What movie is actually SCARY?

[Paquita]

Maybe this was covered sometime in the past but to find that out involves a lot of clicking, loading, and effort. No!  So what movies are really SCARY!? and not disturbing or just gross  but SCARY! not biblical scary either cos thats not fair cos the Bible is scary.
Anytime I ask this I'm always told Suspiria and the Exorcist. I'll admit they are good and they are creepy but the soundtrack to Suspiria was scarier than the movie. and the exorcist just doesnt scare me.  But I'm a big wuss any movie scares me the first 8 times I see it and give me nightmares for months even Glitter kinda scared me! But very few movies ever stick in my head as REALLY scary so that i DONT want to see them again.
I just watched the Japanese version of The Ring.. I haven't see the white folks version yet, and THAT was scary! if it wasnt so blurry and i didnt have to try so hard to read white type on a white background it MIGHT have been scarier.. or less scary.  But it was GooDd! i had nightmares!! im scared! i DONT want to see it again! well i do but not now! i DO want to see part 2 and 3 but not at night!  The only other movies that really scared me were The Seventh Sign .. only because i was like 6 when i saw it and the end of the world is scary to me no matter how old i am but especially when i was 6 and the blob thing in the lake from Creepshow 2 really scared me too! but i was also really young then  but i still wont swim if theres a "No Swimming" sign and I'll insist theres a monster in the lake. and any movie about lots of bugs scares me but that doesnt count either cos its bugs. i still like bug movies but they dont count as scary! Bugs and the Bible have an unfair advantage they dont count!
So whats really scary?!

love colleen

p.s. dont complain about my grammar! this is too important a matter for proper grammar and punctuation!

[Ash]

Only one film springs to mind and that's "A Nightmare On Elm Street".

The first one.

When it was released in 1984 I was 10 years old and it scared the s**t out of me!

I had nightmares for days after watching it.

I recently watched it again for the first time in 10 years or so and I have to admit that it still scared me (though not as bad as it originally did).


I can still hear the screeeeeech of Freddy's finger knives on metal.

[Brother Ragnarok]

I don't know what it was, but Lucio Fulci's Gates of Hell scared the living s**t out of me when I watched it at two in the morning with no lights.

Brother R

[Fearless Freep]

Ghost Story scared me when I was younger.  Problem would again, but I haven't seen it in a long time

[Deej]

Ghost Story scared me as well, maybe because I saw it on the late show when I was a kid. But I do remember it creeping me out. Conversely, I wasn't terribly frightened by A Nightmare on Elm Street. I was about 9 when it came out, and I may have been less frightened because I had heard that Freddy was played by the nerdy alien from V. Still, it was pretty damned creepy. And, truly, The Exorcist scared hell out of me. I watched the entire movie standing in the kitchen, looking through a small sliding window that looked into the room where the tv was. That's right, I was too afraid to be in the same room with the movie! Hey, I was like 11 years old. Now, I can at least stand at the edge of the room! Also, Staying Alive scared me. I knew that if that movie was a hit, there would be ANOTHER Travolta, disco flick...YIPES.

[Pete B6K]

I'd recommend 'Session 9' as being pretty damn scary.  Scary in that 'creepy' way. No lame jump scares as far as I remember, and it's not scary to the point of disturbing.  I don't like films that really go to the point of disturbing ('American Psycho' springs to mind, found nothing enjoyable in that film, just disturbing), but with S9 I kinda got dragged into it and kind of felt 'well done, you got me' which dosent happen to me that much anymore.

Pete

[Neville]

Difficult question. It depends on what your personal phobias are. My personal recommendations would be...

1) The Shinning (Kubrick's, of course).

2) The 6th sense (It has some real tense moments).

3) Session 9 (the setting alone makes me feel restless)

4) The Others (Alright, not that scary, but has its moments).

5) Bride of Re-animator (Don't ask me why, but I found the idea of returning from death transformed into a monster scared me beyond any limits)

[mr. henry]

the only movie that still creeps me out is ROSEMARY'S BABY...from the creepy "la-la-la" music at the beginning to the scene where people are creeping around behind rosemary in her apartment...watch it alone and in the dark. creepy stuff...

-mr. henry

[Scott0]

I was faced with this very same question not too long ago when I was sauntering through the horror aisle the other night. Some people were also showing interest in the enormous horror section, so I started talking to them, and one wanted something that would "scare the sh*t outof her." And damnit if I couldn't think of any! I've been so engrossed in the bad horror movies, I had forgotten about the good horror movies! My only suggestions were if you didn't know the real story behind the Blair Witch Project, that would be a good one. But that was it! I too am interested in finding out what some good, SCARY movies are!

Scottie

[Lancer]

The Ring (Japanese) is very good scary movie, because it builds a spooky feeling in the movie (I dont speak any japanese either, but this movie is very good with subtitles)

[Creepozoid]

XTRO

[Vermin Boy]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is my pick. It just feels so REAL.

[Lancer]

The only movie that scared the crap out of me is "Invasion of the bodysnatchers" (1978???) I think the idea on not sleeping and when you do you never wake up...

[Neon Noodle]

Vermin Boy hit this one on the head - Texas chainsaw has quite a few moments of pure terror. The scene of the ultra-closeups on the girl's eyes near the end of the movie were enough to freak me out.

The movie "Terror in the Aisles" pretty much summed up that people enjoy fear. Having a loss of control over your emotions and having to wait to figure out what happens next is a pretty cool rush.

Movies like the exorcist and texas chainsaw are good but knowing too much about them takes away from the experience.

I also enjoyed seeing Silence of the Lambs in the theater - there's nothing like Anthony Hopkins' teeth taking up a whole movie screen and seeing...well, if you haven't seen it, give it a try. Pretty scary.

[The Burgomaster]

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is scary.

ROSEMARY'S BABY is also scary (but in a religious way). Unfortunately, the movie confuses Witchcraft with Satanism, and they are completely different beliefs. Witches do not worship Satan (I know, because my ex-girlfriend practiced Witchcraft and she cleared up the misconception for me).

I like SUSPIRIA, but I don't find it very scary. It isn't even Dario Argento's best movie. I think that DEEP RED, TENEBRAE and BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE are better. They are not really scary, but they are extremely suspenseful.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is pretty scary, too. It would be VERY scary if it had better acting.

THE SENTINEL was one of the scariest books I ever read, but the movie really stunk. They should remake it with a better director.

THE OTHER, (made in the mid 1970s and not to be confused with Nicole Kidman's THE OTHERS) is pretty creepy, too. I wish they would release it on DVD.

ERASERHEAD will give you nightmares, too.