I mean instead of showing a slave boy being really mistreated as a young teenager with a ton of built up tension and resentment physical abuse or mental, that boy couldn't have been happier the whole movie. "Are you an Angel" not an ounce of anger in that kid at all. Should have used a teenager. Always reminds me of a kindergartener trying to drive a Ferrari so damn bad. Not an ounce of rebellion or rule breaker or sense of any darkness at all. Just happy go lucky the whole time its beyond horrifying. @@biguy617
I agree. You're on edge the whole time, and _any_ sound, even something as simple as pots and pans rustling, will make you jump. No scare chord needed!
I say that ALL THE TIME myself. I feel like a lot of scenes in horror movies that they could’ve been better if they didn’t have such loud and obnoxious music and booming sound effects
If you ever see the film Blow Out with John Travolta as the Sound man on horror movies your quote really made me think of that. Hell of a good movie. Super sad at the end.
This is true of games, too. The reason why the original Silent Hill worked despite the primitive graphics of the PS1 is due to the _absolutely incredible_ sound design in that game. Most of the game takes place in darkness or fog, so you _hear_ the enemies way before you ever see them, and your imagination goes into overtime scaring the hell out of you. By the time the janky, triangulated pixel mess of an enemy finally steps into view it is almost a relief.
I was a kid when "American Werewolf in London" came out, and the transformation sequence and that last extended chase through the city absolutely terrified me. And John Carpenter's brilliant re-imagining of "The Thing" still creeps me out for weeks.
Mate. I agree. I saw Werewolf at a caravan park in the south of France and had to leave after the first transformation, walking back at night, through a dimly lit park to a caravan - alone - while my parents were out to dinner. It took me ten years before I watched the rest and realised if I had stayed the comedy scene in the cinema probably would have eased my rampant fear.
Classic move: don't show the monster until you absolutely have to, and even then, use it in a fleeting fashion, in a totally unexpected and incongruous time and place. Freaky alien stalking humans in an urban environment, captured on wobbly amateur footage? YES, PLEASE!
The part when he was checking on the little girl in the middle of the night and looks out the window and sees the alien standing on the roof. That got me.
I remember my mom said that was scariest movie. I've never seen it because it's an old black & white. And I don't like old black & white horror movies.
Haven't thought about The Birds in ages but it is kind of terrifying. I always kind of imagined a Maximum Overdrive movie like The Birds with wild life going berserk and attacking.
I was about 8 or 9 and watched the Birds at my aunt and uncles place. Had to sleep in the spare room with a cracked window and see-through curtains. Didn’t get much sleep. Terrifying!
The Witch is intriguing because it takes place in a historical setting where society genuinely believed evil witchcraft existed and mass hysteria sometimes broke out (Salem witch trials for example). I doubt a witch-movie set in the present could invoke the sense of dread and paranoia as Eggers' movie.
Disparu is right about watching a horror movie in a theater versus watching it at home, alone. Movies that do nothing if you're watching it in the daylight while washing dishes will drive you nuts if you are watching it in the dark and then have to go to bed.
yeah i dont know why he didnt just say a play. I've seen it too and when the woman starts walking through the crowd is really scary if youre on an aisle seat!@@vinnylewis9245
Fear is very fragile. If you want to properly savor it, you have to make the effort to create a proper atmosphere to invite it in, otherwise it's just a waste of time.
The best horror films have to grip you, then terrify you to your core. One of my personal favorites is The Thing. The fear of not knowing who you can trust, not to mention not seeing what the thing itself looks like puts chills down your spine. That's the power of a horror movie. 🎉
Fantastic movie, but I don't know if The Thing terrified me as much as just made me feel uneasy. I like that it's really a slow building dread as opposed to 1000 mile an hour jumpy scare scares. Amazing mood.
The Shining does it for me. The way furniture arbitrarily moves around in the background, the creepy heart beats during some scenes followed be nothing unusual happening. The Torrences are living in a hell motel playing mind games with them before the gory part.
I remember Fellowship having a couple of scenes that creeped me out as a kid. That Bilbo scene like you mentioned, Gandalf and his 'Conjurer of cheap tricks' scene, Gandalf and the 'Is it secret is it safe?' scene, that bit in Moria when the Goblins are approaching and you see one of the tunnels light up with their torches. That fake out scene in The Prancing Pony when you think the Ring Wraiths stab the hobbits in their beds. They definitely toned that sort of stuff down in Two Towers and Return of the King! Edit: How could I forget? That scene with Frodo when he offers Cate Blanchett the ring and she's all like 'ALL SHALL LOVE ME AND DESPAIR' in that demonic voice?! 😳
I seriously hate it when America one-to-one remakes foreign films for American audiences. It’s insulting to the originals. Movies like The Ring are fine because they change up the story and make it their own. But Quarantine is a prime example of the complete opposite. Just a lazy cash grab.
Yeah, Dis needs to watch them. I forgot that Quarantine even existed until he mentioned it. I don't even like found footage horror movies but REC 1 and 2 are excellent.
@@dr.juerdotitsgo5119 I can point Korea as reserve of good zshows: Kingdom, Happiness, Alive. Rec is awsome - just a remainder to the audience not to restrict yourself only to Hollywood or english speking movies (i am from Poland and latest american or english shows are boring af).
That's what I love about Lovecraft's works. They're not in your face jumpscares so much as they are, "What in heaven or earth is going on, and did any of this really happen?" kind of thoughtful scares that linger. Like meeting a cannibal on a long drive through the mountains, or realizing that aliens are real, and one of them abducted your friend. Or finding the corpse of your friend's wife on your doorstep, partially decomposed, and muttering in accents you know could only have come from your friend; your friend who is alive and well and moving about the world in circles that were unfamiliar to him, before his wife's death. Some of my favorite stories come from Lovecraft's pen, and I haven't even seen them in movie form.
The Descent is one that gets to me. It's just very dark and very claustrophobic all the way through. And the first time you get a proper look at the creatures down in the cave, just standing behind one of the girls looking at the back of her head.
My scariest scene of all time is the Thing from John Carpenter when all of the guys are sitting in chairs waiting for the blood test results. It's the most terrifying
This was one of the best open bars you ever had drinker. Try to have this group back together again sometime. Everyone contributed to the conversation and everyone had a different opinion and perspective. Great pannel.
Nearly, no more jumpscares. In most movies now horror = jumpscare. Problem being movies now think that's all horror is. Carrie, Stir of Echoes, even Sinister get it right. Jumpscares work in moderation only.
Not a horror movie but the best jumpscare I have ever seen was in Mulholland Drive. After that one jumpscare I was on the edge of my seat for the rest of the movie because it really came out of nowhere
@@ApophisTw0Thousand6309 Yh, again though. Liberal use of and great application. You kinda know somethings coming, but it takes it's time enough for you to relax a bit. Plus, a few maybe nearly jumpscares but not really. One and done. Stir of Echoes might still be my favourite though. It's built up as an exploring scene and then bam. Revisiting it, or the antagonist trying to helps as well. Leaves it fresh.
Disparu is right, the Woman in Black live in a theater is terrifying! When I was performing at the Churchill theater in London, we had so much fun scaring the audience. The reactions were so rewarding when you see people cowering in their seats 😂 it was 25 years ago, but still remember it so fondly
Reminds me of a prank that some people (in Japan) pulled on a bunch of teen girls.. They were all watching "Ringu" on a large (cathode ray tube) TV that was on the floor, Some of the girls were sitting close to the TV, it was the part where Samara crawls out of the TV, & when that happened, a REAL girl (dressed as Samara) crawls out of it (actually a cardboard cutout that was in front of the TV) & grabbed the closest girl's ankle. That was followed by screaming & scrambling to get FAR away from her before the prankers turned on the lights & revealed that it was just a prank.
Alien has one of the best horror moments. Several times they pan the camera over the alien so you see it but it’s camouflaged to look like the ship so you don’t see it. Really makes you feel uneasy on a subconscious level.
