Current Events > Horror films general.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Such an interesting subject, you know?

If I had to say what my favourite horror films are, it would probably be the following, with numbers indicating roughly how many times I've seen them. Ginger Snaps (20), because it has a lot of very good scenes, Katherine Isabelle and Emily Perkins are both very talented, and it doesn't pull its punches. Absentia (10), since it's such a good arthouse horror film, with a very unusual and thoughtful screenplay, and pretty good performances. The Wicker Man (30) because pretty much every scene is good, the exploration of the religious circuit is interesting, the characters are excellent, and the whole thing is actually very funny. Twins of Evil (15), because it has so many good scenes, very little chance to get bored, and the soundtrack is great. Prince of Darkness (20), for the great characters and interesting soundtrack.

Plenty of other good stuff out there, too. The Devil Rides Out, The Ring, The Grudge, some of the Saw films, most of the Nightmare on Elm Streets, Triangle, The Bay, many of the Final Destination films, Wind Chill, Forget Me Knot, Wakewood, The Woman In Black The Devil Rides Out, The Quiet Ones, Don't Blink (Dead End), plenty of the Hammer Dracula films, the first 2 Scream films, The Fog, 5ive Girls, SX_Tape, The Green Inferno, Eden Lake, The Blair Witch Project, the original Halloween, and many, many others.

To be a great horror film, the movie doesn't need to be scary at all. Or even violent. It just has to have lots of entertaining scenes in it, for rewatch value, and so something a little different, like The Wicker Man, or Forget Me Knot. I think Britain and America make the best horror (for America, relatively new; for Britain, old), but South Korea and Japan do a good job, as well.

How do people feel about horror films in general? What do you think makes for a really good horror film? What is the perfect level of violence, e.g. quite violent, extremely violent, etc.? Do you mostly watch Anglosphere horror movies, or maybe some Continental European stuff? How many horror films do you think you've seen?

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it's funny, because horror is generally my favorite genre (I even watch horror movies when it's really late, and I can't sleep), but most horror movies are terrible, IMO.

anyway, my favorite horror movies are:

28 Days Later
As Above, So Below
*Black Swan
Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh
Get Out
Hellraiser
High Tension
*I Saw the Devil
Kill List
Let the Right One in
The Orphanage
Pan's Labyrinth
Triangle
The Witch

*I've seen them classified as horror, but idk.

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Not sure if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but the best horror films are the ones that have one maybe two jump-scares at most. Stuff like Pan's Labyrinth, or the original black-and-white The Haunting. I've also found that Korean horror makes for pretty good substitute for your standard Japanese style ghost horror if you run out of all the mainstream titles, a good example of this being A Tale of Two Sisters.

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I get to meet Tony Todd and the cast of The Blair Witch Project at a horror convention in October. Not sure who else is gonna be there.

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The Wicker Man is great, Nicolas Cage knocks it out of the park in that one

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I saw The Hills Have Eyes last night for the first time. I wasn't impressed. Certainly not anywhere near as good as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which it was trying to follow the success of.

boxington posted...

it's funny, because horror is generally my favorite genre (I even watch horror movies when it's really late, and I can't sleep), but most horror movies are terrible, IMO.

anyway, my favorite horror movies are:

28 Days Later
As Above, So Below
*Black Swan
Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh
Get Out
Hellraiser
High Tension
*I Saw the Devil
Kill List
Let the Right One in
The Orphanage
Pan's Labyrinth
Triangle
The Witch

*I've seen them classified as horror, but idk.

Black Swan was QUITE good, but very overrated. Didn't it win Oscar for Best Picture? Wtf?

Pan's Labyrinth is a really enjoyable film, but I wouldn't say it's horror. It's either fantasy, or historical, or both. It really could've done with some scrolling text at the beginning, though, for people who *don't* know much about 1950s Spain.

As Above, So Below was good, but the beginning is better than the end of beginning.

nevershine posted...

I get to meet Tony Todd and the cast of The Blair Witch Project at a horror convention in October. Not sure who else is gonna be there.

Tony Todd is a cool dude. I still don't know what the guy's problem was with Cooper, though. Cooper did nothing wrong, etc.

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The American remake of The Grudge wasn't really neccesary. I mean, it would've been better if it had been set in America, but it was just...Americans and Japanese in Japan. It was reasonably entertaining, and kinda scary, but...not neccesary.

You know, Eden Lake is perhaps the scariest horror film I have ever seen. Not jump scary, just the existential horror of it all. I mean, it really did bother me.

