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well i became interested in this topic because of reading pages of online reviews about how CGI usually spoils horror movies, so would like to hear about Horror movies where CGI had the opposite effect. any horror movie you can remember from 1990 onwards where a CGI animated creature/s made the movie great. include only what you consider as the best horror movie SFX visual effects you can remember

It's borderline impossible.

Even very good CGI would make people think "cool" or "awesome".
If you're emotional response is "cool" or "awesome" then you're not scared.
If you're not scared, the movie isn't doing what it's supposed to.
In short, a SFX-driven horror is equivalent to mowing the lawn with a shovel.

"Monsters" comes closest, but "Monsters" was much more reliant on characterisation and such than CGI.

possibly in many instances, but there are those who am sure would disagree. here is an example (not my own quote). "In Pan’s Labyrinth, Del Toro used CGI to remove part of the legs of the “pale man” making him impossibly skinny. What we get is, in my opinion, one of the most disturbing creatures in film history."

The CGI Alien in Alien 3 kinda worked. :lookingup:

The only CGI monster that I honestly thought was creepy was the one from Absentia, but that was mainly because you saw very little of it.  I will say, though, that the CGI allowed it to move in some rather disturbing ways.

The CGI in Anaconda 3.

Ok not horror but Rise of the Planet of the Apes has the best CGI I have ever seen in a movie. The CGI apes have more personality and are more interesting to watch than the actual human actors!
In terms of horror I would point to Splice, but cant think of much else at the moment.

i like HARRY POTTER although CGI of Harry flying on broom was great, would not say it was that scary. something more was needed. there was no one who could yet deliver really scary horror movie CGI. in my opinion, a new company was needed, specialised in this genre, that is where i come in..with my ipod CGI app (geekpod)..

I liked all the Harry Potter films but the creepiest CGI was,in my opinion,the Basalisk in "Chamber of Secrets". That was some well done work.

Except you said.


So you're implying "Pan's Labyrinth" wouldn't have been that well received without that CGI usage?


I hope you're trolling.

In closeups they used a robot.  You can tell, if you look closely.  The lighting's a bit different, and the robot has more limited movements. 

Many people consider this a horror film
(http://www.lost-world.com/Lost_World02/Jurassic_Park.Site/images/JPLogo500a.GIF)

admittedly I'm not one of those people. But this movie still has some of the best CGI in it.

I really, really cant think of a good one in a horror flick.
Im just too old school.


My fave CGI is Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean flicks. And the first Jurassic.

I wouldn't consider it a horror movie, but the dragons in Reign of Fire look good.

for movie lovers,not to rip off the whole forum troll thing but, WAR OF THE WORLDS with Tom Cruise had some good CGI creatures. best have seen on badmovies.org

That was the first thing I thought of, and yeah, not technically horror. 
It is interesting though, that a movie that's almost 20 years old has better looking CGI than movies that came out 6 months ago.  Shows what can happen when you use technology as a creative tool rather than a replacement for the creative process.  (Guillermo Del Toro seems to grasp this concept pretty well, so does Ridley Scott to some extent.)  Which is part of why this question is so hard to answer.  An effect, in and of itself, can't really "fix" a movie.

I think the quirk with horror creatures/figures is that they're most effective when you can't see them or don't know where they are at any given moment. From my viewpoint a practically done monster or cosmetic effect has the same impact as either being done digitally. Sounds that make you jump and sudden horrific images produce the scare, even a chase scene thought for the most part this is typically the dorkiest part of any horror movie. The creature itself can look unsettling but, at least for a monster lover like myself, the resulting emotional response is almost always "that's awesome!" rather than "#$%^!!! OMG!!!".

I can think of plenty of scifi, action, and fantasy movies where a creature made the movie great but it'll always be tougher to fill that order in horror because because an effective horror doesn't give you scares, it takes them from your mind. Muhahahaha!

I think The Lord of the Rings trilogy has some creepy CGI, particularly the giant spider.  No, it's not a horror movie, but it does have some effective FX, even if it is slow.

For sure! :wink: