Question What are some of the scariest horror films you've ever seen and why did they scare you?

[thetopher]

The Thing (1982) Isolated in an inhospitable wilderness a bunch of scientists are picked off one by one by a creature they can barely understand. A shape-shifting alien that will slowly stalk, absorb and then become them...and it could be anywhere, any one of them.
This movie has so many different types of horror built into it; from the subtle building of tension to creeping paranoia to body horror and incredible practical gore effects to people turning on each other and leaving each other to die in the frozen waste...
Plus, if you're a dog lover then one particular scene will stay with you always. 🙁

In The Mouth Of Madness (1994) Criminally underrated Lovecraftian horror about the disappearance of a celebrated horror-writer. I love how this just gets weirder and weirder as it escalates from unsettling to creepy to terrifying to apocalyptic. Not a perfect movie by any measure but it's very well paced compared to most 'scary' movies nowadays (!jumpscares!) has plenty of horrific imagery whilst leaving plenty of stuff to the imagination.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

As said before, the only horror movie that scared Spanky was the Descent. It wasn't the 'horror' aspect that was terrifying, but this one scene:

As someone who has spelunked in the past and had to stop for claustrophobia reasons, that scene is just the most horrific thing ever.

 

[Last Watcher]

I went to see the original (Sissy Spacek) version of 'Carrie' when it first came out. Pre any kind of social media there were no spoilers so no-one knew what to expect.

At the end when the girl goes to place flowers on the ruins of Carrie's house, everyone thought the movie was pretty much over. so folk were stirring & getting ready to leave.

Then the hand comes out!

For a second there I don't think anyone was actually touching their seat. Everyone jumped out of their skin & some of the screams were definitely male 😀

 

[Angelkiss]

The Unholy 1987 and The Howling

 

[Stake fodder]

The Ring (2002). It made me sleep with the lights on for several nights afterwards! Some favor the original Japanese version (1998), but I liked it less, maybe because I saw it after the other version. It's mostly the tension build-up that makes it scary, but there are true horror moments.

I was a bit meh on the movie version of The Woman in Black (2012), but the live play was one of the scariest things I've ever seen. I thought going in, how scary could a play be? So scary! The ghost could come right down off the stage and get you!😱 (It didn't, but it could have!)

 

[Stake fodder]

@Bop Based on your comment, I watched The Grudge last night. Similar to the Ring, yes, and very jumpy-scary! I was yelling at the TV, "Don't any of you know how to turn on a light?" Nope, they were always wandering around in darkened rooms. Clearly, they couldn't hear the creepy music. 😱

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I don't think I'd be able to do the 31 days of horror challenge but I definitely want to watch a couple new horror films this month to celebrate Halloween. I feel like I've seen a decent chunk of horror films but of course there's still many I haven't seen.

I'm really curious to know what scares people as well because it can be so different depending on each individual.

I failed at doing 31 Days of Halloween too, but mostly because I was traveling most of the month and didn't have the opportunity to watch television.

I watch a lot of horror, but off the top of my head, here are a few that I find very scary. I'm hesitant to say why too much, because I might give a spoiler but in general I find body horror very scary (the idea of not having control over one's body) and demonic possession movies and also psychological horror the scariest. I love slasher movies for the entertainment value but don't find them scary at all.

Men (2022) - horrifying movie about a woman being tormented by strange men in a small village
The Invitation (2015) - terrifying movie about a man who goes to a dinner party, lots of tension, surprising ending
The Conjuring (2013) - ghost story that's actually scary, having to do with possession
The Witch (2015) - ignorance of people then, saw a regular young girl as a witch and go after her
The Decent (2005) - not being able to see in the dark when something is after you, also a great all woman cast

 

[Tome]

The other will always be The Blair Witch Project. I hate the woods. I hate the idea of being stranded in the woods with no way out. So what better movie to watch than one in which the main cast literally can’t get out of the woods because they keep shifting and preventing them from leaving. The Blair Witch mythos and iconography in this one is especially freaky, and so many scary moments abound here. It always feels like I’m watching a snuff film, and that terrifies me so bad.

A good contender for runner-up is Paranormal Activity 3. The first one is good with some really scary bits, the second is mostly boring in my opinion, but this one is the best of the franchise and one of the best found footage movies out there. I really don’t want to say anything about this other than “family moves into haunted home” because the movie works so well with surprises, details, and twists. Just go watch it, preferably late at night and alone.

I totally agree with you on those two. The third Paranormal Activity was really good. That rotating camera. 😱 As for the original Blair Witch, yea, it's one of those movies that were more effective at the time they came out. It's very minimalistic and one of the first found footage flicks. I showed it to a lot of people, and most of them found it boring and not scary at all (like our friend Illyrian down there). For me, it's all about the atmosphere and the dread that slowly builds throughout. Great, natural performance by the main actress.

