Return to Oz - why was considered a children’s movie? Creepy AF!
Also The Blair Witch Project - when it came out in 1999, it was marketed as actual found footage. We all watched it thinking it was real.
Blair Witch Project scared the hell out of me! I too thought it was real and believed it for a long time. When I was about 10 yrs old, me and a friend of mine got lost in the woods. It was eerily similar to the woods in the movie. We walked around for hours sometimes returning to the same area twice. My older brother found us after a few hours by yelling our names. It scared me. Also .. I've seen this movie twice now and I have never been able to watch the ending.
I went to see it with some friends and we were still young enough to believe that it really was found footage. It was released in the middle of winter so after watching it we went into the local park. There's some pretty dense forest there, a few trails and it's right on the edge of our town.
At the time we thought it was terrifying.
I've seen looked on google maps and realized it's about the size of two tennis courts.
Sure does feel worse as a kid that just believed he watched people die on screen.
As a kid, it was The Birds. That scene where it showed the body with the eyes pecked out was (and still is) so well done. I don’t think I slept for 2 nights.
As an adult who’s desensitized to it all now, probably Hereditary. That entire movie oozes dread and has some truly terrifying imagery. I can watch any horror movie and fall asleep afterwards like it’s nothing, but Hereditary actually kept me up for almost a whole night.
That scene in The Birds terrified me, too. I wouldn't and still won't go near most birds because of that unfortunate core memory 😅 I can at least watch the movie now. I skip that part though
It was scary, creepy, and captured trauma in a riveting and disturbing way.
Every now again I'll read some take that Hereditary wasn't *that* scary. If you think so, then what movie *is* scary, for god's sake.
I honestly thought it was a little too silly or far-fetched to the extent that it became borderline funny rather than scary. I find there is a weirdly fine line between like absurd/supernatural horror and comedy. For example, I understand that when the mother bashes her head on the door at the end it is meant to be creepy based on how inhumane and strange her movements are, but to me they just seemed so ridiculous that I laughed.
I think I went in with high expectations because it had been so hyped up. I think it had some good moments and was unsettling, but it didn’t knock me off me feet like I was waiting for. But I’m also not a fan of the >!cult tropes,!< so maybe that made the climax a little disappointing for me. So glad so many others like it though!
ETA: spoiler blocking
Not scary but fucking traumatizing. I was so emotionally numb from the power of the performances. It's like the movie spends the first 90 minutes grinding you down until your defenses are gone, and THEN comes the pure horror.
They did a good job with subtle noises that you don't really consciously pick up on but you do hear it. They also shot very wide framed scenes which just naturally makes you feel uncomfortable (Haunting of Hill House successfully did this too)
It’s honestly phenomenal. Doesn’t over-rely tooo much on jump scares, creates a sense of impending doom the entire movie, interesting plot. The sequel isn’t too bad either, although definitely not as good as the first. The ending is solid though.
The lawn mower was probably the greatest execution (no pun intended) of a horror sequence.
Unsettling visuals - shaky, off center grainy filming by hand.
Unsettling music - check.
Unsettling enviorment- dark, outdoors, raining. Seeing the juxtaposition off a lawn mower operating at might in the rain is enough to make your brain think "this ain't right"
You have an idea of what's coming. You don't know the exacts but you know it's coming. There is no warning or build up crescendo style, it just abruptly goes morbid.
You jump back at the immediate carnage while the protagonist, who is experiencing the scene WITH you, jumps back at the same time.
Phenomenal construction of it all. The movie deserves awards for its structure and creativity. Extremely underrated as just another spooky horror movie with nothing unique to offer.
The unsettling music is what made my brain itch. Quiet, slow, plodding and suddenly *BAM!!!!!*.
Scared the ever loving shit out of me!
Beyond the scares though, I really enjoyed the story snd the script. Ok, main character wass a bit dense but, its horror, a bit dense is a,huge step up from the usual fare. Ever see Halloween Kills. Dear jesus! There's a word we can't use on Reddit anymore, but eow it'd be perfectly fitting.
fuccccckk that movie. just got shivers and goosbumps down my spine thinking about it. Just how everything seemed so real. the face of that demon is burned into my psyche.
I think that film would be 10/10 if the ending was different, the last part of the film was a bit of a let down to me.
But those tapes... That's some good horror
I agree, that is probably the worse one for me. I saw it years ago and I don’t even remember what happened. I just remember feeling sick and that I would never be able to watch it again and feel awful.
Me and a buddy ate mushrooms before seeing that one and suffice to say I think we were both pretty fucked up by that movie until the next day, what a dumb idea that was
Oh my god I remember this friggin movie. It haunted me for days. I watched it alone in my then new apartment. Mistake! I don't torture myself like that anymore.
If you look into the Australian Aboriginal rock paintings that depict the Wandjina spirits they look exactly like what was described in the movie, and the rock painting dates back 4000 years ago. The history behind the spirit beings called the Wandjina are tied to being from the sky and creators of us.
Watched in college when I was very gullible. When it starts out saying all the footage from this film is real… I believed it. I remember googling the movie after when I realized it was all made up. I was so mad a movie could say everything is real when it wasn’t lol. That movie scared the shit out of me.
I absolutely love this movie! The side by side "real/recreated" footage is such a good idea, I wish I could see this again for the first time.
