| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| silly |
Posted - 10/10/2008 : 18:30:36
Inspired in part by this, and given the fact that a certain holiday is coming up in a few weeks...
What are your favorite scary movies?
|
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| benj clews |
Posted - 10/19/2008 : 13:23:52
The Eye (original)
Ju-On: The Grudge
The Shining
The Ring (remake)
The Descent
The House On Haunted Hill (remake- ignoring the crap ending)
An American Werewolf In London
Jacob's Ladder
The Omen
28 Days Later
Whilst this list is in no particular order, I would almost certainly put The Eye at #1 every time just for it's unrelenting and highly unsettling tone interrupted only by completely untelegraphed scares.
I've never really rated The Exorcist- it bored me more than anything, but I should probably revisit it now I have a bit more patience with slower films. |
| w22dheartlivie |
Posted - 10/19/2008 : 04:46:57
quote:
Originally posted by Randall
I have the same problem with King horror adaptations [SHAWSHANK and GREEN MILE were right on], but I did love the miniseries STORM OF THE CENTURY. It played just like a typical King novel: incredibly creepy up front, then loses steam as he has to explain things. THE SHINING is far scarier as a novel than either filmed adaptation. THE MIST is many times more effective on paper, too.
I agree wholeheartedly with your assessments of Shawshank and Green Mile, though I'd also put Stand By Me (The Body) in that category, and perhaps Misery. I listed 'Salem's Lot in my scary list, the original mini-series was scary, and stayed that way. The remake wasn't. I liked It, but it wasn't quite as good as the novel, as was Secret Window (that may just have been Depp),
In general, I find that filmmakers don't do well in interpreting King's work into good films, be it novel or short story. I agree on The Shining, and fairly hated Maximum Overdrive (Trucks - the short story was quite creepy), Pet Sematary (although I didn't like the storyline, so I might have been biased), Christine, and Dreamcatchers.
Then there is The Stand. It is still my favorite King book, it always has been my favorite, and I used to read it every year - until I realized I nearly knew it by heart. I had a specific cast in mind for it from the start in the late 70s, including Dennis Quaid and Kurt Russell as Larry and Stuart, and Robert Carradine as Randall Flagg. (Flagg was a puny little guy in the book.) I couldn't fathom others doing it nor it being done well enough in a feature film. So when they produced the mini-series, I was skeptical. I must say, with the possible exception of Molly Ringwald, I thought it was well done. Gary Sinise did well, and while it took a bit to adjust to Jamey Sheridan as Flagg, he did well. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised. |
| randall |
Posted - 10/19/2008 : 01:31:25
I have the same problem with King horror adaptations [SHAWSHANK and GREEN MILE were right on], but I did love the miniseries STORM OF THE CENTURY. It played just like a typical King novel: incredibly creepy up front, then loses steam as he has to explain things. THE SHINING is far scarier as a novel than either filmed adaptation. THE MIST is many times more effective on paper, too. |
| w22dheartlivie |
Posted - 10/12/2008 : 21:47:45
It speaks volumes that so far, with the exception of Chockie, we all list The Exorcist, The Thing and Alien, while The Shining has a huge percentage (sorry I couldn't agree - I've frequently had issues with film adaptations of Stephen King, with the exception of the mini-series adaptation of 'Salem's Lot - "Let me in Danny, I'm hungryyyy" and Geoffrey Lewis in the rocking chair "Hello teacher."). Despite my one viewing anecdote, Halloween scared the *#)% out of me when it came out, as did NoLD. |
| randall |
Posted - 10/12/2008 : 21:26:49
ALIEN
THE DESCENT
THE EXORCIST
HALLOWEEN [Carpenter original -- the all-time scariest movie ever]
THE INNOCENTS
LOVE STORY [uniquely, it also ranks as one of the all-time funniest!]
