Top 5 Horror Films

Well, it's october so we might as well do a top horror film list! My personal list:

1. The Shining - "THURSDAY" makes me shit my pants every time.
2. Shutter (Thailand) - I actually let out a girly scream during one sequence of this film in a very crowded house. No one has let me live it down since.
3. Ju-On - Kids meowing. I'm scared to watch this alone in my Japanese apartment...
4. The Orphanage - 1, 2, 3...turn around.
5. The Exorcist - Gotta love a film that permanently scars the people who work on it...

Honorable Mentions: The Thing, Psycho, Rosemary's Baby, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dawn of the Dead (Romero), Kairo, Ringu...among many others.

I watch Ju-on every October.

We should spin a couple of the popular choices to Now Watching threads throughout the month. I'm sure a bunch of us will be watching scary movies this month anyway.

Definitely in favor of that. Just started dating a girl who says how she wants to check out some horror movies. Would love for ones that would make her jump and hold me.

You read my mind, Trip. But now that you've mentioned it I don't have to make the thread! Huzzah!

I like the sound of that, trip.

As for my top 5... I really have no idea. I usually just end up doing horror marathons and forgetting every new movie I watched, even if they were good. I do have a few go-to movies, though...

1. The Shining. I'll admit that a fair amount of this movie has aged pretty badly, but so much of it is pure gold.

2. Ringu. Of all the creepy bits and the neat mystery plot, the towel guy is still the creepiest thing I've seen in a movie. There's just something about that image... It's hard to explain

3. Psycho. There are some pretty goofy moments here but the dude playing Norman Bates is so great. And the big scare that you haven't heard about billions of times is actually pretty effective.

I still need to watch Ringu... Now would be a good time for that. Ju-On is pretty good though. Kids meowing is surprisingly creepy..

1. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

This is one of those films that I've only seen once and I want to keep it that way. I can't be serious about what I consider to be the scariest film of all time and not think of this one. I do have to acknowledge that it is brilliantly directed and acted (if you think you know cinematic menace, Michael Rooker will redefine it for you here) and that it reflects real world horrors honestly and with the coldest, clinical eye that's so memorable.

It haunts me so because people like this exist (it's based on Henry Lee Lucas) and it has made me always lock my doors when I'm inside (due to a disturbing home invasion sequence) or think twice about pulling over to help a stranger with a broken car (the Good Samaritan who does this in the film is rewarded with multiple gunshots to the chest). It reminds me that Evil exists in this world, that we're our own worst enemy and that if anyone really REALLY wanted to kill me....they'd most likely succeed.

2. An American Werewolf In London

Quite possibly my favorite mixture of horror and comedy but make no mistake, when this movie wants to scare you, it still works. I love the buildup to the first wolf attack, the interplay between David McNaughton and Griffin Dunne before tragedy strikes. And it is very tragic and that's one of the best things about this film: it doesn't take its killings lightly. McNaughton's character is a decent, handsome man and he doesn't deserve what happens to him. And crazy shit happens to him before he turns into a werewolf; there are two dream sequences that still freak me out.

The werewolf transformation scene is still regarded as one of the best, if not the best. Between hearing Sam Cooke's cover of "Blue Moon", hearing the awful sound of the bones realigning and the teamwork of Rick Baker's effects and McNaughton's committed physical performance...it still packs a wallop.

Like Jaws, this movie gives you a little of the wolf at a time before showing you the animal completely at the end. It's nothing but a walking nightmare on four paws. The amount of carnage in the final sequence is still shocking but what resonates is the ending. No jokes.  Just the bloody, logical, sad end.



3. John Carpenter's The Thing

I was kinda torn between this and Halloween, a film that inspired more nightmares as a pre-teen. Yet The Thing is the better film in every way: production values, ensemble acting, visual effects (Rob Bottin's work is astounding) and the inescapable air of dread, paranoia, distrust and anger. That it even includes moments of humor is remarkable. Also, that ending....perfecto.

4. Black Christmas (1974)

No matter how many times I wish I could tell those girls, they just won't leave the fucking house. I just want to rescue Olivia Hussey and get the fuck out of there; she was such a babe.

"Agnes? It's me......Billy...."



5. Vampyr (1932)

I love this early sound film from Carl Theodor Dreyer. It has nothing to do with vampires, despite its title. I love it for its slow-burn quality, of it's approach to constantly conjuring up unsettling imagery and maintaining a chilling mood. There's nothing else like it. You can see the whole film on Youtube or Hulu Plus.

The transformation sequence in that movie is phenomenal. I think I watched it again about 3 times after I saw that movie for the first time.

1. Phantasm - It is a very weird and often times stupid movie, but those are the things I love most about it. The Tall Man is one of the creepiest horror villains. The fact that there is 4 movies and no resolution is another thing that I approve of. There's so much wrong about these movies, but I love them still. Reggie (my signature picture) is bad ass.

2. Scream - I'm a big fan of whodunnits. I don't know if that's because I grew up watching Scooby-Doo, but this movie felt like the cartoon I loved as a child except in this the bad guy in the mask actually kills people. The characters were cool, and the twist at the end for me was amazing as a child. I was in the 8th grade when it came out, so to me I watched it at the perfect time.

3. Halloween - I watch it every year as I carve pumpkins. The best horror music without a doubt. Does Bret love Halloween? "Totally."

4. Night of the Living Dead - Black and white zombies are awesome. I like Dawn of the Dead, but I love the opening of this movie too much to pick Dawn of the Dead over this.

5. Dead Alive - Towards the end, there is literally buckets of blood during every shot. Plus that baby scene is hilarious.

Horror movies never scare me, but if I were to pick ones that did...

