Sama]

I haven't been really creeped out by any horror movies since I was 13/14. I'd list Aliens, Terminator, and Predator as among my favorites, but they bleed heavily into the action genre. The Exorcist made me scared of my bed for a week when I was 13, and that was the last time a horror movie ever effected me. The Thing is still the most effective piece of suspense I've ever watched, though the original Alien is a worthy entry. Other than that, I don't own any horror movies---not because I don't enjoy them, but because I think it's the hardest genre to do right.

I love Zombie movies, but those don't scare me as much as make me deppressed for humanity. Dawn of the Dead, (original is better, but the remake is shockingly good), 28 Days Later (although it has serious believability problems near the end), and The Walking Dead (okay, that's a comic, but it's one of the best zombie stories ever. GO BUY IT.)

Akira, one of the most famous Japanese anime films and certainly the biggest of the 80's, is actually very effective at creating a bleak but believable future of urban decay and gang warfare. Add on top of that worries about the fear of an out-of-control Military Industrial Complex, plus the latent, unknown potential of mankind's own mind being intertwined with the destructive, pedantic cruelty of a teenager, and you have a very psychologically depressing movie. Plus the gore is out-of-control. I first saw the movie when I was eight on the Sci-Fi channel, and I felt ill in the stomach four days afterwards. I watched it again with my friend when I was 12, and we both felt ill after watching it, with my friend commenting "we should have watched this before the comedy."

But as an older teenager, the only movie that's really scared me--kept me awake at night, even--is a film called An Inconvenient Truth. I won't go into political issues (although anyone who thinks the film is about politics doesn't get it), but that movie is as important as it is frightening. And it is absolutely real.

[WampaX]

In the distant past, I distinctly recall that Orson Wells Presents ran the George Pal War of the Worlds and the scene in the farmhouse sent me scurrying under the covers.

Now, well, I'm desensitized to alot. I tend not to react in that manner anymore, but some films do still have a scene or two that sends a shiver down my spine, but there are mostly no longer any lingering effects after the initial scare. There are a few scenes that still chill my blood everytime I see them, even though I know they are coming.
Gremlins - The Christmas tree,
The Haunting (1963)- The face at the top of the stairs,
The House on Haunted Hill (1959)- The old caretaker in the cellar,
Jaws - Searching the boat at night underwater,
to name a few

The Grudge would be the most recent film to get to me for any extended period of time. It also didn't help I went home from the theatre where my roommate was gone for the weekend and we have a switchback staircase like the one in the movie that the TV is in front of. I think I read alot in my room that weekend. I haven't watched the movie since I saw it in the theatre.

[EvilJames]

War of the worlds scared me when I was a kid as well but the only movie to give me the willies nowadays is the old school invasion of the body snacthers. No gore, no blood, just story driven fear. No nightmares after words but you could feel it while th movie was on.

[Ladoran]

I'll second Pan's Labyrinth, but while that eye-in-hand is creepy as hell, I found the captain to be much more scary and frightening. Both are scary, but the captain is human which will always give that extra nudge of scariness. I'll not say anything else as this would just be spoilers to a pretty recent movie :-).

Two other scenes that have made the small hairs on my neck stand up are the "coming out the TV" in The Ring (US or Japanese, can't remember really) and the scene from The Others where the children find the gravestones in the garden. Those just freaked me out to no end.

zombie and splatter movies however have never had much effect on me. It's to graphic to ever be scary. Tasteless, gross, sure but not scary.

[BoneLord]

The new Dawn of the Dead was very disdurbing to me. The gore was cool, and the ending was just bleak and depressing. I knew how the story ended, but I was like, "No way. That can't really be...just...it."

I forgot all about the old War of the Worlds, too. I don't remember it well, but I do remember being really scared the first time I saw that movie, when I was about 6. I think it was the farm house sceen for me too. :smalleek:

[Jack Scoundrel]

The Audition - It was mentioned before, it is damn creepy. Anyone that enjoys an interesting story and to be freaked out, watch this movie. Its like some good novels, builds for a HUGE ending. Link for movie. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235198/)

Tale of Two Sisters - Again, a great movie that is just freaking weird. It too has a great ending. You should watch this movie if you like creepy movies. Link for movie. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365376/)

Decent - More for the intensity of the movie than scary. You really got into the characters and what they were going through, which is why I think its actually a very well written and directed movie.

And for the Humor horror side I have to mention.

Slither - Malcom Renyolds beats an alien invasion in a small town.

The Feast - Just watch it, its hilarious and makes fun of a lot of sterotypes.

[psychoduck14]

the shankshaw redemption...made me scared i was gunna cry...really...its that good

[Vespe Ratavo]

I've never really seen any "horror" movies, but the last image right at the end of Psycho really freaked me out. The rest of the movie didn't, though....

[Daze]

The new Dawn of the Dead was very disdurbing to me. The gore was cool, and the ending was just bleak and depressing. I knew how the story ended, but I was like, "No way. That can't really be...just...it."

