Five horror movies you'd show to someone new to the genre

[Saintheart]

3. The Fly (1986) - A masterclass in body horror and practical effects this one also has a good angle on making you truly sympathize (for a time) with the source of the horror. Brundle is played amazingly by Jeff Goldblum and is instantly likeable which makes his slow metamorphosis into the inhuman Brundlefly more impactful.

A remake of the original 1950s movie, directed by David Cronenberg. Man does that guy have a unique way of telling film stories. Scanners, The Dead Zone, eXistenZ, Crash, A History of Violence.

[Aedilred]

I FORGOT ABOUT DRAG ME TO HELL.

That's going in my list. Somewhere. I need more than five.

[Ionathus]

I remember watching Drag Me To Hell back in middle school and just...not getting it? There was a ton of grossout stuff but it didn't really feel all that scary, and even if the ending was supposed to be anticlimactic or poetic or something it just didn't sell for me.

Wonder how I would feel about it watching it now as an adult. Dunno if I'd be able to get past the raw 00's-ness of it.

[Wookieetank]

I remember watching Drag Me To Hell back in middle school and just...not getting it? There was a ton of grossout stuff but it didn't really feel all that scary, and even if the ending was supposed to be anticlimactic or poetic or something it just didn't sell for me.

Wonder how I would feel about it watching it now as an adult. Dunno if I'd be able to get past the raw 00's-ness of it.

Other than the obvious aesops of be nice to strangers and don't screw over others for a promotion, I felt it did a decent job of playing into how random chance and small events can be life changing, and not having any control over any of it. I'm also a sucker for Sam Raimi movies, so it had that going for it too.

[Aedilred]

Other than the obvious aesops of be nice to strangers and don't screw over others for a promotion, I felt it did a decent job of playing into how random chance and small events can be life changing, and not having any control over any of it. I'm also a sucker for Sam Raimi movies, so it had that going for it too.

I'm starting to feel that maybe Sam Raimi is one of those creators who you either click with or you don't. If you "get" him, he's great, but if you don't, maybe you're like "the hell was that?" If for whatever reason you're not tuned into that wavelength, the weird blend of comedy and horror (or action for that matter) may just be dissonant and jarring, and as he takes refuge in audacity that may seem gratuitous rather than thrilling. Not to say that people who don't like Raimi are wrong, although they are, but I can imagine there are people for whom he just doesn't do it and never will. That's fair enough.

With that said I suspect that Drag Me to Hell is more of a challenge to "get" when you're in middle school than a few years later. Watching it as an adult having had a taste of earning my own own living, and how precarious that living can be, I found it fairly easy to empathise with both the main character and the old woman, and so the desperation (by both characters) probably hit a bit harder even as the events spiral to absurd levels.

[Metastachydium]

Alright, but what about the anvil and the talking goat making weird faces?

[Blackhawk748]

Alright, but what about the anvil and the talking goat making weird faces?

Thats just Raimi being Raimi.

Have you seen Evil Dead?

[Peelee]

This is the Spider-Man guy, right?

[Bohandas]

It depends on what you're going for in the list

Favorite non-wacky horror films
The Whisperer In Darkness
Evil Dead 3
Coraline
Prince of Darkness
In the Mouth of Madness

Movies that actually scared me
Evil Dead 2
Evil Dead 4
Nightmare on Elm Street
Final Destination
Beetlejuice (when I first saw ot as a kid)
The Blob

Classics
Dracula
The Blob
Night of The Living Dead
The Exorcist
Psycho

Horror Comedies that Don't rely on an extensive knowledge of horror
Young Frankenstein
Club Dread
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Little Shop of Horrors
What We Do In The Shadows
Sweeny Todd
Beetlejuice

80's-90's
Friday the 13th
Nightmare on Elm Street
Hellraiser
Child's Play
Halloween

Ex-Presidents fighting monsters
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
FDR: American Badass
Bubba Hotep

Action movies with superficial horror movie trappings
The Mummy (1999)
Hellboy
Planet Terror
Ghost Rider
Van Helsing

Cult Classics
Plan 9 From Outer Space
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Human Centipede

Strange and Obscure Horror Films
Bloody Pit of Horror/The Crinson Executioner
Space Zombie Bingo
Live Freaky, Die Freaky
Rendezvous With RagNaRok
Brain Drainer

[Aedilred]

Alright, but what about the anvil and the talking goat making weird faces?

