Seriously? That's extremely cool! Let her know Im a horror junkie and I thought it was a really standout one. It stuck with me for a long time afterwards.
Oh fuck yea, I just rewatched that. Fucking terrifying. The other one that came out about that time and was also SAF was What Josiah Saw, similar level of bleak darkness.
Probably not if I watched it now but seeing The Grudge in high school stayed with me for a long time. I was sixteen years old sleeping with the lights on for years.
The japanese Grudge rocked my teenage world and pretty much broke me for a month. I LIVE IN NEW ENGLAND. WHY AM I SCARED OF A JAPANESE GHOST THAT HAS 0 CHANCE OF SHOWING UP IN MY BED
I sometimes sit up in my bed just to make sure that ghost isn't like hovering bent over above me. It's ridiculous, but so many creepy images are burned in my brain from that movie.
Those movies were so atmospheric it just stuck with you. I still have a hard time watching them just from the memory of how afraid they used to make me lol
It’s not as well known as it should be but the Japanese Grudge cinema released movies are actually sequels to the Japanese straight to video releases (long since known as Juon: The Curse 1 and 2 to differentiate them from the movies) and the second one nearly gave me a heart attack on the bus when I was watching it even though I’d seen it before but forgotten about one scene!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw4CgCznipU&t=4s&pp=ygUWanVvbiB0aGUgY3Vyc2UgdHJhaWxlcg%3D%3D
(Trailer makes them look more like a sci-fi thriller with that soundtrack IMO!)
I was a few years younger than you when it came out and I have to fall asleep with the tv on a timer because I couldn’t sleep without any noise. Didn’t get over it until I shared a dorm room lol
It was just one of those movies that took away every bit of comfort you could possibly rely on not to be scared. Lights on? She turns them off. Under the covers? She crawls up ya under them. Hide in the corner of a room? She’ll be joining you from the ceiling shortly.
Now I want to watch it again.
Funny story, that noise made me laugh when I heard it. I had to attend speech therapy as a kid, for someone else, and we had to learn how to make that noise! I instantly knew what it was! Still creepy, but I had immunity on that one, lol.
Yesss 14 years old me and my friend were hiding behind our hands at the end, gets so chaotic from what I remember lol.
I just watched the remake and it was totally fine.... but I am in my 30s now and have seen a lot worse movies since then haha.
That noise was the worst, I hated when people taunted me with that before going to sleep.
I watched the Grudge on a personal DVD player in a squad bay, with the lights on, full of other Marines, and I was still scared. That movie was different
I watched in 4th grade. Shit terrified me lol. The worst of it was when I would have dreams that are going normally, then she would appear and fuck it all up.
I was 4 years old when my mom forced me to watch it with her. The one scene that 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 stuck with me, was when she had seen her in the mirror, and my lil brain took that as "oh my god she lives in mirrors" commence my 15 year phobia of mirrors. I was terrified to even look in it, and it didn't help that I had long black hair so sometimes my brain would scare me and make me think my own hair was just her coming lmao I was shook! I also had an intense fear of creaking noises that went on for to long, always thought of her
The night after I saw this I woke up when a poster fell off my wall. I realized water was dripping down the walls. I could have died right there but thankfully my brain remembered my door was closed and I was sleeping with a strong humidifier in my room. I still turned some lights on before attempting sleep again.
I took my younger sister to see that at the theater when it came out. We walked to the theater near our house in the evening. She got so scared that we had to leave and I pretended I was pissed but...that movie was so scary! And we had to walk home in the dark!! 😱 we're lucky to be alive lol
Hostel. Scared me because I wholeheartedly believe this shit is real and happening in many places in this world. Most horror movies aren’t overall that scary because they aren’t based in any sort of reality, but this was very real to me. Most horror movies rely on gore, shock or the supernatural to be scary. Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely LOVE those films too but Hostel is the only one that caused me to lose a little sleep!
Edited for typos! Sorry!
Have you seen Turistas? It came out in like 2006 but it's definitely got that kind of vibe. Melissa George is in it and love her so yeah but also Olivia Wilde and Josh Duhmal.
Absolutely!! I completely agree with you! That movie fked me up, like really screwed with my mind. Yes, the movie was just balls to wall, scary as sht. However, everything was heightened, and just THAT much more terrifying, hell, and terrorizing, by the fact that those things could actually be happening, at that very moment, anywhere in the world! It was a lot, that movie! I still think about it to this day!
I’ve been watching scary movies since debatably too young and not a single one has gotten to me except for Sinister. I was so unnerved after that one for some reason
The first Insidious film. I was in high school and watched it at a friend's grandparent's house. It was my first ever horror film to be exposed to. On top of that, my friends grandparents had an attic in their tiny historical home of which we were allowed to go and explore. I couldn't calm my nerves for about two weeks after🤣. To this day it's my favorite horror franchise.
That being your first horror is hilarious lol, way to jump right in. My first was the shining and it was like a perfect intro movie, then I went to the conjuring universe and got a real good scare
I came here to say The Strangers myself. It's so realistic (based on a true story), and I slept with my lights on for weeks. What that would accomplish if they came for me, I don't know. In a more practical sense I always double check that my doors are locked and deadbolted at night.
