Horror Movies

[Pandabear 414]

I swear we had a thread for this already but I couldn't find it. Perhaps it was in one the previous incarnations of this forum, but anyway here's a new one. A place for discussing/recommending horror movies. 

 

I love horror flicks in general and since Halloween is coming up, I've pretty much have been watching loads of horror movies.

 

Just finished watching the Evil Dead Series. The first two films are sick. They're some of my favorite horror films. Army of Darkness was good too, but it was departure from the stick horror genre into comedy. I'm still looking forward to Army Of Darkness 2 though.

 

Evil Dead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coGH4OaR9hc

 

Evil Dead II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6mEiJRiXqc

 

 

Going to watch V/H/S 2 for Halloween with some friends. A cool anthology of horror shorts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Tv0lhD1fw

 

 

Some of my other favorite horror flicks have to be

v/h/s

The Thing (80 version)

The Exorcism 

28 Days later

An American Werewolf in London

Night of The Living Dead (original)

Dawn of The Dead (remake)

It

The Shining

 

And that's all I can come up with at the top of my head but there's tons more. What are some of yours?

[JukaForever 758]

Oh love me horror movies, its pretty much how I got introduced to Japanese and Korean culture.

 

Takashi Miike is one of my fave directors: Audition and Imprint from Masters of Horror anthologie

 

For Korean films: Chaser and I saw the devil

 

Those are the last 4 that has left the biggest impression on me since I have seen them. I have seen others but a little forgettable

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

I just watched Evil Dead recently.

 

I honestly hate scary movies . I'm scared of literally everything when it comes to movies and I don't get over things for years, so I just stay away from them. Unfortunately, they're my boyfriend's favorite thing so he's slowly getting me exposed to more and more.

 

I found that I really like exorcist movies. Love love loved Exorcism of Emily Rose, which wasn't scary so much as interesting, and I most recently watched Devil Inside Me. That move was as dumb as all of the reviews said it was. It also didn't help that the interview-esque character interaction made it seem like I was watching Parks & Rec.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

OMG I loooove me sum horror movies~ *w*

 

Of course there's lots of boring stuff or maybe I've just become too used to them - case in point, 80% of the haunted house/ghost stories and the ones about demonic possession that's been done to death in these past years. A recent one that came close to being good was The Conjuring but even there I didn't understand all the hype (like, it's an average okay movie... well I guess it's still better than the other crap xD).

 

Anyway, here are some favorites of mine (I prolly left out a few):

 

Prince of Darkness

Hellraiser (first 2, and then some random ones later)

The Beyond

City of the Living Dead

Suspiria

Inferno

Bride of Frankenstein

REC 1 & 2

House of 1000 Corpses

The Devil's Rejects

Demons 1 & 2

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original and the first 2 remakes)

In the Mouth of Madness

Jacob's Ladder

Angel Heart

The Descent

Videodrome

Dead Snow

Frankenstein's Army

Saw

 

I can't seem to enjoy Asian horror that much, except for a few like Ju-On, Tale of Two Sisters or Three Extremes.

[Pandabear 414]

I've heard very good things about the Audition. I've been meaning to check that movie out.

 

And I agree with jigsaw on there being a lot of boring horror movies. The haunted house cliche being one of them. I don't get the hype surrounding some of them. Paranormal Activity being one of them. It was so overhyped when I watched it, I was extremely disappointed. It wasn't scary at all.

 

The most recent major horror flick I've been interested in is the remake of Stephen King's Carrie.

 

There were already remakes of Evil Dead, The Thing and Dawn Of The Dead and all those turned out decent. Maybe not as good as the originals, but they weren't butchered.  

[JukaForever 758]

The only recent Hollywood horror that legit scared me was Mama, everything else was meh including the Paranormal Activity. I have seen all Rec, english and spanish version. It was a fun film more that scary imo.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

 

The most recent major horror flick I've been interested in is the remake of Stephen King's Carrie.

 

There were already remakes of Evil Dead, The Thing and Dawn Of The Dead and all those turned out decent. Maybe not as good as the originals, but they weren't butchered.  

 

I'm kind of interested in the Carrie remake too, tho I've never seen the original (but I did read the book, which was excellent). I haven't heard many good things about it so far from those who've seen it tho.

 

And I agree, at least with Evil Dead being pretty cool for a remake... The Thing wasn't too bad either, I liked that it tried to be more like a prequel.