1. Arachnophobia - I think this movie contributed to my hatred of spiders.

2. Signs - That's right, I said Signs. When it shows the alien on the roof, the leg in the corn field, and Mel Gibson looking under in the door I get so many chills down my spine. M. Knight Shamalanahana sure sucks anymore.

I'm enjoying the fact that almost none of us have similar lists on this one...thinking I'll do a Now Watching every week with each week being a different "type" of horror film. So one week Asian horror, one week American classics, another week a slasher...it's hard though because there's so many subgenres of horror.

Don't just go rogue and pick whatever you want for the Now Watching. Try and use this thread to find things people would actually be into and look at what is easily available for people to check out.

Me? Go rogue? Well, I never...

Also a horror film waiting to be made?!

1. Halloween

2. Army Of Darkness - It was obviously his boomstick.

3. Night Of The Living Dead - This would be first but mental institutions and boomsticks out rank it.

4. Nosferatu

5. A Nightmare On Elm Street - Knives for hands and he guts a guy who played a role with knives for hands. Meta.

I didn't mention Kwaidan because I hate me when I'm pretentious.

I really need to watch Phantasm some day. I've got the first two films in my Netflix disc queue so in keeping with the holiday month, I'll make those my next options when I send my current ones back.

Are we getting a Now Watching going? I was leaving this task to a rogue Twolf. I say do Halloween the week of Halloween and maybe another popular choice in here beforehand. Get at least a couple in. What is everyone thinking?

I'll watch Halloween for sure. Actually never seen that. Never watched too many horror movies. So T-Wolf, if there was one thing you could pick, what would it be for someone like that?

Am I the only one who really, really didn't like Halloween? (the movie) Maybe it was good at the time, but I've seen more than enough slasher movies to figure out exactly what happens

Other than the actors, I love Halloween. The music to me is what really sets that movie apart from other horror movies. I watch Halloween every year, just depends on when I carve pumpkins. The other two that I always try to watch are Night of the Living Dead and Phantasm, so one of those two are my vote for the other movie.

I also was not a huge fan of Halloween. Like I get it was trying to do a very specific genre-thing but it just doesn't grip me.

Halloween, like Night of the Living Dead, was the start of its subgenre and it spawned so many imitators as well as films that paid homage and refined what worked, as well as adding new layers. If that has lessened the shock or that the tropes are more easily found, I can understand that. What it does is tell a great, memorable, scary story and accomplishes it on the lowest of budgets. On that score, it still holds up for me.

I'll just throw this out there, I hate the Rob Zombie versions.

I just didn't find Halloween scary...I don't know. I respect the film, and I don't diss anyone who does like it, but it just doesn't grip me. Fear is a very personal thing I think, that's what makes people's favorite horror interesting to talk about.

Trip: I'm all down for a Now Watching, will you guys actually watch it if we put it up?

I'm not trying to sound like a tough guy, because I'm not, but no horror movie really scares me besides Arachnophobia and that just creeps me out more than actually scares me.

The fact that Michael Myers is just hell bent on killing and that he's not a monster (not really taking into account the crappy sequels) and just someone that likes murdering his family is a scary concept. It feels like something that could happen, as opposed to most horror movies.

I felt about Friday the 13th how it seems some feel about Halloween though. Fri. the 13th was just straight up garbage.

Yeah, put me in the tough guy group with Bret. Movies just don't scare me (I'm am quite scared of heights/falling in real life, so definitely not a tough guy). I enjoy Halloween though. I did watch it when I was much younger so maybe I didn't run into any problems with it being dated or anything like that.

I too have been watching it for around 15 years now. It's one of those timeless halloween movies, and not just because of the name of the movie. If I were to pick three movies that give me the creeps it would be these movies...

1. Arachnophobia
2. Signs (seeing alien on roof, leg in corn field, alien in Brazil, and alien under cupboard give me the chills.)
3. Fire in the Sky because it is supposedly based off of a true story.

@Bret: I saw Fire In The Sky in the theater. It was interesting. Though I think there's probably a better way to write a story about drunk rednecks getting abducted by aliens. Why do aliens always choose drunk rednecks, cows, cornfields or Starfleet captains?

Halloween and Night Of The Living Dead are more social commentary than anything else. I get that now. When I first saw those they scared me in ways I can't explain. It's the same way Platoon scared me in that scene where Matt Dillon bashes the handicapped dude's head in. I saw that scene in the theater after me and my brother had finished our movie and went to find our parents.

"Tough Guy" to me sounds more like a sheltered thing. No, I don't really get scared anymore. Yes, I was fucking terrified as an adolescent who probably shouldn't have been watching those flicks. Now I'm more scared of identity fraud than movies, but that doesn't take away the fantastic childhood I had. Fright Night gave me nightmares. So did the Genesis game Sword of Sodan. Of course now they don't affect me in any way but nostalgia.

The last movie I saw that actually scared me was Oldboy. But this thread is horror in the traditional sense so it's hardly worth mentioning. Although it is pretty horrific. Full of no.

I don't know, I guess that's peeling "horror" into two different directions. There's scared in a "I have sat down and thought about this issue and it scares me" sort of way, and in that way a movie like Dr. Strangelove can scare me. Then there's scared as in "Shit shit shit, the demon is still outside but I don't know exactly where" scary which I guess I'm thinking more of in terms of these movies personally. Do I find Shutter's story utterly exhilarating and thought provoking? No. Does it make me shit my pants? Yes.

Also spiddy, I found Lady Vengeance more horrific (in that sense) than Oldboy. The scenes with the videos...*shudder*

To clarify, the anticipation in Oldboy is immediately gratifying where Lady Vengence keeps you on edge. Feel free to contradict me because now I want to watch both through different eyes.