Plasma,
I'm so disappointed that you were scared by The Blair Witch Project. That film is on my list of the worst films ever made.
Now if you like creepy stuff try The Fourth Kind. A true story of people who were abducted by aliens, when they had deep hypnosis to help them sleep they found out the owls of their dreams were in fact aliens. That scared them even more.

You'll be disappointed by me too, then. 😉 I remember getting goosebumps at that baby laugh while they hide in their tent!

I find body horror very scary (the idea of not having control over one's body) and demonic possession movies and also psychological horror the scariest. I love slasher movies for the entertainment value but don't find them scary at all.

Men (2022) - horrifying movie about a woman being tormented by strange men in a small village
The Invitation (2015) - terrifying movie about a man who goes to a dinner party, lots of tension, surprising ending
The Conjuring (2013) - ghost story that's actually scary, having to do with possession
The Witch (2015) - ignorance of people then, saw a regular young girl as a witch and go after her
The Decent (2005) - not being able to see in the dark when something is after you, also a great all woman cast

Joan! Nice to see a familiar name from the past. 🙂

If you like body horror, you should watch Titane.

I don't think I consider all of the movies you listed as 'scary', but they're definitely all great films, though. I'm glad to see another fan of The Invitation. That one tends to be lesser known.

Now... as for my personal response to the OP, I love horror. I discovered an interest for the genre through my good friend @Old Master 3.0. I've seen a LOT of what is out there, and not much 'scares' me by now, aside from psychological and atmospheric horror. That always gets me if it's done well. So, for that reason, I'd name movies like:

The Shining
Hereditary
The Witch

I hesitate to put it under that category, but REC is one of the scariest and most 'realistic' horror films out there. Grave Encounters also always gets me.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I totally agree with you on those two. The third Paranormal Activity was really good. That rotating camera. 😱 As for the original Blair Witch, yea, it's one of those movies that were more effective at the time they came out. It's very minimalistic and one of the first found footage flicks. I showed it to a lot of people, and most of them found it boring and not scary at all (like our friend Illyrian down there). For me, it's all about the atmosphere and the dread that slowly builds throughout. Great, natural performance by the main actress.



You'll be disappointed by me too, then. 😉 I remember getting goosebumps at that baby laugh while they hide in their tent!



Joan! Nice to see a familiar name from the past. 🙂

If you like body horror, you should watch Titane.

I don't think I consider all of the movies you listed as 'scary', but they're definitely all great films, though. I'm glad to see another fan of The Invitation. That one tends to be lesser known.

Now... as for my personal response to the OP, I love horror. I discovered an interest for the genre through my good friend @Old Master 3.0. I've seen a LOT of what is out there, and not much 'scares' me by now, aside from psychological and atmospheric horror. That always gets me if it's done well. So, for that reason, I'd name movies like:

The Shining
Hereditary
The Witch

I hesitate to put it under that category, but REC is one of the scariest and most 'realistic' horror films out there. Grave Encounters also always gets me.

oh you know me! Sometimes I leave for a while but I always come back to BB 🙂
I have not seen Titane, REC or Grave Encounters! I will ads them to my list!

 

[Plasma]

That rotating camera. 😱

That sequence is awesome and so scary. It’s so hard to pick the scariest moments though. When the earthquake happens at the beginning is just freaky deaky, and that ending where the dad opens the door to the guest house and the entire reveal just unspools from there…yeesh! Love it!

Grave Encounters also always gets me.

I think the first GE is pretty alright, but the second one definitely has a cooler setup. Basically if the studio didn’t completely butcher Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows (whatever the heck the Book of Shadows even is lol)

 

[Tome]

That sequence is awesome and so scary. It’s so hard to pick the scariest moments though. When the earthquake happens at the beginning is just freaky deaky, and that ending where the dad opens the door to the guest house and the entire reveal just unspools from there…yeesh! Love it!



I think the first GE is pretty alright, but the second one definitely has a cooler setup. Basically if the studio didn’t completely butcher Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows (whatever the heck the Book of Shadows even is lol)

I think it's just the atmosphere throughout. Most of these movies are not super eventful, so if you don't pick up on the building dread, they won't do much for you.

I never watched GE 2 because people told me it's really bad. Is it taking place at the same location?

 

[Plasma]

I never watched GE 2 because people told me it's really bad. Is it taking place at the same location?

Yes. The general premise is that the show’s producer took the footage that mysteriously appeared from the first movie and released it to the public.

In the world of the movie, the first one was actually real and now a ton of people are trying to find out where it happened and all that jazz. The movie follows a GE fanboy and his group of pals who find the actual place

 

[spikenbuffy]

When I was like 9, I was scared of a 1990 movie (B movie) that was on VHS (recorded). It was the setting which the bodycount happened, not the murders itself. I just remember, it happened to be an elevator that lead to a room (13th floor) painted all in red with some creepy music on when the victims entered.
I've just searched and this thriller tv movie is called Nightmare On The 13th Floor, it was shown on USA network on Halloween 1990.

