Badmovies.org Forum

First of all, I apologize if this has been posted before. I checked and it seems like it has not, but I'd be surprised if that truly is the case.

What movies genuinely scared you?

I'll leave the meaning of scared up to interpretation, so it could mean anything from a little creeped out to disturbed to shaking in fear while hiding under the covers in your bed.

Also, the movies don't need to be consistently scary. They could have scared you once or maybe as a child, but not as an adult.

As for me, in no particular order:

Halloween - (1978)

French title: Ils, English title: Them - (2006)

The Terminator - (1984)

The Hills Have Eyes - (2006)

The Omen - (1976)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - (1974)

The exorcist

Dark remains

Paranormal activity

I'm sure we've talked about this many times before but the following definitely scared me upon first viewing:

Salem's Lot

Predator

The Haunting (1963)

The Thing (1982)

Jurassic Park

Jaws

Cujo

Trilogy of Terror

Halloween (1978)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Psycho (1960)

Carrie

Intruders

An American Werewolf in London kind of freaked me out when I first saw it in the theater.  There was that dream sequence where the guy ended up eating the head of a deer, and then he woke up and hit rotting buddy was sitting there wanting to have a conversation with him.  AAAHHH!

The remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massace was another great one.  The movie was jut intense and afterwards I was like "Awesome movie, I never want to watch it again."   :teddyr:  I've since bought it on DVD and then Blu ray.

Scared is an odd term.  I'm going with films that unnerved me:

1.  Session 9 - I've said it before and I'll say it again...this is a near perfect horror film.  There is so much tension and atmosphere here.  Very little on screen violence, everything is implied.  It's just superb from begining to end. 

2.  High Tension - This is the opposite of Session 9.  Here, every bit of violence is on screen and it's grueling.  It's just violent as hell.  Everytime you meet a new character in the film, you're sitting there wondering just exactly how they will die.  Seriously unlike anything I'd seen before or since. 

3.  Hellraiser - Seeing this film as a kid made for tons of nightmares.  Even watching it today, it's creepy.  That scene with Frank being reanimated is still one that gets me. 

4.  Pet Semetary - One of the King films that you really don't hear mentioned often.  There are two scenes that work and make this one a classic and extremely unnerving.  First is the kid getting hit by the 18 wheeler...the second is the scene with the achillies tendon.  That just scares the crap out of me.

The Last Man on Earth (1964)

Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

The Exorcist (1973)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Jaws (1975)

The Sentinel (1977)

Dressed to Kill (1980)

The Evil Dead (1981)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

and probably a few more.

A few of my faves . . .

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
MIRRORS
THE RING
JEEPERS CREEPERS (all more recent)

and going back a few years:
HELLNIGHT
THE GRIM REAPER (ANTHROPHAGUS)

The movie that most scared me in my life was the TV movie version of It.  I may add I saw it in its original broadcast when I was 7 years old.  I was REALLY freaked after I first saw it, like no other movie before or since.  I had to sleep in my parents bed for a night or two after.  For weeks after, while I wasn't nearly as scared any longer, I still found our basement scary (Michigan basement, with a central drain and scary furnace) and gave sewer openings and big drains a wide berth. 

Robot Monster- yeah, I know "WTF?!" but I was 4 when I saw it!

Many of you have listed movies that have scared the hell of of me THE EXORCIST being at the top of my list --  but another one that really got to me was the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.  During it's original release, it was playing at the local movie theater and I had no idea at all what the movie was about. All I know is that it left a lasting impression on me. I had nightmares for quite awhile.  It had been on tv not long ago ... I watched the beginning and had to shut if off about 15 minutes into it.

Just thinking about it creeps me out.

1.) Twilight Zone The Movie - Particularly the Gremlin on the wing.  God that bastard scared the crap out of me.

2.) Poltergeist - The whole clown scene is terrorizing.  Many have argued this film is tame, I feel way differently...its downright scary.

3.) Paranormal Activity - simple scares just performed brilliantly.

4.) Pete Semetary - just a horrible story from start to finish.  "Horrible" as in there is no light at the end of the tunnel, just darkness for all the characters.  The part that nabs me is when the mother goes into the neighbor's bedroom and sees her dead sister on the bed.  Getting goosebumps thinking about it.  

5.) Just About Any Living Dead Film - I used to catch these on Saturday nights with my dad a lot.  I'd watch but was really afraid of the dead rising after it.

6.) Hellraiser - Pinhead and company are insanely creepy characters.  Its another film where there is little light at the end of the tunnel.

Amen to that, Silverlady  :cheers:  The whole movie just had this scare factor to it, I can't explain it.  I myself was first scared to death by NOTLD in 1974 at a drive-in. I was with my parents (and my grandmother) and still it hit me like a rock.