 

JukaForever: Ahhh I love the REC movies (the Spanish movies that is, not the US Quarantine or whatever it was)! I'm still kind of iffy on the 3rd one, it just didn't really "fit" with the others imo, and was kinda bland in comparison to the awesome tension of the first two. Still, looking forward to the 4th movie.

[Miasma 162]

Today I watched The Conjuring for like the fifth time. It's one of those movies that I can watch repeatedly without ever getting bored <3

 

I also watched Repulsion for the first time because I was in the mood for some psychological horror. Really good scare scenes in this one. I don't scare easily, and this movie made me jump twice! Holy fuck those dream sequences! Plot and themes were executed really well too, poor Carol   Roman Polanski can die in a fire, but I really enjoyed this crazy ass movie.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Ahhhh Repulsion is fantastic! I always get excited when I find old movies that can really take my breath away and have that true 'horror effect' on me... The anthology movie Black Sabbath is like that too (I only saw the Italian version tho, I heard the US cut isn't that good, lots of cut-out stuff, etc), or Carnival of Souls.

[relentless 254]

Horror movies are awesome! Here are some of my favorites:

 

Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

The Burning

Halloween

Suspiria

Dead Alive

Friday the 13th

Nightmare on Elm St.

Poltergeist

Night of the Living Dead

House on Haunted Hill (original)

Psycho

Evil Dead 1 & 2

The Shining

Horror of Dracula

Fright Night

Re-Animator

The Return of the Living Dead

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Horror of Dracula is a nice one! Another highly entertaining Hammer Horror flick that comes to mind is The Devil Rides Out (tho some "epic" scenes might look a bit ridiculous by today's standards). Oh, and their first Frankenstein movie is pretty cool too! (never actually got to watch the following oodles of Dracula and Frankenstein movies... yet)

 

Also lol, gotta love Re-Animator!  Tho I generally love Jeffrey Combs' performances - Castle Freak, and the more recent Would You Rather are good examples.

 

[Tokage 5930]

Watched V/H/S yesterday.

Damn, talk about inconsistency in quality. Like, overall I felt it was enjoyable despite the high-level shakycam but there were some pieces which just didn't do it for me, like the second short and the wraparound.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ I found V/H/S super-boring, except maybe for the first story (the one with the guys going to the club and hooking up with a weird girl). I did like V/H/S 2 somewhat, surprisingly! The story "Safe Haven" where a filming crew goes to a far-off building complex to film an obscure cult is one of the freakiest and most demented things I've seen in this so-called "found footage" subgenre. From the moment it starts out it gets more and more tense and uneasy, and then it explodes and the real "fun" starts. Recommended!

 

edit: oh hey, here's the whole story on Youtube!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s27VijwqAZw

[Pandabear 414]

Yeah V/H/S 2 was much better than the first one. I just saw it last night and the shorts were much more interesting. All of them were pretty good, but Safe Haven was the best one. That short alone makes V/H/S 2 worth watching.  It got really creepy towards the end and then it gets totally messed up. That ending was great too.

 

I think I'm going to check out more anthology type horror movies. 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ The aforementioned Black Sabbath is a nice (oldie) one, also I recommend Trick 'r Treat if you haven't seen it yet - although if I remember well it's more like an intertwining of many stories instead of really stand-alone ones, but it's been a while since I've last seen it.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

What would be a good horror movie for someone who doesn't really like gore? :<

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ Hmmm maybe try Suspiria and Inferno (in this order, they are loosely connected), those are older ones by Dario Argento, very colorful, atmospheric and stylishly shot. In the Mouth of Madness is a pretty cool one too, kinda inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. Then there are movies that balance between horror and psycho-thriller or psycho-weirdness, such as Jacob's Ladder or Angel Heart.

 

Incidentally all these I listed somehow have a gradually escalating, uneasy, nightmare-like quality to them. Also they're from around the '70s to '90s, so if you want something newer, I dunno... maybe Shutter Island? (tho that's not really horror) I also heard ppl praise the film House of the Devil but I found it boring (but maybe it's worth a shot).

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Time frame doesn't really matter, I just don't like seeing people get cut up and having their entrails eaten or movies whose main premise is torture (i.e.: saw, hostile, etc).  I do like bizarre / uneasy atmosphered  things, however. Evangelion is one of my favorite shows: while it's not horror, it is pretty fucked up if you manage to keep focus from episodes 15 onwards. End of Eva also made sense to me and leaves me feeling vulnerable / worthless every time I see it.

