What movies REALLY scared you?

[DodgingGrunge]

Actually, I've yet to see Vulgar. I've been told it's brutal and nigh-unwatchable and since it's not really Tomb material I don't think I'll get around to it any time soon. Your thoughts Grunge?

Don't go out of your way.  It isn't a terribly interesting film and relies mostly on shock value.  Younger viewers may still find sodomy shocking, but this isn't exactly Pasolini's Salò.  It's just a choppy, underfunded R-rated clown revenge epic produced by Kevin Smith.  Though I do give him props for tackling a project like this inside the modern Hollywood system.

Speaking of which, I think I've made fun of you enough for liking Kevin Smith.  I'll have to move onto new material.  You wouldn't happen to be a fan of Steven Soderbergh by any chance? 

Although, let's not forget the senseless slaughter of otherwise innocent animals amidst the rape, torture, bastard characters and aimless plot. 

Aside from the shooting (and kicking) of the Yacumos' pig, the other deaths seemed to serve dual purpose:  cinematic realism and craft service catering.  The turtle and the muskrat were both eaten, not unlike the Taco Bell I ate for breakfast.  The trend became unfortunate in subsequent films like Cannibal Ferox, when the setups became trite and undeniably exploitative.

But really I think killing is killing.  Maybe I am just overcompensating for wasting a decade of my life on vegetarianism, but if you are gonna shoot a mole anyway, why not work it into a movie?  CG hasn't really advanced enough to animate decent mammals.  Hair is a b***h.  Take a look at the death of the chickens in Pink Flamingos, and then look at the squirrel Ray-Ray runs over in Dirty Shame.  A regression, no?

This is not to say you should just go kill animals and film the results, but presumably the cast in Cannibal Holocaust was hungry and would have killed something anyway.  It was, after all, the jungle.  And their conditions in civilization were less than civilized.  They were filming amidst a coup d'état and at one point were actually evicted from their hotel when the army showed up.  Isn't Columbia great?

Wow.  Off topic.  Haha.  Scarrrryyyy!  Sorry folks.  So... anybody else like John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness?  That's a movie I've always found strangely unnerving. 

[Just Plain Horse]

I definitely think that "Ringu" is a much better film than "The Ring."  Along with the hideous death grimaces on the faces of the victims, I preferred how the original version did not feel like it had to completely explain everything to the viewer. 

Has anyone else noticed how a number of Japanese horror movies like to leave parts of their movies open for interpretation, especially the endings? Though it can seem kinda frustrating, it's fun to watch a movie that does this while in the company of somebody who has a good imagination so you can spend the afternoon arguing about what certain things did or didn't "happen" in the movie, heh heh. I used to think this was just lazy storytelling until I realized that it was happening too much not to be intentional. After that, I think the lightswitch in my head clicked on.

Personally, I like it when a movie leaves it to the audience to figure things out- that's what made THE SIXTH SENSE good. You made assumptions- but in being wrong, you got a bigger suprise from it...

I can think of many moments in both good & bad films where I could see a plot choosing a certain path that decided how good the movie would be... when left open, it creates more interesting scenarios.

[Joe the Destroyer]

There are a lot of movies that have made me tense, particuarly anything with really sadistic stuff, but there are two movies I can say scared the s**t out of me.

One was Rawhead Rex.  Okay, so I saw it when I was seven.  Even still, the idea of a 7-8' tall demon killing people was just terrifying to me. 

The last one to truly scare me was City of the Living Dead.  I did not think at all that i could be frightened.  I thought I was desensitized to everything.  Then, I bought this and watched it.  This was my first Italian horror film, and later that night I was laying in bed, motionless, with the light on.  The only thing I could think was, "Teleporting zombies...  F**king teleporting zombies... So help me God, teleporting zombies!"  I was 20 at the time, and I eventually coaxed myself into sleep.

[asimpson2006]

Arcanaphobia, well I really don't like spiders so when I see this film it gets to me.  I almost got bit by a spider when I was younger so I've kinda had a semi fear of them through out most of my life. 

[Allhallowsday]

But as for what scares me, I disagree with RC and Allhallowsday; films are much more frightening to me now than when I was younger.  As a kid I don't think I properly empathized with the characters or situations.  Brutal murder?  Cool!  Kill the baby?  Sure!  Haha.  This applies equally to all emotions.  I never used to cry at movies, but now I can't watch Monster's Inc without becoming a slobbering mess ...

We are different animals, because there are films I still won't look at, that I saw young and found upsetting (LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE).  Sh*t like "kill the baby" "brutal murder" were extremely upsetting to me when I was old enough to look at such drek (THE HILLS HAVE EYES, but I was and am able to recognize that it is hot damn great cinema).  It is true, that I'm more likely now to get teary watching a film, but empathy was never difficult for me. 

Scary might be too extreme a word, though.  Here are some films that certainly left me chilled.  And more importantly, chilled on subsequent viewings!  A lot of movies lose their punch the second time around...

