I'm not trying to make a standard SCARE list here. I want unusual, psychological, emotional, eerie, unnerving, wrenching or even just vids that celebrate that fall feeling. I will elaborate on this criteria as the week goes on...
No torture porn.
My Goal:
1) Good Old Fashioned Scares
Halloween (1978)
Suspiria
American Psycho
28 Days Later
Night of the Living Dead
Day of the Dead (1985)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Land of the Dead
The Wicker Man (1973)
The Haunting (1963)
The Fog (1980)
The Grudge (2004)
The Ring
The Omen (1976)
Ginger Snaps
Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed
The Mist
Cat People (1982)
Poltergeist
The Descent
House on a Haunted Hill (1959)
A Tale of Two Sisters
Jaws
Malice
3) Emotional / Psychological Torture
Seven
Shallow Grave
Blood Simple
The Hitcher (1986)
Hard Candy
A Clockwork Orange
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Funny Games
Blue Velvet
In The Company of Men
Your Friends and Neighbors
The Shining
Cujo
The Crow
Let the Right One In
Audition
Sisters
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Play Misty for Me
Dressed to Kill (1980)
The Minus Man
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
The Strangers
Antichrist
Mr. Brooks
Manhunter
The Silence of the Lambs
Hannibal
Red Dragon
Hannibal Rising
3) "Um, would you mind sleeping over tonight?"
The Vanishing (1988)
The Blair Witch Project
Eraserhead
Repulsion
The Others
Don't Look Now
The 6th Sense
The Orphanage
The Devil's Backbone
4) Hip Scary
Scream
Scream 2
The Lost Boys
The Craft
Jennifer's Body
Night of the Comet
5) Scary for Kids
The Witches
The Worst Witch
Bonus Suggestion:
Twin Peaks TV show (watch one ep a day during all of October)
The Witches, for which you should create a category for movies for kids that are equally scary for (this) adult(s) too!
ReplyDeleteAnd the Worst Witch for delightfully awful Halloween camp for kids!
And Jaws for nature terror.
Oh and House on a Haunted Hill for Category 1. Add IT to that too, not that I will EVER watch it again from almost dying the first time!
I definitely second House on Haunted Hill. It's far from perfect but I like it a lot. And more movies should star Taye Diggs.
ReplyDeleteI'd either class Let the Right One In as emotional horror or wouldn't consider it horror. I think of it as a normal drama but with vampires.
I understand if you don't want to include it on the grounds that it's got some definite "torture porn" moments, but: AUDITION. It's just amazing.
A Tale of Two Sisters is a pretty good, standard scare movie.
Personally, I prefer Red Dragon to Hannibal and would swap those two out. And I think you know how I feel about 2004 Dawn of the Dead vs. the original.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (the 1978 version, obviously)
Play Misty for Me
REC
The Orphanage
The Devil's Backbone
Dog Soldiers
And it just wouldn't be Halloween with The Lost Boys. Or Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Or Scream.
That's withOUT of course. With OUT.
ReplyDeleteI hope we've all learned a valuable lesson about reading back over anything you type.
Not to nipick, but I meant the original House on a Haunted Hill with Vincent Price. I didn't even know there was a remake. It's one of the few classic scary movies I've ever seen because I tend not to sleep for weeks after them.
ReplyDeleteThat's not nitpicking at all! There were about four (I think?) remakes (or at least movies clearly based on) of the original House on Haunted Hill that came out in the 90s (not all of them retained the title, though). The Haunting (1999, not to be confused with a thousand other movies called The Haunting) and 13 Ghosts (which obviously mixes influences from House on Haunted Hill and the original 13 Ghosts) come to mind.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably alone in saying this as a horror fan but: I don't think the original House on Haunted Hill holds up. At all. There are a couple of nice scares and it's obviously required viewing for horror fans (as well as being far from a bad movie in general), but I just find it goofy.
The remake is far from great, but I have a lot of affection for it. It's sort of like...a direct remake of the original mixed with...Session 9. Or at least parts of it seemed Session 9-y to me.
Thanks for the comments:) Great suggestions and I am updating accordingly.
ReplyDeleteFYI: House on a Haunted Hill with Price is the 1959 version.
My first controversial question: Carrie, do you mean you prefer the "Red Dragon" remake to "Manhunter?"
What is the best Hannibal film out of the four?
I love "Hannibal" mostly for it's tragic beauty and the beast overtones; in that regard, it's almost Lynchian. I love the unexpected turns the story takes towards the end, it's intense fish market shootout, it's over the top cannibalistic set pieces and because it was very faithful to the spirit of the book. But mostly I see it as a melancholy love story.
I haven't seen Manhunter. I know. And I like Red Dragon against my better judgement, as like all actual human beings, I am disgusted by the mere thought of Brett Ratner. But it WAS the same screenwriter as Silence of the Lambs.
ReplyDeleteAs for which is the best Hannibal film...well, I haven't seen Hannibal Rising but it doesn't matter because that's barely even a question for me. It's obviously Silence of the Lambs (I'm VERY biased, though...while it's not in the top 10 or anything, there's a distinct chance Silence of the Lambs makes my top 20 movies).
Frankly I thought Hannibal was a little silly. Or at least I certainly remember laughing more than was appropriate.
I think we have a bad connection here. It sounded like you said you've never seen Manhunter.
ReplyDeleteGood shout-out for Hannibal Rising. I'd forgotten about that one and that brings the Lambs count to five.
I have seen/read Rising and you know what? It wasn't that bad. Completely pointless, yes. And I sure as shit could have lived without this orgin story and an explanation of why Hannibal was the way he was.
But the kid who played young Hannibal was pretty good. He was lively and animated and by no means took anything in the film serious. And there was also a love story here that didn't end well for Hannibal and I guess by now, the guy is almost a tragic figure in my eyes.
Yes, the Ratner Effect. Few humans can even hear his name without twitching and I'm one of them. I haven't even seen all of Red Dragon so you won't get much debate from me on it. I will say though that it has one of the most amazing casts ever assembled and for that alone I wouldn't flee if you put it on.
Since we have quite a few slots still left open, I think I'll just throw all 5 Hannibal films up there.
Nope, haven't seen Manhunter. But I love Silence of the Lambs so much, I almost don't care to watch other things involving Hannibal Lecter.
ReplyDeleteYou and your love stories that don't end well! You should add May to the list. It's nothing but a love story that doesn't end well plus some blood.