The "recommend a scary movie" for Halloween thread

[LavCat]

Halloween is just around the corner and I love horror films. I thought it might be fruitful for us horror fans to recommend some great movies for the occasion.

I would offer "The Descent" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625/

A movie that is so scary I have had the Blu-ray for about six months and not watched it. The disc has both the U.S. and the original British endings.

[kandrathe]

Obligatory link: the ending of A Clockwork Orange is perhaps the scariest (in a disturbing way) movie experiences ever (at least for me).

I found Eraserhead just as disturbing. Requiem for a Dream, Blue Velvet and Irreversible were pretty disturbing as well.

[Frag]

Obligatory link: the ending of A Clockwork Orange is perhaps the scariest (in a disturbing way) movie experiences ever (at least for me).

--Pete

Amen, and one could argue that most of Kubricks' work is slightly to largely unsettling.

And while I realize my next director is someone you probably hate beyond words, Pete, David Lynch's Rabbits was profoundly unsettling and very intriguing. It's an episodic tale of three rabbits which is presented in a Pulp Fiction-style, with the typical Lynch misdirection and obfuscation.

Cheers,
~FragB)

[Frag]

I found Eraserhead just as disturbing. Requiem for a Dream, Blue Velvet and Irreversible were pretty disturbing as well.

Glad to see I'm not the only person that associates Lynch with Kubrick around these parts, Kan.:D

~Frag

[DeeBye]

I would offer "The Descent" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625/

A movie that is so scary I have had the Blu-ray for about six months and not watched it. The disc has both the U.S. and the original British endings.

The Descent was great :)

[--Pete]

Hi,

And while I realize my next director is someone you probably hate beyond words, Pete, David Lynch's Rabbits was profoundly unsettling and very intriguing. It's an episodic tale of three rabbits which is presented in a Pulp Fiction-style, with the typical Lynch misdirection and obfuscation.

Thanks for an unintended laugh:) On the page of that link was:

People Viewing This Page May Also Be Interested In These Sponsored Links (what's this?)
Volkswagen Rabbit
www.VW.com/Rabbit * Get Details on a New VW Rabbit at the Official VW Site Today!

I'm still laughing.

--Pete

EDIT: The humor overcame me so much I forgot to actually reply:)

I have no knowledge at all of that film, and next to no knowledge of David Lynch. Looking through his 'filmology', the only one I've actually seen was his version of Dune, which, while not bad was doomed to failure because of the subject matter. People who are actually familiar with the written version of Dune know that the real story is not the action but the mental processes of the actors, a thing that is near impossible to convey in a movie.

[Frag]

Hi,
Thanks for an unintended laugh:) On the page of that link was:

People Viewing This Page May Also Be Interested In These Sponsored Links (what's this?)
Volkswagen Rabbit
www.VW.com/Rabbit * Get Details on a New VW Rabbit at the Official VW Site Today!

I'm still laughing.

--Pete

I admit I cringed when I saw you had replied so quickly and slunk back to see what lashing awaited me. Yeah, that's pure awesome:)

Reminds me of the time my wife was looking up Invader Zim DvD's on Amazon and at the bottom the "You might also enjoy" list started with Bambi.
~Frag

[kandrathe]

I admit I cringed when I saw you had replied so quickly and slunk back to see what lashing awaited me. Yeah, that's pure awesome:)

Reminds me of the time my wife was looking up Invader Zim DvD's on Amazon and at the bottom the "You might also enjoy" list started with Bambi.
~Frag

Oh! The HORROR!!!

[Frag]

Oh! The HORROR!!!

I just laughed so hard I shot a Jones potato chip out my nose. :blink:
~Frag

[LochnarITB]

Hi,

Best horror film ever was billed as Sci-fi: Alien. Sequels were blah, IMO.

--Pete

I generally avoid anything labeled as horror. Having things jump out at me or try to gross me out with copious quantities of giblets is just not entertainment for me. However, disguise it as sci-fi and I am sucked in. I loved Alien but I still fast forward or change the channel as the chest explosion scene approaches. The thought of the screech as that thing looks around at the folks gives me chills. I also got dragged into Event Horizon and enjoyed it.

I also enjoyed Aliens, but I would put that in the action/scifi category. Alien vs. Predator is watchable, but only because it stars Sanaa Lathan.;)

For real horror, I'm fairly sure that the all time horror king is just hitting the theaters today - High School Musical 3! Run and hide! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

[--Pete]

Hi,

For real horror, I'm fairly sure that the all time horror king is just hitting the theaters today - High School Musical 3! Run and hide! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

You're confusing 'horror' with 'horrible'. In the 'horrible' category, my vote is for Titanic or perhaps Out of Africa. The idea of *ever* having to watch either of those again terrifies me.;)

--Pete

[shoju]

So my first suggestion was already eaten. Event Horizon is the scariest most disturbing thing that I have seen in a LONG time. God forbid you are able to track down the director's cut from Europe that has the extended scenes of what happened to the crew. I saw it once, and it made me nauseous.