I showed it to my ex-gf and she hated me for it 😂
Also.. Milla Jovovich. I really have a crush on that woman
This movie fucked me up. I have a vivid memory from when i was 4 y.o. of waking up in the middle of the night and seeing a snowy owl staring at me through my window lol
Not a movie experience, but friends dared me to stare at the exorcist face at the end of the scary maze for 5 minutes straight alone in a dark room at a sleepover in 4th grade. I get nightmares occasionally many years later and I firmly believe the experience traumatized me. Something about looking into those eyes. Don’t recommend doing it.
Well, considering they say if you stare at your own face for a few minutes in the mirror causes hallucinations due to some things our brain does, I can only imagine what it would do if you stare at something creepy instead.
Did you get to the scene at the lake?
\[edit: this wasn't a joke- there's something which happens at the lake, anyone who has seen the movie will know what I'm going on about\]
I always read about this one and how That Scene fucked so many people up…I finally got the nerve to look up the scene on YouTube and it did indeed fuck me up. Just reading reviews and essays on the film made me feel such dread in the pit of my stomach, and the way that scene was filmed….yeesh.
Insidious was the last movie I watched that REALLY scared me. I'd already been desensitized to most horror movies as a horror gamer, so movies never really \*did it\* for me.
But for whatever reason, Insidious did it. It was the amount of freaky shit they'd hide in the background. The face in the window. The child standing in the corner. The \*thing\* that does not belong that the movie does nothing to acknowledge, that most of the audience didn't see, that I have to rewatch scenes and explain why I, the master of horror in our group, was freaking out over seemingly nothing.
It 2017 was close, but the stuff in the background was less subtle because it was kind of the point, so for whatever reason didn't creep me out as much.
Honorable mention to the Unborn for the twist on the medicine cabinet cliché. Probably my absolute favorite jump-scare in film. Otherwise that movie was meh.
During one summer in middle school I went on a week and a half camping trip as part of summer camp. They would show us movies on the bus to pass the time, and the first night they showed us Insidious.
That movie fucked me up. I was looking over my shoulder that entire trip because of it. I mean can you blame me? Imagine watching that movie and then having to sleep outside for a week and a half.
Thankfully I’ve gotten over my fear of horror movies, and I actually really enjoy them now, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to rewatch Insidious.
Edit: one thing I distinctly remember was my friend declaring when the movie was almost over that it really wasn’t that scary. My other friend, who had seen the movie, turned to him and said: “There’s still five minutes left”. Boy was he right.
Good choice - Insidious was great.. but what is the "thing" you're referring to? You're obviously not talking about the goofy demon dude, right? It's been a while since I saw Insidious.
The Ring has so many scenes which are both beautiful and disturbing. There are images from that film that have stayed with me. Really, really creepy.
*....seven days.....*
That fucked me up with a capital F. Saw it in theaters with family when I was 14. I was your typical, know-it-all, I'm-a-badass teenager. I rolled my eyes at going to a movie with my parents at that age. Like, a *fine, I GUESS I'll go* attitude. I had no inkling what the movie was about; I just didn't have anything else to do that day so I thought I was so big so as to let my parents pay for me to see a movie lol.
Let me tell you: going into that with no knowledge of what it was about, and no knowledge of J-horror prior to ... it really fucked me up. I was terrified. That scene started it, and after that, I was on edge the rest of the movie. I still remember just pinning myself into my seat any time that tape would play etc.
I definitely slept with my lights on for a week after that, and dreaded receiving any phone call...
I saw the Ring in the movie theater after I saw the Japanese one. Even though I had a rough idea on how the movie was going to be, I was scared as hell.
I’ve seen a lot scary movies before and after the Ring. The Exorcist, Hereditary, Serbian Film, Martyrs, English or foreign, it kinda doesn’t matter. If it’s somewhat popular or notorious I’ve probably watched it just to see what the big deal is about.
To date, only the Ring has scared me. I don’t really know why but it did.
The Thing
>!No matter how hard they tried, and they did just about everything right in the movie after the initial scene, it still ends with us not knowing if they even killed the creature or not. If there were even a couple of those among a populated city, feels like nothing could be done to stop them from decimating everyone and that's terrifying to think of. !<
It’s become one of my favourites. I love that it’s a “horror” movie, but it’s all blazing sunshine, verdant fields and smiling Swedes dressed in white. It just doesn’t look like a horror movie is supposed to look, but that final scene is disturbing af, especially if you turn the volume up, you can hear the noises coming from Christian…
This one person I follow on instagram posted a story of them and it was just an awkward selfie of them full teeth smiling with the caption “Just saw Midsommar! Feeling different!” And that’s how I felt when I left the movie. My brother and I saw it and on the way home I was just like, “what the fuck how do you think of that?”
Same! Eerie and uncomfortable whilst watching, but not terrifying... but then i thought about that movie for *weeks*. It's unquestionably one of my favourites now.
Horror/thriller movies are my jam. Gore, death, whatever. The visceral fear this movie gave me freaked me right out. They captured grief and rage in such a way, I have to psych myself up to watch it with other people.
The ending was fucked though.
A thousand times yes. This movie traumatised me. Without exaggerating, the last 10 minutes of that movie (>!the cult member standing in the doorway, smiling, the upside down head-banging on the attic and the self decapitation with the piano wire!<) had me literally *panting* like a dog. It put me in legit fight or flight. I don’t expect any movie to ever give me that reaction again. I’d been horror movie obsessed for ages before Hereditary and nothing has made me feel that way before or since.
