What is YOUR Favorite Horror Movie and Why?

[adamjankowski]

What is YOUR Favorite Horror Movie and Why?

Love to know people's thoughts.

[dallywhitty]

Jacob's Ladder because it's ****ing amazing.

Followed closely by Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, followed closely by The Evil Dead, etc, etc, etc.

[Steedeel]

Halloween. The soundtrack, JLC, DP, the use of shadow, the shape. Set the standard for me at least.

Like the above poster mentioned, FWWM was an astounding piece of work with one of the most moving endings I have ever seen. Sheryl Lee deserved awards for that movie.

[Jasonic]

The Exorcist

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I've never been a huge horror fan, and the movie always felt like Friedkin never sought to make a horror film, just a drama that is based around something really dark and horrifying.

[stvn1974]

Weird, creepy and horrifying. Did I mention weird?

[DanTheMan]

The Exorcist

My dad explained to me the plot and specific details PRIOR to me even watching the movie when I was little so that I wouldn't be as scared. And it turns out I was STILL petrified by the imagery later on in the film.

As a teen and then now as an adult, the film still holds up on multiple levels, and yes, it remains a nerve-wracking classic that maintains it's terror no matter who many occasions I've seen it.

[stvn1974]

Never been scared by The Exorcist but it creeps the hell out of my brother to this day. Never seen a film have that much of an impact on a person before or since.

[Al_The_Strange]

The Shining.

Why? I wrote the following some time ago:

Originally Posted by Al

Of all the horror films I've seen, there's still nothing like The Shining. Stephen King's original novel was quite freaky and ominous as it is; Stanley Kubrick's adaptation is pretty liberal, ditching a lot of the ghosts and supernatural horror, but his focus on psychological horror is part of what makes it so creepy.

The film creeps along at a methodically steady pace, hitting a stride that's hypnotic. With its audience entranced, the film then delivers some of the most startling and ominous imagery possible: it's hard to forget about the slow-motion elevator full of blood, the image of the axe-murdered twins, or the woman in the bath tub. Even the general location - the Overlook Hotel - is an oppressive sight, so isolated and bleak, ultimately becoming surrounded by impassible snow. The camera captures the perfect sense of creepiness as it steadily passes through the halls and reveals every horrific detail that it can.

At the center of it all, it's a movie about Jack Torrence gradually losing his mind and becoming an axe-murderer, just like the caretaker before him. Even though Jack Nicholson's performance gets extremely cheesy and laughable at times, there's still nothing creepier than to watch his expressions and mannerisms as he gradually becomes haggard, stressed, and insane. The film's finale, in which he becomes trapped in a hedge maze, is perhaps the defining climax of the whole thing, as if the maze itself is the maze of his own mind, and he literally becomes frozen in its primal core. In those last moments, Jack starts screaming incoherently and animalistically: it is a scene that probably gives me the most chills.

The Shining has captivated and frightened audiences for over thirty years, and remains a seminal horror classic for many great reasons. Its atmosphere is second-to-none, and the way it handles the psychological horror is perfect. The cast does their best, with smashing results. Stanley Kubrick never really believed in the supernatural, but his film does embody something that is perhaps the scariest fear of them all: the terror of human mind and what it's capable of.

[octagon]

Rosemary's Baby - I saw this at a drive-in when I was seven or eight. I obviously didn't really understand much of it but I made my grandfather buy me the paperback when I like ten and loved it.

The whole juxtaposition of the mundane and the Satanic, the use of subtly sinister imagery, great performances and one of the hands-down best dream sequences ever filmed keep me coming back.

Honorable mentions: The Haunting, Halloween, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Descent, Triangle

And a possible newcomer: It!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

Never been scared by The Exorcist but it creeps the hell out of my brother to this day. Never seen a film have that much of an impact on a person before or since.

It’s in my top 5, before social media word of mouth was so strong with this film. Kids everywhere (including me) we’re trying to bribe their older siblings to let them watch it!

[Hedji]

Creepshow - It truly delivers on its tagline: "The Most Fun You'll Ever Have Being Scared"

Not only is it one of the best Comic Book movies ever made, it's pure scary fun from start to finish. Sure, everyone has their least favorite segment in any anthology, but Creepshow offers something for just about everyone. There are some genuine scares, but it really can appeal to kids and adults. Horror diehards won't be bored, and lightweights won't be turned off or disgusted.

Its cast is fantastic. The humor is clever and still holds up. The gore and make up effects are Tom Savini at the height of his power. The music is a blend of terrific original synth score that give it that 80s electricity and library tracks that root it in the EC Comics of old that inspired it.

And finally, the color. Creepshow rivals Suspiria for blown out, exaggerated color schemes. And its use is so appropriate, endearing, and indelible for the context of its film. Plus you get unique cel animation to link the segments together.

George A. Romero and Stephen King, the two Masters of Horror teamed up, and the result was a smashing success.

I love this film. It's like comfort food.

[GregBlu5]

Fright Night. Wonderful cast and it doesn't take itself too seriously.

[Talleyrand]

I guess Don't Look Now. Very surreal. Greatest actor is in it. Good setting and production design. Mysterious atmosphere.

[L.J.]

Tough call here, pick one leave so many good ones out. Going with The Shining its a near perfect film. The score adds so much to the mood of it to. Even today the Shining is still a creepy film.

[frogjunk65]

Suspiria - the lighting, atmosphere, score, etc... IMO a true masterpiece.

[Britbuffguy]

1978 PIRANHA.

It's a cheap JAWS rip off and it knows it, and the humor riffs off it, but in reality it has some great old school effects, a great cast and a super fun time.

It was the film that forced me to start buying DVDs, as we got it in one day at Best Buy and all shift, I just had to have it. Bought it and my first player after work.

[cujodog]

i sneaked into theatre when it cames out i was twelve ,i didn't even want to take a bath, and have not swan in any lake since. alien would be second.

[xentrix66701]

A Nightmare on Elm Street was sensational. I remember watching it when I was very young and it scares the absolute crap out of me.

The idea that someone can kill you in your dreams was the most frightening idea possible to an 8 year old me. I refused to sleep, which was a lesson to my parents in letting me watch scary movies so young!

I still think it's just such a great idea for a horror movie - you are at your most defenseless when you're asleep and your dreams are these unexplained things that we don't fully understand.

Johnny Depp's death scene was perfect horror.

[The Debts]

Too many to choose from but if I had to pick, 28 Days Later really hits me hard. Scares me as much as it does upset me emotionally. It's visceral, smart, had a distinct look and radically reinvented the zombie genre.

[Mandalorian]

Jaws, because it feels fresh every time I watch it. It's timelessness; I watch it in the summer, I watch it around Halloween. I love the cozy town setting, the characters all feel alive, Spielberg's artistic touch, and John Williams' amazing score.

If that doesn't count, because you consider Jaws a "thriller", then Alien. Easily one of the most gorgeously designed creatures in cinema. And the production design is right up there with it. The pacing is flawless. It's taut and tense. Jerry Goldsmith's score suits the material perfectly. Just a masterpiece.