Before this thread gets started, everyone needs to keep in mind that horror is one of the most subjective genres out there. Someone will find one thing scary and effective while others may roll their eyes or completely disagree. It's all about your mental predisposition and acceptance going into a horror film. A horror film only works for someone if it manages to personally get under their skin or leave them thinking after the credits, and in some cases keeping them awake a bit longer at night than usual.
For me a great example of this was The Blair Witch Project. I had sunken into the hype and I was incredibly excited for it when it finally opened theatrically, but when I watched the film for the first time, I didn't get what all the praise was about. You didn't really see anything, the film played out mostly on sound effects and lore, and in a loud theater, it was very hard to digest these things. However, that night when I tried to go to sleep, I couldn't. I found myself thinking about the movie and I was frankly way too unnerved to fall asleep. That's when it hit me: it was actually scary because of those things. The art of what you see versus what you don't see, everything the film implied, all the sounds you hear -- it was a totally visceral and in hindsight terrifying little movie.
However, some people are impervious to this. They want to be terrified up-front without having to think about something, and therein lies the problem: I find that the best horror is the kind that is smart and picks apart at your brain on a mental level. A director can't just go out and put something on film and scare people. They can't just edit in some loud sound effect to scare people because all you get out of someone with that is a brief startle that is over as soon as it happens. That startle will never be effective again because you know exactly when it's going to happen.
When Paranormal Activity was screening throughout festivals back in like 2007 or whenever, it was scaring the shit out of audiences at said festivals because there was no hype or predisposition toward it. It's a film that operates on the unseen, on sounds, and it plays on your expectations. If you go into a movie like that knowing its fake -- and you should, it's just a movie -- but with also a lot of hype and promise behind it, you go into the film with your arms folded and this "do your best to scare me" mentality. That's the wrong mentality to go in with. The director certainly did not intend for people to blow the roof off with the hype, nor did he make any promises to anyone that it would be effective to them. I knew all of this going into the movie, but I allowed myself to realize that and to try to watch the film as if I were in that audience at that festival before the hype machine started rolling, and the movie scared the last hell out of me.
I hate this notion that the horror genre is some pointless, cliche affair. It is what it is. Someone will make a cliche horror movie, but then someone else will come out with something fresh and well done. It's the same with any drama, or action film, or comedy: some work, some do not. It's not the genre that's the problem, it's the filmmakers, and sometimes it can be stubborn audiences who refuse to acknowledge that horror is something that you have to open yourself up to. If you watch a horror movie from a jaded perspective, it's never going to work. If you're Billy Badass, you're not going to be affected by anything.
That being said, and in no order, here are some horror films that I find to be brilliant, incredibly well made, or just flat out terrifying:
Halloween 1978 The Blair Witch Project The Exorcist Paranormal Activity Paranormal Activity 3 Insidious Dead Silence
As you can see -- not many. I don't hold very many horror films in such high regard. While on the surface this goes against my praise for the genre, it's the exact opposite -- not many horror films have impressed me or worked for me, and that's exactly why I consider the genre to be an art form within itself: there are a lot of great dramas, great action films, great comedies, and so on -- but there aren't that many great, effective horror movies. Why? Because they're fucking hard to make. Horror is the one genre where everything must come together in perfect harmony in order to work. It's the hardest genre to crack, period. It's a genre where the writers and filmmakers must absolutely have one unified vision, where all the filmmakers and everyone involved must mentally click with one another. You don't just write a decent horror screenplay and get a decent director. The script has to understand fear and suspense, the director has to understand exactly what to put in the frame, when to put it in the frame; the editor must know exactly how to edit it and work with sound effects in a non-over the top way, the composer must know how to supplement a scene without getting overbearing with it, the actors must bring their game to it -- everything has to come together in an artistic and effective way.
This is why I have so much respect for the genre. I enjoy tons of horror movies, but I would call only a handful of them effective or well thought out and that's because it takes impeccable skill and an underlying knowledge of how to play on audience expectations and how to actually execute things. Because one wrong turn and you've got something unintentionally funny, or you've got a scare or a sequence of suspense that looks great on paper but executed poorly. It is one of the hardest types of film to successfully pull off, and I have the utmost respect for filmmakers who can actually pull it off. Even if you do pull it off, you've still got a jaded, stubborn group of moviegoers to prove it to.