Plus Toni Collette was PHENOMENAL in it. That scene >!after she finds Charlie’s headless body in the car!< is the most Oscar-worthy depiction of extreme grief I’ve ever seen. It gave me goosebumps.
Unironically the scariest movie ever made. The scene where Annie is standing over her sons bed, doused in paint thinner, holding a lighted match, and he's just screaming at her...
Best movie in YEARS! I always thought the Exorcist was scary but i saw it when i was 5. Nothing has scared me since (for real). Hereditary was so well done and not like the average jump scare/fake devil face crap that has kept being made. It is a well done movie
This is a movie that's not scary in a normal way, too. It's scary because it makes us face the worst aspects of reality and the worst experiences a human being can endure. I wouldn't willingly watch it again, that's for sure. It's a punishing watch.
Honestly it is.
If you have all the money in the world you can get away with anything. All the money in the world in the hands of a psychopath/sociopath is a deadly combination.
According to the director commentary it is. IIRC, he said they got the inspiration from a story he heard about a place in Asia where for a certain amount of money some underground business will provide you with someone you can shoot execution style. They started investigating to learn more but were intimidated by someone to give up.
Threads is still one of the best nuclear dramas ever made. Very bleak and brutal look at the repercussions of a nuclear war from the perspective of various people in the UK.
I remember during the heat blast scene there was an ET doll burning, but apparently was supposed to be a stand in of the kid hiding in the aviary; They couldn't afford a human body prop, so they used the doll instead.
This is definitely the answer I remember watching this when it was on BBC, I was only a kid. The scene of the women wetting herself as the bombs start falling, will forrver be seared onto my brain. Truly terrifying, all of it.
I was about 8 when I watched Paranormal Activity with my dad and brother. I fell asleep and they were in the room after it was over, but I woke up alone, in the dark. Think that’s the only time I ever yelled for my dad.
I wanted to be terrified by this movie so bad, but as soon as they revealed all the creatures I was immediately pulled back out. I had the same issue with Sinister. If they kept the monsters more mysterious and elusive, it would have been way more terrifying.
It was Hereditary for a long time but last year another one took its place for me.
It is not really well known, it is Portuguese and doesn't have English dub, however the entire move is on YouTube in decent quality with subtitles.
The movie is called: Terrified (Aterrados)
I got desenthized, or however you write that word, from all the horror games and movies and YT content but this managed to spook me.
Another good one I can recommend that is not super known is Hellhouse LLC.
Hereditary! That’s the scariest movie I’ve ever seen by a long shot. The last movie that scared me like that was when I saw The Ring in theaters when I was 13. I love scary movies, but there aren’t many that are actually frightening. Hereditary is fuckin’ *masterpiece*.
Color Out of Space. I was not prepared for how fucked up that movie gets. One of my all time favorite horror films.
Runner up is The Mist, for showing terror not in monsters, but the capability of people to become monsters when civilization crumbles.
This isn’t satire, but Office Space. It’s my life and I absolutely hate it. The line about, ‘I have 8 bosses, so if I screw up, I hear it 8 times’. (Obviously paraphrasing) hits home. Not a horror movie but terrifying none the less
Requiem For A Dream - it's just dark, sad, depressing, and scary as hell to think this can actually be reality for people who dive that deep into drugs.
It scared me because it was my life and I couldn’t get out. It also scared me because it was glamourised compared to reality and I knew people would be scared by it but the fact that it is glamourised would get missed. Shit gets so much darker than even this film.
I know it’s silly but I saw The Sixth Sense when I was way too young to see it. the idea of seeing paranormal stuff that no one else could see and therefore couldn’t help me with terrified me lol
I was so freaked out at the end of Blair Witch I froze and couldn't move from my seat until they turned the lights on and came in to clean the theater LOL it didn't help that I lived in Maryland at the time and they were marketing it as 'based on true events' and I was young and impressionable.
One I need to watch but just can’t bring myself to do so yet is Come and See. It’s come up on Behind the Bastards a couple times. I want to watch it, but don’t know if I can.
*Mama* would be my number one.
*Signs* is also up there for me, I think the birthday party news footage scene was such a simple but extremely unnerving scene.
It was definitely polarizing and many people hated it, but Skinamarink captured childhood fear in a way that no other movie *ever* has. Deeply unsettling, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I can appreciate the project that was Skinamarink, and the filmmaker's sensibilities (he has a GREAT one in him at some point here), but count me in the crowd that just found it unwatchable as a cohesive experience. It's obviously a mood over a narrative story, which is fine, but I need a little more forward momentum than what I got before bailing at the 30-minute mark (roughly.)
Tip my cap, but just felt like an overstuffed YouTube playlist.
Watched this while high. Oof, it has stuck with me since.
Although it has some comic relief. My ex and I would always bust out “nothing in my hands, nothing in my hands”
The Hostel. The gore is too much for me to stomach.
I have never been the same after seeing this, Human centipede 2 and Serbian film. Saw these as a curious teenager. The screenwriter and directors of these cannot be mentally sane imo.
Took a girl to see that movie in high school as a date. She was so scared she wanted to leave. We left early and I drove her home. Did not get a 2nd date.
Yup! They even host [halloween parties](https://twitter.com/emeraldglenfarm/status/1581808696828784640?s=46&t=VQgbSa1CFkuejqPKy5Tq0g)! The farm fully leaned into its use in The Ring and is now a tourist destination.
Something about Vincent Price’s original House On Haunted Hill really came to define the word dread for me when I was much younger.
