What's Your Favorite Horror Movie?

11.24.04 | JohnRobertson

[John Robertson]

What's your favorite horror movie...and why? What fried your hair, and still makes it jump if you get a little too tired and you remember a sequence or two from something that scared the stuff out of you.

I've always dismissed horror movies as a waste of time, but the older I get, the more I realize they must serve some function--some cathartic function--because they are an enduring genre, and each generation likes to find its own favorite scary movies. Heard a commentator saying the other day, the reason the country is so preoccuppied with horror films right now is, it's a horror we can "handle," versus the real, terrorist kind of horror.

[El Buscador]

The original The Thing in 1952 in black and white. I still remember coming up out of my chair in one scene. Sacrist movie I have ever seen. Jim Arness was the Alien. His first role so I have been told.

[El Buscador]

I have watched Sigourny get into her spacesuit 33 times over the years. VERY WELL DONE FLICK.

[finnigan2]

"John Carpenter's "The Thing"...that sprouted head freaked me out."

- I would have to agree, especially at the very end when there were only two left and I wondered if the Thing was really one of the two. Wow!
That film and "Psycho" (No, don't go into the fruit cellar!!!) were the two I remember most.
Of course, I think your own frame of mind at the time you saw a film plays a big part in what films scared you most.

[Logic n' Reason]

Too darn many to pick from. . . Alfred Hitchcock, Vincent Price, Bella, Lon...egads!

OK...for sheer camp and really good horror with a great ending. . . the original: "Night of the Living Dead"!

[TheForceOfOne]

Campaign Killer Tomatoes starring Teresa Heinz Kerry. There is bloody red ketchup everywhere!! Rated "D" for Democrat. Not suited Democrats still recovering from PEST disease. Contact you therapist before viewing. Not for recommended in "Blue" states. This movie has been banned in Canada.

[PleaseNoMore]

My husband often called me sick because I liked Silence of the Lambs so much. I thought Hopkins was excellent as Lector. The psychological games his character played with Clarisse fascinated me.

[wallcrawlr]

As others have mentioned. ALIEN

I am generally desensitized to most horror films...the gore does nothing for me, it has to be suspenseful. I saw it at the theater as a kid...that was the best.

[Darnright]

>A new horror movie, The Grudge, is turning out to be an enduring hit, and that piqued my curiosity. It also reminded me of my two most horrifying experiences with horror movies.<

Now that's one scary movie. It's very different from most American horror films, which probably has a lot to do with its effectiveness in keeping audiences on the edge of their seats.

As far as old horror movies go, The Birds made a lasting impression on me, although I've seen it as an adult and it was not as creepy.

[kidd]

Technically not a movie, but worth a mention.

Some years ago, NBC made a mini-series remake of the old 1960s soap opera "Dark Shadows".

A vampire who is partially controlled by medication. A seance that transports one of the participants back in time. A man is buried alive behind a brick wall while he watches the wall being built.

Closest thing to a "pure" horror movie.

[Mannaggia l'America]

I'm interested for a couple reasons: A new horror movie, The Grudge, is turning out to be an enduring hit,

Did you see The Grudge?

I saw it over the weekend (the first time I've been to a non-kids movie in quite a while). I thought it was decent.

There were a lot of teenagers in the theater and I expected a bad experience because there was a lot of chatter when the movie started. But it died down. It even enhanced the experience a little because there were three teenage girls sitting behind us and they were screaming when something scary happened. That actually seemed to add a little to watching it.

[miss marmelstein]

"The Uninvited" is a great ghost story - and that song "Stella by Starlight"! Are you there, Mary Meredith?

Also, "The Innocents" (with Deborah Kerr and some really creepy spooks) and "Something Wicked This Way Comes" both directed by Jack Clayton.

[martin gibson]

in no particular order:

The Thing (John Carpenter)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hopper - the recent remake is an absolute piece of sh*t...)
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock)

I'm a huge horror movie fan - the gorier the better!!! The good ones are few and far between, though...

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I am a serious movie buff. I have seen thousands upon thousands of films of every imaginable genre.

Best horror movie?
You'd better believe it when they say, "In space, no one can hear you scream."

[TXFireman]

ping

[miss marmelstein]

How about "Poltergeist"? Scared me to death when I first saw it...

[RightOnline]

Haven't read the whole thread, but there is one out there that I don't think has been mentioned that was incredibly creepy: "The Sentinel". Basic idea was that the portal to Hell was actually located in a tenement building; was guarded by an aging priest for decades; young, attractive lady moves in.........yep, the portal gets opened up (damned if I remember how). REALLY creepy flick; gives me chills just remembering a few of the scenes (especially one that was beautifully shot: our heroine is walking around in the dark in the building with a flashlight......and this dead guy/zombie thing comes walking right behind her and just keeps walking. She whirls around but doesn't see him. You have to see it to understand just how unreal........well, creepy.........the scene was).

[Jonah Hex]

I saw "The Blob" on TV when I was seven years old, and it gave me nightmares for months!

I've gotten over it mostly since then, but I still get clammy hands and flashbacks whenever I see Helen Thomas.

(Excuse me, I have to go curl up in a corner quivering for a little while...)

[Sybeck1]

The Hills Have Eyes

[PleaseNoMore]

I have never watched it since. I have never seen the sequals and won't watch them either. I saw it before remote controled televisions, or at least before my cousin had one, so I had to endure the movie visuals and sounds because I was too darned scared to get off of the sofa and turn it off. I couldn't even get up to turn the lights off. I had that dry mouth, light headed, panicking type of fear going on.

[add925]