SCARIEST Movies ever?

[Roshi]

Jaws hand down. Scarred me for life. LOL Saw it when it came out in 1976 or 77 and I was 6 or 7 at the time. Have an irrational fear of swimming in the ocean now because of it.

Same here... Especially the night dive scene. I know the shark is nowhere near the boat, but as soon as Hooper dives in order to inspect the derelict boat, I'm scared shitless...

 

[species5618]

Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer...there's nothing supernatural about it, no monsters or aliens, just a guy who happens to be a very scary mass murderer. Not for the squeamish or easily offended.

 

[Othello]

Jaws hand down. Scarred me for life. LOL Saw it when it came out in 1976 or 77 and I was 6 or 7 at the time. Have an irrational fear of swimming in the ocean now because of it.

Same here... Especially the night dive scene. I know the shark is nowhere near the boat, but as soon as Hooper dives in order to inspect the derelict boat, I'm scared shitless...

Yup, it's the only horror movie that can legitimately lay claim to altering millions of people's behavior. Freaked a ton of people out about harks and swimming in the ocean.

 

[Lookingglassman]

Jaws never scared me. I still went to the beach and swam and never gave it a second thought. Animals dont scare me, but possessed little chicks do.

 

[ladyheather69]

Never saw The Exorcist so can't comment, but considering I can't even watch ads or promos or trailers or anything for it, I would assume I wouldn't like it.

Jaws was scary just because I was only about 9 or 10 when i saw it first. But now it is my favorite movie ever!

Event Horizon
The Shining
Psycho
Alien
The Ring(american version)

I am sure there are more. I used to love horror movies, but as I get older, I don't like them as much.

 

[Non Sync]

Silence of the Lambs
At one point when I was first watching it, I wondered if it might be based on true events. Even if it wasn't, it struck me that it could be.

Shivers!

 

[Amasov]

In the spirit of Halloween, I nominate.... Halloween!

 

[DeafPoet]

Though I don't consider it a scary movie any more, the most frightened I've ever been watching a movie was Friday The Thirteenth as a kid.

These days, I'm not generally a fan of horror movies so I'm not really sure I have an opinion I would qualify as current.

 

[Starkers]

"The Haunting" 1963 version.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057129/

"Whose hand was I holding?"

Conclusive proof that you don't need blood and gore, or in fact anything beyond some good actors and some loud noises to scare the living crap out of people. It's my all time favourite horror film, and one of my all time favourite films.

Also...

The Others
Blair witch
Halloween
Exorcist 3 (just for the scene with the nurse and the guy in a sheet- v scary)
Halloween (original)
The Fog (Original)
Prince of Darkness
The Orphanage
The Descent

 

[stoneroses]

Duel
Spiceworld

 

[John Picard]

Poltergeist, when it first came out.

 

[Starbreaker]

I can't give any good reccomendations because I laughed all the way through the Exorcist and Blair Witch Project.

 

[Zachary Smith]

"The Haunting" 1963 version.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057129/

"Whose hand was I holding?"

Conclusive proof that you don't need blood and gore, or in fact anything beyond some good actors and some loud noises to scare the living crap out of people. It's my all time favourite horror film, and one of my all time favourite films.

"The dead are not quiet in Hill House.

It is a marvelous film that far too few have had the opportunity to see.

 

[John Picard]

"The Haunting" 1963 version.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057129/

"Whose hand was I holding?"

Conclusive proof that you don't need blood and gore, or in fact anything beyond some good actors and some loud noises to scare the living crap out of people. It's my all time favourite horror film, and one of my all time favourite films.

"The dead are not quiet in Hill House.

It is a marvelous film that far too few have had the opportunity to see.

I have been told that The Last House on the Left will scare the bejeezus out of people.

 

[Mick of Time]

^ I was just going to recommend that particular movie. Well, perhaps recommend isn't the right word. The most disturbing movie I've ever seen. It doesn't go for the abrupt scare, but it will shock and sicken you. Wes Craven said in an interview (I think on that multi-part Bravo special made awhile back) that after shooting one particular scene, the cast and crew broke for lunch. In his words: "Everyone went off by themselves...and no one ate." One of the only movies I'm almost sorry I watched (Little Nicky was the other one ).

 

[Barbados Slim]

The Exorcist
Alien
Aliens
The Descent
The Others
Poltergeist

 

[exodus]

Ghost Story(w/Alice Krige)
The Other(1972 w/ Diana Muldaur)

 

[RobertScorpio]

Excorsist, The Ring (american version), original Night Of A Living Dead.

Night of the living dead....the original...

I totally agree...scary movie. Saw it as a double feature with Dark Shadows movie..had know idea what I was going to see and was scared to death..and the scary part? IT COULD HAPPEN!!

Rob

 

[Sheliak]

How about Wasps On A Plane?

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I agree with a lot of the classics here. The original Omen freaked me out when I saw it as a kid.

More recently, The Descent scared the crap out of me, more for the claustrophobic setting than the mutants.

And Deliverance is pretty terrifying, actually. I know it's become a pop culture joke ("squeal like a pig!"), but the scene in which the guy is raped was really fucking frightening the first time I saw it.