In time for Hallowe'en - best horror movies!

[TheVampireEmpusa]

What are your favourites? Cheesy or more serious horror! Which scared you, and which had you laughing hysterically?

Personally, for me it's..

Dawn of the Dead (1978 version)
Not as cheesy as I first expected

28 Days Later
One of the artier horror films

Shaun of the Dead
Fantastically funny movie

The Orphanage
Totally freaked me out, and I don't get scared very often!

Blair Witch Project
Only other horror film to scare me

Candyman
Who else dared say "candyman" in the mirror?

House on Haunted Hill (black and white)
Vincent Price at his best

The Tingler
One of my all time favourite horror films

Here's my personal list, in no particular order.

Halloween (the original one)

Deep red (Profondo rosso)

Dawn of the dead, the original one, but I promise that the first 15 minutes of the 2004 remake are pure cinematic perfection in that they build up the tension so well.

28 days later, even if it's full of mistakes in the script, it is blooody scary

Jaws

The descent

Oh gosh yes, The evil dead,, how could I forget that one! Brilliant movie.

And of course Shaun of the dead.

I also enjoyed Zombieland, mainly because I developed a weird crush on Jesse Eisenberg.

my 82 year old dad watched hostel the other day, said it was a bit gory

I read the plot of Hostel and I can't face it. Nor can I face Martyrs and or the original The HIlls have eyes etc.

The Texas chainsaw massacre was another really scary one, which I have no desire to watch again though.

I liked Hostel - not for the 'in your face gore', but because it could be true... and that makes it all the more terrifying, non? I have to admit, I've not been frightened by a film since I was a teen (Oh my, that reminds me: *A Nightmare On Elm Street!) and I'd love to be. Desensitised? Me? I expect so - but probably because one of my coping mechanisms if I was watching a film alone as a teen and terrified was to remind myself it was a film and then start to imagine how they achieved the special effects...

Although, for instance, an anthology of shorts from Spain called Six Films to Keep You Awake certainly got under my skin - the Baby's room, in particular. I guess once you have children anything that threatens them becomes more terrifying than the zombies that used to give you nightmares as a teen.

i saw that baby's room film! scary

I forgot Zombieland, that had me in absolute stitches!

I found Texas Chainsaw Massacre absolutely rubbish, same with The Exorcist and The Omen. Felt they were really overrated.

Not too keen on newer stuff like Hostel and Saw

Though for newer films, My Bloody Valentine was a pleasant surprise!

I second the original of the vanishing. watch late one friday night. very scary.

And there is another one with a couple in a motel room and they watch people in the same room on t.v getting killed. never saw the en. Anyone know what it's called?

I think you mean Vacancy (2007), grip? Here

Other 'hotel' based horror:

Psycho
The Shining
Identity
Reeker

Oooh, another very good film just popped into my head - Session 9

vampireEmpusa If you like funny, and have watched your fair share of slashers, then I whole heartedly recommend Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon.

In a nutshell, Leslie Vernon plans to be the next big psycho slasher dude, and invites a documentary crew to follow him as he goes about reaching his goal. It's set in a world where Camp Crystal Lake, Elm Street and Haddonfield are real places and their most famous inhabitants (Jason, Freddy and Micheal) are real. In that sense, it takes itself seriously, (as does Leslie) but it's funny none the less (particularly when Leslie demonstrates how it's possible to look like the person he's chasing is running and he's walking but still manages to catch them, or when he goes to visit a character played by Robert Englund in an amusing cameo (also spot Zelda Rubenstien - poltergeist and Kane Hodder - Jason/Friday 13th)

Rec
Mum and Dad

That sounds really good, I'll look out for that :)

Psycho

Suspiria - eyes blinking back through a darkened window and an arm crashing through to grab a girl means I still keep my distance when looking through a window at night

The Shining - Heeeere's Johnny

Carrie - nearly hit the ceiling at the end along with a good proportion of the cinema audience

Manda, The Russian Night watch is one I haven't got round to watching yet.

I really want to see Old Boy. I keep reading about how good it is.

Ooooh.

When a stranger calls (original version). The bit where the guy's in bed with her. Nearly jumped out of my skin

Spoorlos - the original 'Vanishing' - brilliant.

I love all horror films and have seen pretty much all those mentioned on this thread but the most horrifying film I have ever seen is the 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes.

I watched Hellraiser at uni - terrified me.

Also, Blair witch project the week it came out and was mildly perturbed.

My all time terrifying one though is a Hammer House of Horror watched when I was about 9 - in it a carved Indian doll kills everyone.

My mum had some carved Indian salad servers and I was scared of the drawer they were in it was the late 70's.

And Tales of the Unexpected - one in that where a prisoner gets buried alive thinking he's escaping - and he's in the coffin with the guy who was helping him escape !'I was about 12 for that one.

Still scared of being buried alive.

Just about everything scares me but The Ring absolutely scared the shit out of me. I couldn't sleep for days and I could never watch it again. (big scaredy cat)

I also remember some scary 70s thing with floating vampires that was bloody terrifying.

laurie strode, is that you? you mean 'Zuni' from Trilogy of Terror? But he's so cute! And so... crispy in the end

kerry Dumplings as mentioned in my first post is very disturbing - I have only seen the short film as part of a trilogy called Three... Extremes, but apparently it proved such a hit they made a full length version. I would warn that it has abortion as part of the subject matter. A chinese offering.

Ah, A Tale of Two Sisters is also disturbing and quite difficult to explain. It's mostly psychological/spooky with a few very effective jump scenes. This is a korean film, mind.

If you simply want to stick to Japanese fare for now, you can't go wrong with Takashi Miike although his vision is somewhat, uh, twisted. Audition (mentioned before) is harsh viewing, a loopy woman torturing a bloke who, well, kinda deserves it. Imprint also features torture, but really is more about loss.

Really my favourite Japanese film (apart from Spirited Away which isn't horror, so I can't rec!) has to be Battle Royale (Batoru Rowaiaru). the synopsis (taken from IMDB):

Forty-two students, three days, one deserted Island: welcome to Battle Royale. A group of ninth-grade students from a Japanese high school have been forced by legislation to compete in a new forum of reality television.The students are each given a bag with a randomly selected weapon and a few rations of food and water and sent off to kill each other in a no-holds-barred (with a few minor rules) game to the death, which means that the students have three days to kill each other until one survivesor they all die. The movie focus on a few of the students and how they cope. Some decide to play the game like the psychotic Kiriyama or the sexual Mistuko, while others like the heroes of the movieShuya, Noriko, and Kawada--are trying to find a way to get off the Island without violence. However, as the numbers dwell down lower and lower on an hourly basis, is there any way for Shuya and classmates to survive?

Sound like fun? Obviously it's not. But it's a great film; plenty of social commentary

I enjoyed Battle Royale, thought it was excellent!

Fright films generally leave me cold, but I was really bothered by The Orphanage and had terrible dreams for weeks afterwards - it's one of those films that I never quite know whether to recommend or not...