Yeah, the Dawn of the Dead remake sure was disturbing... I had the same feeling at the ending, all that for nothing... I also HATE fast moving zombies..they should have rigamortis! It's not faaaaiiiir!!!!! I just cant juke fast moving zombies :smalleek: :(

Scariest movie though all time is hands-down The Exorcist.. the re-make even... I musta seen it a couple dozen times by now and it still freaks me out... Amazing really... it's the only "directors cut" I've ever seen that actually made a movie better... *shivers*

[Innis Cabal]

Barbie and the 12 dancing princesses...baby sitting

[Theodora]

:smalleek: Well, I can't stand zombie movies. I mean that when I see a zombie I say "That's it, I'm leaving!". I don't know why that happens, I guess I can't stand the combination of ugly rotting flesh and mindless walking corpses. It's hideous. That's why I was really scared with the Dawn of the Dead... (Vampires, on the other hand, are elegant, sophisticated and aware of their existence.) Anyway, I don't really like horror movies, because I do not like to see people going mad (The Shining) or massacred bodies. :smalleek:

[Piedmon_Sama]

The Fast Zombies were a good gimmick, but I wouldn't want to see it in too many movies.... (28 Days Later is an exception, as the "zombies" in that film really weren't.)

Also, in fairness, I don't see the ending of DotD Remake as being that depressing. I mean, all we see is that there were zombies on the island and the dude dropped his camera. Perhaps they survived.... if the movie made enough for a sequel!

[Daze]

The Fast Zombies were a good gimmick, but I wouldn't want to see it in too many movies.... (28 Days Later is an exception, as the "zombies" in that film really weren't.)

Also, in fairness, I don't see the ending of DotD Remake as being that depressing. I mean, all we see is that there were zombies on the island and the dude dropped his camera. Perhaps they survived.... if the movie made enough for a sequel!

Yeah a good gimmick.. and 28 days later werent technically zombies, so thats ok... but as a major zombie afficianado, I feel it makes no scientific sense that a zombie would be able to move quickly.

you're right they dont actually show the characters dying, but if you think about it... they were out of food and potable water... a whole bunch of fast moving bastards stormed the dock... unless they jumped in the water and tried to outswim them, theyd be screwed... no point in getting back on the boat, the zombies woulda just followed em.

[Piedmon_Sama]

Hehehe. It's not just you, but I LOVE it when people say "the running zombies are scientifically impossible!"

[The 8th Sin]

The Others was brilliant and chilling, without relying on shameless special effects. It was one of the few movies that I can say have scared me.

[Daze]

Hehehe. It's not just you, but I LOVE it when people say "the running zombies are scientifically impossible!"

Hehe.. you won't be mocking me when the undead invasion comes! AIEEEEEE *jukes some slow moving zombies*

It's completely ridiculous I know... especially considering how something dead would want to eat... I mean, if their digestive system stopped working, then where does the food...errrr.. flesh go?

Besides the point! I am prepared for zombies... and have the survival manual to prove it! ;)

[EvilJames]

I was also creeped out by john carpenter's remake of the Thing. That was a scary movie

[Iron_Mouse]

Another E.T. Victim here...

I was kinda forced to watch it when I was 4 or so. I was never, ever again so scared by a movie in my entire life. And up to this day, I refuse to watch it again. I just HATE this ****ing creep.

The only movies coming even close to that were Ring and Ju-On. I'm not really scared from zombies or sharks (come on, they aren't really that dangerous in RL) or vampires or werewolves...I like werewolves.

But evil, japanese ghosts totally freak me out :smalleek:

Other movies that successfully scared me: Blair Witch Project, watched alone at night with headphones. Jeepers Creepers. Event Horizon. Signs had that scene where they showed that amateur viedo from the cildren's birthday and the alien walked through the camera (eek). And the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre (forget the remake, it's crap).

[Strengfellow]

Watership Down scared the arse out of me when I was a kid.

All the screaming bunnies down the warren.

And yes that scene still sets my teeth on edge, it's just plain unpleasnt.

[CurlyKitGirl]

ALL Barbie films and Bratz things because they're slowly taking over the merchandising world*shudder* see! I shudder as I write this. I also find parts of The Black Cauldron creepy even now. I mean that's made by Disney and it's really sinister- this is for kids. I'd say check it out for the non-Disney factor.
I'd also have to say The Haunting in the black and white version; I just find psychological ones creepier 'cos they make you imagine it and as someone once said: What you can imagine is infinitely worse than what you can see. So true.

[Serpentine]

War of the worlds scared me when I was a kid as well but the only movie to give me the willies nowadays is the old school invasion of the body snacthers. No gore, no blood, just story driven fear. No nightmares after words but you could feel it while th movie was on.
Hear hear with Body Snatchers. The newer one is still pretty creepy but also has an absurdity factor. Did you know, that originally the original ended with the guy running around looking for help? They tacked on the bit with the truck and the police because it was too depressing.
Also hear hear with the zombies. HATE them. I'll get my scary fix from creepy Japanese ghosts and monsters, thank you very much (now that I think about it, they're about all I like in that regard). Looking forward to that new Japanese monster movie, sounds great.

[Krade]

Maximum Overdrive (which really did have children die. I'm lookin' at you steamroller on the baseball field!) when I was around 10 years old. All the electronics in the world come to life and kill people. That was the only movie I ever couldn't continue watching because I was too scared. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I had already had dreams involving cars and bulldozers coming to life and being a general source of terror.

[Gygaxphobia]

Agree with Watership Down, still has good memories for me though.

Donnie Darko definitely put a chill up me, more than any other recent film.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Yeah, agree with Watership Down. I saw it for the first time ever yesterday and it really really shocked me. That film is rated U, and there's blood, swearing and d*mn scary pschological stuff. Not to mention the political creepiness and insanity of the General. And the whole evil man theme.
I was shocked when I saw that, it should be a PG or something. Still "P*ss off!" from the seagull is so cool.

[Trond Forgelighter]

farenheit 9/11 it's scary cause it's all real!!!!!