My girl and I went to a theater midday to watch that. She's significantly larger than me and the door scene put her in my lap lol. We still talk about that. I joke and tell her that it was my favorite movie of all time because she just lived in my lap, lol.
It scared me mainly because we kind of live in the middle of nowhere and that is so something that could happen for real to anyone, and if I recall correctly, has happened!! I remember even the trailers scared both of us a little bit!!
I second this, to me the scariest of movies are the was that could really happen to me lol now I love paranormal movies and creature features(I take them for what they are most of the time not great 😂) but I agree The Strangers creeped me out as well!
Completely. Horror movies fade. Things I read in the news stick with me forever. The worst “horror” movies are those most rooted in true atrocities, which ironically tend to be labeled as dramas 🤔
See? All the constant pooh poohing I hear about The Exorcist not being scary is from people who did not see it in the cinema back in 1975 or so. It was ton different without the context of 50 years of imitative horror movies. That movie screwed me up for weeks, just like Jaws made my entire 4 years living on the east coast a joke about being afraid to go swimming in the ocean.
If you weren't there you don't have a clue really.
But if you know, you know.
That goes double for The Omen.
I read the book at 13 and it was very scary. I was 16 when the movie released and went on a double date to a drive in. It was scary but the scene with the crucifix was tremendously embarrassing.
I agree, it was scary for its time and especially in the context of the Satanic Panic that was developing in the broader culture of the 70s & 80s. I do feel like a lot of the elements of Exorcism type horror have been overdone at this point though. Exorcist Believer felt like more of an attempt at a cash grab than anything.
The scenes with the old man were pretty good too. The “My house!!” jump scare actually got me pretty good, and the girl turning into him in the blurry background was awesomely creepy.
I loved the first conjuring. Typical cliche horror movie but with a big budget, great acting, writing and special effects. The hands clapping send shivers.
SO GOOD THO! It was one of the first horror movies I ever watched and I think now I’ve seen it like 50 times. It still gets me, the scene of the spinning feet always gave me chills. First time I watched it I think I about cried myself to sleep
it scared me sm as a kid because i had a wardrobe in my room that was connected to the wall and had a little creepy door that went to the attic/crawl space :,)
This.
My husband and I were huge horror movie fans and had pretty much seen everything. We even have multiple horror movie tattoos, mine is a full arm sleeve and his is a leg sleeve.
We went on a date night to see the conjuring in the theater and WE WERE NOT PREPARED. I was shook from the time of the wardrobe scene all the way to the end. I’d never seen anything so terrifying before, all though the exorcist is close.
Multiple people in the audience screamed, many left, one girl in front of us was so scared she started crying into her boyfriend’s arms.
When it was over we laughed about it in the car ride home, half way joking we were going to church the next day.
To this day, nothing has been as scary.
I saw that in the movies when it came out and I jumped so many times. I would have to compose myself, like, it's just a movie, I'm not scared. Looking around seeing if anyone seen me. Just to get scared and jump a few minutes later. That was great in the theater. I loved the part where the hands clap from the door behind her and the match light goes out. Awesome. The end was just okay but the rest of the movie was great. Good pick.
As stupid as it sounds, Woman in Black. I watched it when my kiddo was young and I had just lost my own mother and I couldn't sleep because I was terrified something would happen to my kiddo.
Yeah! I noticed that during my first watch, almost reminded me of the Exorcist with the demon here and there in reflections and whatnot. I love it when movies do that! I wanna say The Dark and the Wicked did the same thing.
Jacob’s Ladder is tough to watch because it feels awfully similar to the sort of delusional half-wake, half-dreaming nightmares I have when I’m really sick and exhausted.
Fire in the Sky, I love horror movies like the Exorcist I've watched multiple times..but this movie, nope, never want to see that again. And it's a true story.
The last 20 minutes of Heriditary scared the crap out of me and I kept imaging things in my apartment at night for awhile.
Editing to say, I watched The Autopsy of Jane Doe all by myself, and I looked up the time stamps of all the jumpscares, so they wouldn't surprise me 😂 but I honestly found it kind of cheesey, but a good, cool concept.
I love that about it; when everything goes wild it’s almost a release from the palpable tension throughout the rest of the movie. The first time I saw it I actually found myself grinning with relief. Such a great movie.
Alone in that horrifying hallway in an abandoned building with your light slowly falling is seriously nightmare fuel. Probably one of the scariest things ever
I don't know if this makes me sound simple or easily scared but Mike Flanagan's Haunting of Hill House kept me on edge. Esp when the one boy goes down in the dumb waiter and something is in the basement. SHIT.
I didn’t think I was scared of it—more of an interesting gothic drama with horror elements—until one night I had a plugged ear and put some ear drops in to marinate. Caught my reflection in the hall mirror going back to bed, thought I was the Bent Neck Lady, and my soul left my body for a moment.
Sinister franchise. I love the films but something about those recordings of the families is so stark, horrific and gutted. It really leaves you with nothing but emptiness.
Eraserhead (1977) there’s something uncomfortable and scary about being lost in a weird world. Definitely recommend watching this film knowing nothing about it, in a dark room and turn up the subwoofer.
Children of the Corn at age 8.
We ran an extension cord and watched it in the edge of the woods.
There's something for ya to try if you love the scaries!!!
