Talk to me about horror

[MassageForLife]

Any horror fans here? This is not a genre I have much experience of - as I said in another thread, I watched one film when I was fourteen, put on by a friend's older sister, one just under a month ago at a friend's house (Barbarian), and I went to see Late Night with the Devil on Tuesday which I really liked.

It's not a genre I thought I would enjoy, but maybe it's time to explore it more.

I'm interested in hearing what your recommendations would be and why, and maybe also what it is about horror that appeals to you.

Barbarian is excellent.

I would say horror, like comedy, is a very broad genre. You've got to know what floats your boat. What is it that you liked about the films you have watched so far?

I'm not a fan of anything explicitly violent and I pretty much eye roll at zombie films because, like Formula One, they always start off well but descend into predictability. (There are always exceptions to that, 28 days later and its follow up 28 Weeks are great)

I like films that work as metaphors for broader issues. And nothing beats a ghost story well told.

I loved It Follows and my favourite horror of all time is Robert Wise's The Haunting.

I'm a big fan of comedy horror, as long as both notes are hit successfully: Zombieland, American Werewolf and (the original) Poltergeist spring to mind but there are plenty of others. There's an excellent one about the Last Girl Standing (that might be its title but too lazy to check) which is a meta comedy slasher flick. And the Joss Whedon one is very good too. Forgot its name.

I like films that play on folklore and I'm looking forward to The Watchers, which is an excellent book and being made now. I loved Midsomer and The Wicker Man

So really, it's a bit of trial and error. Come back and let us know what you've enjoyed though.

Like most comedies, most horror films aren't very good - they often rely on archetypes, tropes and jump scares but have a guaranteed audience draw

The Descent is my favourite horror film. I also like the insidious and sinister films. The Conjuring although the sequels get a bit dodgy as time goes on. The first few Saw films. Paranormal Activity. 28 Days Later.

i prefer the supernatural type ones rather than “slasher” types but I’ll watch pretty much any horror film it’s my favourite genre. I’m not too keen on the ones that require a lot of “thinking” or “hidden meaning” as it takes the fun out of it.

I love the contagion narratives, so that's mostly zombies in horror. The Train to Busan is really good, classics like Night of the Living Dead are essential but I also love the cheesy ones like Resident Evil.

You can keep the scary malevolent spirit stuff, that's not for me.

I loved it when I was younger. Films like the Omen, Carrie, the original Amityville films. Fabulous.
As an adult I loved but was bloody terrified by The Ring when I was backpacking!
I've recently watched Get Out and Last Night in Soho (one after the other on a rainy Saturday afternoon!) and really enjoyed them.

I adore horror films. All types but slashers are my favourite. Barbarian is a great film and recent modern ones that have been just as good are smile, malevolent, cobweb and the boogeyman. Recently I enjoyed thanksgiving too. Older ones that are a bit more thoughtful are babadook and hereditary. Enjoy.

@MrsMoggy You have excellent taste, The Descent is my favourite horror film of all time.

Plus

Dog Soldiers
30 Days of Night
The Ring
The Shining
Ouija
Psycho
Drag Me to Hell
Hereditary
A Quiet Place
28 Days Later
The Sixth Sense
Shutter
The Thing
Scream
Alien/Aliens
As Above As Below
Cabin in the Woods
Case 23

I am not keen on slasher films though I have watched a few such as The Hills Have Eyes

Then two that are horror and very different

The Road
The Babadook

Oh my!! I thought this thread was going to disappear unnoticed!

Thanks so much for the recommendations. I will definitely be checking them out. Someone recommended Pet Sematary too.

John Carpenter's The Fog (with a young Jamie Leigh Curtis) and The Thing.

The Decent
28 Days Later
A Carnival of Souls (creepy '60s b/w film)
Poltergeist

All Japanese original horrors: The Ring, The Grudge, The Eye, Dark Water.
The remakes felt really flat to me.

Let The Right One In - original.

30 Days of Night.

World War Z
Mama
Megan
John Carpenters Vampires
Babadook
The Rezort
Poltergeist (apart from the creepy preacher man)
Insidious
28 days/28 weeks later
The Evil Dead
Constantine

Well…
28 days later.
The hills have eyes
Aliens
Eden Lake - this one gave me nightmares.
Hostel and Saw
Wolf Creek

The original Halloween is my personal favourite. Even the opening credits with the pumpkin getting closer and closer scares me silly. The budget is low, the supposed teenagers are all obviously in their thirties and can't act, but it'd still a masterclass in suspense.