@@texasbeast239 yeah, I watched a behind the scenes documentary of that movie, it was so cool how they built the burned out house, and how they did the practical effects.
Yeah man, Zelda was absolutely terrifying and disturbing. Part of what adds to that is for me is the old "keep it locked away in the attic" kind of thing. Like an abomination that you don't let other people see.
The Exorcist. It was so well done in every aspect. My all-time favourite horror is 'An American Werewolf in London' but The Exorcist is on a whole other level. Just brilliant.
It had an odd effect on me. I first read the book then saw the movie and enjoyed them both. What was strange was when I reread the book it bothered me more than the first time.
The creepiest thing I remember about The Exorcist isn't the movie itself, but rather the original Regan doll displayed in the Astoria museum of film (or whatever it's called these days) and seeing that thing up close. This was back in the 80's and by then the rubber was rotting and falling off of it, it smelled horrible and to this day the memory of that prop is more vivid in my mind than any scene it was used in.
@@booshmcfadden7638 Yep, and they had it displayed with the head rotated around backwards. That thing still gives me nightmares 40 years later,.I hope they encased it in concrete and buried it in the Marianas Trench.
The Chernobyl miniseries in terms of human fear of things we can’t comprehend, but the makeup and psychology of the fly by croneberg has always stuck with me
Tim Currys' Pennywise performance from the original IT mini series, the body bag scene from A nightmare on Elm Street and the "Thank for the ride, lady" story from Creepshow2 . Absolutely scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.
I concur that where/when you watch a horror movie really has a profound effect on you. For me, all time scariest movie is Alien. I watched it for the first time on VHS in 1983 when I was eleven years old. This was around the time that video stores were opening and they never checked whether something was R rated and who was renting it. So my friend and I rented many movies that were technically not age appropriate for us. Regardless, I still remember to this day how much of an effect that movie had on me. It was so well shot and the creature was so terrifying, that it really drove the fear down to my core.
I have fond memories of those early days of video rental stores as well. No chain stores yet, they were all mom-and-pop places. "This is for your parents, right?" they'd ask with a wink and a nod before handing a group of pre-teen boys an R-rated movie......
The Thing, Exorcist, Alien. From start to finish, all of these movies get inside you and turn up the felling of hopeless shocking dread until the protagonist has nothing left.
I don’t know that I’d say it was the scariest movie I ever saw, but the original Nightmare on Elm Street definitely left a lasting impact on me. I was probably about 13 when I first watched it, and I remember being genuinely frightened to fall asleep for a few days after. The terror of that premise is quite subtle but effective; when you’re asleep, you’re supposed to be safe, taken away from the problems of the waking world and rest for a bit. The idea of an entity that can take even that away from you is very unnerving.
The Exorcist is the scariest movie ever in my opinion. To have a slow burning story, where an innocent girl slowly transforms into something so disgusting and evil, it's truly disturbing. And Jaws had the most lasting impact. People still think of that movie while in the ocean lol
A scene that gave me the most heeby-jeebies in my life comes from an episode in a later season of Supernatural called "The Whistler". The scene takes place out in the forest, and there's a shot looking out into the woods at night near a fallen tree. You get plenty of time to look at the shot to find the monster, and no matter where you look, you can't see it until it steps out of what you assumed had been a solid clump of tree roots. Freaked me out so hard. Really well done.
Scariest movie for me may have to be "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." I was 12. I knew it was all special effects; I even had a fair idea of how they did it. I mean, the Ceti Eel in the tank is a puppet. And yet, I slept with my earlobe folded over my ear canal for a month. I knew it's not real. I still covered my ears while I slept.
I think the only horror movie that ever really unnerved me was Mamma. The person playing the demon actually is hyper flexible in real life so all the movements the creature does are real, not CGI which really freaked me out.
Mama is so unnatural, yet you can see what she's supposed to be. Seeing what's clearly a human form, distorted but recognizable, acting in such a visceral, odd manner was terrifying
I think "The Exorcist" is considered the scariest movie ever made. Again, it goes into time and place. At the time the movie came out, America was still religious and held on to what was sacred and holy. Nowadays, that movie would not have the same impact. But back in the 70's some people were fainting, having panic attacks, and all sorts of craziness. There is even a documentary about it but I can't remember it off the top of my head. Much like "The Omen" and how unsettled the Drinker was when he watched it.
The kind of horror that's always stuck with me are films such as the Thing, the Shining, the Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs, Hereditary, Jacob's Ladder, etc. Scares predicated more on haunting imagery that burns itself into your brain and the weight of grave situations gradually building tension, (as opposed to cheap jump scares and an overabundance of gore). I'm glad A24 is around to revitalize the genre by touching on its roots again. Side note: Robert Eggers' Nosferatu is one of the only movies I'm genuinely looking forward to this year. His style of scares combined with the early 1900s German setting definitely intrigue me
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) The Score sets the tone and works perfectly with each scene, especially the infamous Dinner Scene. Visually it's stunning especially the ending seeing the Texas Sun sun appear from a night of Hell.
@christineobrien7707 I've seen audience reactions to The Exorcist and Halloween which both where nothing but legit horrifying screams. Especially when Michael Myers gets up from being stabbed in the eye. I imagine seeing both TCM and The Exorcist at the time of their releases would stay with Me for a few day's after viewing
@@ogvelociraptor205 I was about 12 when I watched Halloween on HBO. My sister & I watched it. I swear I heard his heavy breathing in our bedroom that night!!
American werewolf in London. 1983 I was 8 years old, older cousins put it on and it scared the living shit out of me especially the subway scene and the man getting his head decapitated it’s always stayed with me didn’t watch it again till about 5 years ago lol. I remember my dad left me in car to go in shop there was a full moon and I was so so scared. I’ve convinced myself blue moon was playing but it probably wasn’t, however I couldn’t listen to that for a long long time lol x
Music/cinematography to create mood, atmosphere. Building tension with suspenseful sequences rather than gore and jump scares. Characters & a plot we actually care about. Have an actual ending rather than always having it be open because you are just trying to sequel it.
Although it was looked down on by movie elites for many decades the horror movie is one of the most difficult genres to do and get right. I think it requires people with vision, intelligence and insight in addition to movie making skills.
I watched the original Evil Dead at a community hall showing (!) I then had to walk back to a cabin in some woods that I was staying at which looked the same as the one in the movie (even down to the swinging seat on the porch) Talk about scary!!! Brown pants time 😂
As an adult I saw "Alien" in the theater with my girlfriend. She was terrified and it really upped my anxiety. Disturbed our sleep for a couple of nights. Had to see it again to "face" my fear of the darkness. When I was a child in the 1960s I was terrified by the Barbara Steele movie "Black Sunday". I watched again and laughed. I think it depends on your age and emotional comfort within yourself.
you guys need to get on Alien Isolation if you haven't already - the visual and sound design on that are incredible. old game now but definitely worth watching Drinker go at it :D
I believe this year is the 10th anniversary of that game! What a great game. I still don't know how they managed to make it so good when it has so much that could have gone wrong. I was so worried about it because, on top of releasing after Colonial Marines, its hiding in lockers mechanic and invincible Alien reminded me too much of Outlast and other terrible horror games of the time. So I thought it'd be another boring unscary time waster like those. I was so happy to be wrong.
The most unsettling moment in any horror movie I've seen goes to Carrie - right at the end just before the graveyard scene there is a shot of the girl walking up the street, in the background you can see two red cars driving - backwards...
I grew up in the desert in Arizona and that movie had the exact opposite effect on me. "Those spiders ain't s@@t compared to what we've got in our backyard" :)
I loved listening to Disparu talking about the Woman in Black. He brought back so many memories for me when I saw it live. The whole audience was screaming. It was brilliant.
Scariest movie: The Thing. My idea of a horror movie is the change of expectations for safety. An example would be bad policeman, abusive parents, and/or a government out to get you. Which is why movies featuring World War II Nazi Germany are the scariest for me. Some scenes of “Schindler’s List” were terrifying. And the depressing/shocking thing is it happened. That’s true horror, our history had monsters worse than fictional horrors because fictional creatures targeted individuals whereas governments and civilizations preyed upon those who couldn’t resist them.
