Looking for movies that scared the s*** out of you.

I keep hearing The Conjuring is good.

Maybe not the scariest but this new Halloween is a damn good movie!

Evil dead

It Follows
Hereditary
Ghost Stories (The one with Martin Freeman)
Sinister
Ready Or Not (More of a dark comedy but fantastic)

Hereditary bar none

I did a scary/horror movie bracket thread last year, take a search for it!

Was that the one that had Seven, silence of the lambs, aliens, etc as the top ones? Not quite the same as "scariest" movie. Maybe a new bracket with being scary as the only criteria could be in order.

Agreed.

Original Halloween and Halloween 2; though the one from a few years back rendered that original second one stupidly rebooted.

Some of the best in recent years:

Conjuring
Babbadook
Sinister
It Follows
Oculus
Invisible Man
Hereditary
Insidious
Dr Sleep
Halloween

BoydCrowder13 said:

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Some of the best in recent years:

Conjuring
Babbadook
Sinister
It Follows
Oculus
Invisible Man
Hereditary
Insidious
Dr Sleep
Halloween

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Dr Sleep was very good, hardly scary though

IMO its hard to beat the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The introduction of Leatherface is one of the most iconic horror scenes ever. Plus it was filmed in Round Rock & Leander.

I really like 28 Days Later too. The scenes they were able to film showing an abandoned London are haunting, and it has a great soundtrack, in particular In the House, in a Heartbeat. Cillian Murphy and Christopher Eccleston are great in it too.

A few others than span the scale of giallo to brutal to disturbing:

Profondo Rosso (another great soundtrack)
Suspiria (original version)
In the Mouth of Madness
Audition
Henry: Portrait of Serial Killer
A Serbian Film

I just watched The Exorcist for the first time since it was released in 1973. This may not be a true horror film to some and it is tame by today's standards, but I still remember the impact this film had at the time. This was when horror crossed the line from Frankenstein and Dracula to something else entirely. First horror movie to be nominated for best picture. All special effects done physically... no CGI of course.

Hereditary and the first and third paranormal activity.

Not horror movie, but Silence of the Lambs.

Event Horizon
The Ring
Psycho
The Town that dreaded Sundown (70s)
The Fog (80s)
Nightmare on Elm Street
Chopping Mall
The Changeling (a little slow but atmospheric)
The Innkeepers (same as the changeling, but I loved it)
The House of the Devil
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (70s)
The Thing
The Fly (80s)
An American Werewolf in London
Scream
The Innocents
Jacob's Ladder
The Haunting (60s, not the trash remake)
Rec
Bride of Frankenstein
The Devil Rides Out
The Gorgon
Don't Look Now
Hellraiser
Hellraiser 2
Hush, hush Sweet Charlotte
Curse of the Demon (don't watch the first 5 minutes, adds more suspense)
The Strangers
The Exorcist 3 (has the greatest jump scare in movie history)
13 Ghosts (late 90s early 2000s cheese)
House on Haunted Hill (late 90s early 2000s cheese)
The Hills Have Eyes
Dead of Night (the first anthology Horror film)
Cemetery Man or Dellamorte Dellamore (Italian dark comedy)
Demons (Italian horror gore fest)
Night of the Creeps (80s alien fun)
Razorback (Australian creature feature)
Pumpkin head (American creature feature)
The Serpent and the Rainbow (only horror film entirely shot in Haiti, voodoo fun!)
Rear Window (classic Hitchcock suspense)
Maniac (Tom Savini's first foray into the hyper violent, RIP Joe)
Cube (neat mind**** based on a Jim Henson short)
Final Destination (Tony Todd as death, say no more)
Candyman (Tony Todd's greatest role!)
Cape Fear (either version)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (bing Crosby, Disney classic)
Jeepers Kreepers
The Blob (remake, not the original)
1408 (cheesy but fun)
Haunt (fails in parts but when it delivers...)
Stir of Echoes (a fun little thriller, not really a horror movie)
The Cell (enter the mind of Vincent D'noffrio, insane visuals)
Ouija: Origin of Evil (better than the original!)
The Grudge (sure why not)
Gremlins 2: a new batch (this movie is fun as ****)
Dark Night of the Scarecrow (don't mess with this dude's lawn)
The Woman in Black (80s BBC production not the **** remake with Harry Potter)
Cat People (Val Lawton classic from the 40s)
Mystery at the Wax Museum (30s classic horror, one of the first in technicolor)
Alone in the Dark (a neat hidden gem)
Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (just fun, Billy Zane)
Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood (just fun, Dennis Miller)
Unfriended: Dark Web (hey, I liked it)
Critters
My Bloody Valentine (80s slasher)

A lot of good ones on that list.

