Scaryyy mooviiies... OooooOOOOoooo...

[Sarlon]

To this day, Gremlins, the ORGINAL nightmare on elm street (not that POS remake attempt), and saw still scare the crap out of me.

and I remember watching gremlins back when I was at day camp....at 7 years old >.>

Robert Englund will always be freddy to me...yeah it was cheesey, low special effect budget, but it had a YOUNG Johnny Depp, and scared ya spitless.

[Antisocial_Worker]

Well, yeah. People in horror films are idiots.

I've learned that there is an excellent reason for that. I've been writing a horror novel for, oh... several years now and one of my ironbound rules is that the characters must behave realistically. Which they do.

Which means a lot of thinking themselves in circles trying to rationalize everything going on, lots of redundant question-asking, lots of paralyzing indecision, angst, and give-up, lie-down-on-the-floor-and-die despair.

Not a lot of fun to write, but hopefully interesting enough to read. So far one member on here seems to think so whenever I send another chapter to her to read. Realism translates badly enough in fiction but it probably would translate very badly to the big screen. Unless the characters act like idiots the plot winds down like an old watch.

[dalesys]

Well, yeah. People in horror films are idiots.

People always laugh at the janitor who says, "Feets, DON'T fail me now!". But he don't get killed!
[/Cos]

[BlaqueKatt]

Things seen just out of the corner of your eye..shadows and things that go bump in the night. If you find a GOOD horror movie like that let me know. I could use a good scare

Session 9
Right at your door
Spiral

sinister looks like it may be ok, release is october 5th

[TheSHAD0W]

Since I've had intestinal troubles all my life, Stephen King's "Dreamcatcher" always made me shiver.

[Merriweather]

1 - haven't seen it yet, will have to check into it

2 - see below

3 - got any white chocolate macadamia nut cookies?


I don't care for blood & gore, people with axes, torture, that sort of thing. I like the kinds that have you looking around the room now and then, the kind that get the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. Some of the old Hitchcock films, like the Birds, are good. The 60's, early 70's had a lot of good classic scary movies - The Haunting of Hill House (course, Shirley Jackson is one of my favourite writers). Maybe it was just easier to be scared back when we were teenagers - a bunch of teens watching a scary movie in a car at a dark drive-in can manage to freak each other out as much as the movie does I remember all of us being freaked out by one called "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" - watched it on cable a while back, and it seems to have lost a bit with age Some of the old ones, Hitchcock and others as well, were good about having you sitting there holding your breath, you just knew the terrible thing was about to happen - then it didn't. Psych. The really good ones are like riding a roller coaster.
Just wish I could remember a few more good titles, sorry.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Well, yeah. People in horror films are idiots.

Have you seen "Cabin in the Woods" yet? It's supposed to be out on Blu-Ray/DVD next month.

I am a fan of horror movies... well, I watch a lot of movies in general, but I do love a good scary flick. Gory or not.

I would suggest the following:

- "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" - really not as gory as people thought it was.
- "Paranormal Activity" (1 and 2, haven't seen 3 yet) - great movie for watching at home, alone, with the lights off, IF you can lose yourself in the story.
- "Ghostwatch" - another great 'home alone' movie.
- "Poltergeist"
- "Something Wicked This Way Comes", the Disney version.
- "One Missed Call", the original Japanese story.
- "The Ring", the American version (which I liked better than the original "Ringu").
- "Evil Dead 2". Imagine a horror movie done by the Three Stooges, and you'd get this. Very gory but so insanely over-the-top it's hilarious.


There's more, much much more...

Merriweather, I also saw "Let's Scare Jessica To Death" a few months ago, it was on the Turner Classic Movies channel. Dated but full of creepy atmosphere. I just watched another movie last week that reminded me of "LSJTD" called "Messiah of Evil", another 70's low budget movie filled with creepy atmosphere and a WTF story. It's in a DVD pack I bought last Halloween for $10 and I've been slowly crawling my way through it... 29 down, 21 to go!