Thats just Raimi being Raimi.

Have you seen Evil Dead?

Yeah, that's the "you either get it or you don't" thing I think. There's no point trying to justify the goat because you know as soon as you see it whether you think it's dumb or brilliant (or brilliant and/because dumb) and while an extensive essay on the subject might sow some seeds of doubt, it's not a particularly good use of anyone's time.

Favorite non-wacky horror films
Evil Dead 3

An Evil Dead film, non-wacky?!

Horror Comedies that Don't rely on an extensive knowledge of horror
The Rocky Horror Picture Show

I'unno, maybe? I guess there are a lot of people who are into Rocky Horror who aren't into horror, but that's mainly for the kink (I have views on this, but this isn't the place). But the show is also elbow-deep in horror references and without at least some familiarity of the sort of stuff it's sending up (I appreciate ymmv on what counts as "extensive knowledge") it's more likely to just be confusing and bad, and not particularly funny either.

The other thing about RHPS is that if you watch it cold, you're likely just to bounce off it. You need to see it in company, at least the first time, and at least some of that company need to have seen it before and provide some kind of participation. Its cult popularity is I think as much about a sense of communality as it is anything in the film itself and you need energy in front of the screen to keep the viewers going through stretches of the film that are slow and/or boring.

Van Helsing

I wouldn't show Van Helsing to anybody except as part of a psychological experiment where everyone present was being paid, or perhaps, and with caution, to film students as an example of how not to do it.

[Blackhawk748]

I wouldn't show Van Helsing to anybody except as part of a psychological experiment where everyone present was being paid, or perhaps, and with caution, to film students as an example of how not to do it.

Hey, I enjoyed Van Helsing. Just not as a horror movie. More as a goofy pulp movie.

[Bohandas]

An Evil Dead film, non-wacky?!

Evil Dead 3 is a comedy but it's not a wacky comedy like Scary Movie or Young Frankenstein

I wouldn't show Van Helsing to anybody except as part of a psychological experiment

Where they sit and watch it while you monitor their mind?

[Imbalance]

Hey, I enjoyed Van Helsing. Just not as a horror movie. More as a goofy pulp movie.

Exactly this. It was, "hey, look, the guy that played Wolverine is doing the Brendan Fraser thing with the dumb old Universal Monsters. Should be funny."

[Eldan]

That would be a fun crossover universe. Certainly better than Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe.

[Blackhawk748]

That would be a fun crossover universe. Certainly better than Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe.

I'll take Van Helsing 2 over that... thing, any day of the week.

[Rodin]

Evil Dead 3 is a comedy but it's not a wacky comedy like Scary Movie or Young Frankenstein

Not only would I class Evil Dead 3 as “wacky”, I wouldn’t say that it’s a horror movie. It’s a wacky action comedy that’s a bit gorier than usual.

[tomandtish]

Not only would I class Evil Dead 3 as “wacky”, I wouldn’t say that it’s a horror movie. It’s a wacky action comedy that’s a bit gorier than usual.

Yeah, Army of Darkness is pretty much straight up comedy. Don't get me wrong. I love it, but it's not a scary movie in the slightest.

Someone mentioned Sixth Sense earlier. An excellent movie to watch twice (the second time so you can verify the "catch" yourself). But I consider it more thriller than horror.

By Evil Dead 4 I assume they mean the remake about a decade before?

The proper age to start someone is going to wildly vary. I saw Jaws in the theater at age 6. Scared the hell out of me. Also saw Trilogy of Terror on it's original ABC release later that year. That little fetish doll was also scary. Let's see... Alien, Halloween, Friday the 13th... all seen on original theatrical release. In fact, I've seen every movie in those franchises in the theater except Alien: Covenant (because Prometheus was just horrid).

Other than POSSIBLY the first Saw, I'd probably avoid the torture gorn franchises (Saw, Hostel, etc.).

[Bohandas]

By Evil Dead 4 I assume they mean the remake about a decade before?

Yes. Except that one wasn't really a remake. Evil Dead 2 was the remake, whereas this one was more of a side-quel type thing.