 

I also like things like Melancholia and I've and enjoyed seen the first 30 mins of the Stepford Wives (my boyfriend finished it without me...), so that's kind of more the route I was looking for . Oh, the Alfred Hitchcock show is also  great. Again, not really horror, but it does have a very ominous atmosphere the whole time.

[Rikurikufu 3]

I love watching horror movies. Any horror movies, whether it's just a typical gore or something psychological and here are some horror movies that stuck in my head until now : Shutter (Thailand version), Let Me In, Three Extremes, Tale of Two Sisters, There is something about Kevin, Rosemary's Baby, Psycho, and some Stephen King adaptations (Sleepwalker, Children of Corn, The Mist, The Shining, Dreamcatcher, etc).

 

Though there is just one movie that gives me a deep impact, that Thailand version of Shutter. I can't sleep in darkness and afraid of being alone. Even, just close my eyes scares me, because it reminds me of the ghost. Thanks God, I'm pretty much normal now

[Bear 1817]

I love watching films in general, but horror are my main genre for sure. I don't care if it's from the 20's, 60's or 00's or whatever, if it's european, american or asian or whatever, if it's gothic, slashers or psychological or whatever, if it'c a-, b-, c- films or whatever - I just can't get enough of horror.

[Flame-X 441]

I'm not big into horror movies but one that I really liked is The Thing. Excellent special effects that still holds up to this day and the creature designs are sick. Also really enjoyed Alien.

[Bear 1817]

Let's do somethig funny. This is impossible as one will leave out som mandatory films and forget a film that should be on that list. But one can't reember everything, and this isn't very serious. But here's the thing: let's make a top 10 list for every "decade". We start with the 2000's, then the 90's, 80's, 70's, 60's, 50's, 40's, 30's, and the 1890-1929's. You might not have a top 10 for the 40's, 30's or maybe 70's, but just add what you've got. There's only TWO rules here: try as good you can to go from best to worst-worst to best, and WRITE WHAT YOU THINK OF THE FILM! WHY THE FUCK DO YOU LIKE THIS FILM! Why should we write about it? To inspire people to check it out and make it a whole more interesting. Just a list isn't very interesting and I tend to skip those meself. Sounds good? I think so. Oh, and let's take two decades a week. The 00's now, and the 90's from wednesday, then the 80's on sunday, and 70's on wednesday and so on. Hope some people can contribute to this thing.

 

Top 10 horror films post-2000's:

 

1. The Call of Cthulhu

Andrew Leman is an obvious fan of H.P. Lovecraft and 20's horror films, and The Call of Cthulhu is made in a 20's fashion. It's silent and it's black and white. Andrew Leman takes H.P. Lovecrafts most faous short story and turn it into a 50 minute long horror film that isn't just the best of this decade, but among the best horor films ever known, and H.P. Lovecraft's amazing short story finally got an worthy adaption. If you, like me, have seen many, many 20's films, you'll be able to tell that this isn't from that era. It's not filmed on the right equipment and just doesn't look 100% real. But does it matter? No, because Leman still manage to give you a feeling of watching a 20's horror film. The atmosphere, the acting and the score are 100% 20's. You won't get cheap scares or gore, but what you will get here is the most important thing in a horror film: THE HORROR! This is one of the few true classics of the 2000's.

 

2. The House of the Devil

Ti West has become somewhat a cult figure in the horror scene over the last 10 years, and it all started with The House of the Devil. This is the film that really took this man from just being another horror director to becoming one of the most promising, young directors in the world. Ti West loves horror and it's so easy to see. The whole film feels like a tribute to the late 70's horror scene. If I didn't know better I would, in all fucking honesty, think I was watching a film from the late 70's. There's only one thing that gives this film away, and that is some trash cans. Yes, trash cans. Everything else feels 100% authentic. This is, as with The Call of Cthulhu, not only one of the best horror films of the 2000's, but on my top 10 list ever as well. Such a well made, crafty horror film without cheap scares and shit. It's pure horror!

The underrated The Innkeepers were close to making the list as well.