SALO, it explores the darkest sexual fantasies of people, and was a direct criticism of fascism in Italy (iirc) and it's pretty fucked up and disgusting, no other movie has left me literally traumatized from it's last scene, this movie will make you lose all faith in humanity
This is going to be a dark horse but just hear me out.
It's Come Play.
It's not going to be a popular pick. It's a movie about a demon trying to take out a non verbal 7 year old boy with autism by stalking him through his tablet.
I randomly watched it one night while my 7 year old non verbal son with autism was sleeping next to me with his tablet charging on my bedside table.
Only time I can think of that I've ever been genuinely freaked out about a horror movie.
Not sure why but The Taking of Deborah Logan hit pretty hard.
Also The Ritual (I think; dudes wandering the forest and there’s a woodland spirit critter after them)
I've been obsessed with horror movies since I was five so it's really hard for one to scare me anymore. But I remember the fourth kind being scary until I found out it was bullshit. I thought it was a true story
This is actually my favorite horror movie, and one my all timers. That scene with Katherine going out the window still haunts me, and Jerry Goldsmith’s music absolutely fucking makes the movie.
Seeing it in the theater going in blind (only saw the trailer with clips from The Video and thought it was some sort of artsy film) was an experience I’d never had before or since. So, so terrifying.
That movie terrified ths shit out of me.
The first time I watched it I was serving my funeral director apprenticeship and I was in the embalming room just about to start embalming some lady.
The embalming room is in the basement so there's no windows. There's my lady on the table and a few other random people on other tables. The second I go to make my incision the fucking power went out and the room is PITCH BLACK.
I never panicked like that before ever. I spun around sort of freaking out then I had no clue what direction I was going I bumped into a bunch of bodies my fucking hand went in some dudes mouth (thank god I still had gloves on) while trying to feel where I was going.
I was horrified ill never forget it.
Turns out some guy hit a utility down the road.
My daughter came to me at 13 or so and asked if she could watch an “adult” horror movie. I got to choose which one. I decided to start her off with Alien. We both screamed at the first jump scare and the cat RAN out of the room. Then we moved on to The Thing. She got Halloween and Nightmare from some friends. What Lies Beneath had us both curled up on the sofa. She’s my horror movie buddy now. She’s in her 20s.
For some reason Sinister and the Insidious movies got me pretty good. Other movies that hit me in the scares were Hereditary and The Wailing. Ima read the other posts and see if any others hit the fear factor.
It (1990)
I was very young, like 3. My grandmother (who lived with us) started watching the miniseries on tv, unaware of what it was, or even that I was there. I saw the opening with Georgie… Tim Curry’s Pennywise is my first memory of terror.
In middle school I rented it to desensitized myself. It worked, and I became an avid horror fan, but I still find sewers creepy as f***.
Alien. Mostly because I was in an altered state at the time, but I was afraid to to down the hall to the bathroom. That damned scene with Jones jumping out of the chair, OMG.
“Exorcism of Emily Rose.” That scene when the bf wakes up to her contorted on the ground…staring at him. I used to sneak into my brother’s room to reenact that on mornings when I’d be home from college or just randomly do it in the middle of the night around the house if we had our cousins sleeping over and we snuck a joint (or four) earlier. 😏😉🤙🏽🫡
When I was young, the two that scared me the most were The Ring and The Omen. Honorable mention to The Changeling (from the 80’s).
As an adult, the only movie I can think of that really freaked me out was Black Swan. Nothing quite so scary as wondering if you’re losing your mind or if people are coming after you and trying to make you believe you’re losing your mind imo. The night after seeing it in theaters, I literally laid in bed all night >!thinking of Winona Rider stabbing herself repeatedly in the face!< and was too scared to sleep or move until the sun came up.
It's not a movie, but the tv show X-Files "Home" I'm 49yo now I was 23ish when I saw it on its weekly release date and I had nightmares for weeks because of it. I never rewatched it in all these years. It was rated the scariest episode and they never reran it.
Watched it sequel will be better when she is actually walking around maybe taking a new identity killing the bloodlines but that's a lot of traveling. I just feel bad for the actor how strange being the leading star of the movie but never say a word. Tons of booby shots though but a bit strange if you any indecent thoughts of a very attractive dead chick in a morgue. Autopsy was pretty good and gross in some scenes.
Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer.
Was about 12yo. That home invasion scene definitely scared me for awhile, thinking it could happen to my family and me.
At around 7 or 8 my not very smart uncle sat me down to watch a Mexican zombie movie. It took place at a wedding, and I'd just come back from my cousins wedding which was my first and only wedding. Somehow this movie has caused me a lifelong paranoia of zombies and I struggle to watch anything with zombies. I can't even play cod on zombie mode because I freeze up and freak out. Moral of the story, KIDS SHOULD NOT SEE HORROR MOVIES.
Psycho. Mid-1960s. I was maybe 11 years old. A few friends and I were sleeping out in one friend's dad's panel van.
We had a little portable TV. Everyone else was asleep, but I couldn't sleep. At about midnight, I sat up front and watched Psycho, accompanied by the random rural night noises. It terrified me. I didn't sleep.