Anyway, the 2013 Evil Dead is also one of only two movies on that list where I was scared by a part that was conventionally scary. Most of the other horror movies that scared me, the part that scared me was one of the protagonists being framed for the murders.

[Vinyadan]

Anyway, the 2013 Evil Dead is also one of only two movies on that list where I was scared by a part that was conventionally scary. Most of the other horror movies that scared me, the part that scared me was one of the protagonists being framed for the murders.

I really liked that movie. I don't know how it scales when compared to the older ones, but it was very well crafted. Also, it was pretty uplifting.

[MetroAlien]

I'm starting to feel like a young baboo reading this thread

A lot of people are immediately recommending classics and they are classics for a reason and great movies in general, but I have my doubts how well they are suited to convince a person who isn't already a fan of the genre.
You'd have to put yourself in their shoes for that.

It's a relatively new movie, but I think "a quiet place" is a good fit for that specific task.
It's definitely a horror movie, but not hardcore. It has a feel-good ending, which will add familiarity to somebody who doesn't usually watch horror.
After that, once the person in question got a taste of monsters and high-adrenaline cinema, you can slowly unpack the more genre-specific stuff.

Tbh, I was quite surprised to see "Terminator" on the list. I never thought of it as a horror movie, myself. But I guess it would also do the task I described above, maybe even better.

By contrast, "predator" has almost the exact same structure as "terminator", but I have a hard time imagining anyone but a horror-fan enjoying it to the fullest.
That's just to highlight that knowing your audience is important here.

The Thing is a really great movie, so you should just show it to people regardless of horror or not.

As a child, I was scared witless by the basilisk in Harry Potter 2, but yeah... I'm all grown up now

As for games, "Dead Space" is an unassailable classic, imho, but I've never been more upset (in a good way) by a piece of media than "cry of fear" (a half life 1 mod turned into a standalone game)
But both of those are on the far end of hardcore (though for different reasons) so I'm contradicting myself here.

[Blackhawk748]

I really liked that movie. I don't know how it scales when compared to the older ones, but it was very well crafted. Also, it was pretty uplifting.

It was good in that it took the Deadites and turned them from these darkly comical things and turned them into real demons. Like, its the serious cousin to the originals and Im totally ok with that.

It's a relatively new movie, but I think "a quiet place" is a good fit for that specific task.
It's definitely a horror movie, but not hardcore. It has a feel-good ending, which will add familiarity to somebody who doesn't usually watch horror.
After that, once the person in question got a taste of monsters and high-adrenaline cinema, you can slowly unpack the more genre-specific stuff.

My issue with A Quiet Place is that I have serious issues buying into the situation. I think the idea is really good and creates great tension, but I'm like "All of the worlds militaries are too stupid to figure out 'play speakers really loud and blast them apart with MOABs?" And if you tell me they survive a MOAB then its not an alien anymore, its a freaking Demon, and I would be more ok with that.

By contrast, "predator" has almost the exact same structure as "terminator", but I have a hard time imagining anyone but a horror-fan enjoying it to the fullest.
That's just to highlight that knowing your audience is important here..

Predator is basically an Action movie structured like a Horror film. And its great.

[gomipile]

The Ritual (2017): A really decent monster film with some eldritch horror and a bit of "ordinary people are(also) the real monsters."

The Descent (2005): Claustrophobia, anyone?

You're Next(2011): One of my favorite de/reconstructions of the slasher genre. Might benefit from some prior exposure to slasher films, but I suspect it stands on its own quite well.

Uzumaki(2000): Japanese eldritch/cosmic horror. Probably aged better than Ringu, since the conceit is more timeless, though it is a bit sillier(?) than most of the non-comedic films listed in this thread.Very creepy if you can take it somewhat seriously.


John Dies at the End(2012): Horror comedy. Maybe a bit too genre self-referential in a similar way to Cabin in the Woods.

If so, then perhaps Zombieland(2009) instead. Zombie tropes are much more well known now, so I think the jokes should land well for just about anyone.

Seconded: The Thing and Night of the Living Dead.

Horror Comedy honorable mention: The Stuff(1985) is pretty funny. Also, it kept me up at night, terrified, as a child.