PSYCHO
RINGU
ROSEMARY'S BABY
THE THING [Carpenter remake]
Scary individual moments:
*Opening sequence of SCREAM
*Jack-in-the-box and fridge light in WAIT UNTIL DARK [they both work on stage, too!]
*Flying monkeys scoop up Toto in THE WIZARD OF OZ; also, Aunt Em dissolves to Witch in magic viewer
*Last recognizable shot in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
*Joan Cusack revealed at pay phone in ARLINGTON ROAD
*Mary Philbin yanks off mask in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and we see before she does
*Donald Sutherland's last shot in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
*Sutherland on the receiving end at the reveal of DON'T LOOK NOW
*Final reveal in the original VANISHING |
| Sean |
Posted - 10/12/2008 : 00:26:17
Off the top of my head:-
Alien
Dawn of the Dead '78
Evil Dead II
The Exorcist
Invasion of the Body Snatchers '56
Ju-on: The Grudge
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
The Others
Ringu
Rosemary's Baby
Shaun of the Dead
The Shining
The Thing
Vargtimmen
The Wicker Man '73
|
| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 10/11/2008 : 15:08:12
quote:
Originally posted by silly
Inspired in part by this, and given the fact that a certain holiday is coming up in a few weeks...
What are your favorite scary movies?
I'm not into scary movies and while I might see one once in a while, and am scared while I watch it, there's nothing about them that actually "gets" to me. Except one movie. That movie gave me nightmares and daymares and whatevermares you can think of. I just freaked me out totally. That movie was:
The Birds
|
| w22dheartlivie |
Posted - 10/11/2008 : 04:33:48
10. Jacob's Ladder
9. Magic
8. Alien
7. The Exorcist
6. Jaws
5. The Thing
4. Psycho
3. Night of the Living Dead
2. 'Salem's Lot
1. Halloween
In about 1990, I watched Halloween on TV on Halloween night with a friend and his 70ish year old mother, who was prone to sitting around in her bra and half slip, a shawl over her shoulders, in their big 200 year old house with the bare plank wooden floors. She became bored with the film and about half way through, was suddenly stricken by a sweet tooth attack and began to eat the little 2-bite sized Three Musketeers bars left over from the trick or treating. They were in a bowl by the front door, 20 feet away. She would sigh, stand up ungracefully, tromp across the room and get one bar at a time. She would tromp back, sit down heavily and proceed to loudly unwrap the candy and eat it, then crumple the wrapper and start the process over. All of this obviously drowned out the soundtrack. We were sitting side-by-side on the couch and by the 15th candy bar, had begun to visually track each trip, much like a tennis match, our increasingly hard to stifle giggles compounding. Finally, I pulled a notepad from my purse and wrote "Oh. My. God. It's a feeding frenzy!!" No longer able to suppress it, we were overcome with laughter. His mother, on the other hand, was less than amused. She refused to watch it with us the next year.
|
| chazbo |
Posted - 10/11/2008 : 02:51:55
The best off the cuff, and also in random order...
Psycho
The Shining
Alien
Night of the Living Dead
Hour of the Wolf (Bergman)
The Thing (Carpenter's remake)
Vampyr (Dreyer)
Nosferatu (both versions--Murnau's and Herzog's)
The Exorcist
Ringu (Japanese)
There's definitely a lot of good stuff not listed here (no Dario Argento, no Halloween, for example), but these are the films I return to again and again to be horrified.
|
| demonic |
Posted - 10/10/2008 : 22:48:46
My top 10 in no particular order, (after some pained decision making)...
The Shining
Evil Dead II (or is this in my top 10 comedies??)
Poltergeist
Psycho
The Thing
The Ring (yes, the remake)
The Haunting (no, not the remake)
Alien
The Fly
The Exorcist (although I have a particular affection for part III as well)
Some horrors are very hard to catagorise though... is Jacob's Ladder more of a thriller? How about The Devil's Backbone - a supernatural drama? Angel Heart - voodoo noir? Silence of the Lambs? - they're all scary movies.... |
|
|