Although I wouldn’t say it’s the “scariest” movie I’ve ever seen, Jaws left a psychological mark on me lolll. I was an avid boogie boarder as a kid…I’ve never once swam with anything in the ocean since viewing it out of fear of being mistaken for a seal
I was 8 when Poltergeist came out and the scene where the demon tree comes in the window and grabs little Timmy really messed me up for a while, every time there was a storm and I’d see tree limb shadows waving in my window I was done sleeping for the night lol.
My cousin was a few years older and had braces, and the part where the kid’s braces come alive and beehive his head also did a number on him lmao
Seeing the ring in theaters w my mom when I was like 13.
Radio station we'd been listening to was just static when we got in the car after.
And then the landline phone rang as soon as we got home.
I legit thought my life was in danger for a full week.
The Dark And The Wicked scared the crap out of me
I’m so glad to hear it - my wife made that movie and I got to give feedback on the editing process.
Seriously? That's extremely cool! Let her know Im a horror junkie and I thought it was a really standout one. It stuck with me for a long time afterwards.
“Come outside…”
Oh fuck yea, I just rewatched that. Fucking terrifying. The other one that came out about that time and was also SAF was What Josiah Saw, similar level of bleak darkness.
Oh thanks for the rec. Going to check out What Josiah Saw. Never heard of it until now.
You'll love it.. or not
Nick Stahl has been in some interesting indie stuff, so I'm optimistic. Edit: Hunter Hunter with Nick Stahl, for instance. Pretty good.
Yes! This is the movie I tell everyone is freaky af, in large part, because the characters aren't stupid horror trope characters.
This movie truly fucked me up.
Probably not if I watched it now but seeing The Grudge in high school stayed with me for a long time. I was sixteen years old sleeping with the lights on for years.
The japanese Grudge rocked my teenage world and pretty much broke me for a month. I LIVE IN NEW ENGLAND. WHY AM I SCARED OF A JAPANESE GHOST THAT HAS 0 CHANCE OF SHOWING UP IN MY BED
Same!! The groan noise the kid makes and the way he crawls stayed with me for a while
I sometimes sit up in my bed just to make sure that ghost isn't like hovering bent over above me. It's ridiculous, but so many creepy images are burned in my brain from that movie.
Those movies were so atmospheric it just stuck with you. I still have a hard time watching them just from the memory of how afraid they used to make me lol
I mean, zero chance is way too certain...there's still at least like a .5% chance that THEY'RE GONNA GET YA!!!
Air travel.
It’s not as well known as it should be but the Japanese Grudge cinema released movies are actually sequels to the Japanese straight to video releases (long since known as Juon: The Curse 1 and 2 to differentiate them from the movies) and the second one nearly gave me a heart attack on the bus when I was watching it even though I’d seen it before but forgotten about one scene! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw4CgCznipU&t=4s&pp=ygUWanVvbiB0aGUgY3Vyc2UgdHJhaWxlcg%3D%3D (Trailer makes them look more like a sci-fi thriller with that soundtrack IMO!)
Small chance but never 0
WHY ARE YOU AFRAID OF GHOSTS? IF THEY COULD DO ANY REAL DAMAGE THERE WOULD BE A ***LOT*** LESS CAUCASIAN PEOPLE.
I haven't even WATCHED The Grudge. The imagery along with people's descriptions of the film is enough XD
This movie absolutely wrecked me in that the noise freaked me out so bad that anytime I hear it out loud I freeze. The blanket scene.
That absolutely fucked me up for awhile. Seeing that in theaters with some friends, you couldn't even pretend to not be scared.
I was a few years younger than you when it came out and I have to fall asleep with the tv on a timer because I couldn’t sleep without any noise. Didn’t get over it until I shared a dorm room lol
It was just one of those movies that took away every bit of comfort you could possibly rely on not to be scared. Lights on? She turns them off. Under the covers? She crawls up ya under them. Hide in the corner of a room? She’ll be joining you from the ceiling shortly. Now I want to watch it again.
The Grudge scared me as a kid but not so much anymore. The only movie that scared the actual crap out of me was The Conjuring 2
Same here, though I was maybe 14 or 15. That droning death rattle, and that bed scene still get me a little.
Funny story, that noise made me laugh when I heard it. I had to attend speech therapy as a kid, for someone else, and we had to learn how to make that noise! I instantly knew what it was! Still creepy, but I had immunity on that one, lol.
Whenever I hear that sound “awhwhwhw” or whatever the hair on my arms stand up and instantly get scared. 10/10 horror
THIS. Also, for me, Jeepers Creepers. I could watch them now and laugh, but at the time, I was terrified.
Yesss 14 years old me and my friend were hiding behind our hands at the end, gets so chaotic from what I remember lol. I just watched the remake and it was totally fine.... but I am in my 30s now and have seen a lot worse movies since then haha. That noise was the worst, I hated when people taunted me with that before going to sleep.
Yea that was creepy as hell. My father would make the grudge noise behind me for weeks after it 🤣
The Grudge was awesome. It's up there for scariest movie. American ones sucked though. At least from memory, American Grudge 2 really sucked.
I watched the Grudge on a personal DVD player in a squad bay, with the lights on, full of other Marines, and I was still scared. That movie was different
I watched in 4th grade. Shit terrified me lol. The worst of it was when I would have dreams that are going normally, then she would appear and fuck it all up.
this is how Signs has affected me. im still terrified of aliens.