As much as it suffered from the modern movie malaise (murky filming techniques, unlikeable characters, wokeness thrown in in parts) it was still a good watch. Original concept and pretty scary and the ending pays off. Worth a watch for sure.
That scene where the possessed mom is banging her head against the attic door while her teenage son is crying "mommy!" Is the most hair-raising shit in that movie for me.
On the topic of the uncanny valley: On top of Baggage Claim's point about early hominids, there's also the simple angle that the uncanny valley can be triggered by signs of disease, decomposition or birth defects. All of which are things you'd want to avoid (or in the case of birth defects at least not pass down)
Let's not forget that our bodies already look disturbing in many ways. Other mammals stand on their hind legs and spread their arms as an intimidation display, and that's just our natural posture. Our skulls are freakishly large. Our eyes are positioned straight forward, just like all pursuit predators. Just seeing a silhouetted human figure with wide staring eyes in a place that it should not be is enough to terrify people, before it even moves.
American werewolf in London, The Thing, some scenes in the Evil Dead remake, IT remake where the old woman starts to slowy transform into a zombie witch.
Horror is better when it's subtle. The bathroom scene in The Shining after Jack has had the drink spilled on his shirt. The music is perfect. Over the course of the scene, Delbert Grady slowly turns from a bumbling apologetic butler into a towering sinister force that intimidates Jack.
The Shining is one of my favorite horror films. The slow buildup to Jack going kill crazy is great with Lloyd being in the room, then he's gone when Wendy walks in. Was Jack being driven evil by a demon or convincing himself to murder his family?
The scene from Paranormal Activity where her leg is slowly lifted and she is dragged out of bed half awake, and then is screaming down the hall. That scene is so well done. And I am surprised no one mentioned it directly, but I think the best horror scenes contain practical effects. I think your brain registers when something looks real, versus CGI. Compare both versions of The Thing, the classic version is way better.
Endy, you need to finish The Changeling (1980). Absolutely terrifying film but the underlying story is so sad and the ghost is angry no one is doing anything. It isn’t malevolent, just annoyed. Absolutely spine chilling film that comes from an era of film that just doesn’t get made anymore. Masterful. The biggest real life jumpscare I’ve ever had has stayed with me for 20 years now. My dog and cat at the time used to play fight, and a lot of the time would bang up against the back glass sliding door. Trouble is, both the dog and cat were jet black and I had come out to the fridge, right next to the back door, to grab a water at like 2 in the morning with all the lights off and the back door, about three feet from me, just went BANG!…….. I froze in terror. It was neither fight nor flight, I was utterly frozen just staring into the black imagining some dude must be standing at the back door, saw me and banged on the glass. Then the dog and cat kept wrestling and I figured out it was them. But I’ll never forget that I reacted in a way I didn’t think I would. Just utterly frozen.
I like it when a saucepan moves a little bit. That's scary. And I like it when the killer scurries past the camera and the sound goes DUN DUUUUUN so you know that's a scary bit. One time I saw a horror movie where they looked in the bathroom mirror and there was no one there, then they open it and close it and the killer is there! And he says oogabooga, but then the film makers don't really know how to end that scene so it just ends. It's only been in one or 2 horror movies, so it's still very fresh and you might not have seen that yet.
I am amazed that no one on the panel mentioned "The Exorcist". I went to see "The Exorcist" on its opening night. I'd read the book, so I knew what was coming, but the fear that swept through that packed theater was impossible to resist - I was trembling uncontrollably before the end, and I couldn't sleep for the following two nights. William Friedkin was a great filmmaker, and everything in that movie, from the effects, to the flashed of a demonic face, to the music, to the paintings by Francis Bacon in the credits, built up the atmosphere of supernatural horror. But much of the effect was due to experiencing it on the big screen in a crowded theater, rather than sitting in front a set in my home. People in crowds are more susceptible to strong emotions than are individuals, which is why mobs will do things that no person in the mob would think of doing on his own. Fear, horror, is a collective emotion, which is why horror films, to be truly effective, need to be seen in a theater, preferably with lots of other people.
I'm with CD on that, the Omen was scary and I remember we used to talk about it loads in secondary school. ETv mentions, OZ, the Wizard of Oz gave me nightmares, I was three when I first saw it.... then... Dr. Who used to scare me.
The Changeling I recall as a kid - scared the crap outta me.....The old Hammer Horror shows on TV when I was a kid back in the UK were the biggest scares I recall
Baggage is spot-on about the uncanny valley, it's probably less about a creature that could mimic humans in our prehistoric past, but more a reaction against unnatural movements of facial muscles (which could indicate disease or neurological issues). We're actually pretty good at seeing human forms in inanimate objects, but when those objects are capable of moving and behaving like people, it starts getting weird for us...
Texas Chainsaw was so scary and honestly really holds up for just how purely unsettling it is. No gore, no excessive blood, just a low budget, a house hotter than hell and twice as nasty, and brilliant cinematography combined with a properly unnerving soundtrack.
In Annabelle: Creation when the girl is under the stairs and the doll is sitting in a chair in almost complete darkness, there's something behind it but you can't see what it is. Then you realize you have been looking straight into eyes. That scene freaked me out good.
I watched gremlins when I was a kid. Loved it. One day I was watching it with my dad (not first time I'd seen it) and I locked onto a scene where one escapes through an air vent (I had previously imagined them bigger). Shocked, I asked my dad if gremlins could fit through small pipes like that. He casually replied "yes, looks that way". For the next year I would stand up whilst going to the toilet, looking down between my legs for gremlins.
@@magicjohnson3121 I thought the most horrifying part of Hereditary happened early on when (minor spoiler) they lose a family member in an urban-legend-style way and how they discover the body. Creeped me out for days and that wasn't even the 'horror' part of the movie.
Event Horizon was the scariest movie I saw when I was a kid. As a teenager it was The Grudge. In both of these there is no way to fight back!! Haven't seen a very scary one as an adult.
Tremors 2 scared the piss out of me. The sounds the grabbed made and then the shriekers screaming and the destruction of the truck and radio, poor Pedro pulling a jurassic park. Masterful work
Yeah, I second Event Horizon: barely slept for days after I first saw it. Though that was about 25 or so years ago, so maybe these days it wouldn't work for me anymore.
I first saw Event Horizon in the dark, in the early am hours at 12. I was not prepared. In hindsight, it’s not necessarily as scary as I then thought, but it does really hold up well.
Felt sick to my stomach for about 3 hours after watching Event Horizon in the theater. (UA-cam clips have now desensitized me - yay! and I own it on DVD - yay!) I had church friends (a husband and wife) who, after watching it, needed to spend time in prayer and then go watch a happy movie.
The film that scared me the most as a kid was a drama, and it was a true story, and that film was . . . The Elephant Man. Deformed people always disturbed the fuck out of me as a kid. Now as an adult, I just feel extremely sorry for the man.
My favourite horror stuff is when I have to stop playing / watching the thing due to feeling uncomfortable, I still have the memory of Silent Hill 2's apartment when I think of horror where little actually happens but the atmosphere of the place eventually got to me and made me have to shut it off, thats the good stuff right there.
I slightly disagree. Only a few movies have made me stop watching and "take a walk". Bone Tomahawk was the last one. Wasn't "scary" it was just super unsettling
The most disturbing part of that movie was what they were describing above - she's running through the forest, then suddenly drops to all-fours in order to run faster and chase that kid down. Uncanny valley indeed.
One of the apartments I lived in had twin girls by the end of the hallway. First time I saw them I legit had Shining flashbacks and my heart nigh blew up it beat so fast. XD
I would go Invasion of the Body Snatchers or The Thing, The Ring also was pretty creepy. I also thought The Raft in Creepshow 2 was kind of terrifying as a kid. The original Childs Play was excellent really made you think about your sisters Cabbage Patch Dolls or Teddy Ruxpin. Even Alien or Aliens was scary as a kid the only movie my parents wouldn't let me see at 6 years old. The original Nightmare on Elm Street was scary.
