Threads (1984). I was in shock for a week when I first saw that. No horror film has come close.
I saw that in Sheffield in my first year at university there.
I did a super scientific study once where I monitored my heart rate while watching movies that were listed as being the scariest. The highest my heart rate went was during a scene in the movie Hereditary, where it went up to a whopping 85 bpm!
Yeah, I don't get scared easily LMAO but the answer is Hereditary!
I'm not sure that's a very good measure of fear, though.
If you showed me an average jump-scare-infused "horror" flick of the variety that gets tossed out by the film-making industry every five minutes or so, you'd see my blood pressure and heart rate spike each time, but five minutes after the end I'd likely not even be able to identify that film it was I'd watched.
On the other hand, The Thing (the John Carpenter version) keeps me feeling unsettled each time I think of it (and has the occasional starring role in my rare nightmares). During the movie, though? Maybe a blood pressure increase, and a slight increase in heart rate. But nothing compared to the jump-scare fodder.
Scientific proof!
Requiem for a Dream
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Doesn't look like it but no single other film shattered me as much as this one when I first saw it, well, in the 90s.
Man, it is such a sleeper! The title doesn't make it obvious as a horror film, and it isn't one of the bigger successes, but it is awesome
It is, indeed :)
This was my answer too - this film really got under my skin in a way that most traditional scary films don't, and Tim Robbins is riveting, as always. I was not prepared.
This was my answer too - this film really got under my skin in a way that most traditional scary films don’t, and Tim Robbins is riveting, as always. I was not prepared.
Neither was I. Would you have known younger me of back then it would not have come as surprise to say I was a little more than receptive to this movie. Watching it, I was absolutely terrified and shattered. Like you said, Time Robin was amazing as he often is.
The only horror that has really had an effect on me is The Descent. I think it’s the claustrophobic nature of being underground and then hunted by those things. I can’t think of any other horror that has sent a shiver literally all the way down my spine before.
If you liked The Descent, you should try As Above, So Below. They felt very similar to me.
Oh god that terrified me too. I haven't seen it in years but I remember it pretty clearly. I remember screaming the first time you see thr monster
I've always had a soft spot for The Exorcist.
SKINAMARINK.
Two kids wake up in the middle of the night, and things are just ... Not right. The door's not where it's supposed to be, the chairs in the dining room aren't right, mum and dad are acting odd...
It's such a primal form of horror for me, when simple things are just - different... It's either painfully boring for people, or uniquely terrifying.
I tried to watch that but I couldn't figure out at all what was going on. I eventually just turned it off I was so lost.
What did I miss?
Fair enough, a CBC News review said
"Even though [Skinamarink] has cemented its place as one of my favourite releases of 2023, I almost feel I'd have better odds playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun than finding someone to recommend it to who'd actually enjoy it."
It's not a narrative film as much as just a mood, an evocation, tapping into a very unique experience.
Lord that does sound scary
The Thing (OG, of course) unreasonably scared me, so much so that while shivering during the blood test scene I was thinking to myself “This is literally all practical effects why am I so utterly terrified?”
I love that movie! IMO the practical effects make it more unsettling. It feels more real than CGI even if some of those effects look pretty fake.
thwipthwipthwipthwipthwipthwip
The OG was from 1951. You mean the 1982 remake.
I had the 2011 reboot in mind :P
The only time I have ever turned a horror movie off because of how uncomfortable it made me was when I was watching Jordan Peels "Us".
The Serpent and the Rainbow. It's been 20 years since I've seen it so I don't know if it holds up.
Never been one to get scared by horror movies. I just can't get the buy in necessary to feel scared for the characters. However, the closest to traditional horror I can think of that really was effective was Green Room. It's intense in its loud parts and tense in it's quiet. It's realistic modern cult horror.
If you expand the field out a bit and look to more of a 'leaves you with dread about reality' effect, 'When the Wind Blows' is very affecting. It's animated but the story is quite realistic.
The 2004 Thai movie Shutter.
Still haunts me.
I’ve had 2 sleep paralysis episodes in my life and both of them were themed around The Grudge. I’ve never really been scared by horror movies before or since I saw that at the cinema as a teenager, but for some reason that movie rocked me. It also started my lifelong obsession with Ju-On (though I have never rewatched The Grudge) and Asian horror in general.
Kayako is the ultimate ghost villain; once you are cursed, you are fucked. There is no protection ritual, no solving of unfinished business, no escaping a haunted location. She can get to you anywhere, any time of day. She can distort reality to trap you and even time travel. I have goosebumps while writing this comment!