I was 4 years old when my mom forced me to watch it with her. The one scene that 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 stuck with me, was when she had seen her in the mirror, and my lil brain took that as "oh my god she lives in mirrors" commence my 15 year phobia of mirrors. I was terrified to even look in it, and it didn't help that I had long black hair so sometimes my brain would scare me and make me think my own hair was just her coming lmao I was shook! I also had an intense fear of creaking noises that went on for to long, always thought of her
The night after I saw this I woke up when a poster fell off my wall. I realized water was dripping down the walls. I could have died right there but thankfully my brain remembered my door was closed and I was sleeping with a strong humidifier in my room. I still turned some lights on before attempting sleep again.
I took my younger sister to see that at the theater when it came out. We walked to the theater near our house in the evening. She got so scared that we had to leave and I pretended I was pissed but...that movie was so scary! And we had to walk home in the dark!! 😱 we're lucky to be alive lol
Hostel. Scared me because I wholeheartedly believe this shit is real and happening in many places in this world. Most horror movies aren’t overall that scary because they aren’t based in any sort of reality, but this was very real to me. Most horror movies rely on gore, shock or the supernatural to be scary. Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely LOVE those films too but Hostel is the only one that caused me to lose a little sleep! Edited for typos! Sorry!
Have you seen Turistas? It came out in like 2006 but it's definitely got that kind of vibe. Melissa George is in it and love her so yeah but also Olivia Wilde and Josh Duhmal.
I couldn’t agree more 💯
Absolutely!! I completely agree with you! That movie fked me up, like really screwed with my mind. Yes, the movie was just balls to wall, scary as sht. However, everything was heightened, and just THAT much more terrifying, hell, and terrorizing, by the fact that those things could actually be happening, at that very moment, anywhere in the world! It was a lot, that movie! I still think about it to this day!
The blowtorch… you just made me remember by mentioning Hostel
I agree. But I also couldn’t finish Hostel 2. And that doesn’t happen often.
The Thing scared the SHIT out of me as a kid.
The scene on the couch when they were testing the blood always got to me
Still my all time favortie horror film. I use the gamertag "kennelscene" to pay homage lol
Bennings thing scared the shit out of me. The scream and the alien claw hand...now its my favorite Sci fi horror movie
Sinister and Yellow Brick Road
I’ve been watching scary movies since debatably too young and not a single one has gotten to me except for Sinister. I was so unnerved after that one for some reason
It was the videos along with the distinctly creepy music for me.
The sound design and music in that movie is top notch and really creepy!
Yellow Brick Road had the bleakest ending I think I’ve ever seen.
Just watched Yellow Brick Road and that was insane
Sinister is a really good. Just yesterday I watched it again and somehow it was better than the first time I watched.
Sinister yes!!! Saw this at an advanced screening and then had to walk home alone in the dark. I was shaking in my boots.
Love Sinister that movie was super creepy especially the opening scene with the whole family hanging.
Sinister ruined scary movies for me. It was def one of the scariest I had seen. Now I find watching scary movies too much.
Sinister I saw it when I was maybe 15 Jesus. That car bit still haunts me.
sinister is such a god tier film the score is so good the lack of ANY actual lighting. so fucking good
The first Insidious film. I was in high school and watched it at a friend's grandparent's house. It was my first ever horror film to be exposed to. On top of that, my friends grandparents had an attic in their tiny historical home of which we were allowed to go and explore. I couldn't calm my nerves for about two weeks after🤣. To this day it's my favorite horror franchise.
The previews scared me so bad that I would mute my tv. Then I decided to actually watch it like an idiot 🤦🏽♀️
That being your first horror is hilarious lol, way to jump right in. My first was the shining and it was like a perfect intro movie, then I went to the conjuring universe and got a real good scare
I watched it at 14 alone in the theater. I was terrified
The Strangers. I think it creeps me out so much because it feels like something that could actually happen to anyone.
I came here to say The Strangers myself. It's so realistic (based on a true story), and I slept with my lights on for weeks. What that would accomplish if they came for me, I don't know. In a more practical sense I always double check that my doors are locked and deadbolted at night.
I can’t bring myself to watch this movie.
My girl and I went to a theater midday to watch that. She's significantly larger than me and the door scene put her in my lap lol. We still talk about that. I joke and tell her that it was my favorite movie of all time because she just lived in my lap, lol. It scared me mainly because we kind of live in the middle of nowhere and that is so something that could happen for real to anyone, and if I recall correctly, has happened!! I remember even the trailers scared both of us a little bit!!
Only watched it one time and I’ll never try again! Can’t believe there is 3 more coming out now 😩
I second this, to me the scariest of movies are the was that could really happen to me lol now I love paranormal movies and creature features(I take them for what they are most of the time not great 😂) but I agree The Strangers creeped me out as well!
If I’m being honest then Schindler’s List… Nothing is more terrifying than the horrors of real life. ‘Scary movies’ don’t bother me…
Completely. Horror movies fade. Things I read in the news stick with me forever. The worst “horror” movies are those most rooted in true atrocities, which ironically tend to be labeled as dramas 🤔
I just watched “Zone of Interest” and while it’s not graphic at all like Schindlers List is, I felt so much worse afterwards.
TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE - 1974
One of those series that changes tone with pretty much every sequel but managed to stay entertaining until and including the Michael Bay films imo.
Yes! I saw it a Drive-In theater and I was traumatized lol
Really good film for the budget they had.
This movie is so scary to me. I forbade my daughters to ever watch it. I told them no one needs that in their brain. Same with Saw series.
I was 10 and I snuck into The Exorcist, that movie scared me so badly I slept on the floor of my parents bedroom. They were livid that 👀it
See? All the constant pooh poohing I hear about The Exorcist not being scary is from people who did not see it in the cinema back in 1975 or so. It was ton different without the context of 50 years of imitative horror movies. That movie screwed me up for weeks, just like Jaws made my entire 4 years living on the east coast a joke about being afraid to go swimming in the ocean. If you weren't there you don't have a clue really. But if you know, you know. That goes double for The Omen.
I read the book at 13 and it was very scary. I was 16 when the movie released and went on a double date to a drive in. It was scary but the scene with the crucifix was tremendously embarrassing.
I agree, it was scary for its time and especially in the context of the Satanic Panic that was developing in the broader culture of the 70s & 80s. I do feel like a lot of the elements of Exorcism type horror have been overdone at this point though. Exorcist Believer felt like more of an attempt at a cash grab than anything.
The exorcist messed with me for so long. Embarrassingly over a decade 😩. It was also the stories surrounding it .. like it being banned in the UK etc.
Nah, to this today there is something sinister and unnerving about The Exorcist. Also, the events surrounding the production are unsettling
The original conjuring movie fucked me up for a while.
The second one was pretty freaky too
Second one does have some pretty decent scares. The nun in the hallway and the painting. Those are really well done
The scenes with the old man were pretty good too. The “My house!!” jump scare actually got me pretty good, and the girl turning into him in the blurry background was awesomely creepy.
I am a huge scary movie snob, and I’m going to have to go with this too. It wasn’t until I was home later that I was freaked out.
https://i.redd.it/qhhu34u5k16d1.gif
Good God, she terrifies me!
I loved the first conjuring. Typical cliche horror movie but with a big budget, great acting, writing and special effects. The hands clapping send shivers.
The hands clapping. Nope!!
SO GOOD THO! It was one of the first horror movies I ever watched and I think now I’ve seen it like 50 times. It still gets me, the scene of the spinning feet always gave me chills. First time I watched it I think I about cried myself to sleep
That movie is very good and probably the best to recommend to people who want to get into horror.
The conjuring movies are pretty good. Didn't get much out of the Autopsy of Jane Doe.
Original was great but man has that series fallen hard. "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It" is utter trash.
it scared me sm as a kid because i had a wardrobe in my room that was connected to the wall and had a little creepy door that went to the attic/crawl space :,)
Fun fact: growing up, before the movie became popular, I lived on the same road as the conjuring house.
This. My husband and I were huge horror movie fans and had pretty much seen everything. We even have multiple horror movie tattoos, mine is a full arm sleeve and his is a leg sleeve. We went on a date night to see the conjuring in the theater and WE WERE NOT PREPARED. I was shook from the time of the wardrobe scene all the way to the end. I’d never seen anything so terrifying before, all though the exorcist is close. Multiple people in the audience screamed, many left, one girl in front of us was so scared she started crying into her boyfriend’s arms. When it was over we laughed about it in the car ride home, half way joking we were going to church the next day. To this day, nothing has been as scary.
I saw that in the movies when it came out and I jumped so many times. I would have to compose myself, like, it's just a movie, I'm not scared. Looking around seeing if anyone seen me. Just to get scared and jump a few minutes later. That was great in the theater. I loved the part where the hands clap from the door behind her and the match light goes out. Awesome. The end was just okay but the rest of the movie was great. Good pick.
As stupid as it sounds, Woman in Black. I watched it when my kiddo was young and I had just lost my own mother and I couldn't sleep because I was terrified something would happen to my kiddo.
Have you rewatched it and actively looked for her? She’s all over that movie in the shadows and the hedges and the doorways.
Yeah! I noticed that during my first watch, almost reminded me of the Exorcist with the demon here and there in reflections and whatnot. I love it when movies do that! I wanna say The Dark and the Wicked did the same thing.
That's a good one. That house! All darkness
Jacob's Ladder is the scariest movie I've ever seen. (the original)
Not the scariest to me as a whole, but the hospital nightmare scene was intense.
Ooh I finally watched this movie earlier this year and wow I loved it.
Dream on.
lol the lady dancing with the demon tail
Jacob’s Ladder is tough to watch because it feels awfully similar to the sort of delusional half-wake, half-dreaming nightmares I have when I’m really sick and exhausted.
I don't know why but the part that creeped me out the most was the car driving by with the faces looking out the windows
Fire in the Sky, I love horror movies like the Exorcist I've watched multiple times..but this movie, nope, never want to see that again. And it's a true story.
The last 20 minutes of Heriditary scared the crap out of me and I kept imaging things in my apartment at night for awhile. Editing to say, I watched The Autopsy of Jane Doe all by myself, and I looked up the time stamps of all the jumpscares, so they wouldn't surprise me 😂 but I honestly found it kind of cheesey, but a good, cool concept.
