The best horror film

Nosferatu is a piece of art, german expressionism at its highest... but today is no horror film (should've been one in 1922).. I love horror films but I'm more of the victorian-Hammer-Universal kind of guy, also like films like the Exorcist or the Omen or Halloween which is kinda scary (the only slasher that is scary, besides some blood-filled films by Argento and Bava).. Suspiria is quite good.... There's too many...

crimhead wrote: The Pessimist wrote: I vote the original Night Of the Living Dead. Sure, their were zombie films before it (like White Zombie and the like), but this was the very first (and best) to capture the pure claustrophobic fear of being stuck in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a sh*t load of hungry undead. Classic I concur. Low budget movie with minimal effects and shot in Black and White.Something did always bother me though. Why didn't the body that they found in the top of the farmhouse never come back to life?

I have no clue either, bt who are we to question George A. Romero's genius?

I am not sure if "Don't Look Now!", starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie, fits as a horror movie, but it is one of my favorite movies. and the end is an absolute shocker, even after the umpteenth view. I absolutely freaked out the first time I saw it

Green Shield Stamp wrote: SaltyJon wrote: My vote goes to The Changeling (The one with George C. Scott, not the one with Angelina Jolie).  Very good horror movie, probably my favorite. I love this film.  Not many people have seen it, which is a shame because it has some great scenes. For anyone who doesn't know this movie: Scott plays a writer who has lost his muse following the death of his wife. He rents a large,  isolated house, hoping that the seclusion will allow him to regain his inspiration.  However, as the days and nights pass, he becomes aware that he is not alone in the house.  One of the great scenes is when the haunting begins to unsettle the George C. Scott character, and he is sitting in the large living room, trying to relax drinking whisky.  There comes a thum-thump-thump as a child's ball bounces down the stairs.  On the verge of breaking down, he picks up the ball and dashes out to his car.  He drives several miles to a bridge over a large fast-moving river.  Getting out of his car he hurls the ball as far as he can from the bridge into the water. When he gets back home he collapses into his chair and takes a long, satisfying slug of whisky.  As he exhales a sigh of relief...there comes a thump-thump-thump as a child's ball bounces down the stairs.  It roll towards his feet.  Water dripping off it forms a small puddle on the floor. Fantastic stuff.  The film relies on suspense and subtle effects to create unbearable tension and atmosphere. These are the sorts of horror films that I like.  Personally I dislike the gory, slasher movies.  I don't find them particularly scary and I feel like I need to take a shower after watching them.

Definitely "The Haunting" made in 1963. You see nothing but you feel everything!

Edited by rdtprog - October 16 2009 at 14:18

SaltyJon wrote: My vote goes to The Changeling (The one with George C. Scott, not the one with Angelina Jolie).  Very good horror movie, probably my favorite.

I love this film.  Not many people have seen it, which is a shame because it has some great scenes.

For anyone who doesn't know this movie:

Scott plays a writer who has lost his muse following the death of his wife. He rents a large,  isolated house, hoping that the seclusion will allow him to regain his inspiration.  However, as the days and nights pass, he becomes aware that he is not alone in the house. 

One of the great scenes is when the haunting begins to unsettle the George C. Scott character, and he is sitting in the large living room, trying to relax drinking whisky.  There comes a thum-thump-thump as a child's ball bounces down the stairs.  On the verge of breaking down, he picks up the ball and dashes out to his car.  He drives several miles to a bridge over a large fast-moving river.  Getting out of his car he hurls the ball as far as he can from the bridge into the water.

When he gets back home he collapses into his chair and takes a long, satisfying slug of whisky.  As he exhales a sigh of relief...there comes a thump-thump-thump as a child's ball bounces down the stairs.  It roll towards his feet.  Water dripping off it forms a small puddle on the floor.

Fantastic stuff.  The film relies on suspense and subtle effects to create unbearable tension and atmosphere.

These are the sorts of horror films that I like.  Personally I dislike the gory, slasher movies.  I don't find them particularly scary and I feel like I need to take a shower after watching them.


Edited by Green Shield Stamp - October 16 2009 at 14:04

The Pessimist wrote: I vote the original Night Of the Living Dead. Sure, their were zombie films before it (like White Zombie and the like), but this was the very first (and best) to capture the pure claustrophobic fear of being stuck in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a sh*t load of hungry undead. Classic

I concur. Low budget movie with minimal effects and shot in Black and White.Something did always bother me though. Why didn't the body that they found in the top of the farmhouse never come back to life?

The Shining. What's more frightening then a father murdering those he's obligated to protect. Isolation in horror is also one of my favorite devices.

I vote the original Night Of the Living Dead. Sure, their were zombie films before it (like White Zombie and the like), but this was the very first (and best) to capture the pure claustrophobic fear of being stuck in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a sh*t load of hungry undead. Classic

Other: Blair Witch Project, by far.