It's very relative to name one a horror film, so it's actually very hard to list them. So I'll just list the very few that actually scare and/or affect me in some way:
Rosemary's Baby The build up, the atmosphere, everything is just unsettling in this. I'm always disturbed when I watch this movie.
The Shining This is probably the movie that affects me the most out of every single one I've watched. I get terribly uncomfortable while watching this, no matter the circumstance. There's just no way to describe the way I feel. It's just... eerie... I really don't know how to explain
Scream It's not scary or effective to me now, but when I first watched this as a kid, I couldn't sleep for two weeks, imagining Ghostface coming up and stabbing me. The only effect it has on me now is wonder. It's just mesmerizing to see how actually revolutionary this turned out to be.
The Blair Witch Project God, this movie never fails to scare me. I'm terrified of the dark and of getting lost in the woods. This captures what it would be like perfectly, and I always get chills at the desperation the actors show.
[REC] This frantic, crazy, scary ride is just awesome. This is the ultimate crowd flick. And it never fails to make me jump. I just love this film.
Paranormal Activity 3 It's kind of embarassing to say how much this movie scares me. It's at heart just pure jump-scare galore. But there's something about it - and it's last 15 minutes - that terrifies me to death.
BONUS - Some horror flicks that I just adore, but am not scared or even affected by: Psycho The Exorcist Halloween (1978) Poltergeist Alien Let The Right one In (I also love Let Me In, but it definitely cannot be named as horror) Paranormal Activity 1 & 2
This scene is just an extraordinary piece of filmmaking. It's just incredible how every single shot counts in the construction of the sequence. Hannibal is just beatuifully played by Hopkins. Such a great film.
Guys, can you believe that I'm not a huge fan of The Shinning? I don't even know how to explain why, actually. The story just doesn't grab me. Maybe I need to rewatch it.
Guys, can you believe that I'm not a huge fan of The Shinning? I don't even know how to explain why, actually. The story just doesn't grab me. Maybe I need to rewatch it.
You know, I'm kind of the same way, but it falls under my category of not really terrifying, but incredibly well made and very smart. It's also iconic with memorable imagery.
Surprisingly, and you are not ready for this opinion: Boogeyman 2 is good. I hated the first and third installments with the force of twelve greek gods, but Boogeyman 2 has:
-an interesting story -decent acting -diverse characters -a good twist -some excellent moments of slow, burning suspense
Check it out if you don't believe me. It was one of the most surprisingly good horror movies I've seen lately.
God, I hoped this wouldn't turn into a list fest and images. Bane has the right idea with his post.
Pottermore username: DustBlade76
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
I need to rewatch it. I didn't think it was bad but there was some goofball in the theater making a lot of sexual noises during the movie. I remember it having a pretty bizarre twist.
I think it's such a sad story... The overall movie is just great, so atmospheric. Everything's perfectly put together. But I wouldn't consider it a horror film. To me it's more like supernatural drama.
I wont repeat ones that have been said, The Blair Witch Project for example is one of my favourite horror films (and films) of all time. And one of the few films that genuinely frightened me. Thankfully I'm one of those people who allows myself to get absorbed by a horror film. It is a shame there's a lot of snobbery surrounding this genre.
I have, and I would say it's a well made drama with flourishes of horror. My biggest problem is that it just wasn't very enjoyable and the ending was super depressing. It's just not a very feel-good film. For me, either a movie should have some interesting twist or point, or be enjoyable. The Orphanage was neither. I felt like it had this bizarre identity crisis; much like other films that del Toro produces like Are You Afraid of the Dark?, they're often too beautiful and not dark enough to really be legitimate horror movies. It's hard to explain, but they all have pretty cinematography with colorful sets (often involving trees, sunlight, and flowers) which is just weird for horror. It's almost like operatic horror but not terribly effective.
Anyway, Orphanage is good, but like Matt said, it's not really horror and mostly plods around in the drama genre. The best thing about it, though, is the soundtrack:
For anyone that hasn't heard this, brace yourself, it's one of the greatest pieces of music I've ever heard for a film.
For me, atmosphere is the one of the most important things I look for in a horror flick. I want to be drawn into the world and feel as unsettled as the characters are. Naturally, Carpenter's Halloween does this well, but there are more modern films that do the same. One that comes to mind, and I may catch flack for this, is the Silent Hill adaptation. The atmosphere is spot on in effectiveness and creepiness. Sure, the story isn't all that great, but it works in the given realm. It is style over substance, and that is usually frowned upon, but I like it when it works.