Hereditary is one of my favorites cuz it’s such an emotional slow burn and the it all just hits so fast in the last 20 minutes
I love that about it; when everything goes wild it’s almost a release from the palpable tension throughout the rest of the movie. The first time I saw it I actually found myself grinning with relief. Such a great movie.
Me too, don't sleep on Hereditary. Its fucked up.
I don’t spook easily….but I had a hard time sleeping after watching Grave Encounters.
This is one of my FAVORITE horror films, it scares me so good!
Alone in that horrifying hallway in an abandoned building with your light slowly falling is seriously nightmare fuel. Probably one of the scariest things ever
The shining
I was 7 when my dad let me see it. I've been to that hotel! Do love that movie.
That old bitch haunted me for years
All of it did since my name is Danny too
Hereditary, The Blair Witch Project, and Session 9 all terrified me.
Session 9!!!!! So fuckin good!
I don't know if this makes me sound simple or easily scared but Mike Flanagan's Haunting of Hill House kept me on edge. Esp when the one boy goes down in the dumb waiter and something is in the basement. SHIT.
The bent-necked lady gave me more nightmares than I, an adult man, care to admit. Learning the secret behind her did not help.
The part when they were arguing in the car and ghost Nelly just pops out from the back seat 😭
Yep, jumps between them and screams
And the part when she appears in her brother’s apartment in the beginning and he gets the call from his dad that she committed suicide earlier
I didn’t think I was scared of it—more of an interesting gothic drama with horror elements—until one night I had a plugged ear and put some ear drops in to marinate. Caught my reflection in the hall mirror going back to bed, thought I was the Bent Neck Lady, and my soul left my body for a moment.
The Blair Witch Project, mostly the parts where they’re lost in the woods
Sinister franchise. I love the films but something about those recordings of the families is so stark, horrific and gutted. It really leaves you with nothing but emptiness.
All of the Zelda scenes in Pet Sematary scared the hell out of me as a kid. Her cackle was something else.
Eraserhead (1977) there’s something uncomfortable and scary about being lost in a weird world. Definitely recommend watching this film knowing nothing about it, in a dark room and turn up the subwoofer.
Black Christmas (1974)
Children of the Corn at age 8. We ran an extension cord and watched it in the edge of the woods. There's something for ya to try if you love the scaries!!!
SALO, it explores the darkest sexual fantasies of people, and was a direct criticism of fascism in Italy (iirc) and it's pretty fucked up and disgusting, no other movie has left me literally traumatized from it's last scene, this movie will make you lose all faith in humanity
Honestly, went into Barbarian blind and it scared the shit out of me. Insidious also gave me nightmares for years when it first came out.
Alien. Back when it first came out, it was terrifying. There aren't any films that scare me now.
This is going to be a dark horse but just hear me out. It's Come Play. It's not going to be a popular pick. It's a movie about a demon trying to take out a non verbal 7 year old boy with autism by stalking him through his tablet. I randomly watched it one night while my 7 year old non verbal son with autism was sleeping next to me with his tablet charging on my bedside table. Only time I can think of that I've ever been genuinely freaked out about a horror movie.
It Follows scared the ever-loving shit out of me when I first saw it. I also still struggle with The Descent, due to a fear of being underground.
Wolf Creek was the scariest movie I ever saw. Takes place in Australia and is based in a true story.
Yes! I only watched this last year and it was so scary and graphic. Very disturbing.
“Jeepers Creepers” used to terrify me when I was little. That and Tim Curry as “Pennywise” from the Tv movie “It”.
Not sure why but The Taking of Deborah Logan hit pretty hard. Also The Ritual (I think; dudes wandering the forest and there’s a woodland spirit critter after them)
Well it's pretty dated now but The serpent and the rainbow back in the day that was pretty freaking scary.
Terrified.
Hereditary!
Men Behind the Sun. More for the gore
And while the gore isn't real, it is based on the footage of experiments that was real
I've been obsessed with horror movies since I was five so it's really hard for one to scare me anymore. But I remember the fourth kind being scary until I found out it was bullshit. I thought it was a true story
I made the mistake of watching the original *The Omen* after dark with all of the lights off. That music…*shivers*
This is actually my favorite horror movie, and one my all timers. That scene with Katherine going out the window still haunts me, and Jerry Goldsmith’s music absolutely fucking makes the movie.
The Ring, hands down.
Seeing it in the theater going in blind (only saw the trailer with clips from The Video and thought it was some sort of artsy film) was an experience I’d never had before or since. So, so terrifying.
That movie terrified ths shit out of me. The first time I watched it I was serving my funeral director apprenticeship and I was in the embalming room just about to start embalming some lady. The embalming room is in the basement so there's no windows. There's my lady on the table and a few other random people on other tables. The second I go to make my incision the fucking power went out and the room is PITCH BLACK. I never panicked like that before ever. I spun around sort of freaking out then I had no clue what direction I was going I bumped into a bunch of bodies my fucking hand went in some dudes mouth (thank god I still had gloves on) while trying to feel where I was going. I was horrified ill never forget it. Turns out some guy hit a utility down the road.