The one scene in The Exorcist 3, when the guy comes out of one room in the hospital, crosses the hall into the room across from it...while carrying hedge trimmers and right behind a nurse. Only lasts about a second, and there was no warning anything bad was about to happen. Also, I found Sinister to be pretty scary and creepy. The recurring music/theme really puts you on edge, and watching the horrific murders unfold, all committed by young children against their families. Yikes.
Whether items in the film are hidden or visible, “Alien” because the Xenomorph was so rarely seen, let alone clearly, the different sounds it made, especially the extended version. Another nod to filming in sequence and giving partial scripts to the actors who are not fully aware of what is about to occur in the scene. “The Mothman Phrophecies” due to Indrid Cold’s voice and the very rare appearance for a single frame or a tiny few. Sounds, dim or quick visuals, music, and reactions of the actors and actresses and whether the “scary thing/entity” is behaving/moving in jerky or unnatural ways.
Scariest movies: The Thing and Horror Express when I was a kid. I watched Horror Express from behind my father. Nowadays I get occasional chills, but true scares not anymore. Fun fact: what we call "horror" is actually split into horror and terror. Horror is when you know what it is that chases you, and you realize that you're gonna die because you can't do shit about it, even though you're in denial. Terror is when you know there's something out there, but you don't know what it is and what's going to happen.
My mum always used to tell me never to watch The Exorcist, because she grew up when that film came out, and to her, it was the scariest thing she'd ever seen. When I finally got round to watching it, I laughed my arse off the whole way through it! I had already become accustomed to FAR scarier movies by that point that The Exorcist was almost like a comedy to me!
I laughed my way through The Blair Witch Project. Terrible film. It only works if you think that you're actually watching real footage of the last known video of the three main characters. (Which, why would the families of the people involved want that released into theaters?)
Because you grew up with LOUD NOISES and MUSIC STINGS telling you when to be scared. Subtle, creeping dread is as foreign a concept to you as restraint in the horror you consume.
@@Laneous14 No I didn't. ....see, THIS is why you _don't_ make baseless assumptions about people online, and use that assumption as if it's a fact in order to use it as a foundation from which to attack from. You end up sounding stupid. I'm not some 20-something who grew up watching shitty Bloomhouse movies and endless Conjuring sequels. I grew up in the 80's and 90's when movies were actually decent. I can't stand modern horror movies and their over-reliance on cheap jump scares, musical stings and excessive gore to try and scare you. I grew up being scared by films like Alien, The Thing, Hellraiser, Candyman, Freddie Kreuger, Child's Play....shit like that. All of which scared me more as a kid than a chessy film from the 70's
I watched "The Time Machine" when I was very young (55y ago) and they have an air raid siren to warn the Eloi that the Morlocks are about, and it frightened the heck out of me. To this day, an air raid siren sound makes my hair stand on end with its innate terror.
The Last Jedi. That movie was so horrifically awful it scarred me for life.
You're not alone, my friend. 🎉
It was Phantom Menace for me the dialog and screenplay were horrifying still are.
Lol
I mean instead of showing a slave boy being really mistreated as a young teenager with a ton of built up tension and resentment physical abuse or mental, that boy couldn't have been happier the whole movie. "Are you an Angel" not an ounce of anger in that kid at all. Should have used a teenager. Always reminds me of a kindergartener trying to drive a Ferrari so damn bad. Not an ounce of rebellion or rule breaker or sense of any darkness at all. Just happy go lucky the whole time its beyond horrifying. @@biguy617
😂😂😂😂
The quality of sound design can truly make or break a horror film. Sometimes silence can elevate the tension of a scene so well
I agree. You're on edge the whole time, and _any_ sound, even something as simple as pots and pans rustling, will make you jump. No scare chord needed!
Silence is often the best way to creep people out if it is used effectively.
I say that ALL THE TIME myself. I feel like a lot of scenes in horror movies that they could’ve been better if they didn’t have such loud and obnoxious music and booming sound effects
If you ever see the film Blow Out with John Travolta as the Sound man on horror movies your quote really made me think of that. Hell of a good movie. Super sad at the end.
This is true of games, too. The reason why the original Silent Hill worked despite the primitive graphics of the PS1 is due to the _absolutely incredible_ sound design in that game. Most of the game takes place in darkness or fog, so you _hear_ the enemies way before you ever see them, and your imagination goes into overtime scaring the hell out of you. By the time the janky, triangulated pixel mess of an enemy finally steps into view it is almost a relief.
I was a kid when "American Werewolf in London" came out, and the transformation sequence and that last extended chase through the city absolutely terrified me. And John Carpenter's brilliant re-imagining of "The Thing" still creeps me out for weeks.
Wow, you made me remember how terrified I was by that werewolf transformation when I was a kid
Mate. I agree. I saw Werewolf at a caravan park in the south of France and had to leave after the first transformation, walking back at night, through a dimly lit park to a caravan - alone - while my parents were out to dinner. It took me ten years before I watched the rest and realised if I had stayed the comedy scene in the cinema probably would have eased my rampant fear.
Ah yeah
Man the dead people 🫣
The Thing is defiant a good one.
John Carpenter? Activist writer/director?
Signs freaked me out as a kid. That Alien walking past the kids birthday!
Classic move: don't show the monster until you absolutely have to, and even then, use it in a fleeting fashion, in a totally unexpected and incongruous time and place.
Freaky alien stalking humans in an urban environment, captured on wobbly amateur footage?
YES, PLEASE!
Signs catches so much shit from people but it's a great movie. Anyone else remember being able to barely see the alien through the window?
That moment really got me, too. Damn, I'll be sleeping with the lights on tonight.
Yes! Same, that shit me up to. I think his reaction makes it aswell when he falls back slightly. That's a good film
The part when he was checking on the little girl in the middle of the night and looks out the window and sees the alien standing on the roof. That got me.
Speaking of normal turned abnormal: I was very young when I saw The Birds.
Simply terrifying.
I remember my mom said that was scariest movie. I've never seen it because it's an old black & white. And I don't like old black & white horror movies.
Haven't thought about The Birds in ages but it is kind of terrifying. I always kind of imagined a Maximum Overdrive movie like The Birds with wild life going berserk and attacking.
@@daviru02 The Birds is in color
I was about 8 or 9 and watched the Birds at my aunt and uncles place. Had to sleep in the spare room with a cracked window and see-through curtains. Didn’t get much sleep.
Terrifying!
@@chrissexton4129 He might have meant 'Psycho'-- "EEE EEE EEE EEE".
The Witch is intriguing because it takes place in a historical setting where society genuinely believed evil witchcraft existed and mass hysteria sometimes broke out (Salem witch trials for example). I doubt a witch-movie set in the present could invoke the sense of dread and paranoia as Eggers' movie.
Not to mention Anya Taylor what the fuck, she's gorgeous
@@70Slinger
Such a beautiful woman
I'm still reeling from the Witch in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. That lady was gnarly.
That movie was seriously unsettling in a way I haven't seen in any other film.
How boring The Witch is the real horror
Disparu is right about watching a horror movie in a theater versus watching it at home, alone. Movies that do nothing if you're watching it in the daylight while washing dishes will drive you nuts if you are watching it in the dark and then have to go to bed.
I watched The Exorcist for the first time at 3am after being awake for about 36 hrs. 😩😵💫
@@texasbeast239 I watched Videodrome under similar circumstances. I haven't seen it since because it scared me pretty good.
He meant an actual theatre performance, not a cinema. Unless that's what you mean?
yeah i dont know why he didnt just say a play. I've seen it too and when the woman starts walking through the crowd is really scary if youre on an aisle seat!@@vinnylewis9245
Fear is very fragile. If you want to properly savor it, you have to make the effort to create a proper atmosphere to invite it in, otherwise it's just a waste of time.