Pottermore username: DustBlade76
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
For me, atmosphere is the one of the most important things I look for in a horror flick. I want to be drawn into the world and feel as unsettled as the characters are. Naturally, Carpenter's Halloween does this well, but there are more modern films that do the same. One that comes to mind, and I may catch flack for this, is the Silent Hill adaptation. The atmosphere is spot on in effectiveness and creepiness. Sure, the story isn't all that great, but it works in the given realm. It is style over substance, and that is usually frowned upon, but I like it when it works.
MEGA bro points for Silent Hill. It has a share of issues, but its technically fantastic with amazing atmosphere -- much like the games. The new game (Downpour) was fantastic.
I also love the original Omen film. The music is incredibly creepy, as is the boy who played Damien. I find the whole concept of the film unsettling too: the Anti-Christ being born into the family of such a prestigious person.
I totally agree with you on Silent Hill, Brandon. It has some issues, but the Art Direction it's one of the best I have ever seen in a horror movie.
Did you know a lot of the budget went into the sound design? The director was highly keen on excellent sound design. At another message board I post in, someone there was one of the sound editors and he said that he had never worked with a more sound-obsessive director in his life. Next time you watch the film, pay attention to how amazing the sound work is.
Although I'm not a huge fan of remakes, there are some pretty decent out there. I really enjoyed the remakes of The Crazies and The Last House on the Left.
I don't know if it can be considered a horror-movie, but as I'm terrified of extraterrestrials, watching Fire in the Sky left me lying awake on bed for days. I'm still afraid of being abducted.
@Bane really? Because from the video it looks like the character movement is very clunky. I heard this game is very disappointing. Too bad because it's envoirements look amazing.
@Bane really? Because from the video it looks like the character movement is very clunky. I heard this game is very disappointing. Too bad because it's envoirements look amazing.
It's one of the best SH games. The controls are no problem whatsoever unless you just suck ass at videogames.
Trick 'r Treat is another modern horror movie that I like. The Halloween setting makes it extra juicy and I like how it doesn't hold back on dead children.
Pottermore username: DustBlade76
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
Comments
Nightmare on Elm st
Childs Play
Friday the 13th
Paranormal Activity
Saw
The Excorsist
For me a great example of this was The Blair Witch Project. I had sunken into the hype and I was incredibly excited for it when it finally opened theatrically, but when I watched the film for the first time, I didn't get what all the praise was about. You didn't really see anything, the film played out mostly on sound effects and lore, and in a loud theater, it was very hard to digest these things. However, that night when I tried to go to sleep, I couldn't. I found myself thinking about the movie and I was frankly way too unnerved to fall asleep. That's when it hit me: it was actually scary because of those things. The art of what you see versus what you don't see, everything the film implied, all the sounds you hear -- it was a totally visceral and in hindsight terrifying little movie.
However, some people are impervious to this. They want to be terrified up-front without having to think about something, and therein lies the problem: I find that the best horror is the kind that is smart and picks apart at your brain on a mental level. A director can't just go out and put something on film and scare people. They can't just edit in some loud sound effect to scare people because all you get out of someone with that is a brief startle that is over as soon as it happens. That startle will never be effective again because you know exactly when it's going to happen.
When Paranormal Activity was screening throughout festivals back in like 2007 or whenever, it was scaring the shit out of audiences at said festivals because there was no hype or predisposition toward it. It's a film that operates on the unseen, on sounds, and it plays on your expectations. If you go into a movie like that knowing its fake -- and you should, it's just a movie -- but with also a lot of hype and promise behind it, you go into the film with your arms folded and this "do your best to scare me" mentality. That's the wrong mentality to go in with. The director certainly did not intend for people to blow the roof off with the hype, nor did he make any promises to anyone that it would be effective to them. I knew all of this going into the movie, but I allowed myself to realize that and to try to watch the film as if I were in that audience at that festival before the hype machine started rolling, and the movie scared the last hell out of me.
I hate this notion that the horror genre is some pointless, cliche affair. It is what it is. Someone will make a cliche horror movie, but then someone else will come out with something fresh and well done. It's the same with any drama, or action film, or comedy: some work, some do not. It's not the genre that's the problem, it's the filmmakers, and sometimes it can be stubborn audiences who refuse to acknowledge that horror is something that you have to open yourself up to. If you watch a horror movie from a jaded perspective, it's never going to work. If you're Billy Badass, you're not going to be affected by anything.