[Bohandas]

Yeah, Army of Darkness is pretty much straight up comedy. Don't get me wrong. I love it, but it's not a scary movie in the slightest.

I mean, it's scarier than the old Universal monster movies. Scarier than all of them combined. Those movies set a really low bar for horror.

EDIT:
Although allegedly they were considered quite shocking in their day

[Vinyadan]

I mean, it's scarier than the old Universal monster movies. Scarier than all of them combined. Those movies set a really low bar for horror.

This became problematic when Romero made Night of the Living Dead, sold it as a horror movie, and, since horror back then simply meant "contains monsters", children went to watch it with their families.

[Bohandas]

This became problematic when Romero made Night of the Living Dead, sold it as a horror movie, and, since horror back then simply meant "contains monsters", children went to watch it with their families.

I mean, there are also some legitimate kids' movies that are scarier than the Universal monster movies.

Like Willy Wonka with all the bizarre industrial accidents the oompa loompas coming out after each one to call the victim an *******, and the scene with the creepy poetry. (Now that I think of it, really any movie based on a Roald Dahl book has at least one scene where something incredibly messed up happens.)

Also, when I was a kid the witch from The Little Mermaid scared the hell out of me. What the hell were those things that she had turned people into in the background of Poor Unfortunate Souls.

And there's also Coraline, which is a legitimate horror movie aimed at children under 13.

[Kriegspiel]

I've always argued that Willie Wonka is the devil.

He is a tempter.

He offers your wildest dream...then punishes you for it.

No different than Leland Gaunt or Mr. Dark.

[Bohandas]

EDIT: Just had a thought. If the person you're inteoducing to the genre likes videogames or tabletop wargames then definitely show them Event Horizon as it has strong similarities to the premises of Doom, Quake, and Half-Life, and titualr ship itself is basically a WH40K space hulk

I've always argued that Willie Wonka is the devil.

He is a tempter.

He offers your wildest dream...then punishes you for it.

No different than Leland Gaunt or Mr. Dark.

If we're talking about interpretations of movies and characters, I've always seen the Other Mother from Coraline as evocative of modern pet owners. She's got the whole creepy fake mother thing going on and the cost of living with her is unnecessary surgery. (edit: and also she'll eventually kill you)

Yeah, Army of Darkness is pretty much straight up comedy. Don't get me wrong. I love it, but it's not a scary movie in the slightest.

Now I think we need to be clear about what we're talking about. There's four different things the word "comedy" can denote:
1.) A movie that is driven by laugh-out-loud humor
2.) A movie that merely contains humorous or silly elements
3.) A movie that is not a drama
or 4.) A movie that is not a tragedy

When I refer to a "comedy", especially if I've described it as "wacky" I'm referring primarily to the first definition. I suppose I probably should have said "gag-a-minute comedy" instead of "wacky comedy" as I was referring to the sort of movies associated with Mel Brooks, Leslie Nielson, Monty Python, Jackass, The Wayans Brothers, etc.. However, I don't think that Army of Darkness really meets the first definition at all. The only part that's really laugh out loud funny is the line "good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun", and if we let one liners count then every action movie ever is a comedy.

In any case, although it is a comedy (it meets definitions 2 and 3, and possibly 4 depending on the cut), it is not a comedy in the same way that Scary Movie, Young Frankenstein, and Live Freaky Die Freaky are comedies.

[Thrawn4]

I only have two movies:

"Drag me to hell" and "Paranormal Activity".

Both have relatable main characters and a world that is sometimes unfair in a realistic way. But the former is more obvious in that you have curses, special effects and a visible demon. The latter is a very subtle independent production that will make you uncomfortable if something goes bump in the night.

[Ionathus]

I've always seen the Other Mother from Coraline as evocative of modern pet owners. She's got the whole creepy fake mother thing going on and the cost of living with her is unnecessary surgery.

Bob Barker would like to know your location

[Bohandas]

Unnecessary. This conceit that we need to control the cat and dog populations is something that was made up in the past 30 or 40 years. There have been cats and dogs for thousands of years before now and it's never caused a problem before and it isn't a problem now; it's just people tilting at windmills.

EDIT:
Actually, there was one notable time before when they tried to control the cat population. And the total net result of that effort after all was said and done was that it made the black death spread faster because there were more rats