The best horror films have to grip you, then terrify you to your core. One of my personal favorites is The Thing. The fear of not knowing who you can trust, not to mention not seeing what the thing itself looks like puts chills down your spine. That's the power of a horror movie. 🎉
My favorite horror movie
Fantastic movie, but I don't know if The Thing terrified me as much as just made me feel uneasy. I like that it's really a slow building dread as opposed to 1000 mile an hour jumpy scare scares. Amazing mood.
That kennel scene fucked me up on first watch. Especially as a dog-lover.
The Shining does it for me. The way furniture arbitrarily moves around in the background, the creepy heart beats during some scenes followed be nothing unusual happening. The Torrences are living in a hell motel playing mind games with them before the gory part.
Bilbo wanting to finger the ring of power one last time when frodo wont let him in the fellowship gave 9 year old me nightmares
Yes, that was a very scary moment! He looked far more horrible than Gollum!
I remember Fellowship having a couple of scenes that creeped me out as a kid. That Bilbo scene like you mentioned, Gandalf and his 'Conjurer of cheap tricks' scene, Gandalf and the 'Is it secret is it safe?' scene, that bit in Moria when the Goblins are approaching and you see one of the tunnels light up with their torches. That fake out scene in The Prancing Pony when you think the Ring Wraiths stab the hobbits in their beds. They definitely toned that sort of stuff down in Two Towers and Return of the King!
Edit: How could I forget? That scene with Frodo when he offers Cate Blanchett the ring and she's all like 'ALL SHALL LOVE ME AND DESPAIR' in that demonic voice?! 😳
HRAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
Great comment it was the same way for me as a kid
Rec 1 and 2 Spanish version are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than Quarantine.
Rec is probably the only truly scary zombie movie. I love them but they are not scary at all. Creepy at best.
I seriously hate it when America one-to-one remakes foreign films for American audiences. It’s insulting to the originals. Movies like The Ring are fine because they change up the story and make it their own. But Quarantine is a prime example of the complete opposite. Just a lazy cash grab.
Yeah, Dis needs to watch them. I forgot that Quarantine even existed until he mentioned it. I don't even like found footage horror movies but REC 1 and 2 are excellent.
Agree. The biggest sin of Quarantine is that it's a scene-by-scene adaptation without a single original idea. It has no reason to exist.
@@dr.juerdotitsgo5119 I can point Korea as reserve of good zshows: Kingdom, Happiness, Alive. Rec is awsome - just a remainder to the audience not to restrict yourself only to Hollywood or english speking movies (i am from Poland and latest american or english shows are boring af).
That's what I love about Lovecraft's works. They're not in your face jumpscares so much as they are, "What in heaven or earth is going on, and did any of this really happen?" kind of thoughtful scares that linger. Like meeting a cannibal on a long drive through the mountains, or realizing that aliens are real, and one of them abducted your friend. Or finding the corpse of your friend's wife on your doorstep, partially decomposed, and muttering in accents you know could only have come from your friend; your friend who is alive and well and moving about the world in circles that were unfamiliar to him, before his wife's death. Some of my favorite stories come from Lovecraft's pen, and I haven't even seen them in movie form.
John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness does a really solid job of making a Lovecraft style horror film.
Watch that Nic Cage "Color Out of Space." It does an excellent job of getting Lovecraft on the screen. There are some disturbing scenes in it.
@@SpecialAgentBillMaxwell I'll definitely have to do that. The Colour out of Space is definitely a favorite.
I think my favorite from Lovecraft must be The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. I wish someone would do a decent movie adaptation of that.
@@LordBaktor Same. Instead we got Roger Corman's Haunted Palace.
The Descent is one that gets to me. It's just very dark and very claustrophobic all the way through. And the first time you get a proper look at the creatures down in the cave, just standing behind one of the girls looking at the back of her head.
It's not THAT scary if you're not claustrophobic, especially when you see just how fragile and weak the creatures actually are.
Good film though.
I found the twist was super unsettling.
Sexy Women Too!
My scariest scene of all time is the Thing from John Carpenter when all of the guys are sitting in chairs waiting for the blood test results. It's the most terrifying
It's definitely the Thing.
Could be several different scenes.
"Clear!" [Applies paddles...]
It's definetly tense but I wouldn't call it scary
The part where the blood jumped out of the petri dish almost gave me a heart attack.
@@JohnGardnerAlhadis That was great. Still gives me the heebies watching it
This was one of the best open bars you ever had drinker. Try to have this group back together again sometime. Everyone contributed to the conversation and everyone had a different opinion and perspective. Great pannel.
Here's what makes a good horror movie, NO MORE LOUD SOUND/MUSIC DURING A JUMPSCARE
Nearly, no more jumpscares. In most movies now horror = jumpscare. Problem being movies now think that's all horror is. Carrie, Stir of Echoes, even Sinister get it right. Jumpscares work in moderation only.
@@Dc-alpha Exorcist III did it right. That’s probably the best jumpscare put to film.
If i see a single jumpscare i turn off. It is a major signifier of a bad horror movie.
Not a horror movie but the best jumpscare I have ever seen was in Mulholland Drive. After that one jumpscare I was on the edge of my seat for the rest of the movie because it really came out of nowhere
@@ApophisTw0Thousand6309 Yh, again though. Liberal use of and great application. You kinda know somethings coming, but it takes it's time enough for you to relax a bit. Plus, a few maybe nearly jumpscares but not really. One and done. Stir of Echoes might still be my favourite though. It's built up as an exploring scene and then bam. Revisiting it, or the antagonist trying to helps as well. Leaves it fresh.
The Changeling! No gore whatsoever. Just the creepiest, most understated horror ever. One of my all-time favorites.
Terrific video. The scariest horror movie was Love Story… all that kissing was horrific to a 10 year old kid who just wanted to go fishing.
No horror movie would be complete without a Sam Neill scream!
Time for some more Event Horizon in wait for Cavill's 40k show.
Disparu is right, the Woman in Black live in a theater is terrifying! When I was performing at the Churchill theater in London, we had so much fun scaring the audience. The reactions were so rewarding when you see people cowering in their seats 😂 it was 25 years ago, but still remember it so fondly
Well dang, now I really want to see it…
I saw it at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle. It was great fun. Everyone was screaming.
I saw it in London a little over 20 years ago. I’m still not okay with rocking chairs.
Did he mention he saw it in a theatre?
Reminds me of a prank that some people (in Japan) pulled on a bunch of teen girls.. They were all watching "Ringu" on a large (cathode ray tube) TV that was on the floor, Some of the girls were sitting close to the TV, it was the part where Samara crawls out of the TV, & when that happened, a REAL girl (dressed as Samara) crawls out of it (actually a cardboard cutout that was in front of the TV) & grabbed the closest girl's ankle. That was followed by screaming & scrambling to get FAR away from her before the prankers turned on the lights & revealed that it was just a prank.
Alien has one of the best horror moments. Several times they pan the camera over the alien so you see it but it’s camouflaged to look like the ship so you don’t see it. Really makes you feel uneasy on a subconscious level.
In the original "Pet Cemetery" there was a scene with some disabled lady in a bed, and she sits up really FAST! That always creeped me out!
Zelda! That movie I saw at a very young age and it still creeps me out!
Zelda was played by a man and that added to the creep factor of the scene.
@@texasbeast239 yeah, I watched a behind the scenes documentary of that movie, it was so cool how they built the burned out house, and how they did the practical effects.
@@texasbeast239 - also, I dressed up my son as Gage (post truck incident) when he was 2 for Halloween... haha, guess it made a lasting impression!
Yeah man, Zelda was absolutely terrifying and disturbing. Part of what adds to that is for me is the old "keep it locked away in the attic" kind of thing. Like an abomination that you don't let other people see.
The Exorcist. It was so well done in every aspect. My all-time favourite horror is 'An American Werewolf in London' but The Exorcist is on a whole other level. Just brilliant.
Idk why but watching the gang share their fond(😂) memories of their own passionately feels really wholesome
The Exorcist still gets me.
It had an odd effect on me. I first read the book then saw the movie and enjoyed them both. What was strange was when I reread the book it bothered me more than the first time.