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My favorites:

The Shining
Hellraiser
Hellraiser 2
Amityville Horror
The Ring
Hereditary
IT
The Exorcist
Dawn of the Dead
28 days later
Night of the living Dead
American Werewolf in London
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Halloween
Nightmare on Elm Street

And I know I'm leaving a lot of others out but these come to mind first.


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Jack Torrance posted...

My favorites:

The Shining
Hellraiser
Hellraiser 2
Amityville Horror
The Ring
Hereditary
IT
The Exorcist
Dawn of the Dead
28 days later
Night of the living Dead
American Werewolf in London
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Halloween
Nightmare on Elm Street

And I know I'm leaving a lot of others out but these come to mind first.

28 Days Later was pretty dull. Hardly anything happens for ages.

I've American Werewolf. It's good, then? I liked the sequel, but I don't think people generally did.


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*never seen American Werewolf

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MeIon Bread posted...

Pan's Labyrinth is a really enjoyable film, but I wouldn't say it's horror. It's either fantasy, or historical, or both. It really could've done with some scrolling text at the beginning, though, for people who *don't* know much about 1950s Spain.

A film set in the 1940s definitely needs some intro text about 1950s Spain.

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just started getting into film to see what kind of shit i actually like last year. my taste so far. what else should i check out?

the shining
get out
the lighthouse
midsommar
the witch
train to busan
the wailing
hereditary
alien
annihilation

wickerman is on my to watch list.

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My Favorite horror films

Blind Beast
Videodrome
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Dead Ringers
The Fly (remake)
Cure
Carrie
The Shining
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Nosferatu (1922)
The Phantom Carriage
Let the Right One In
Psycho
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Vampyr
Alien

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Videodrome is a great film. I had forgotten about that. So much entertainment value, plus, it's very to the point.

pauIie posted...

just started getting into film to see what kind of shit i actually like last year. my taste so far. what else should i check out?

the shining
get out
the lighthouse
midsommar
the witch
train to busan
the wailing
hereditary
alien
annihilation

wickerman is on my to watch list.

There's plenty of very good stuff in my OP. Just out of interest, how was Midsommer? People were buzzing about it, then there was just...silence. Kinda like in a horror film, you know?


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Tag

If we're talking action horror, Aliens and Jeepers Creepers 2 are worthwhile films, especially the former. Not many proper action horror films, I suppose. They're usually scary horror, gorefests, or whatever.

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tagggg

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MeIon Bread posted...

Ginger Snaps

Nice. I finally watched all of them recently. The first one really is great. Mimi Rogers is also incredible in it. The second one is an interesting sequel but kind of loses itself over the course of the movie. I love the setting for 3 but it also gets a little lost. I hate that they never made another one. They set it up for a sequel after the second and now we'll never know what happened. It would be great to see Tatiana Maslani come back with the others.

Also, watching 3 last night I noticed something weird. In the beginning, when they're introducing themselves they say their parents downed. A minute later Bridget says "Our parents drowned?" and Ginger says "It was quick and painless". It's like they were setting up them lying about their past to the men to cover something up but they never came back to it. Did I miss something here?

I don't remember. It's been a LONG time since I've seen 3. I thought it was better than 2, though.

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MeIon Bread posted...

Videodrome is a great film. I had forgotten about that. So much entertainment value, plus, it's very to the point.

There's plenty of very good stuff in my OP. Just out of interest, how was Midsommer? People were buzzing about it, then there was just...silence. Kinda like in a horror film, you know?

I didn't like it nearly as much as Hereditary, feels really empty and unexciting in comparison. There isn't much intrigue at all and you know how things are going to play out.

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Im a big Stephen King collector. I just found out last week that my copy of Misery is first edition!

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Horror is my favorite film genre. Horror films that make use of practical effects are my favorite, especially a good creature feature. Alien and The Thing are my top two, both of which have AMAZING practical effects being used.

The Blob (remake), Splinter, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Pumpkin Head, Hellraiser, The Howling, American Werewolf in London, The Fly are among some others that made good use of them.

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MeIon Bread posted...

28 Days Later was pretty dull. Hardly anything happens for ages.

I've American Werewolf. It's good, then? I liked the sequel, but I don't think people generally did.

American Werewolf in London is a great horror film. It is also full of dark humor. Recommend it.

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MeIon Bread posted...

Videodrome is a great film. I had forgotten about that. So much entertainment value, plus, it's very to the point.