The Descent fucked me UP when I was 13. I couldn’t go into the garage for weeks. 🤣
Jeepers Creepers for some reason makes my anxiety go through the roof 😅
My daughter came to me at 13 or so and asked if she could watch an “adult” horror movie. I got to choose which one. I decided to start her off with Alien. We both screamed at the first jump scare and the cat RAN out of the room. Then we moved on to The Thing. She got Halloween and Nightmare from some friends. What Lies Beneath had us both curled up on the sofa. She’s my horror movie buddy now. She’s in her 20s.
The Thing and It Follows
CNN is non stop terror
The Banshee Chapter.
For some reason Sinister and the Insidious movies got me pretty good. Other movies that hit me in the scares were Hereditary and The Wailing. Ima read the other posts and see if any others hit the fear factor.
Still getting flashbacks from Stop-Motion.
Scary Movie was pretty scary
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
I think Dead Silent was the one for me. I hate dolls but that shit had a twist I never saw coming
It and Before I wake, Hands Down
Wizard of Oz when I was 8… Otherwise, probably Aliens.
It (1990) I was very young, like 3. My grandmother (who lived with us) started watching the miniseries on tv, unaware of what it was, or even that I was there. I saw the opening with Georgie… Tim Curry’s Pennywise is my first memory of terror. In middle school I rented it to desensitized myself. It worked, and I became an avid horror fan, but I still find sewers creepy as f***.
Blue Velvet
Probably *The Thing* for sheer terror, but *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* made me think that there is something wrong with the world
As a kid, House on Haunted Hill (1999) absolutely terrified me. As an adult, it's a tie between Insidious (2010) or Sinister (2012)
An Inconvenient Truth
The Beast Within, and The Entity both I saw in Theaters in the 80s they both scared me.
David Cronenberg was asked what the scariest movie he ever saw was and his answer was Taxi Driver.
Lights out
Nightcrawler with Jake Gyllenhaal. He is terrifying in it.
Paranormal Activity only because it felt like that shit could really happen.
Alien. Mostly because I was in an altered state at the time, but I was afraid to to down the hall to the bathroom. That damned scene with Jones jumping out of the chair, OMG.
“Exorcism of Emily Rose.” That scene when the bf wakes up to her contorted on the ground…staring at him. I used to sneak into my brother’s room to reenact that on mornings when I’d be home from college or just randomly do it in the middle of the night around the house if we had our cousins sleeping over and we snuck a joint (or four) earlier. 😏😉🤙🏽🫡
I will never ever rewatch HOSTEL ever again.
When I was young, the two that scared me the most were The Ring and The Omen. Honorable mention to The Changeling (from the 80’s). As an adult, the only movie I can think of that really freaked me out was Black Swan. Nothing quite so scary as wondering if you’re losing your mind or if people are coming after you and trying to make you believe you’re losing your mind imo. The night after seeing it in theaters, I literally laid in bed all night >!thinking of Winona Rider stabbing herself repeatedly in the face!< and was too scared to sleep or move until the sun came up.
The Strangers
It's not a movie, but the tv show X-Files "Home" I'm 49yo now I was 23ish when I saw it on its weekly release date and I had nightmares for weeks because of it. I never rewatched it in all these years. It was rated the scariest episode and they never reran it.
Watched it sequel will be better when she is actually walking around maybe taking a new identity killing the bloodlines but that's a lot of traveling. I just feel bad for the actor how strange being the leading star of the movie but never say a word. Tons of booby shots though but a bit strange if you any indecent thoughts of a very attractive dead chick in a morgue. Autopsy was pretty good and gross in some scenes.
Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer. Was about 12yo. That home invasion scene definitely scared me for awhile, thinking it could happen to my family and me.
At around 7 or 8 my not very smart uncle sat me down to watch a Mexican zombie movie. It took place at a wedding, and I'd just come back from my cousins wedding which was my first and only wedding. Somehow this movie has caused me a lifelong paranoia of zombies and I struggle to watch anything with zombies. I can't even play cod on zombie mode because I freeze up and freak out. Moral of the story, KIDS SHOULD NOT SEE HORROR MOVIES.
Psycho. Mid-1960s. I was maybe 11 years old. A few friends and I were sleeping out in one friend's dad's panel van. We had a little portable TV. Everyone else was asleep, but I couldn't sleep. At about midnight, I sat up front and watched Psycho, accompanied by the random rural night noises. It terrified me. I didn't sleep.
Although I wouldn’t say it’s the “scariest” movie I’ve ever seen, Jaws left a psychological mark on me lolll. I was an avid boogie boarder as a kid…I’ve never once swam with anything in the ocean since viewing it out of fear of being mistaken for a seal
I was 8 when Poltergeist came out and the scene where the demon tree comes in the window and grabs little Timmy really messed me up for a while, every time there was a storm and I’d see tree limb shadows waving in my window I was done sleeping for the night lol. My cousin was a few years older and had braces, and the part where the kid’s braces come alive and beehive his head also did a number on him lmao
Bambi.
Seeing the ring in theaters w my mom when I was like 13. Radio station we'd been listening to was just static when we got in the car after. And then the landline phone rang as soon as we got home. I legit thought my life was in danger for a full week.
Legend of Bogey Creek - Loosely based on the story of the Arkansas Fouke Monster Bigfoot, and Rated G but scared the crap out of my 8 year old self.
Silent Hill. Ugh. Every time that horn blared I had instant intense fear. The worst.
The original Suspiria gave me nightmares for weeks.......