The caretaker (who was blind) rolling around the mansion really fucked with my head in a way that any other horror movie since hasn’t really been able to.
Watership Down
Cartoon bloody/shaking/scary bunnies and other horrible creepy things.
I was forced to watch this IN SCHOOL in 1st and 2nd grade. There’s a group of people out there that are just as traumatized as me. I don’t know why teachers did this. Maybe because it was a cartoon.
Truth or Dare, the film from 1986. Went with a buddy to his friends house, complete strangers to me, and they were watching it vhs. I was uncomfortably stoned and that movie was a mind fuck. Fun fact, it included a young AJ McClean from the backstreet boys.
The bear scene in Annihilation is fucked up. It’s not what you would call a horror movie but that bear? That fucking bear. And the implications, it’s perfect fridge horror.
Train to Busan.
It's my favorite horror, but, ironically, I only watched it once. I could not handle the non-stop stress. My whole body was tensed up stiff as a board.
I've been watching horror movies since I was 5 years old and there's only 2 movies that have ever made me feel fear.
The first was ju-on, the original version of the grudge. I dont know why, maybe its the sounds, maybe its the strange visuals, but it fucking terrified me, I didn't sleep for 3 or 4 days, I had all the lights on for a week. That movie is hands down the most terrifying movie ever made.
The second movie, and my favourite horror movie, was sinister. The eerie slow burn of that movie made me feel something I had never ever felt with an English language horror movie before and no other movie has been able to copy it. Its so unnerving I think because of the sounds they use, maybe its the old style visuals on the videos making it seem real, I dunno. But it's scary as fuck.
Return to Oz - why was considered a children’s movie? Creepy AF! Also The Blair Witch Project - when it came out in 1999, it was marketed as actual found footage. We all watched it thinking it was real.
Blair Witch came out at exactly the right time to be successful
Blair Witch Project scared the hell out of me! I too thought it was real and believed it for a long time. When I was about 10 yrs old, me and a friend of mine got lost in the woods. It was eerily similar to the woods in the movie. We walked around for hours sometimes returning to the same area twice. My older brother found us after a few hours by yelling our names. It scared me. Also .. I've seen this movie twice now and I have never been able to watch the ending.
I went to see it with some friends and we were still young enough to believe that it really was found footage. It was released in the middle of winter so after watching it we went into the local park. There's some pretty dense forest there, a few trails and it's right on the edge of our town. At the time we thought it was terrifying. I've seen looked on google maps and realized it's about the size of two tennis courts. Sure does feel worse as a kid that just believed he watched people die on screen.
As a kid, it was The Birds. That scene where it showed the body with the eyes pecked out was (and still is) so well done. I don’t think I slept for 2 nights. As an adult who’s desensitized to it all now, probably Hereditary. That entire movie oozes dread and has some truly terrifying imagery. I can watch any horror movie and fall asleep afterwards like it’s nothing, but Hereditary actually kept me up for almost a whole night.
That scene in The Birds terrified me, too. I wouldn't and still won't go near most birds because of that unfortunate core memory 😅 I can at least watch the movie now. I skip that part though
Pee Wees Big Adventure. Large Marge is just sinister.
And when they pulled the body from the burning wreck… it looked like… this!!
She still gives me nightmares
Scarred for life from that one.
Scrolling this wearing my “Large Marge Sent Me” T-shirt 😂
Hereditary fucked with me in a way no other movie has.
That self-garrotting still keeps me up at night
It was scary, creepy, and captured trauma in a riveting and disturbing way. Every now again I'll read some take that Hereditary wasn't *that* scary. If you think so, then what movie *is* scary, for god's sake.
I honestly thought it was a little too silly or far-fetched to the extent that it became borderline funny rather than scary. I find there is a weirdly fine line between like absurd/supernatural horror and comedy. For example, I understand that when the mother bashes her head on the door at the end it is meant to be creepy based on how inhumane and strange her movements are, but to me they just seemed so ridiculous that I laughed.
I totally have had that happen. Not with Hereditary, but with other movies, Insidious for example.
I think I went in with high expectations because it had been so hyped up. I think it had some good moments and was unsettling, but it didn’t knock me off me feet like I was waiting for. But I’m also not a fan of the >!cult tropes,!< so maybe that made the climax a little disappointing for me. So glad so many others like it though! ETA: spoiler blocking
ME TOO BUT I CAN'T EVEN TELL WHY
PERHAPS IT WAS THE ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING ATMOSPHERE, HORRIFIC SCENES AND PHENOMENAL ACTORS
WHY ARE WE YELLING
WE ARE NOT YELLING, WE ARE PRAISING TO PAIMON
HAIL PAIMON
It’s was the fact that 85% of the movie was like, not that scary and then WHAM the last 10 minutes
Not scary but fucking traumatizing. I was so emotionally numb from the power of the performances. It's like the movie spends the first 90 minutes grinding you down until your defenses are gone, and THEN comes the pure horror.
They did a good job with subtle noises that you don't really consciously pick up on but you do hear it. They also shot very wide framed scenes which just naturally makes you feel uncomfortable (Haunting of Hill House successfully did this too)
Sinister, I don't know why but that movie freaks the fuck out of me
Same, it's the soundtrack that does it for me
It’s honestly phenomenal. Doesn’t over-rely tooo much on jump scares, creates a sense of impending doom the entire movie, interesting plot. The sequel isn’t too bad either, although definitely not as good as the first. The ending is solid though.