 

[spikenbuffy]

Bop That sounds intense do you remember the title?

The movie is titled "Nightmare On The 13th Floor", the full movie is on youtube :

 

[fauxindigo]

Scariest Vampire Movie- 30 Days of Night and it's actually still fun to watch
Scariest Creature Feature- The Ritual lesson learned- stay out of the woods
47 Meters Down Uncaged (and any shark/gator/open water movie) scares me but I stay out of the ocean so that solves that. The Conjuring, The Exorcism of Emily Rose & Insidious scared the hell out of me in theaters but over time, they don't scare me as much; thanks to lackluster sequels & Annabelle, The Nun etc.. I still think demons and evil spirits/entities are the scariest but human killers are very unnerving too..like the quiet home invasion in The Strangers. If you're scared of a BRUTAL death, Terrifier, The Human Centipede and Hatchet 1-3 are the worst/scariest I've seen but I think Hostel I is the scariest because there isn't a character like Art the Clown or deformed backwoods hillbilly Victor Crowley or a sick twisted doctor- it's just rich, elitist, evil people. I 100% believe that there are sick, twisted socio/psycho-pathic rich scumbags out there that pay to torture and kill other people. Hostel is probably a documentary but just like human/sex trafficking, people don't want to talk about it for some reason.

More than any horror movie though, I think a concept scared me the most; it was actually in American Horror Story Apocalypse when the anti christ Michael extinguished a girls soul; it's not bad enough to kill her but he made it so her soul doesn't even exist to move on to the afterlife. That's kind of scarier than any death.

 

[Dogs of Winter]

If you like body horror, you should watch Titane.

I don't think I consider all of the movies you listed as 'scary', but they're definitely all great films, though. I'm glad to see another fan of The Invitation. That one tends to be lesser known.

I loved her first film Raw which has some elements of body horror, but wasn’t as keen on Titane. I kind of admired it without becoming fully engaged

Cronenburg will always be the king of body horror for me with films like The Brood, Videodrome and The Fly etc

I did enjoy The Invitation though

Not really a body horror but Martyrs is the film I found hardest to watch recently. It is well made but incredibly brutal and not just in what it shows but in the matter of fact way it shows it

 

[Mazikeen]

Don’t get me wrong. I love horror films. But I was more affected by them as a younger person. Now a days I am hard pressed to find one that actually scares me or leaves me with that knot in the stomach. I believe that had to do with my own past both extended and recent. Nothing is scarier than real life.
But these are a few that legitimately scared me or had that creep factor (when I was younger) and I still enjoy watching. Not necessarily in this order.
Poltergeist
Candyman
Halloween (the first but also enjoyed Rob Zombies remake)
Hellraiser
The Ring
IT (clowns creep me out)
Constantine
The Devils Advocate
The Conjuring
The Shining
Paranormal Activity

 

[TamsinValencia]

Amusement (2008) When I was younger I found this film absolutely terrifying, especially this scene.

 

[Plasma]

@thrasherpix Lost in the woods: if you find a river, follow it downstream, and sooner or later you'll find people...if not THEN it would've scared me.

That’s the thing though. In the Blair Witch Project, the Burkittsville woods are an extension of the Witch herself. The characters make mention of the fact that they’ve been walking in the same direction but are always going back to where they were.

She manipulates the space around them so that they can’t get out. The river trick would’ve been similarly fruitless.

Another thing that makes the river just plain unnerving is the fact that there is an old sighting of the Witch where a little girl was grabbed by a hand emerging from the river and was dragged into it. She literally just vanished from reality and they never found her, so avoiding water should be the utmost priority 😵‍💫.

Halloween (the first but also enjoyed Rob Zombies remake)

Finally some love for RZ’s Halloween. That movie is a different kind of scary for me, with a Michael who comes at you like a freight train instead of a prowling cat. Doesn’t work for everyone I guess, but it’s arguably more frightening to me if you know that this monster is coming right at you and all you can do is hope he makes it quick.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

That’s the thing though. In the Blair Witch Project, the Burkittsville woods are an extension of the Witch herself. The characters make mention of the fact that they’ve been walking in the same direction but are always going back to where they were.

She manipulates the space around them so that they can’t get out. The river trick would’ve been similarly fruitless.

Another thing that makes the river just plain unnerving is the fact that there is an old sighting of the Witch where a little girl was grabbed by a hand emerging from the river and was dragged into it. She literally just vanished from reality and they never found her, so avoiding water should be the utmost priority 😵‍💫.

Yeah, Blair Witch added so much mythology to the story. I would love for them to expand and explore it. The premise is great but I feel like the movie is a let down when you compare it to the mythos of it.