The creepiest thing I remember about The Exorcist isn't the movie itself, but rather the original Regan doll displayed in the Astoria museum of film (or whatever it's called these days) and seeing that thing up close. This was back in the 80's and by then the rubber was rotting and falling off of it, it smelled horrible and to this day the memory of that prop is more vivid in my mind than any scene it was used in.
@@Raskolnikov70 The head spinning doll? Good Lord.
@@booshmcfadden7638 Yep, and they had it displayed with the head rotated around backwards. That thing still gives me nightmares 40 years later,.I hope they encased it in concrete and buried it in the Marianas Trench.
Thank you Drinker for reminding me House in Haunted Hill exists. I loved that movie as a kid.
The Changeling (1980) with George C. Scott still gives me creeps when the ball comes down the stairs!
The Changeling (1980) is such a good movie!! It still holds up.
The Chernobyl miniseries in terms of human fear of things we can’t comprehend, but the makeup and psychology of the fly by croneberg has always stuck with me
Tim Currys' Pennywise performance from the original IT mini series, the body bag scene from A nightmare on Elm Street and the "Thank for the ride, lady" story from Creepshow2 . Absolutely scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.
Pennywise just appearing behind the hanged up sheets always gets me.
“Hiya Georgy!”
Man, Tim Curry’s Pennywise was the great filter for my friends and I, we either became horror junkies forever or never touched a horror movie again.
I concur that where/when you watch a horror movie really has a profound effect on you.
For me, all time scariest movie is Alien. I watched it for the first time on VHS in 1983 when I was eleven years old. This was around the time that video stores were opening and they never checked whether something was R rated and who was renting it. So my friend and I rented many movies that were technically not age appropriate for us.
Regardless, I still remember to this day how much of an effect that movie had on me. It was so well shot and the creature was so terrifying, that it really drove the fear down to my core.
I have fond memories of those early days of video rental stores as well. No chain stores yet, they were all mom-and-pop places. "This is for your parents, right?" they'd ask with a wink and a nod before handing a group of pre-teen boys an R-rated movie......
Have you played Alien: Isolation? It’s a whole game that is a love letter to that film.
One of the best, scariest survival horror games ever made.
She's right, That the Paranormal Activity 3 scare with the ghost in the sheet and the babysitter is fabulous. Such a clever scene.
The Thing, Exorcist, Alien. From start to finish, all of these movies get inside you and turn up the felling of hopeless shocking dread until the protagonist has nothing left.
At least none of the people in this meeting mentioned the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
I don’t know that I’d say it was the scariest movie I ever saw, but the original Nightmare on Elm Street definitely left a lasting impact on me. I was probably about 13 when I first watched it, and I remember being genuinely frightened to fall asleep for a few days after. The terror of that premise is quite subtle but effective; when you’re asleep, you’re supposed to be safe, taken away from the problems of the waking world and rest for a bit. The idea of an entity that can take even that away from you is very unnerving.
”The Descent”. The scene where the creature suddenly appears behind the girls. That made me shit my pants.
The Exorcist is the scariest movie ever in my opinion. To have a slow burning story, where an innocent girl slowly transforms into something so disgusting and evil, it's truly disturbing. And Jaws had the most lasting impact. People still think of that movie while in the ocean lol
The Changeling... I remember that film. At the time, it was one of the creepiest things I had ever watched.
A scene that gave me the most heeby-jeebies in my life comes from an episode in a later season of Supernatural called "The Whistler". The scene takes place out in the forest, and there's a shot looking out into the woods at night near a fallen tree. You get plenty of time to look at the shot to find the monster, and no matter where you look, you can't see it until it steps out of what you assumed had been a solid clump of tree roots. Freaked me out so hard. Really well done.
Scariest movie for me may have to be "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." I was 12. I knew it was all special effects; I even had a fair idea of how they did it. I mean, the Ceti Eel in the tank is a puppet. And yet, I slept with my earlobe folded over my ear canal for a month. I knew it's not real. I still covered my ears while I slept.
I know how you feel lol
I vividly remember nightmares from Star Trek III when I was like 3.
That freaked me out too!
I think the only horror movie that ever really unnerved me was Mamma. The person playing the demon actually is hyper flexible in real life so all the movements the creature does are real, not CGI which really freaked me out.
Mama is so unnatural, yet you can see what she's supposed to be. Seeing what's clearly a human form, distorted but recognizable, acting in such a visceral, odd manner was terrifying
I think "The Exorcist" is considered the scariest movie ever made. Again, it goes into time and place. At the time the movie came out, America was still religious and held on to what was sacred and holy. Nowadays, that movie would not have the same impact. But back in the 70's some people were fainting, having panic attacks, and all sorts of craziness. There is even a documentary about it but I can't remember it off the top of my head. Much like "The Omen" and how unsettled the Drinker was when he watched it.
The original "Exorcist" and John Carpenter's "Thing" . Those movies are terrifying! *As a child, I was horrified by Child's play
The kind of horror that's always stuck with me are films such as the Thing, the Shining, the Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs, Hereditary, Jacob's Ladder, etc. Scares predicated more on haunting imagery that burns itself into your brain and the weight of grave situations gradually building tension, (as opposed to cheap jump scares and an overabundance of gore). I'm glad A24 is around to revitalize the genre by touching on its roots again.
Side note: Robert Eggers' Nosferatu is one of the only movies I'm genuinely looking forward to this year. His style of scares combined with the early 1900s German setting definitely intrigue me
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) The Score sets the tone and works perfectly with each scene, especially the infamous Dinner Scene.
Visually it's stunning especially the ending seeing the Texas Sun sun appear from a night of Hell.
Agreed, the dinner scene was incredible, the film that comes to mind for greatest horror of all time.
Genuinely unsettling movie to this day. Just pure atmosphere.
Can you imagine seeing that movie in the theater in 74? I would've run out!
@christineobrien7707 I've seen audience reactions to The Exorcist and Halloween which both where nothing but legit horrifying screams.
Especially when Michael Myers gets up from being stabbed in the eye.
I imagine seeing both TCM and The Exorcist at the time of their releases would stay with Me for a few day's after viewing
@@ogvelociraptor205 I was about 12 when I watched Halloween on HBO. My sister & I watched it. I swear I heard his heavy breathing in our bedroom that night!!
American werewolf in London. 1983 I was 8 years old, older cousins put it on and it scared the living shit out of me especially the subway scene and the man getting his head decapitated it’s always stayed with me didn’t watch it again till about 5 years ago lol. I remember my dad left me in car to go in shop there was a full moon and I was so so scared. I’ve convinced myself blue moon was playing but it probably wasn’t, however I couldn’t listen to that for a long long time lol x
The first Nightmare on Elm Street creeped me out, especially the girl in the body bag scene. The ghost in Mama was creepy as well.
Music/cinematography to create mood, atmosphere. Building tension with suspenseful sequences rather than gore and jump scares. Characters & a plot we actually care about. Have an actual ending rather than always having it be open because you are just trying to sequel it.
Although it was looked down on by movie elites for many decades the horror movie is one of the most difficult genres to do and get right. I think it requires people with vision, intelligence and insight in addition to movie making skills.
I watched the original Evil Dead at a community hall showing (!) I then had to walk back to a cabin in some woods that I was staying at which looked the same as the one in the movie (even down to the swinging seat on the porch) Talk about scary!!! Brown pants time 😂
Such a classic.
As an adult I saw "Alien" in the theater with my girlfriend. She was terrified and it really upped my anxiety. Disturbed our sleep for a couple of nights. Had to see it again to "face" my fear of the darkness. When I was a child in the 1960s I was terrified by the Barbara Steele movie "Black Sunday". I watched again and laughed. I think it depends on your age and emotional comfort within yourself.
you guys need to get on Alien Isolation if you haven't already - the visual and sound design on that are incredible. old game now but definitely worth watching Drinker go at it :D
Being stalked by the alien is genuinely unnerving in that. Especially if you hear it move around at random points.