Since that one has been taken, I'm going to offer up another one. This one is not so much a 'horror' movie as it is a thriller, but it still was a good flick to watch with all the lights off.

Cube. There is definitely more in it that made me jump and get on edge than movies like the ring.

[Griselda]

It's funny that so many people here have named Event Horizon. I thought it was terrible enough to be funny, except for the gore factor, when I first watched it. This spaceship's going to hell? Please. Mind you, that means that it's been 10 years since I watched it, but it made enough of an impression that I remember how awful it was.

The "always on around Halloween" movie that I found the most terrifying as a child was The Birds. Maybe the terrifying factor was that it starts with something that's so familiar to everyone- a murder:)of crows. I still think a synchronized flock of birds is awe-inspiring today, though hardly terrifying. Crows are now some of my favorite birds.

I've been thinking about the resurgence of horror movies in the past several years. I remember them as being popular when I was growing up, in the "Jason and Freddie" years, but then they sort of went away for a while. I wonder how much of this has to do with the current political situation. There are enough scary things going on that people want to go and have their fears, and the relief, packaged in neat 2-hour segments. What do you guys think?

[shoju]

I mention it as a favorite because I like the supernatural stuff.... A LOT. I like the idea of hell as a fear tactic, but that might be because I grew up as the son of a pastor in one of the 'hardcore for jesus' churches in the world.

By the time I was 5 I was pretending to have wars with satan instead of playing normal kid games. It was definitely a bizarre childhood.

[--Pete]

Hi,

I've been thinking about the resurgence of horror movies in the past several years. I remember them as being popular when I was growing up, in the "Jason and Freddie" years, but then they sort of went away for a while. I wonder how much of this has to do with the current political situation. There are enough scary things going on that people want to go and have their fears, and the relief, packaged in neat 2-hour segments. What do you guys think?

While your speculation is possible, I think that a simpler explanation might be more correct. For years, the western was a major staple of the movies. As they became more and more common, they became less well done, or rather, their flaws became more obvious. In addition, people started to get satiated by the large number turned out. They had a brief resurgence thanks to the spaghetti westerns, but for a long time now, the western has been a rarity.

Much the same cycle has been the case for war movies, for detective/cop stories, for spy stories. They each had a heyday, they each 'oversold' the market, and they each have mostly disappeared except for the occasional reappearance. And all of them share the characteristic that in their heyday they became formalistic, repetitive, and that most damning thing for entertainment: boring.

I suspect that the horror film has gone through the same phases, and the "Jason and Freddie" sub-genre was largely to blame.

Obligatory link: Cat's Eye is a pretty good 'scary' movie based on S. King's work.

--Pete

[LavCat]

The "always on around Halloween" movie that I found the most terrifying as a child was The Birds. Maybe the terrifying factor was that it starts with something that's so familiar to everyone- a murder :) of crows. I still think a synchronized flock of birds is awe-inspiring today, though hardly terrifying. Crows are now some of my favorite birds.

I watched The Birds recently on DVD (I work in a library and DVD's are like free candy). The only reason I did not mention it earlier was the rule of one movie per post. I saw The Birds when it came out and I was in high school. Very good movie. The film I found most terrifying as a child was Wizard of Oz. So much for rules.

[Frag]

The only reason I did not mention it earlier was the rule of one movie per post.

*does a double-take on the first post...

Yep, I missed that.

Sorry,
~Frag:blush:

[DeeBye]

The only reason I did not mention it earlier was the rule of one movie per post.

I only added that rule to stop people from just posting a huge list of movies and not discussing them. You guys have been really good about adding discussion about the movies, so go ahead and break the rule if you want.

[DeeBye]

I've been thinking about the resurgence of horror movies in the past several years. I remember them as being popular when I was growing up, in the "Jason and Freddie" years, but then they sort of went away for a while. I wonder how much of this has to do with the current political situation. There are enough scary things going on that people want to go and have their fears, and the relief, packaged in neat 2-hour segments. What do you guys think?

I think that the various horror remakes have been very good lately because the people doing the remakes have done them well. Let's face it, the old 80s Jason and Freddie movies were kinda terrible. Yeah, they had gore and screams and stuff, but they were always weak on the stuff that makes a movie good. The newest batch of horror remakes have good plots, good directing, good acting, and everything else that the good non-horror genre typically has.

Look at the really good horror remakes from the past few years. It's a pretty nice list.

-Texas Chainsaw Massacre
-The Hills Have Eyes
-Dawn of the Dead
-Halloween

The upcoming Friday the 13th remake looks like it might be really good too.

[VinnieJones]

Hi,

Best horror film ever was billed as Sci-fi: Alien. Sequels were blah, IMO.

--Pete

Aliens was an awesome sci-fi/action movie. Just not really a horror movie imo.