That being said, and in no order, here are some horror films that I find to be brilliant, incredibly well made, or just flat out terrifying:
Halloween 1978
The Blair Witch Project
The Exorcist
Paranormal Activity
Paranormal Activity 3
Insidious
Dead Silence
As you can see -- not many. I don't hold very many horror films in such high regard. While on the surface this goes against my praise for the genre, it's the exact opposite -- not many horror films have impressed me or worked for me, and that's exactly why I consider the genre to be an art form within itself: there are a lot of great dramas, great action films, great comedies, and so on -- but there aren't that many great, effective horror movies. Why? Because they're fucking hard to make. Horror is the one genre where everything must come together in perfect harmony in order to work. It's the hardest genre to crack, period. It's a genre where the writers and filmmakers must absolutely have one unified vision, where all the filmmakers and everyone involved must mentally click with one another. You don't just write a decent horror screenplay and get a decent director. The script has to understand fear and suspense, the director has to understand exactly what to put in the frame, when to put it in the frame; the editor must know exactly how to edit it and work with sound effects in a non-over the top way, the composer must know how to supplement a scene without getting overbearing with it, the actors must bring their game to it -- everything has to come together in an artistic and effective way.
This is why I have so much respect for the genre. I enjoy tons of horror movies, but I would call only a handful of them effective or well thought out and that's because it takes impeccable skill and an underlying knowledge of how to play on audience expectations and how to actually execute things. Because one wrong turn and you've got something unintentionally funny, or you've got a scare or a sequence of suspense that looks great on paper but executed poorly. It is one of the hardest types of film to successfully pull off, and I have the utmost respect for filmmakers who can actually pull it off. Even if you do pull it off, you've still got a jaded, stubborn group of moviegoers to prove it to.
Rosemary's Baby
The build up, the atmosphere, everything is just unsettling in this. I'm always disturbed when I watch this movie.
The Shining
This is probably the movie that affects me the most out of every single one I've watched. I get terribly uncomfortable while watching this, no matter the circumstance. There's just no way to describe the way I feel. It's just... eerie... I really don't know how to explain
Scream
It's not scary or effective to me now, but when I first watched this as a kid, I couldn't sleep for two weeks, imagining Ghostface coming up and stabbing me. The only effect it has on me now is wonder. It's just mesmerizing to see how actually revolutionary this turned out to be.
The Blair Witch Project
God, this movie never fails to scare me. I'm terrified of the dark and of getting lost in the woods. This captures what it would be like perfectly, and I always get chills at the desperation the actors show.
[REC]
This frantic, crazy, scary ride is just awesome. This is the ultimate crowd flick. And it never fails to make me jump. I just love this film.
Paranormal Activity 3
It's kind of embarassing to say how much this movie scares me. It's at heart just pure jump-scare galore. But there's something about it - and it's last 15 minutes - that terrifies me to death.
BONUS - Some horror flicks that I just adore, but am not scared or even affected by:
Psycho
The Exorcist
Halloween (1978)
Poltergeist
Alien
Let The Right one In (I also love Let Me In, but it definitely cannot be named as horror)
Paranormal Activity 1 & 2
EDIT: Done!
Mysterious thing time.
Brutal, grimy, and fantastic. Love Fincher. ^_^
The Orphanage
Not overly sadistic, but still terrifying.
Misery
Very frightening, and from the mind of 'the King'. :P
Cape Fear
Robert De Niro is a genius. Max Cady terrifies me.
Mysterious thing time.
-an interesting story
-decent acting
-diverse characters
-a good twist
-some excellent moments of slow, burning suspense
Check it out if you don't believe me. It was one of the most surprisingly good horror movies I've seen lately.
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
It's just so unsettling
Mysterious thing time.
But I wouldn't consider it a horror film. To me it's more like supernatural drama.
And something a bit lighter
Anyway, Orphanage is good, but like Matt said, it's not really horror and mostly plods around in the drama genre. The best thing about it, though, is the soundtrack:
For anyone that hasn't heard this, brace yourself, it's one of the greatest pieces of music I've ever heard for a film.
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
I also love the original Omen film. The music is incredibly creepy, as is the boy who played Damien. I find the whole concept of the film unsettling too: the Anti-Christ being born into the family of such a prestigious person.
Mysterious thing time.
But whoa, what a great concept! It'd rock as a movie scene!
I heard this game is very disappointing. Too bad because it's envoirements look amazing.
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.