For movies like The Thing, I see those as science fiction with strong elements of horror. And if you're going to include The Thing (any of the three movies bearing that title - 1951, 1982, 2011), then you have to include Alien.

Exorcist 3 but no Exorcist?

Psycho (oops, missed this one on your list)
Halloween
Poltergeist (1982)
Another critter feature from 1982, The Boogens. Cheesy it may have been, but not a bad one.
The Shining and Salem's Lot (both original, the Jack Nicholson movie and a made-for-TV movie for SL)
Good call on The Fog (1980)
A later movie from John Carpenter creeped me out - Prince of Darkness, although it did not hold up so well when I watched it in recent years

Anyone seen these two?

The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Bone Tomahawk (with Kurt Russell)

They were recommended to me along with The Conjuring.

Also, The Descent is pretty good. Didn't see anyone list that one. I also really like The Haunting of Hill House although it's not a movie but a series.

I remember watching Dark Night of the Scarecrow on network TV when it was released. It scared the crap out of 6 year old me. I think they aired it again the following year too because I remember seeing it a 2nd time.

Well, I was going to say in before someone mentions the overrated, not scary at all Event Horizon, but it appears I'm too late.

Oh come on. Event Horizon is creepy a hell and has some great jump scares.

Quote:

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The Exorcist 3 (has the greatest jump scare in movie history)

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Not nearly as good a movie as the original but your are correct about the jump scene. That along with some other genuinely creepy moments make it worth watching.

When A Stranger Calls - the original - is genuinely terrifying. My roommate and I rented it in college for laughs and ended up huddled on the couch scared to leave the room.

I saw The Town that Dreaded Sundown when I was 8. And it's based on a true story out of Texarkana, which was about 70 miles from where I was sitting when I watched it. Let's just say it made an impression.

aggierogue said:

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Anyone seen these two?

The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Bone Tomahawk (with Kurt Russell)

They were recommended to me along with The Conjuring.

Also, The Descent is pretty good. Didn't see anyone list that one. I also really like The Haunting of Hill House although it's not a movie but a series.

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I like autopsy of Jane doe a lot! Good call!

jkag89 said:

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Quote:

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The Exorcist 3 (has the greatest jump scare in movie history)

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Not nearly as good a movie as the original but your are correct about the jump scene. That along with some other genuinely creepy moments make it worth watching.

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There's a director's cut out there that really puts it on par with the exorcist in my opinion.

Here are some more horror movies to check out:

Rosemary's Baby
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (70s)
Deep Red (Giallo pic by Dario Argento - Giallo may be tough to get into for most)
Perfect Blue (probably the only anime that scared me - such an amazing flick with an incredible ending)
The Wicker Man (70s - I love Christopher Lee in this classic from Robin Hardy)
Onibaba (beautifully shot Japanese horror set in feudal Japan)
Carrie (70s- not my favorite De Palma film but it certainly deserves to be listed)
Audition (certainly deserves to be listed but dear Lord, don't watch this one. Whatever you do, there are things in it you will never be able to unsee)
Phantasm (don coscarelli's classic, it's not the scariest film, but it's got a great story and great characters)
Drag me to Hell (I'm a sucker for Sam Raimi - the guy can just flat out direct. While I loved Curse of the Demon more and there are some major casting problems, this was a worthy remake)
Night of the Comet
Ravenous
Haute Tension (a thrill ride of a first watch with a puzzling ending)
Funny Games (this movie will make your stomach turn with anxiety)
Grave Encounters (this movie just really worked, great cast, believable acting, the ending was lame but everything leading up to it was great)
The Bay (I'm usually not a fan of found footage, but this one was well thought out and pretty scary)
The Invisible Man (Moss really shines in this one)
Pontypool (never has a movie taking place in a radio station ever been so scary!)
Insidious (there are some great film edits out there that make this film even better, but the original is pretty good too)
Witchboard 1, 2, and 3 (I love a good movie about Ouija)
Stagefright (pretty gruesome slasher from the 80s)
Return of the Living Dead (Dan O'Bannon baby and linea Quiggley - probably the hottest horror babe on the planet, her stripping in the cemetery is a sight to behold)
Return of the Living Dead 3 (Brian yuzna is a master in finding new and inventive ways of dismembering the living and the undead)
Society (another yuzna classic with some truly gross scenes of immense body horror)
Needful Things (sure why not, not the scariest of flicks, but I liked it)
C.H.U.D. (I'm such a fan of this movie that while it's not really that scary, it's fun and people should watch it!)
30 Days of Night (who doesn't like vampires in Alaska come forth from a wrecked tanker ship from Russia or whatever the hell the setup was)
The Lair of the white worm (Hugh grant and Ken Russell, say no more. Truly an interested bit of British horror)
Color Out of Space (say what you will about Nick Cage, I love the guy, but Richard Stanley is truly an amazing director. If you like this, check out Hardware and Dust Devil)
The Craft (I had such a crush on neve Campbell)
The Ninth Gate (not a scary movie really but a great thriller about a book that can summon the Devil. The Club Dumas, the book the film is based on is a must read as well)
Hush (this film will surprise you. The protagonist is deaf and the inventive ways they weave that into the action is pretty incredible)
Hatchet 1,2, and 3 (some good gory fun, set in Louisiana, it's an over the top gorefest)
Nattenvagten (danish horror film about a college student needing a job who works as a security guard overnight in a morgue. The remake night watch with Ewan McGregor is ok too, but the original is superb)
Wrong Turn (more gorey goodness)
Shocker (I'm such a sucker for Wes Craven)
The Relic (how many horror films do you know that are set in a museum)
Christmas Evil (Santa is coming to town...to kill you)
Silent Night, Deadly Night (Santa is still going to kill you)
Open Water (ok, as someone who saw Jaws at far too young of an age, this movie terrified me, to learn it actually happened is even worse)
Prom Night (the scream queen can not be denied)
Urban Legend (I'm a fan of 90s horror and this mystery horror honestly holds up pretty well)
The Skeleton Key (did I say I like 90s horror or what, plus voodoo)
Deadly Friend (what's more 80s than a pet robot that goes on a killing spree?)
Dagon (long live and Rest In Peace Stuart Gordon, this Lovecraft tale brought to life was really well done)
Re-Animator (again, the man the myth the legend, Stuart Gordon)
Castle Freak (did I mention Stuart Gordon? The poor lady in this film only acted in this one film and when you watch it, it's clear to see why she stopped immediately after this gem)
Cigarette Burns (part of the masters of horror showtime series, this is a hidden gem from the great John Carpenter)
I know what you did last summer (hey, it scared me as a kid)
Ghos****ch (a live BBC broadcast that was so scary it had a reaction similar to War of the Worlds, highly recommend this classic from the 80s)
Mr. Vampire (ok so it's a horror comedy, but this is one of the best blends of horror, Kung fu and comedy that ever was)
Magic Cop (if you liked Mr. Vampire, this makes for a great double feature)
Dead Silence (James wan's first horror film and it's got some great scares)
As Above, So Below (a claustrophobic horror set in the catacombs of Paris)
The Descent (a claustrophobic horror set in a cave)
Wishmaster 1 and 2 (these are just fun as hell)
The Dentist (scary movie as a kid, not sure if it holds up)
Whistle and I'll come to you lad (a short horror from the BBC based on an old M.R. James tale)
Darkness Falls (are you afraid of the dark?)
Cast a deadly spell (I'm a fan of film noir and there aren't too many that delve into horror elements so it makes the list)
X: the man with the X ray eyes (a little late 60s fun, this film really feels like you're watching it at a drive in)
Eye of the Devil (Deborah Kerr, Sharon Tate and the occult. What more can you ask for? Truly a creepy film and Sharon Tate was absolutely stunning)
The Blair Witch Project (as a kid this movie scared me more than it should have)

I'll post more more hidden gems later.

Didn't see it mentioned...

Saw

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Saxsoon said:

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This moment hands down one of the most unexpected scares in cinema history. Just completely out of nowhere as the family is talking in broad daylight. There was no telegraphing with the music or camera work

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WTF is that movie?

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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Saxsoon said:

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This moment hands down one of the most unexpected scares in cinema history. Just completely out of nowhere as the family is talking in broad daylight. There was no telegraphing with the music or camera work

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WTF is that movie?

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Insidious.

James Wan keeps Patrick Wilson employed between these movies and the Conjuring

I'm deducting points for a thread title not congruent with the OP ask. I think they can be mutually exclusive.

Anyway, my favorite horror movie of all time is John Carpenters The Thing. I watch it every Halloween. In related news, that guys run of movies in the 80s is unparalleled in quality and extremely underrated.

Phantasm (1979)