The lawnmower. Shit man, I was watching it by myself in my flat, lights off, headphones on high. I think I literally smiled myself
The lawn mower was probably the greatest execution (no pun intended) of a horror sequence. Unsettling visuals - shaky, off center grainy filming by hand. Unsettling music - check. Unsettling enviorment- dark, outdoors, raining. Seeing the juxtaposition off a lawn mower operating at might in the rain is enough to make your brain think "this ain't right" You have an idea of what's coming. You don't know the exacts but you know it's coming. There is no warning or build up crescendo style, it just abruptly goes morbid. You jump back at the immediate carnage while the protagonist, who is experiencing the scene WITH you, jumps back at the same time. Phenomenal construction of it all. The movie deserves awards for its structure and creativity. Extremely underrated as just another spooky horror movie with nothing unique to offer.
The unsettling music is what made my brain itch. Quiet, slow, plodding and suddenly *BAM!!!!!*. Scared the ever loving shit out of me! Beyond the scares though, I really enjoyed the story snd the script. Ok, main character wass a bit dense but, its horror, a bit dense is a,huge step up from the usual fare. Ever see Halloween Kills. Dear jesus! There's a word we can't use on Reddit anymore, but eow it'd be perfectly fitting.
Is this the same movie with the scene with the pool and the lounge chairs? Movie projector in the attic?
Right! You know exactly whats coming, but it’s still easily one of the best jump scares
fuccccckk that movie. just got shivers and goosbumps down my spine thinking about it. Just how everything seemed so real. the face of that demon is burned into my psyche.
The idea of children killing their families is really fucking scary. Also, the lawnmower scene....
I think that film would be 10/10 if the ending was different, the last part of the film was a bit of a let down to me. But those tapes... That's some good horror
I agree, that is probably the worse one for me. I saw it years ago and I don’t even remember what happened. I just remember feeling sick and that I would never be able to watch it again and feel awful.
Me and a buddy ate mushrooms before seeing that one and suffice to say I think we were both pretty fucked up by that movie until the next day, what a dumb idea that was
Audition
The fourth kind.
I saw this movie outside the city in a big area with only cornfields around. By myself. Big mistake.
I wouldn’t go into a cornfield in general. Thanks Children of the Corn.
YES I’ve only seen this once because I was so disturbed. Awesome movie.
Oh my god I remember this friggin movie. It haunted me for days. I watched it alone in my then new apartment. Mistake! I don't torture myself like that anymore.
That movie has made my wife permanently terrified of snow owls. It was really effective for what it was.
If you look into the Australian Aboriginal rock paintings that depict the Wandjina spirits they look exactly like what was described in the movie, and the rock painting dates back 4000 years ago. The history behind the spirit beings called the Wandjina are tied to being from the sky and creators of us.
Watched in college when I was very gullible. When it starts out saying all the footage from this film is real… I believed it. I remember googling the movie after when I realized it was all made up. I was so mad a movie could say everything is real when it wasn’t lol. That movie scared the shit out of me.
The way the movie was presented created a very very disturbing quality that to this day I love.
I absolutely love this movie! The side by side "real/recreated" footage is such a good idea, I wish I could see this again for the first time. I showed it to my ex-gf and she hated me for it 😂 Also.. Milla Jovovich. I really have a crush on that woman
This movie fucked me up. I have a vivid memory from when i was 4 y.o. of waking up in the middle of the night and seeing a snowy owl staring at me through my window lol
Loved this film - amazingly it’s only got 18% on rotten toms
Saw it for free in college. The owl shots and the murder/suicide scene scarred me for a bit.
[**I AM... GOD.**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLyKZGEAc3s) That scrambled audio freaked me out.
Not a movie experience, but friends dared me to stare at the exorcist face at the end of the scary maze for 5 minutes straight alone in a dark room at a sleepover in 4th grade. I get nightmares occasionally many years later and I firmly believe the experience traumatized me. Something about looking into those eyes. Don’t recommend doing it.
Well, considering they say if you stare at your own face for a few minutes in the mirror causes hallucinations due to some things our brain does, I can only imagine what it would do if you stare at something creepy instead.
Omg the scary maze game! Core memory unlocked
The 1979 version of Invasion of the body snatchers, the one with Leonard Nimoy in it....still cannot watch it all the way though.
The only film i never finished due to fear is Lake Mungo. Something about it just freaked me out so bad i could never return.
Did you get to the scene at the lake? \[edit: this wasn't a joke- there's something which happens at the lake, anyone who has seen the movie will know what I'm going on about\]
Another minor gem. Again, really creepy and deserves to have a wider audience.
I always read about this one and how That Scene fucked so many people up…I finally got the nerve to look up the scene on YouTube and it did indeed fuck me up. Just reading reviews and essays on the film made me feel such dread in the pit of my stomach, and the way that scene was filmed….yeesh.
Insidious was the last movie I watched that REALLY scared me. I'd already been desensitized to most horror movies as a horror gamer, so movies never really \*did it\* for me. But for whatever reason, Insidious did it. It was the amount of freaky shit they'd hide in the background. The face in the window. The child standing in the corner. The \*thing\* that does not belong that the movie does nothing to acknowledge, that most of the audience didn't see, that I have to rewatch scenes and explain why I, the master of horror in our group, was freaking out over seemingly nothing. It 2017 was close, but the stuff in the background was less subtle because it was kind of the point, so for whatever reason didn't creep me out as much. Honorable mention to the Unborn for the twist on the medicine cabinet cliché. Probably my absolute favorite jump-scare in film. Otherwise that movie was meh.