 

3. Les nuits rouges du bourreau de jade aka Red Nights

I wrote a review of this not too long ago, so most people interested in films probably saw that. This is a neo-giallo which borrows heavily from the giallo genre. Is it truely a horror film? Well, one can discuss that. But with so much giallo inspiration I'm having a hard time not seeing it as one. It's visually stunning, well-acted, superbly directed and just bloody brilliant. This isn't as atmospheric as the two above, but elies mroe on gore and visuals. But it never feels cheap. One of the really overlooked films in recent years.

 

4. Happiness of the Katakuris

This is one of my favourite Takashi Miike films, and a really overlooked one. No-one ever talks about this when they talk bout Miike. Maybe it's a bit too weird for most people? This is a surrealistic horror comedy with musical numbers, dance numbers, karaoke-styled sing a long scenes and mroe, with lots of absurdness and madness. Yes, that's the word I was lookign for. Dark, twisted and strange, but yet heartwarming. A hilarious film. This film is pure MADNESS.

This film is loosely based on the South-Korean The Quiet Family. Woth seeing as well, but it's not as crazy as this.

 

5. The Brotherhood of the Wolf

Some would argue that this isn't a horror film, but it is. It's filled with great, atmospheric horror, brilliantly crafted action scenes and an interesting mystery. This film isn't scary, and it never tries to be. But it's still atmosheric and great. Looks beautiful as well.

 

6. A Tale of Two Sisters

A chilling, atmospheric horror film that feels very classy. It's an atmospheric piece, and all in all, that's where its greatness lies. The atmospheric is absolutely brilliant.

 

7. Versus

This is as much action as it is horror, but I just can't leave it out. You get a bit of everything here. Zombies, gunplay, sword fights, martial arts and gangsters, and it's all so well-coreographed and funny it's hard not to like it. There's a reason why this has gained a cult following over the years. There's nothing like it.

 

8. Eden Lake

I thought this was awful the first time I saw it, but I accedently watching it a few years ago and came to my senses and realized what an amazing film this is. Provocative, brutal, very effective and relentlessly upsetting flick. This film makes you wish you were in the film and could kick some very serious ass. Really.

 

9. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane

This is probably the most original slasher since Scream, which again might be the most original one since Halloween. But this is a lot better than Scream. Surprisingly intelligent, intense and fun horor film with many a surprises throughout the film. One of the biggest surprises of the 2000's IMO as I had no expectations whatsoever.

 

 

10. Frankenweenie

Frankenweenie is Tim Burton close to his best. Black and white, stop-motion animation movie that is a huge parody and homage to Frankenstein, but also pay homage to a billion other great horor films. This isn't a scary horror film. It's charming and sweet, and just so much fun. As I said, among Tim Burton's best (only Big Fish is better), and that should say it all.

 

 

 

Some of these could have been swapped with another film, though. Mainly thinking about the 4-5 last ones. Been some very good film the last 14 years.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ Superb idea! You have a nice list, although totally different from mine (as you will soon see), however I did enjoy some of the movies you listed. The Call of Cthulhu was a really cool experiment and Happiness of the Katakuris is one fucked-up weirdfest alright, haha. Eden Lake is a good one for people who wanna check out more "real-life"-like horror. Somehow The House of the Devil completely went by me - there were instances in the middle when the tension was rising but somehow nothing really happened till the end, so I felt a bit bored. They sure made their best to recreate that '70s vibe tho, so props for that.

 

Anyway, here's my list. "Post-2000's" was too big of a period, so I narrowed it down to 11 instead of 10, hah!

 

1. REC

Excellent Spanish horror of the handheld-cam / found footage variety. It flows really well and has an almost constant sense of dread and tension all the way, making it a very entertaining and thrilling watch. Recommended for fans of zombies and the occult (it's almost like a modern-day found footage version of Demons 2). The sequel would have deserved to be here too (more demonic stuff), but I had to make some sacrifices to include other movies.

 

2. The Devil's Rejects

Gritty, gruesome thriller/horror from Rob Zombie, continuing from where his last movie (see: item 5) left us. Only this time the execution and tone is much more realistic and violent. It's an interesting piece for the fact that you practically watch a bunch of demented psychos driving around killing people, and the manhunt by the police - yet in the end it's up to you who you sympathize with (prolly nobody cuz everyone's kinda crazy, haha).

