Quite possibly the only films that have ever really terrified me are ones directed by David Lynch. Mulholland Drive was horrific. A good film, with a sugar-coated plot in general, but it has black and surreal themes that run through it which just make it so unnerving to watch.
But my actual vote for the scariest film of all time is The Shining, because it's so masterfully filmed and acted. Jaws wasn't scary for me, more of a thrill-ride.
not from a personal point of view but from a point of view of films having a social effect in their time then the exorcist and jaws are definitely up there....and i still remember the reaction of the woman coming out of the theatre at cannes after watching the blair witch project
BWP is a seperate debate on a personal level...either people loved it or hated it...i personally thought it was a brilliant movie....especially the fact that me and my mate had to walk home through the woods after seeing it
from my own point of view...i always thought the remake of "the thing" was really scary when i was young
there was also a film when i was very young that had an effect on me...cant remember the name but it was about vampires and someone who had been bitten went to their friends house and was floating at their window while knocking on it...that always freaked me out
another one for me was "dreamscape"...the bit about the presidents recurring nightmares about nuclear holocaust..and in particular finding the kids in the closet that were crying for help...then they all look burnt and disfigured
there was also a scene in an old japanese movie called "black rain" about hiroshima that had an impact on me...one scene in particular is when the woman is doing her chores...she lives outwith the blast zone and sees the mushroom cloud from afar...later on after the bomb there is a knock on her door and when she opens it the man standing begging for water is burnt to a crisp
i have a fear about burning so another bit in a film (obviously not a horror) is the bit when jimmy gets napalm'd in "we were soldiers"....yuck
alot of people mentioned the shining...its never really a film that scared me all that much...except the woman in the bathroom
someone mentioned arachaphobia...which is really meant to be a black comedy...but one scene creeps me out...when the spider comes out of the old dead guys nose....
I never thought BWP was particularly scary.
It has some relatively creepy moments, and the ending is fairly effective, it just never got to me like some other films have.
That said, I think it's a damn good movie. I think it's very unsettling, not because it's scary, but because watching the characters kinda dip towards insanity as their situation gets more and more dire is a tragic thing to witness.
The most brilliant thing BWP had was its advertising campaign.
Unfortunately the original has kinda been marred by the stupendously terrible and shittacular sequel.
As far as The Thing. I pretty much agree, Jaden. That is a rather creepy film. I love how it plays with paranoia.
Personally, I also think The Fly is very disturbing. The idea of basically falling apart like that, and transforming beyond your control is horrifying. And the end, when his flesh falls off and we finally see the end result, it's one of the most chilling moments I've experienced with a film.
Oh, and Arachaphobia is a mixed bag. If you have a fear of spiders like I do the premise is terrifying. The execution is more campy than anything. But the power of the premise, and the fact that it's halfway believable makes it somewhat scary for us who fear spiders, I think.
I think films that involve phobias shouldn't really count.....
Like fear of Sharks (Jaws) or spiders (Arachnophia) snakes (Snakes on the Plane) etc...
Those films are intended to scare a certain group rather than the general audience.
I'm more of a realist (yeah, it's an oxymoron here..we're talking about fiction) when it comes to fear in horror. I think the scariest thing in a film is another Human being. What's more scary and disturbing than humans?
Getting eaten by another human.
So with that in mind.
All Cannibal films are scary. From Cannibal Holocaust to Silence of the Lambs....Cannibal films are far more disturbing, scary, and shocking....so take that!
Your point about films dealing with phobias is fair, though I wouldn't lump Jaws in with those. That film scared people on a whole different level. It CREATED the phobia for a lot of people, rather than just scaring people who already had the phobia.
Far as Cannibal films go, the idea is creepy enough. But I don't think CH is at all scary. Because I put can't put myself into that setting; I know I'd never ever find myself in the amazon, so there's nothing to be scared of.
That's a big thing, for me, being able to actually see myself in that situation. If I can't, then it's not scary to me. Why Hostel isn't scary, because I'm never going to go to wherever it is that the movie takes place. Why Hills Have Eyes isn't scary, because I know I'll never find myself on a dirt road in the dessert after listening to so weirdo gas station clerk. Same with Blair Witch. I need to relate in order for a film to get to me. I think that's the case for a lot of people. And that's why a film like Jaws is so terrifying - because everyone at some point or another goes into the ocean, and there's always that feeling that "what is under here that I can't see?"
Originally posted by steverules
The grudge, I think most of the times I jumped was because of the girls who kept screaming behind me
The Grudge? The bootleg version of "The Ring"? lol.
I'm sorry but in my opinion that's the worst horror movie i've ever seen in my life, and i'm a horror movie buff. There wasn't even any blood in it. Not a drop.
And good horror without blood is like a porn flik w/o sex.
But to answer your question, i don't think there's a #1 scariest movie. There a many #1 scariest movies though.
For example, the movie i'm watching is one of the scariest movies of all time. And that movie is 1985's "The Night of the Living Dead"
I think it's the best and scariest movie with the best score out of the entire saga and definitely scarier than 80% - 90% of all zombie movies that ever came out.
My take.