Also, when I was around 11 or 12, it played on midnight TV (ABC, maybe) and there was a "dramatization"  warning subtitled across the bottom of the screen during the emergency TV broadcast in the movie.. 

It was dark, and I was hearing noises outside,  and it began to creep me out as I started asking what if it weren't a dramatization?  Fun stuff, that was... :buggedout:

You nailed that one.  I can watch the part with the tendon, but the 18 wheeler makes me sick to my stomach.  Mostly because it could easily happen and as a parent you would feel so helpless.

It's even more painful when the doctor shoves the needle into little Gage's neck at the end, and he cries out in pain and makes that hurt face as he does it. And then comes the double mind screw, when Gage turns around and says, "no fair, you cheated.." and collapses after taking a few steps. 

already mentioned are JAWS and AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, and THE OMEN. 3 scary films in their own way. as a 12-13 yr old watching them they affected me. I thought a shark would come out of my cupboard of something. but also certainly ROSEMARY'S BABY. intricate suspense and build up...very dark

nowadays, I don't think scared is the right word but parts of THE BROOD and SUSPIRIA definitely got me going a bit

I don't tend to easily scare, but a few movies have done a number on me:

1. As a wee laddie, I recall peeking around the corner into the living room, where The Horror of Party Beach was showing. At that young age, that ridiculous, wienie-mouthed monster scared me. Go figure.

2. The 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers scared me as a teenager.

3. A Nightmare on Elm Street left me with a creepy feeling for a while. The sequels, not so much. But the original was an excellent horror movie.

4. While it isn't a horror movie, Lord of the Flies (1963) still scares me. The novel did, too. I don't know exactly why, but just the cruelty and brutality of that story (and the underlying truths about human nature) burrow their way into my psyche and eat away at my faith in humanity (which admittedly isn't very much anyway).

um, i don't realy scare that easily when it comes to horror films. but if i had to say i'd have to say the human centipede was pretty freaky...not so much that it scared me because it realy didnt it more mad me sick to my stomache then anything, which is also weird because i sat through both hostels and didnt cringe once...their just something a bout The Human Centipede that bothered me

Eat Pray Love. I haven't seen it, but the promos scared the crap out of me. No way I'm seeing that one.

Some more that scared me on initial viewing:

Alien (1979)

Carnival of Souls (1962)

The Innocents (1961)

Invaders From Mars (1953)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Poltergeist (1982)

Black Sabbath (1963)

Nosferatu (1922)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Repulsion (1965)

The Day After (1983)

Threads (1984)

Another one that did it for me was Nightmare Castle from 1965.  The whole movie was seriously disturbing, and the scene where Barbara reveals her true face from underneath her hair scared the living hell out of me. That whole movie was one nasty ride from start to finish.

The Thing ('82)

Event Horizon

Pan's Labyrinth

the first time I saw it, Star Wars freaked me out pretty badly (hey, I was 5 at the time!)

Not a horror movie, but No Country for Old Men genuinely scared me, especially the hotel scene.

Event Horizon broke me.  I used to not be scared of any scary movie!  After I saw Event Horizon, movies that didn't scare me before scare me now!  I'm not even sure why, I suppose it's because Space and Evil are the two scariest things to me, and when you put them together, you've got one scared Paquita!  I don't ever want to see that movie again.

Before that, Night of the Demons was the only movie that could really give me a jolt, but I like that movie because it has boobs, and boobs in a scary movie are kind of like getting a hug after being scared.

Fiend Without A Face was a scary one too...you couldn't see them for one thing, and second, they made that weird noise which was the only indication they were there (aside from knocking things over). This one was pretty good and not for the squeamish. Scared me plenty of times as a kid.

Beyond The Door. The low-light posession scenes, the labored breathing to indicate another presence was in the room, and the infamous..."Whooooo-arreeee-youuuuu" bit.  There was a general feeling of evil to the movie that, despite it's drawn out talkiness in some parts, more than made up for in the possession scenes.
And that face of hers!   :buggedout:

Oh heck, let's add Marathon Man for the infamous "is it safe"? scene where Dustin Hoffman got a root canal from the Nazi doctor W\O any anesthetic!!!  Not only did it hurt like hell to watch, but I'm sure it made more than one if us afraid to go to the dentist. I know it did for me....

Have to admit the Rancor from Return of the Jedi scared me as a kid.

Pontypool actually freaked me out, the idea of language being a virus that makes you go crazy and the claustrophobic atmosphere really creeped me out :buggedout:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PZkXgk4hZM

This comment on youtube sums it up:
Less about Zombies,more about how the public is affected by the media. of how the media report news and influence us, by repeating and repeating until the public repeat it, how the media build moral panics, and how the power of language and ideas can spread like a virus. That mass media spreads its message like a virus, focuses on the bloody and violent, controls and manipulates us creating mass hysteria, brainwashing us until we repeat what they say without having original thought

In a way, it's also a way to say that the media creates zombies. Sort of...