I also recommend It Follows. The concept shouldn't work, basically that if you shag someone affected this thing starts following you slowly in different forms. Bloody scary though.

Popped by to add Us, inexplicably missing from the excellent lists so far

I love horror, everything from Italian Giallos to zombies, exploitation and terrorisation.

Some I don’t think were mentioned:

Dawn of the dead - remake as well as the original. If you are watching the original there are several different versions and they are worth watching as the Argento cut with its Goblin soundtrack has a very different feel to Romero’s Cut.

Talking of Argento I can’t walk past a horror thread without recommending Deep Red (Profondo Rosso) and Suspiria (one of my favourite films and frequently in top 10 lists, well deserved).

No one lives, You’re next. I tend to double bill these, or did before I had children that woke every 30 minutes in the evening - they work nicely together.

Stake Land.

I seem alone in this thread but I love slashers. Some good ones that haven’t been mentioned- anything from the golden age ‘78 - 84: The Prowler, Black Christmas, When a Stranger calls, to the more notorious nasties like New York Ripper.

Australia have some really good examples - Wolf Creek (and its sequel), Storm Warning, Boar, The Stranger.

Martyrs (the french original not the American remake).

some really good English horrors recently, Eden Lake is one of the best I can think of, but also Howl, Tower Block, Comedown, Saint Maud, The Ritual.

It follows has been mentioned but it’s so good I have to mention it again.

I wish I could watch all of these for the first time again.

I love horror/chiller films, but I hate gore. Too much red (as I term it) on screen and I'll switch off. I prefer brooding, atmospheric chillers, where nothing much goes on, but it's all about the dread factor. Watching this thread and taking notes.

I watched Late Night with the Devil tonight, and really enjoyed it - just my level of horror! I don't like lots of jump scares or too much gore.

Does anyone have any recommendations of films similar to this? Thank you!

I haven't watched all of the ones mentioned, so this thread is great!

I like Folk Horror, as a sub genre.
Some Folk Horror titles include the so-called “Unholy Trio,” which are :The Wicker Man, Witchfinder General and Blood on Satan' s Claw.

Also, A Field in England, The Shout, The Witch, Men, Kill List, Coven or Akelarre, the Lottery and Midsommer, to name but a few.

Some of the old Play for Today or children's programmes on TV, such as Children of the Stones, Red Shift, The Owl Service, Whistle and I'll Come to You, Robin Redbreast and Penda's Fen, fit well into this category.
And one of the Inside No 9 episodes, Mr King, captures it so well.

You've likely already seen it @Giggorata but if not there's a terrific folk horror documentary called Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched.

It's long (and took me two goes to get through it) but well worth a watch

Agreed about Aussie horror, and I'd add Loved Ones and Killing Ground to that list. I like all horror bar horror comedies (unless they're actually funny, like Late Night With The Devil which I'm seeing again tomorrow 😀).

Horror is my favourite genre. I watch horror films before bed to calm down.

Zombies are my number one- however there are a lot of REALLY bad zombie films. Some I like:
It Stains The Sands Red
The Battery
Zombi
Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things
Planet Terror (technically not really zombies but great fun.)
Night Of The Living Dead (remake)
Return of the Living Dead
Dawn of the Dead (remake)

I also love a good end of the world scenario, eg The Road.

Stake Land, which is vampires, very good. The sequel is alright but not great.

Hereditary is the only film in well over 20 years to actually scare me.

Bone Tomahawk is brutal and very good, if you like historical films, but you'll never look at a spatchcocked chicken in the same way again.

Another recommendation for The Decent here. I saw a bootleg aged 16 on holiday with my bestie many years ago and will always remember a jumpscare that was exceptional, but filmed well enough that our squeals were the loudest thing in the room by far :D (plus it was nice to see an all-female horror film)

Midsommer - LOVED
Hereditery
Eden Lake - Gave me nightmares as well @RickyGervaislovesdogs
The Hills have Eyes
Wolf Creek

And of the 'classics' - mine would be 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre'

I generally find Horror films that rely on human behaviour far more unsettling that supernatural

Thanks so much for all the comments and recommendations. I'm glad its not just me that's finding this useful! 😊

Candyman

"The Haunting" and "Night of the Demon" if you don't mind older films. The latter seems to be up on DailyMotion.