I believe this year is the 10th anniversary of that game! What a great game. I still don't know how they managed to make it so good when it has so much that could have gone wrong. I was so worried about it because, on top of releasing after Colonial Marines, its hiding in lockers mechanic and invincible Alien reminded me too much of Outlast and other terrible horror games of the time. So I thought it'd be another boring unscary time waster like those. I was so happy to be wrong.
The most unsettling moment in any horror movie I've seen goes to Carrie - right at the end just before the graveyard scene there is a shot of the girl walking up the street, in the background you can see two red cars driving - backwards...
I watched Arachnophobia when it first came out, I was 8. It was the cause of my spider fear for most of my life
Yes same here. And also Jaws has me panicking slightly whenever I go swimming I’m the ocean and I can’t feel the bottom.
I grew up in the desert in Arizona and that movie had the exact opposite effect on me. "Those spiders ain't s@@t compared to what we've got in our backyard" :)
I'm like that but with snakes. It's the reason I'll never watch the Anaconda movies I tell you that much! 😂
Playing System Shock 2 with with environmental sound mapping and the right speaker set up was f'ing brilliant
looking forward to Nightdive Studios remake of SS2.
I hated SS2's looping EDM soundtrack, but once I turned music off and just listened to the ambience, the game got really creepy and intense.
@matman000000 I remember first time playing it and that first explosion made me jump & my m8 had already experienced it and he still jumped
Man, I've still got trauma from Hydroponics.
@@Nomisdoowtsae Nightdive is doing the lord’s work.
As a kid 'The Devil Rides out' scared me. Nothing as an adult except "Who Framed Roger Rabbit' on a bad trip....
I loved listening to Disparu talking about the Woman in Black. He brought back so many memories for me when I saw it live. The whole audience was screaming. It was brilliant.
I love that Drinker mentioned that clip from House on Haunted Hill. It's my favorite creepy moment.
Scariest movie: The Thing.
My idea of a horror movie is the change of expectations for safety. An example would be bad policeman, abusive parents, and/or a government out to get you. Which is why movies featuring World War II Nazi Germany are the scariest for me.
Some scenes of “Schindler’s List” were terrifying. And the depressing/shocking thing is it happened. That’s true horror, our history had monsters worse than fictional horrors because fictional creatures targeted individuals whereas governments and civilizations preyed upon those who couldn’t resist them.
Speaking of horror, my wife and I just watched "Talk to Me" and it was amazing! Highly recommended!
As much as it suffered from the modern movie malaise (murky filming techniques, unlikeable characters, wokeness thrown in in parts) it was still a good watch. Original concept and pretty scary and the ending pays off. Worth a watch for sure.
Insidious. The phenomenal sound tracks, tension building and genuinely unexpected jumpscares. Still love it to this day
Hereditary is my - all time bone chilling - deep nasty horror movie. Hereditary is way beyond scare jumps
That scene where the possessed mom is banging her head against the attic door while her teenage son is crying "mommy!" Is the most hair-raising shit in that movie for me.
On the topic of the uncanny valley: On top of Baggage Claim's point about early hominids, there's also the simple angle that the uncanny valley can be triggered by signs of disease, decomposition or birth defects. All of which are things you'd want to avoid (or in the case of birth defects at least not pass down)
Let's not forget that our bodies already look disturbing in many ways. Other mammals stand on their hind legs and spread their arms as an intimidation display, and that's just our natural posture. Our skulls are freakishly large. Our eyes are positioned straight forward, just like all pursuit predators.
Just seeing a silhouetted human figure with wide staring eyes in a place that it should not be is enough to terrify people, before it even moves.
American werewolf in London, The Thing, some scenes in the Evil Dead remake, IT remake where the old woman starts to slowy transform into a zombie witch.
Amazed that when Endyiamon was talking about The Changeling nobody seemed to know it.
Same, kinda baffling no one knew! George C. Scott was so good, that movie scared the crap out of me when I was a kid!
Horror is better when it's subtle. The bathroom scene in The Shining after Jack has had the drink spilled on his shirt. The music is perfect. Over the course of the scene, Delbert Grady slowly turns from a bumbling apologetic butler into a towering sinister force that intimidates Jack.
The Shining is one of my favorite horror films. The slow buildup to Jack going kill crazy is great with Lloyd being in the room, then he's gone when Wendy walks in. Was Jack being driven evil by a demon or convincing himself to murder his family?
The scene from Paranormal Activity where her leg is slowly lifted and she is dragged out of bed half awake, and then is screaming down the hall. That scene is so well done.
And I am surprised no one mentioned it directly, but I think the best horror scenes contain practical effects. I think your brain registers when something looks real, versus CGI. Compare both versions of The Thing, the classic version is way better.
Endy, you need to finish The Changeling (1980). Absolutely terrifying film but the underlying story is so sad and the ghost is angry no one is doing anything. It isn’t malevolent, just annoyed.
Absolutely spine chilling film that comes from an era of film that just doesn’t get made anymore. Masterful.
The biggest real life jumpscare I’ve ever had has stayed with me for 20 years now. My dog and cat at the time used to play fight, and a lot of the time would bang up against the back glass sliding door. Trouble is, both the dog and cat were jet black and I had come out to the fridge, right next to the back door, to grab a water at like 2 in the morning with all the lights off and the back door, about three feet from me, just went BANG!…….. I froze in terror. It was neither fight nor flight, I was utterly frozen just staring into the black imagining some dude must be standing at the back door, saw me and banged on the glass. Then the dog and cat kept wrestling and I figured out it was them. But I’ll never forget that I reacted in a way I didn’t think I would. Just utterly frozen.
I like it when a saucepan moves a little bit. That's scary. And I like it when the killer scurries past the camera and the sound goes DUN DUUUUUN so you know that's a scary bit. One time I saw a horror movie where they looked in the bathroom mirror and there was no one there, then they open it and close it and the killer is there! And he says oogabooga, but then the film makers don't really know how to end that scene so it just ends. It's only been in one or 2 horror movies, so it's still very fresh and you might not have seen that yet.
Underappreciated horror: Autopsy of Jane Doe
That dang song
This is the movie I was going to comment. I always recommend it when people ask for horror movies to watch
I mean...that is just facts
Great movie, didn't get enough positive attention when it was released but it's a great watch.
F*cking bells.
I am amazed that no one on the panel mentioned "The Exorcist". I went to see "The Exorcist" on its opening night. I'd read the book, so I knew what was coming, but the fear that swept through that packed theater was impossible to resist - I was trembling uncontrollably before the end, and I couldn't sleep for the following two nights. William Friedkin was a great filmmaker, and everything in that movie, from the effects, to the flashed of a demonic face, to the music, to the paintings by Francis Bacon in the credits, built up the atmosphere of supernatural horror. But much of the effect was due to experiencing it on the big screen in a crowded theater, rather than sitting in front a set in my home. People in crowds are more susceptible to strong emotions than are individuals, which is why mobs will do things that no person in the mob would think of doing on his own. Fear, horror, is a collective emotion, which is why horror films, to be truly effective, need to be seen in a theater, preferably with lots of other people.
I'm with CD on that, the Omen was scary and I remember we used to talk about it loads in secondary school. ETv mentions, OZ, the Wizard of Oz gave me nightmares, I was three when I first saw it.... then... Dr. Who used to scare me.
The Omen great choice just creepy.
The Changeling I recall as a kid - scared the crap outta me.....The old Hammer Horror shows on TV when I was a kid back in the UK were the biggest scares I recall
Baggage is spot-on about the uncanny valley, it's probably less about a creature that could mimic humans in our prehistoric past, but more a reaction against unnatural movements of facial muscles (which could indicate disease or neurological issues).
We're actually pretty good at seeing human forms in inanimate objects, but when those objects are capable of moving and behaving like people, it starts getting weird for us...
Yeah. We are probably "programmed" to spot and avoid sick, insane and weird people.
It's really anything that close, but not close _enough_ to us. Just triggers our inner "Something is _not right_ about this" warning.
There is also a theory that it could be related to a fear of real, contemporary non-homo sapiens humans like Neanderthals.