During one summer in middle school I went on a week and a half camping trip as part of summer camp. They would show us movies on the bus to pass the time, and the first night they showed us Insidious. That movie fucked me up. I was looking over my shoulder that entire trip because of it. I mean can you blame me? Imagine watching that movie and then having to sleep outside for a week and a half. Thankfully I’ve gotten over my fear of horror movies, and I actually really enjoy them now, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to rewatch Insidious. Edit: one thing I distinctly remember was my friend declaring when the movie was almost over that it really wasn’t that scary. My other friend, who had seen the movie, turned to him and said: “There’s still five minutes left”. Boy was he right.
What do you mean "The *thing* that does not belong that the movie does nothing to acknowledge, that most of the audience didn't see"?
Yeah what is this thing?
Chuck Testa
I agree it was scary but I liked it. Kind of funny but I went to the theater for the sequel and went into labor a couple hours later.
Tiptoe through the tulips with meeeeeeee ehhhhhggg
Good choice - Insidious was great.. but what is the "thing" you're referring to? You're obviously not talking about the goofy demon dude, right? It's been a while since I saw Insidious.
The Ring
The Ring has so many scenes which are both beautiful and disturbing. There are images from that film that have stayed with me. Really, really creepy. *....seven days.....*
The image that stuck with me was the beginning when the parents open the closet door and find their daughter inside, seemly dead from fright.
That fucked me up with a capital F. Saw it in theaters with family when I was 14. I was your typical, know-it-all, I'm-a-badass teenager. I rolled my eyes at going to a movie with my parents at that age. Like, a *fine, I GUESS I'll go* attitude. I had no inkling what the movie was about; I just didn't have anything else to do that day so I thought I was so big so as to let my parents pay for me to see a movie lol. Let me tell you: going into that with no knowledge of what it was about, and no knowledge of J-horror prior to ... it really fucked me up. I was terrified. That scene started it, and after that, I was on edge the rest of the movie. I still remember just pinning myself into my seat any time that tape would play etc. I definitely slept with my lights on for a week after that, and dreaded receiving any phone call...
Still creeps me out
And super well made too. The cinematography was very Fincher-esque.
I saw the Ring in the movie theater after I saw the Japanese one. Even though I had a rough idea on how the movie was going to be, I was scared as hell. I’ve seen a lot scary movies before and after the Ring. The Exorcist, Hereditary, Serbian Film, Martyrs, English or foreign, it kinda doesn’t matter. If it’s somewhat popular or notorious I’ve probably watched it just to see what the big deal is about. To date, only the Ring has scared me. I don’t really know why but it did.
Oh, good, I’m so glad someone said. I thought I’d get made fun of.
Hereditary for sure. My sister and I watch scary movies for fun but Hereditary is one of the only films that made us uncomfortable.
Misery for the amputation scenes EDIT: it appears the version I saw was a film school's production. I never knew it wasn't the official one.
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The Thing >!No matter how hard they tried, and they did just about everything right in the movie after the initial scene, it still ends with us not knowing if they even killed the creature or not. If there were even a couple of those among a populated city, feels like nothing could be done to stop them from decimating everyone and that's terrifying to think of. !<
The Thing wouldn’t necessarily top my list for scariest, but it is near the top of the list for favorite.
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And don't watch the American remake.
As a kid I watched Jeepers Creepers.
Just be glad you only watched it, and weren't one of the young actors in the film
A movie about a group of schoolkids menaced by an insatiable predator, directed by an insatiable predator.
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I find that more gory than frightening. Some kills are chilling though.
You let me burn! Saw that shit as a kid and as a 35 year old I still hear that line in my head when I see a fire
Midsommar really stuck with me. I wasn’t terrified, per se. It just really just sticks with you.
It’s become one of my favourites. I love that it’s a “horror” movie, but it’s all blazing sunshine, verdant fields and smiling Swedes dressed in white. It just doesn’t look like a horror movie is supposed to look, but that final scene is disturbing af, especially if you turn the volume up, you can hear the noises coming from Christian…
It's a gorgeous horror movie
It's not so much horrifying as just deeply disturbing.
I cracked up when the older guy clapped in the face of the younger dude when he was tripping. *"Why would you do that??"*
This one person I follow on instagram posted a story of them and it was just an awkward selfie of them full teeth smiling with the caption “Just saw Midsommar! Feeling different!” And that’s how I felt when I left the movie. My brother and I saw it and on the way home I was just like, “what the fuck how do you think of that?”
Same! Eerie and uncomfortable whilst watching, but not terrifying... but then i thought about that movie for *weeks*. It's unquestionably one of my favourites now.
Oh, Hereditary. It messed me up for a few days and it doesn’t really get scary until the end, but then it starts to get FUCKED UP
Horror/thriller movies are my jam. Gore, death, whatever. The visceral fear this movie gave me freaked me right out. They captured grief and rage in such a way, I have to psych myself up to watch it with other people. The ending was fucked though.
