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?
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.
As Above, So below is reasonably solid
There’s a bit of a Mary Sue issue but otherwise good.
For me The Shining is one of the scariest movies and The VVITCH also comes really close to that feeling. For different types of horror I’d also recommend La Piel que Habito, Shutter and The Haunting of Hill House (the show).
And if you get the chance try the book version of Let the Right One In. It’s much better than the movie and more of a horror imo.
Love The Shining! Stephen King actually wasn’t a fan of the movie, but I think it’s because it’s based on some of his own struggles with addiction.
It’s very different from his book but they’re both great on their own.
I really should read the book considering The Shining is one of my favorite movies
The original Candyman.
Everything about it is excellent and holds up even now. The musical score is exceptional.
Don’t bother with the reboot. It has a message it’s trying to send, which I get, but they’ve done it to the detriment of the horror. Something could’ve been done with the premise but they fell short.
OG all the way.
This movie is incredible. The moment when the protagonist climbs through the wall and it turns out to be a mural is permanently imprinted in my mind. I don’t know if the pure horror elements work that well, honestly, and I don’t really find it that scary as a result, but it’s a fantastic and unique movie with a bold vision and strong themes.
I absolutely love horror movies and have a long list of fantastic ones but not very many of them actually scared me. Most of them have been named already but two I didn’t see were The Babadook (2014) and surprisingly a Netflix movie called His House (2020) was actually awesome. One of my favorites in the last few years.
Yeah I actually think that my favorite horror movies are the ones that get me asking questions, rather than being scared. I like being intrigued by the evil, like in Smile (until the twist at the end, it was a perfectly good psychological horror that did not need a monster)
The Borderlands (2013) is a great found footage horror film with a unique twist on the genre. The ending was particularly horrifying to watch, and I don’t normally find horror films scary.
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.
There is a particular type of emotion which “The VVitch” and “Hereditary” get absolutely perfect. It’s actually not really my favorite type of movie; it’s not particular scary, per se, but it is just some stuff that is really awful that you don’t want to see. If you don’t want that, they may not be good, but if you vibe with that particular emotion they are hard to beat for it.
The HBO “Chernobyl” miniseries is absolutely straight-up horror. It has pretty much all the elements of a perfect horror movie, except it’s (with tiny exceptions and artistic licenses) all 100% true.
“As Above, So Below” is fairly good “normal” horror of a fairly unspicy flavor.
That’s honestly all I can think of that really does it well. Horror books in my experience are far better. “The Shining,” “Pet Semetary,” “Night Shift,” and “Skeleton Crew.” Also lots and lots of HP Lovecraft; the “Dunwich Horror” collection is wonderful.
Hope this helps.
All films from Robert Eggers with his debut “The VVitch” and Ari Aster with its debut “Hereditary” are highly recommended although not all films are 100 % horror movies.
Oooh yes. I’m with you and the other commenter that that particular feeling of dread is really really great. Hereditary, Midsommar, and VVitch definitely all fit that bill. I’ve heard the same for Lights Out, so I’m going to give that a go too.
Also Chernobyl is so so good. I’ve seen it a few times now and oof.
There has got to be a term for the particular type of … restlessness(?) that movies like VVitch and Hereditary inflict. It’s not exactly horror, but a distinct discomfort that I can’t quite name. Talk To Me also got close for me but not as far as Hereditary.
I would say the term “dread” comes close for me.
Suspense?
This is why I liked Longlegs so much. Not scary, but damn that movie made me uncomfortable.
I watch a lot of horror but that managed to unsettle more than anything in a while.
How’s Chernobyl scary? It’s just life man
I really enjoyed Pandorum and The Babadook.
“Ju-On: The Grudge” from 2002 was probably one of the scariest movies I’ve seen (if you don’t mind reading subtitles). The US remake did not do it justice IMO. I don’t know how well it holds up nowadays since it’s so old and I was a lot younger when it came out.
I also remembered it as insanely scary, but when I rewatched it recently it really didn’t live up to my imagination. Maybe I had hyped it up too much in my head
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. ;)
The original is a significantly better film.
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.
This movie was so good until the end. I was like “oh, ok.”.
Megan is Missing (2011) is one of the most horrifying films I’ve ever seen. Fair warning though, the last ten minutes are excruciatingly painful to watch. It is not for the faint of heart.
In the gore porn genre Cannibal Holocaust (1980) and Hostel (2005) are vile, but so pointlessly gorey the actual horror (the brutality of men) is almost entirely lost.
Funny Games (1997), or the 2007 American remake for those who don’t love subtitles, is another unnerving portrayal of ultra violence. It’s not gore porn, but is graphic. The original version’s pacing will make you squirm in your seat.
Hush (2016) and Creep (2014) are two of my movie-night-with-friends films. Still very much about the human monster, but not overly graphic and prefers to build by making the viewer a partial participant. You have to be a certain level of broken to enjoy some of the others on my list, but these two are disney movies compared to Cannibal Holocaust.
Blood Quantum, for the humour and great cast. Outback, for being based in a true story.