Exactly, this is a great movie, I highly recommend it. And it's Canadian  :thumbup:

Canadian, huh? Let me just brush up on my alphabet before I watch it. Now let me see..in the Canadian alphabet,  "Eh" comes before B....   :twirl: :cheers:

 :bouncegiggle: That's aboot right. :cheers:

Movies that still scare me...

1) The Exorcist.

2) Paranormal Activity.

3) REC.

4) Blair Witch.

5) Cannibal Holocaust.

This is one of my all time favorite movies. I love it and watch it frequently.  :smile:

* The Exorcist
* Jaws
* Invasion of the Body Snatchers

I'm not sure Jaws actually scared me, but it did generate a great deal of nerve-wracking suspense.  I included it on my list anyway.

Honorable mention goes to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD the first time I saw it.  I was about 12 years old and they were showing it on the old Channel 27 (which I could barely get reception on where I lived in Massachusetts . . . I had to watch it on a 13 inch television in my kitchen and spent a long time adjusting the antenna before I could get even a barely watchable picture . . . I remember sitting with my face about a foot from the screen so I could see what was happening).  It was on late at night, everyone else in the house was in bed, and I was sitting there alone at the kitchen counter watching a snowy picture on a small screen.  That set of circumstances alone is surreal and scary.  I was surprised they showed it uncut, too.  You didn't often see stuff like that on TV in the 1970s.

Dude that's a great story.

Like when I was around 11 or 12 and got to see NOTLD on ABC on a warm summer night.  They had the TV broadcast with the words "dramatization" underneath it.  The windows were open and I heard small noises outside, and it started getting on my nerves.

My dad was asleep on the floor as I sat in the living room chair, but it still wan't enough to sway my imagination back into the real world.  What great memories we both have of this great movie!   :cheers:

Pretty much any horror flick scared me when I was younger; I was really squeamish.  But that changed within the past decade and a half or so.  Ocular trauma scenes especially resonated.

As for nowadays, nothing really gets to me.

Day of the Triffids creeped me out real bad when I first saw it(5 years old).

Return of the living dead's tar zombie scared me pretty good.

The re-released version of the exorcist that came out in the early 2000's got me when she "Walks down the stairs."

Blair Witch 2. Just because of the plotline.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962) on a CBS-TV (NY) Sunday afternoon around 1969...
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) in a late night ABC-TV (NY) showing in the mid '70s...
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) in a Midnight movie showing in Morristown, NJ about 1980...

Black Christmas
Carnival Of Souls (NOT THE REMAKE!)
Cronenberg's 70s output is pretty icky as well.

As a kid, watching it on WNEW 5's Creature Features there was a film called Invisible Invaders that did me a few scares..

Mostly, it was the scenes when the invaders would show up to inhabit someone's body after they died.  You would see these tracks in the dirt made by invisible feet, as the invader made this raspy breathing sound.  Pretty freaky.

Mario Bava's Black Sabbath. The story called "A Drop Of Water." The look on that dead witch's face...Good Lord!  :buggedout: And when she returns for the ring... double  :buggedout:

I actually envy those who have been scared by movies. I am a life long horror buff and there are a few movies where I can say it unnerved me in an entertaining way. Two are Cujo and Little Monsters (the monsters at the end in the playhouse).

However, the only movie that truly scared me as a child wasn't actually scary (in fact one kill in it made me laugh, I am so demented), it was the end that shocked me.

I learned what a transexual was at the age of 7 by watching Sleepaway Camp. When it was over, while screaming at the top of my lungs, I ran to the VCR, took the tape out and threw it across the room.

On a happier note, the kill that made me laugh was the beehive in a bathroom stall.

The Evil Dead.  The part where the first girl gets possessed (after she guesses all the cards in the deck) and she's floating in the air with those blank eyes and that demonic voice as she asks why Ash and his friends awakened them.
I think we all got hit by that one  :bouncegiggle:

An obscure classic called House Of The Seven Corpses.  The ending credits and what happens during the whole time..'nuff said.  And the movie itself had a very uneasy feeling to it.

And if I didn't mention The Legend Of Hell House before, THAT was a masterpiece. It was a big boost to the scare factor knowing that a REAL English mansion was used. What a great atmosphere the entire movie had!

Bob Roberts  :buggedout: Gore Vidal and Tim Robbins were  phenomenal. Watching this film nowadays is even scarier because fiction has become a political reality.

I was actually pretty scared by "The Others" but I think it was one of those situations that I was home alone and it was really stormy outside. Or was it just Nicole Kidman that scared me... hummm..lol