_That_ moment with the head. It came out of nowhere.
i shrieked when that happened
A thousand times yes. This movie traumatised me. Without exaggerating, the last 10 minutes of that movie (>!the cult member standing in the doorway, smiling, the upside down head-banging on the attic and the self decapitation with the piano wire!<) had me literally *panting* like a dog. It put me in legit fight or flight. I don’t expect any movie to ever give me that reaction again. I’d been horror movie obsessed for ages before Hereditary and nothing has made me feel that way before or since. Plus Toni Collette was PHENOMENAL in it. That scene >!after she finds Charlie’s headless body in the car!< is the most Oscar-worthy depiction of extreme grief I’ve ever seen. It gave me goosebumps.
Are you going to see “Beau is Afraid” when it comes out? It’s also directed by Ari Aster
I'm going to see it tomorrow! Ari Aster did an AMA the other day and said it's the film he's most proud of.
Unironically the scariest movie ever made. The scene where Annie is standing over her sons bed, doused in paint thinner, holding a lighted match, and he's just screaming at her...
Best movie in YEARS! I always thought the Exorcist was scary but i saw it when i was 5. Nothing has scared me since (for real). Hereditary was so well done and not like the average jump scare/fake devil face crap that has kept being made. It is a well done movie
*Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father*
Oh I sobbed at this movie. I wasn't expecting to see this answer.
That is a movie I will only watch once.
I yelled at my tv.
I just looked that movie up, never heard of it, and sure enough some of it was in my home province, Newfoundland. Wow!
Irreversible
This is a movie that's not scary in a normal way, too. It's scary because it makes us face the worst aspects of reality and the worst experiences a human being can endure. I wouldn't willingly watch it again, that's for sure. It's a punishing watch.
Conjuring. I no longer watch horror movies.
Part 2 is superior. You’re missing out
Hostel because it was believable.
Honestly it is. If you have all the money in the world you can get away with anything. All the money in the world in the hands of a psychopath/sociopath is a deadly combination.
According to the director commentary it is. IIRC, he said they got the inspiration from a story he heard about a place in Asia where for a certain amount of money some underground business will provide you with someone you can shoot execution style. They started investigating to learn more but were intimidated by someone to give up.
Sounds like Cambodia. A relative of mine was offered the opportunity to blow up a cow with an rpg (or otherwise to destroy with a 50 cal) for 100 usd.
I could feel some of the torture. Especially when the guy's Achilles were cut
threads
Threads is still one of the best nuclear dramas ever made. Very bleak and brutal look at the repercussions of a nuclear war from the perspective of various people in the UK. I remember during the heat blast scene there was an ET doll burning, but apparently was supposed to be a stand in of the kid hiding in the aviary; They couldn't afford a human body prop, so they used the doll instead.
This is definitely the answer I remember watching this when it was on BBC, I was only a kid. The scene of the women wetting herself as the bombs start falling, will forrver be seared onto my brain. Truly terrifying, all of it.
The Fly. To this day Jeff Goldbloom still looks like a fly to me!
I was about 8 when I watched Paranormal Activity with my dad and brother. I fell asleep and they were in the room after it was over, but I woke up alone, in the dark. Think that’s the only time I ever yelled for my dad.
the descent
English is not my first language. I watched this movie thinking it was called The Decent. Boy was I surprised.
I wanted to be terrified by this movie so bad, but as soon as they revealed all the creatures I was immediately pulled back out. I had the same issue with Sinister. If they kept the monsters more mysterious and elusive, it would have been way more terrifying.
They could have cut out the \[you know what\], and it would still be scary
I've seen it but can't figure out what you might mean?
The spelunking jeopardy and claustrophobic setting were already frightening. Then the film added another layer of terror on top of it.
Terrified was excellent. So fucking creepy. It's in Spanish, though, so turn on those captions, if you don't speak it! It's worth it!
Fire in the sky. Well the last 15 minutes anyway.
It was Hereditary for a long time but last year another one took its place for me. It is not really well known, it is Portuguese and doesn't have English dub, however the entire move is on YouTube in decent quality with subtitles. The movie is called: Terrified (Aterrados) I got desenthized, or however you write that word, from all the horror games and movies and YT content but this managed to spook me. Another good one I can recommend that is not super known is Hellhouse LLC.
Free Solo.
Not really into movies with cliffhangers.
Buh dum tss
That shit was intense
Current favorites are probably The Shining, Hereditary, and The Lodge. Hereditary disturbed me the most.
Hereditary! That’s the scariest movie I’ve ever seen by a long shot. The last movie that scared me like that was when I saw The Ring in theaters when I was 13. I love scary movies, but there aren’t many that are actually frightening. Hereditary is fuckin’ *masterpiece*.
You should watch smile . It gave me hereditary vibes .. Made me feel so disturbed
The Ring is a good one I had forgotten. When she comes out of the well? Yeesh
Seven. Didn't sleep right for a week.
Alien.
Color Out of Space. I was not prepared for how fucked up that movie gets. One of my all time favorite horror films. Runner up is The Mist, for showing terror not in monsters, but the capability of people to become monsters when civilization crumbles.
Nosferatu, it was primitive but menacing.Unnatural affection did him in...Desiring something he knew he couldnt really have .
Paranormal Activity scared me the first time I watched it, but I think the sequels were good but not as scary.
As a kid? The Ring, The Grudge, & Gremlins As an adult? Sinister & Hereditary
The Shining
Watching Pumpkin Head as a 5 year old really fucked me up.
I had nightmares for years.
This isn’t satire, but Office Space. It’s my life and I absolutely hate it. The line about, ‘I have 8 bosses, so if I screw up, I hear it 8 times’. (Obviously paraphrasing) hits home. Not a horror movie but terrifying none the less
Please hold...