Texas Chainsaw was so scary and honestly really holds up for just how purely unsettling it is.
No gore, no excessive blood, just a low budget, a house hotter than hell and twice as nasty, and brilliant cinematography combined with a properly unnerving soundtrack.
In Annabelle: Creation when the girl is under the stairs and the doll is sitting in a chair in almost complete darkness, there's something behind it but you can't see what it is. Then you realize you have been looking straight into eyes. That scene freaked me out good.
Gives me chills every time
I watched gremlins when I was a kid. Loved it.
One day I was watching it with my dad (not first time I'd seen it) and I locked onto a scene where one escapes through an air vent (I had previously imagined them bigger).
Shocked, I asked my dad if gremlins could fit through small pipes like that. He casually replied "yes, looks that way".
For the next year I would stand up whilst going to the toilet, looking down between my legs for gremlins.
_Hereditary,_ _Sinister,_ and _The Witch_ are deeply unsettling.
FINALLY - someone who speaks English. All three are home runs
Great choices.
Hereditary is only scary at the end. The Witch isn’t scary.
@@magicjohnson3121 I thought the most horrifying part of Hereditary happened early on when (minor spoiler) they lose a family member in an urban-legend-style way and how they discover the body. Creeped me out for days and that wasn't even the 'horror' part of the movie.
What Witch? A New-England Folktale? Black Phillip?
That was a great horror flick for sure.
Iconic main character, proper effects not CGI, music to set the mood, the willingness to push boundaries
I saw 'The Woman in Black' in a theater, and there was some random girl who screamed in at least a couple places.
When I saw it, everyone was screaming. It was a great audience and it added to the fun.
Event Horizon was the scariest movie I saw when I was a kid. As a teenager it was The Grudge. In both of these there is no way to fight back!! Haven't seen a very scary one as an adult.
IMO - Hereditary was absolutely horrifying. Such a great film. Highly recommend.
Tremors 2 scared the piss out of me. The sounds the grabbed made and then the shriekers screaming and the destruction of the truck and radio, poor Pedro pulling a jurassic park. Masterful work
Event Horizon just gets to me.
Demons (2?) had a scene with a TV that scared the life out of me at age 11.
Yeah, I second Event Horizon: barely slept for days after I first saw it. Though that was about 25 or so years ago, so maybe these days it wouldn't work for me anymore.
I was wondering if I’d see Event Horizon on anyone else’s list.
I first saw Event Horizon in the dark, in the early am hours at 12. I was not prepared. In hindsight, it’s not necessarily as scary as I then thought, but it does really hold up well.
Yup the atmosphere.
Felt sick to my stomach for about 3 hours after watching Event Horizon in the theater. (UA-cam clips have now desensitized me - yay! and I own it on DVD - yay!)
I had church friends (a husband and wife) who, after watching it, needed to spend time in prayer and then go watch a happy movie.
The film that scared me the most as a kid was a drama, and it was a true story, and that film was . . . The Elephant Man. Deformed people always disturbed the fuck out of me as a kid. Now as an adult, I just feel extremely sorry for the man.
The Brood - David Cronenbourg, gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it, its one of his creepiest films hands down.
The Thing - the Huskie kennel scene. I can still see it now and how creepy it was.
Ahhhh. Y’all discussing the Uncanny Valley effect pleases me.
My favourite horror stuff is when I have to stop playing / watching the thing due to feeling uncomfortable, I still have the memory of Silent Hill 2's apartment when I think of horror where little actually happens but the atmosphere of the place eventually got to me and made me have to shut it off, thats the good stuff right there.
I slightly disagree.
Only a few movies have made me stop watching and "take a walk".
Bone Tomahawk was the last one. Wasn't "scary" it was just super unsettling
The scary little girl trope is why that hallway scene in M3GAN is so unsettling
The most disturbing part of that movie was what they were describing above - she's running through the forest, then suddenly drops to all-fours in order to run faster and chase that kid down. Uncanny valley indeed.
One of the apartments I lived in had twin girls by the end of the hallway. First time I saw them I legit had Shining flashbacks and my heart nigh blew up it beat so fast. XD
@@bindair_dundat I can totally sympathize. I salute you...
You know what i like about old horror movies? Sound effects were all natural and little to no music during tension.
I would go Invasion of the Body Snatchers or The Thing, The Ring also was pretty creepy. I also thought The Raft in Creepshow 2 was kind of terrifying as a kid. The original Childs Play was excellent really made you think about your sisters Cabbage Patch Dolls or Teddy Ruxpin. Even Alien or Aliens was scary as a kid the only movie my parents wouldn't let me see at 6 years old. The original Nightmare on Elm Street was scary.
The one scene in The Exorcist 3, when the guy comes out of one room in the hospital, crosses the hall into the room across from it...while carrying hedge trimmers and right behind a nurse. Only lasts about a second, and there was no warning anything bad was about to happen.
Also, I found Sinister to be pretty scary and creepy. The recurring music/theme really puts you on edge, and watching the horrific murders unfold, all committed by young children against their families. Yikes.
Whether items in the film are hidden or visible, “Alien” because the Xenomorph was so rarely seen, let alone clearly, the different sounds it made, especially the extended version. Another nod to filming in sequence and giving partial scripts to the actors who are not fully aware of what is about to occur in the scene.
“The Mothman Phrophecies” due to Indrid Cold’s voice and the very rare appearance for a single frame or a tiny few.
Sounds, dim or quick visuals, music, and reactions of the actors and actresses and whether the “scary thing/entity” is behaving/moving in jerky or unnatural ways.
Scariest movies: The Thing and Horror Express when I was a kid. I watched Horror Express from behind my father. Nowadays I get occasional chills, but true scares not anymore.
Fun fact: what we call "horror" is actually split into horror and terror. Horror is when you know what it is that chases you, and you realize that you're gonna die because you can't do shit about it, even though you're in denial. Terror is when you know there's something out there, but you don't know what it is and what's going to happen.
I love horror so much because of the variety of the genre. 💛
True, listing off the sub-genres is like reading the list of shrimp recipes from Forrest Gump. Something for everyone.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe was great. When I was a kid Pet Semetary scared tf out of me, especially wife’s sister scenes.
The Gate, with all those little demons, 6 year old me never recovered.
Heh, I remember being scared by the VHS-cover back in my younger days!
The discussion beyween Disparu and Baggage Claim about the origins of the uncanny valley was AWESOME
My mum always used to tell me never to watch The Exorcist, because she grew up when that film came out, and to her, it was the scariest thing she'd ever seen.
When I finally got round to watching it, I laughed my arse off the whole way through it! I had already become accustomed to FAR scarier movies by that point that The Exorcist was almost like a comedy to me!
I laughed my way through The Blair Witch Project. Terrible film. It only works if you think that you're actually watching real footage of the last known video of the three main characters. (Which, why would the families of the people involved want that released into theaters?)
I was enthralled by the exorcist but I found myself baffled as to why it was considered so scary.
Because you grew up with LOUD NOISES and MUSIC STINGS telling you when to be scared. Subtle, creeping dread is as foreign a concept to you as restraint in the horror you consume.
@@Laneous14 No I didn't.
....see, THIS is why you _don't_ make baseless assumptions about people online, and use that assumption as if it's a fact in order to use it as a foundation from which to attack from.
You end up sounding stupid.
I'm not some 20-something who grew up watching shitty Bloomhouse movies and endless Conjuring sequels. I grew up in the 80's and 90's when movies were actually decent.
I can't stand modern horror movies and their over-reliance on cheap jump scares, musical stings and excessive gore to try and scare you. I grew up being scared by films like Alien, The Thing, Hellraiser, Candyman, Freddie Kreuger, Child's Play....shit like that.
All of which scared me more as a kid than a chessy film from the 70's
I watched "The Time Machine" when I was very young (55y ago) and they have an air raid siren to warn the Eloi that the Morlocks are about, and it frightened the heck out of me. To this day, an air raid siren sound makes my hair stand on end with its innate terror.