 

3. Saw

The whole Saw saga is good for one watch in my book, however the first movie rises above all of them by far. Very smart, tricky horror/thriller with some fun twists and "oh god I didn't see that coming" moments, it was probably the first of its kind, inspiring many "escape room games" and whatnot. The idea of someone kidnapping people and putting them to a deadly test to evaluate how they take their life for granted is an interesting one.

 

4. The Ring

I'm not a big remake fan but goddamn, this movie scared me shitless. I found it much, much, much more disturbing, frightening and foreboding than the Japanese original. It's like a big drawn-out mysterious nightmare with some very haunting but somehow beautiful imagery and color scheme, and you never know what's coming next. Very stylish and spooky film.

 

5. House of 1000 Corpses

The sort-of-prequel to The Devil's Rejects, it's a much more fun or funny ride. Basically it's a big tribute to '70s and '80s slasher and crazy backcountry flicks like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, only a great deal more kooky and humorous. The visuals really hit the spot with the random weird effects and color choices, and the music is superb and cool too. The characters are what really make this movie tho, lots of over-the-top crazy people.

 

6. Dagon

A Spanish horror based on the H.P. Lovecraft mythos and directed by Stuart Gordon? Seems like the stars were aligned right when they made this excellent B-movie type horror. The atmosphere is awesomely creepy and quirky, and you can really feel that certain Lovecraftian "slowly losing grip of the real world" vibe as more and more frightening things occur. It's not the most high-budget movies as evident in the special effects, but lovingly made!

 

7. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The remake of the classic horror, and not less great either! I could've slapped on its sequel here too, which is equally good. This is what a modern-day reimagining of an old well-known story should look and feel like. It's fresh with some killer atmosphere and great evil characters - the demented sheriff takes the cake for sure, almost outshining Leatherface.

 

8. The Descent

If you have claustrophobia, you're in for a treat (or quite the contrary...well you get it). Some women go down into a largely unmapped cave system where they run into their doom. The tension in this movie just builds and builds and then escalates at an "oh shit-" moment, and then all hell breaks loose. It's just pure awesomeness. Recommended for fans of survival horror.

 

9. May

This is a curious little movie, I'm hesitating to call it purely horror... it's more like a psycho-drama/horror/thriller I guess? We follow the life of May, who is a really awkward and weirdo introvert struggling to properly connect with people but ultimately she fails. She finally snaps and proceeds to find different enjoyments and whatnot... don't wanna spoil it, heh. It might give away a hint that the Hungarian title is "Frankenstein's Playthings".

 

10. Martyrs

Another one of those "holy shit-" films. I remember watching this once, thinking it was one of the coolest and creepiest things I've ever seen, then proceeded to get it on DVD and then I didn't watch it for like half a year... yeah, it really hit home I guess. Powerful, gruesome stuff. A deadly mix of psycho-thriller, drama and torture flick elements with a feeling that will linger around you for days.

 

+1 Tucker & Dale vs Evil

Okay, this isn't really horror, it's more horror comedy with a bigger emphasis on comedy, but boy is it fun! It's guaranteed to make you laugh your pants off if you know/love the "crazy countryside folks" type of slasher horror movies. The characters are amazing too, especially the two loveable idiots from the title. A great funny spin on horror, looking at the typical slasher scenario in a whole different way.

[Bear 1817]

A few very surprising choices there. Mainly thinking of The Ring and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

 

The Ring is decent for being a modern remake of a j-horror film (or, "a-horror" as there's been a  billion remakes of great, asian horror films), but I think it's weak compared to Ringu. Lacks the feeling of terror and horror that the original had. Overall the american one just feels like it's aimed towards a bigger audience than what Ringu was. Feels kinder, dumber and just... nah.

 

As for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre they just fucked it up so bad. It lacks everything that made the original not only a classic, but amazing as well. Where's the madness and sheer terror of the original? It's gone. It's got gore, but nothing else. Meh.

 

Saw is a very good choice, but not the first of its kind. Cube  was 7 years before Saw. It's got more sci-fi and less horor than Saw, but the concept is much of the same. I prefer Saw, though. But Cube is good as well.

 

Kudos for including an IMDB link as well. Makes it so much easier for someone as lazy as myself.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

IMO the terror was very much there in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake... tho maybe the overall atmosphere was a bit different.

 

Ahhh yes, totally forgot about Cube! That was a nice one as well, as its sequels kinda - they got more and more ridiculous but kinda fun to watch. xD