There's plenty of very good stuff in my OP. Just out of interest, how was Midsommer? People were buzzing about it, then there was just...silence. Kinda like in a horror film, you know?

i hear midsommar is a divisive movie. not really sure why, i had no problems with it.

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anyway my favourite horror film is Tetsuo the Iron Man

according to letterboxd I've only seen 265 horrors

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^I can certainly understand why it was divisive, or reviled, by the general audience. As for horror fans, and especially Hereditary fans, I think some people just hyped themselves up too much after loving Hereditary and it didn't blow them away.

I'm one of the few horror fans who didn't like Hereditary, but I felt like Midsommar looked unique enough for me to give a try.

I wasn't feeling it, either.

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The Thing is an enjoyable film.

You know, a LOT more people need to see Absentia. Really clever, interesting film. Shows off Los Angeles, too.

SX_Tape is certainly an underwatched, underrated film, also LA. A mix of really boring and very interesting scenes, but it's found footage, which is interesting, and it has some very organic, believable dialogue. Not heavily stylised and fake, like many American films.

Here's some other good stuff: Grace: The Possession; Devil's Due, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The last one is particularly well done, and is more in-depth and multi-layered than most horror films.


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Amicus did two really good films: Tales From The Crypt, and Dr Terror's Express (I think I'm getting these names right). I do like a good anthology. VHS was very good, lots of entertaining stories in that, although it was a bit too long. Asylum was decent, although far from a masterpiece.

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Just about to start my first Hammer Horror film. Dracula (1958)

I'm a sucker for gothic set design and anything with Vampires, so I'm expecting to enjoy it.


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Come to think of it, Insidious 1 and 3 were pretty good. Wasn't that keen on 2. Actually quite scary to watch.

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Dracula is good, Christopher Lee was clearly horny for Peter Cushing

[Rec] needs to be mentioned for just being a great movie


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can we talk about horror shows too

at the very least anthology ones like the twilight zone
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If you like. But I think it's better to focus on horror films.

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I'm fond of the "bad" ones.
Manos, Incubus, Blacula, etc.

You forget Plan 9 From Outer Space, sir.

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Sunhawk posted...

You forget Plan 9 From Outer Space, sir.

If Tor Johnson is in a film, it's automatically not "bad".

Questionmarktarius posted...

If Tor Johnson is in a film, it's automatically not "bad".

You sure about that, friend?


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I'm watching The Brides of Dracula this evening. Thinking about rewatching Splatter: Naked Blood.

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What is Splatter: Naked Blood?

@p-m


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Sunhawk posted...

What is Splatter: Naked Blood?

@p-m

It's a Japanese horror film about an experimental drug that turns extreme pain into a very pleasurable and addictive experience. It's very gory and messed up.

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I can't tell if it's a clever commentary on the relationship between sex and violence, or some trashy sexploitation film.

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There's often a long distance between horror films I like and films I know are good. I love Phantasm II, but I'm not gonna argue it's good.

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Excellent Tier

Videodrome
Prince of Darkness
Ginger Snaps
The Wicker Man (original)
Twins of Evil

Great Tier

Absentia
The Quiet Ones

Very Good Tier

SX_Tape
The Devil Rides Out
Dracula: Prince of Darkness
Eden Lake
Final Destination
Final Destination 2
The Ring
Aliens
VHS
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
The Mothman Prophecies

Good Tier

The Fog
The Woman In Black
Wakewood
Don't Blink
The Green Inferno
The Blair Witch Project
Nightmare on Elm Street
Nightmare on Elm Street 2
Dracula (Hammer)
The Grudge
Saw 1
Saw 4
Black Sawn
Ginger Snaps 3
The Hills Have Eyes (remake)
The Hills Have Eyes 2
Dr Terror's Train of Horrors
Devil's Due
Silent Hill
Jeepers Creepers
Jeepers Creepers 2
Halloween 2
5ive Girls
To The Devil A Daughter

Okay Tier

Ginger Snaps 2
Saw 2
28 Days Later
Alien3
Asylum
Grace: The Posession
Bad Tier
Medusa (Hammer)

Bad Tier

Saw 3

So Bad Tier

The Return
Saw 3D (Saw 7)

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Sunhawk posted...

I can't tell if it's a clever commentary on the relationship between sex and violence, or some trashy sexploitation film.

It's both.

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Eden Lake is probably the scariest horror film I've ever seen. Either that, or The Green Inferno. Those were fucked up beyond belief.

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Insidious

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