The Miracle Worker (1962) - Arthur Penn (this particular Helen Keller adaptation is quite freaky...)
Night of the Hunter (1955) - Charles Laughton (Robert Mitchem's incredible!)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) - Peter Weir
Spoorloos (1988) - George Sluizer

THE MIRACLE WORKER is a miracle of a film.  I think you're right to describe it, in part, as "chilling."  You can see it's influence in much later films like THE ELEPHANT MAN.  It's a wonderful play, and Penn created a masterpiece with the help of two very talented actresses.  I think one of the best American films yet made. 
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER is damned scary, and probably my second favorite film, but I forgot all about it.  Robert Mitchum is also scary in CAPE FEAR (though Robert DeNiro succeeds in the remake- with fewer limitations- to be even more threatening)  PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK I saw long ago and don't remember well except that it was the great mystery film and SPOORLOOS, which I thought of long after and found here reading your contributions.  As I'm sure you know remade with Sluizer at the helm as THE VANISHING with Kiefer, the original is superior in every way, particularly in its purpose. 

[nada]

Young Frankenstein ... scared the pants off me.


That's Homer Simpson to Mel Brooks if anyone was wondering.

[Allhallowsday]

Young Frankenstein ... scared the pants off me.

[telegonus]

As a child, the Hammer Phantom Of the Opera gave me the creeps. Not so much the movie as a whole but Herbert Lom's phantom mask, which I found scarier just to look at than anything I could imagine (or indeed saw) underneath. The final sequence of the Roger Corman Tales Of Terror ended on a disturbing note, which, given my age, I didn't see coming. Putresence never makes for a pleasing sight. especially when a body is decomposing before your eyes.  Strong stuff for a ten year old. The early, black and white Francis Ford Coppola Dementia 13 was like one long nightmare. Extremely well made, not terribly good storytelling, its elliptical nature kept the viewer on his toes. Some strong shocks in this one, especially for a mainstream film from 1963. It doesn't play nearly as well on the small screen, and the few times I've watched it, or tried to, on the tube, the poor quality of the film stock detracted enormously for the picture's overall impact. This one needs a good transfer.

More heebie jeebies: on TV, The Mummy's Ghost is the one entry in the franchise that unsettled me. The last (roughly) twenty minutes are intense, or maybe I should say intense for a child. Overall, I didn't find the classic horrors from the 30's and 40's they used to show on TV Shock Theaters frightening so much as engaging fun. I liked their atmosphere, the dialogue, the art direction, the actors, their foreboding aspects. A few jolts here and there but nothing serious. I liked them the way I liked swashbucklers and pirates pictures; they were a delightful change of pace from the usual western and detective fare that dominated the tube way back when. Great thrills in the previews for Caltiki, the Immortal Monster, the scariest coming attractions I can remember seeing as a child.  I waited a whole weak in eager anticipation, expecting the scariest movie imaginable, only to find the actual film a huge letdown, with maybe five good minutes.

[GoreGoreGirl]

two movies that really scare(d) me:

* CHILD'S PLAY:   my sister took me to see it and I was only six years old. she told me it would be about "a bad doll." it scared the crap out of me-- for years I couldn't sit in a dark room alone without hearing little footsteps.

*HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (REMAKE): the darkness that moves in that film freaks me out. maybe it's because of all the acid I was taking back then but the concept of that all-encompassing darkness really messed with me.

*NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: saw it when I was a little kid and the idea was scary

i guess what many mainstream filmmakers fail to realize is that it's really the concepts that scare us, not fancy special effects alone.

[D-Man]

ALIEN was the big one for me as a kid.  I accidentally saw part of it when I was younger (I think you can guess which part) and it scared the living daylights out of me.  I wasn't able to watch it, or see anything associated with it for years.  It didn't help that I saw bits of the trailer as well, with that freaky synth music a little bit later. 

But, I got over my extreme aversion to the film about 7 years ago, and own all four movies on DVD.  But still, even though I can watch it, I can't quite fight off the feelings of unease that the original film still tends to give me.   

[JaseSF]

In terms of what actually gave me the worst full blown nightmares in childhood, teenage years and adulthood, it would be these films/TV mini-Series/TV movies:

Salem's Lot (1970s TV Mini)
Poltergeist
Predator
Intruders (I was an adult for this 90s TV Movie about alien abductions)

[ghouck]

ALIEN was the big one for me as a kid.  I accidentally saw part of it when I was younger (I think you can guess which part) and it scared the living daylights out of me.  I wasn't able to watch it, or see anything associated with it for years.  It didn't help that I saw bits of the trailer as well, with that freaky synth music a little bit later.

That was the first movie I ever saw on a VCR. It was a top-loading type that had a WIRED remote. We watched the infamous "exploding chest scene" forward, backwars, at every speed imaginable, paused, stepped in both directions, every way possible DURING DINNER. . . Lol

[TheFilmFiend]

Burnt Offerings scared the poop out of me as a kid, as did Kubrick's The Shining. As an adult, I haven't found too much that genuinely creeps me out. The French horror flick Ills (aka Them) managed to get under my skin a bit, but nothing on par with what I experienced during childhood.

[RCMerchant]

On it's first release in theatres,the BEAST WITIN transformation scene bugged me out!

The trailer....
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRGIG-ZXGcA

...and the transfomation scene...!

   [youtube=425,350] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz1GbwZIGpA

[TheFilmFiend]

I've never seen The Beast Within. I'll have to search it out.