[Rapscallion]

What happened to that girl that was bitten? Did she esplode? Was she killed by those agency fellows? Or did something pop out of her? I was unclear on that when they took her in the tent.

Exploded.

Rapscallion

[Jay 2K Winger]

Exploded.

Rapscallion

Yeah, if I'm remembering details I've read, those little tick-things that they ran into in the tunnel (that bit her) are parasites that suck Clover's blood. Thus, their bite injects some anti-coagulant. Just before she was bustled off and asploded, you could see she was starting to hemorrhage from her face.

Nasty stuff, regardless.

[Pixilated]

I'm entering this discussion a bit tentatively as we have had the cable at mom's house cut off (I'm not prepared to pay for it and I'm used to no TV), so all my watching now (as usual) is on the internet (e.g. YouTube).

There's a British series called Haunted Britain - Real Ghost Stories. Watched it in my tiny 600-square-foot apartment and then realized there was no way I was going to be able to turn off my desk lamp and go to bed IN THE DARK (never mind the parking lot lights, LOL). I haven't even attempted to watch it here -- I've got a BASEMENT, for goodness' sakes!!

There's also the Hammer House of Horror episodes and Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense (both also British). They're generally pretty good.

It seems to me there's an episode in one or the other starring Peter Cushing as the proprieter of a creepy old shop full of antiquy-looking stuff, and he gets several fairly unsavoury customers in there, and each gets what they deserve. Can't find it now, though ...

I've also found a ton of the old Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes.

I loved The Haunting of Hill House!

Love the phrase 'torture porn.' A while ago I watched a program called 'Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments' and it showed clips from some great classics as well as some that definitely tended towards the torture porn variety ... yuck. Gave me a good heads-up on what to avoid. I've heard before that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, despite its title, doesn't belong in that group -- the vast majority of the violence happens outside camera range.

[Mytical]

Texas Chainsaw does not fit in the 'torture porn' section. Things like Saw, Hostel, and things like them do. They are not 'scary', they are all about the grossest/worst ways to die. 1000 faces of death, etc, also. I can't claim credit for the term 'torture porn', because I heard the term and it fits. It's not about scary, it is about the visual/visceral watching of somebody getting maimed and killed.

[Eireann]

The Haunting, 1963. Don't even wipe your feet on the 1999 version; it's THAT bad.

The Twilight Zone. NOT the movie. The series. There are plenty of really eerie episodes in that show.

Frenzy. Not a horror film per se, but a tense, nail-biting thriller about a series of murders in London - and a man who finds himself accused of being the killer.

The House on Haunted Hill. Vincent Price. A true master of the genre.

[Pixilated]

The movie I was trying to think of earlier is titled Beyond the Grave. Peter Cushing is the proprietor of a shadowy little shop called Temptations.

Somebody mentioned Roddy Mcdowall earlier ... I don't remember in what connection, but there's also The Legend of Hell House. A minor amount of blood and sex, but nowhere near enough (IMO) to qualify it for a torture porn label. I've also read the book; the violence and sex (what there is) is germane to the plot.

I saw clips from Hostel. Wouldn't watch it for all the gold in Fort Knox.

[telecom_goddess]

I tend to like the psychological thriller more than gore or anything really gross. But here is a list.

The Exorcist -- classic for all time and must be watched repeatedly

Rosemary's Baby -- same thing

The Ring -- gets points for being original at the time.

Carrie -- just a classic damn story.

Now for one that is done really well, it was directed by William Friedken who also directed The Exorcist. However it's creepy and scary as hell and I will never do a repeat of it.

Another couple that are also done really well but I will never repeat because I just can't deal with them...Novocaine with Kevin Bacon and Steve Martin (it's NOT a comedy) and Boxing Helena.

ETA: I forgot about a great film and great book as well -- Let The Right One In. The original Swedish subtitled version. Not the american remake. Also for a series try The Hunger, based on the film. David Bowie is in the second season.

[auntiem]

Also for a series try The Hunger, based on the film. David Bowie is in the second season.

Wha!!! How did I not know about this! off to imdb...