I've also had two episodes of SP but I didn't know what they were until after the first one, which was a generic old "witch" sitting on my chest. However, by the time I got the second one I had read up enough about it that I thought it wouldn't be so bad - nope, it was just as terrifying of not more so because I knew what was happening and couldn't really do anything about it
my sp episodes usually consist of me being bound in some way, usually by and invisible force. my first one was really horrifying, with my vision going all red and black, and the one thought racing through my mind being "you have to wake up". now they're usually just met with feelings of annoyance that I can't simply wake up, lol.
also recently began gaining the ability to lucid dream, which has had some scary results as well. one time where it happened, I was in a messed-up version of an old childhood house, and I kept calling out "hello" to see if anyone would help me. another one was where I was looking in the mirror, sad that I had three eyes. then, I became lucid because I remembered that I'm not supposed to have three eyes.
+1
Watching that as a little kid was not a good idea lol
The Woman in Black with Daniel Radcliffe is absolutely terrifying. not jump scarey, just intense dread and horror as some of the scenes linger on.
the sequel was alright but couldn't quite match the intensity
I didn't find it that scary but based on it's popularity, I went to see the stage production in London - it was awful and pretty much all the "horror" relied on jump scares with loud music/noise stings.
I'm weird with horror movies. Have been my entire life.
Even as a little kid, the fact that the movie was a movie was enough that they didn't scare me. It was just fun, and maybe (in some cases) exciting the same way action movies can be. Even jump scares didn't hit as hard as they do other people I've watched a lot of horror with, and they rarely work nowadays because they're easy to predict.
However, that doesn't mean my subconscious was entirely immune to things. Damn near it, but not entirely.
Two horror movies gave me dreams, but only one ever gave me nightmares, as in scary dreams.
The Exorcist had me having some really intense dreams. They weren't scary, they were more like action movies inside my head, but it was still the kind of thing that would break me out of sleep, sweaty and breathing hard.
But the one that gave me actual nightmares? Manitou
The movie itself wasn't super great, in terms of quality, though it was better than average. But it's no Exorcist, you dig? It won't win big awards or end up on top ten lists, but it's watchable even today.
But holy fuck did the premise fuck with my little head. I wanna say I was six or seven when we watched it. And, before anyone gets frisky, I was one of those kids that loved horror movies, and had zero issues with them. My parents were pretty careful early on, but the way I just ate up classic horror like the Universal and Hammer stuff when it would be on and I'd catch it, quickly made them realize they didn't have to worry.
But for three nights after that movie, I'd have nightmares about things growing out of me. It wasn't even things from the movie itself, it was the idea of my body being taken over like that.
You'd think that would mean body horror would be a favourite subgenre, or maybe something that would still get to me, but those few nightmares were it. I like body horror, but it doesn't get past my awareness of it being a movie.
But yeah, boy, The Manitou sticks out because of that. I don't rewatch it often because I don't want the memory of those nightmares watered down. They were terrifying, and at the time it was unpleasant, but as time passed and I came to enjoy horror films as an art form, the fact that that one movie sank into me like that is a cherished memory. Something broke through that awareness, the disbelief I couldn't entirely suspend, and I've never had that experience again. So I I don't want the power of that memory weakened if I can avoid it
Honestly the closest to reality that drove me sick was the OG, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It’s so fucking gross and terrifying.
Bone Tomahawk. I am forever scarred and wish I hadn't seen a certain part.
This one took me by total surprise & will never forget ‘that’ scene!
Loved that fun buddy cowboy movie. Such a great time… until
This has two answers.
First, which film scared me the most when I watched it: To my shame it's Gamera. (I was a young child.)
Second, which film I consider the scariest now: Probably John Carpenter's The Thing.
- The Exorcist (1973).
- Funny Games (1997).
- Eden Lake (2008).
- Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008).
- -
✍︎ arscyni.cc: modernity ∝ nature.as far as feature films go, probably the shining. I found the blood coming down the hallway to be really unsettling. also, since I'm a huge wuss, there were a couple analog horror series that freaked me out; in particular, dreams of an insomniac by pastra on youtube. I'd highly recommend that one, mainly due to how cool the art direction is.
Pet Sematary
The Babadook had me hiding behind my hands too scared to look at the screen. I was so uncomfortable with what was happening on screen
Personally "Cannibal Holocaust" but apparently "A serbian film" is worse in almost every aspect. I haven't seen that one thought. But I believe that anything worse than these two would be actual snuff movies.
A serbian film is certainly worse. But it's also kind of cringe, because it's JUST bad. Like when i watched that movie all i could think about was 10 edgy guys sitting in a room and think about the worst shit they could put in a movie. Bro, "newborn porn" woah sick dude.
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. Serbian Film isn't scary, it's just gross and controversial.
It's pretty difficult for a movie to feel truly scary to me, and it's been ages since I saw it, but Darkness Falls sticks out in my mind. I think the whole hanging from the ceiling/clinging to the shadows thing is a big part of it. Unfortunately, like with most movies, the fear of the unknown fades the more we get to see "the monster", but the buildup in the first half was good as I remember it.