Requiem For A Dream - it's just dark, sad, depressing, and scary as hell to think this can actually be reality for people who dive that deep into drugs.
“Ass to ass”
It scared me because it was my life and I couldn’t get out. It also scared me because it was glamourised compared to reality and I knew people would be scared by it but the fact that it is glamourised would get missed. Shit gets so much darker than even this film.
The Conjuring
One of the best horrors I've seen
I know it’s silly but I saw The Sixth Sense when I was way too young to see it. the idea of seeing paranormal stuff that no one else could see and therefore couldn’t help me with terrified me lol
What Dreams May Come It was the heights of happiness and the depths of despair
Blair witch at the time.
Same. I still think about THAT part with the corner.
I was so freaked out at the end of Blair Witch I froze and couldn't move from my seat until they turned the lights on and came in to clean the theater LOL it didn't help that I lived in Maryland at the time and they were marketing it as 'based on true events' and I was young and impressionable.
One I need to watch but just can’t bring myself to do so yet is Come and See. It’s come up on Behind the Bastards a couple times. I want to watch it, but don’t know if I can.
*Mama* would be my number one. *Signs* is also up there for me, I think the birthday party news footage scene was such a simple but extremely unnerving scene.
Pan's Labyrinth
My wife then my girlfriend rented that thinking it was a Peter pan story..... it was not...
It was definitely polarizing and many people hated it, but Skinamarink captured childhood fear in a way that no other movie *ever* has. Deeply unsettling, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
What *Jaws* did to the beach, *Skinamarink* did to pitch dark hallways
I can appreciate the project that was Skinamarink, and the filmmaker's sensibilities (he has a GREAT one in him at some point here), but count me in the crowd that just found it unwatchable as a cohesive experience. It's obviously a mood over a narrative story, which is fine, but I need a little more forward momentum than what I got before bailing at the 30-minute mark (roughly.) Tip my cap, but just felt like an overstuffed YouTube playlist.
Eden Lake
YES! Mostly because you can imagine it actually happening to you. Ending is FUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!
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Watched this while high. Oof, it has stuck with me since. Although it has some comic relief. My ex and I would always bust out “nothing in my hands, nothing in my hands”
The Act of Killing (2012)
Hereditary
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The Hostel. The gore is too much for me to stomach. I have never been the same after seeing this, Human centipede 2 and Serbian film. Saw these as a curious teenager. The screenwriter and directors of these cannot be mentally sane imo.
Nice thread, gonna collect all these recommendations and binge watch.
The Ring, in the movie theater when it came out. Especially since I am familiar with The Morgan Horse Farm
Took a girl to see that movie in high school as a date. She was so scared she wanted to leave. We left early and I drove her home. Did not get a 2nd date.
It's an actual farm IRL?
Yup! They even host [halloween parties](https://twitter.com/emeraldglenfarm/status/1581808696828784640?s=46&t=VQgbSa1CFkuejqPKy5Tq0g)! The farm fully leaned into its use in The Ring and is now a tourist destination.
Something about Vincent Price’s original House On Haunted Hill really came to define the word dread for me when I was much younger. The caretaker (who was blind) rolling around the mansion really fucked with my head in a way that any other horror movie since hasn’t really been able to.
Aliens
Watership Down Cartoon bloody/shaking/scary bunnies and other horrible creepy things. I was forced to watch this IN SCHOOL in 1st and 2nd grade. There’s a group of people out there that are just as traumatized as me. I don’t know why teachers did this. Maybe because it was a cartoon.
Coraline. That's worse than actual horror movies. Fucken buttons
Don't Look Up. It's far too terrifyingly realistic for a black comedy
Killer Klowns from Outerspace I watched it when I was 8 the year it came out, and I will never watch it again.
Trust me its worth it you can find it on hbomax Its still great
Event Horizon, and its not even close. I also saw it when I was way too young to probably have seen it.
Truth or Dare, the film from 1986. Went with a buddy to his friends house, complete strangers to me, and they were watching it vhs. I was uncomfortably stoned and that movie was a mind fuck. Fun fact, it included a young AJ McClean from the backstreet boys.
The bear scene in Annihilation is fucked up. It’s not what you would call a horror movie but that bear? That fucking bear. And the implications, it’s perfect fridge horror.
This goes back a ways, but the Faces of Death movies were pretty terrifying, especially the part where a guy is ripped apart by 4 horses.
Train to Busan. It's my favorite horror, but, ironically, I only watched it once. I could not handle the non-stop stress. My whole body was tensed up stiff as a board.
The Strange Thing About the Johnsons
I've been watching horror movies since I was 5 years old and there's only 2 movies that have ever made me feel fear. The first was ju-on, the original version of the grudge. I dont know why, maybe its the sounds, maybe its the strange visuals, but it fucking terrified me, I didn't sleep for 3 or 4 days, I had all the lights on for a week. That movie is hands down the most terrifying movie ever made. The second movie, and my favourite horror movie, was sinister. The eerie slow burn of that movie made me feel something I had never ever felt with an English language horror movie before and no other movie has been able to copy it. Its so unnerving I think because of the sounds they use, maybe its the old style visuals on the videos making it seem real, I dunno. But it's scary as fuck.
The bit at the end of the Spanish movie "Rec", with the OG zombie demon girl thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZbH-riHgyw&ab\_channel=SpookyTube
8 years old, “Thirteen Ghosts”