I love horror but apparently I don’t vibe with a lot of recommendations I find online.
I’d seen so much hype about Event Horizon and I absolutely hated it and didn’t find it scary. I just watched Late Night With the Devil and whole it was definitely enjoyable, it wasn’t the least but frightening. I also just watched Let the Right One In and really didn’t like it. It also was not a horror movie in my opinion.
I will say one of my favorites is Sinister or the first Conjuring. Sinister for the stomach twisting dread and suspence throughout and Conjuring for the same.
So, what movies do you find to be the scariest?
I’m pretty dead inside so not a ton can get through in the horror department, but I always thought 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later did a fantastic job and making zombies a bit scary again.
I liked Noroi: The Curse.
No jumpscares, but really quite unsettling
I don’t get scared easily, but Kothanodi had me watching through my fingers. It has four vaguely connected stories, and two of them are very fucked up. There’s a decent amount of infanticide and other atrocities inflicted on minors, so be warned if you have any childhood trauma.
Also by the same director, the movie Aamis is about cannibalism acting as a replacement for sex. It’s pretty fucked up as well.
Not a horror film per se, but definitely leaning that way:
The original ‘ALIEN’.
The building of tension throughout the entire movie is brilliant.
Alien is definitely a horror film. In fact it was originally marketed as such
I know it scared the shit out of me the first time I saw it.
I was 15 and my family rented it. So I didn’t get to see it in its full theater screen glory. Just a 25" console TV from a well worn VHS cassette where the top 25% of the screen was wavy.
And yes, I’m old.
I think Alien is a great movie (and definitely horror), but whether it scares modern audiences is pretty hit and miss. It’s very slow paced and while I love the practical effects, the alien looks downright goofy in some scenes. I certainly don’t find it scary having seen it, and new viewers I’ve shown it to usually aren’t that scared unless they’re self-identified wimps when it comes to horror. Aliens is scarier I think, even though it’s more action than pure horror.
Same goes 10x for The Exorcist. It tops a lot of “scariest movie ever” lists online, but watching it today is more comical than anything. I think you have to be scared of demonic possession actually happening IRL to get scared by that movie.
the alien looks downright goofy in some scenes
The latest one that got to me, was “When evil lurks” (Cuando acecha la maldad). A pretty fast-paced horror from Argentina.
And my favourite one before that was “The Descent”. A claustrophobic horror following a group of cave explorers.
Many other good ones have already been mentioned, so I won’t repeat those titles. But “Suspiria” (2018 edition) definitely deserves a mention. The ending is just … well, clearly somebody amongst the original writers had some issues regarding reproductive systems … but the other 98% of the movie feature brilliant suspense & eiriness at all times. And Tilda Swinton is simply to-die-for in it. ;)
What I’ve learned from this thread as someone getting into horror again is that I really need to watch Hereditary and the original Candyman. Might just bookmark this for all the great recommendations. Only hard part is that my partner isn’t into horror so it’s hard to watch them.
I just recently watched Saltburn. Truly and genuinely disturbing. It’s a psychological thriller. If you’re not into that, well…
Made me think of something that Brett Easton Ellis would write.
I have a candle scent called Jacob Elordi’s bath water
so many recommendations already said and im sure many more to go.
Three that i didnt see mentioned that i enjoyed were:
Martyrs- French Version The Visit Session 9
Scenes from martyrs have been memed out of context so i think its fairly familiar. i hadnt watched it until recently and i think one time through was good enough for me. i’m not into a lot of torture style suspense.
The visit was particularly scary for me because If you’ve ever been in that scenario of being dropped off with familial strangers those initial reservations you have running through your head do make you uncomfortable and blossom into horrific thoughts. in the case of this movie a bit more so ;)
Session 9 i watched during the golden age of netflix. it isnt amazing but it was enjoyable.
I agree with Martyrs. Will never watch this again. Fuck this.
Some suggestions from my side - in addition to many already posted suggestions I would add to my list as well:
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The series Twin Peaks (all three seasons plus the feature ‘Fire Walk With Me’) is not 100 % horror but it has it’s tense of mystery and some scary scenes as well
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Don’t Look Now from 1974 - a classic mystery drama with great Donald Sutherland in the leading role - also more mystery/suspense than horror
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IT (reboot) - still scarier than the Terrifier movies which are more slasher / fun-splatter
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Quarantine - until I saw the original ‘REC’
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Schock - Italian horror movie classic
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Barbarian - I expected different but I was surprised in a positive way
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I really enjoyed Pandorum and The Babadook.
A Tale of Two Sisters is one of the only movies that has genuinely scared me, some great scenes in it.
can recommend Coherence
Talk To Me. I would also say Sinister and The Conjuring are my favorites, and I also struggle to find scary movies that genuinely scare me. Watch this alone in the dark the first time. It is now my all-time favorite scary movie, and it’s fairly recent.
I’m noticing a distinct lack of Terrifier and Terrifier 2 in these comments. Art the Clown is perhaps the best antagonist I’ve ever seen in the horror genre and true originality is rare in the modern horror filmscape.
The Ring is also good for originality as far as modern classics, though it’s a whole book series in Japan.
Edit: I also liked The Shrine, forgot to mention that one. Again, originality.
