Topic: Good Horror Movies

[Hank Venture]

Slashers, creature features, you name 'em.

I'm a fan of the idea of horror, lately I've been interested to see if I'm actually a fan of horror movies as well - I haven't seen more than ten of them in my life, and that's being generous.

Give me the classic classics, the new classics, the hate it/love it horrors, the cult favourites, the unknown gems, the underrated flicks, etc.

Btw: Torture porn will not be considered, can't abide that shit.

[Noodle Lizard]

Trying to exclude the really obvious ones (yer Exorcists and Shinings), here are some 'the something' films:

- The Innocents
- The Haunting (original)
- The Uninvited (1944)
- The Others
- The Eye (Chinese version)
- The Orphanage
- The Changeling
- The Woman In Black (1989)

And here are a few wildcards:

- Jacob's Ladder
- Whistle And I'll Come To You (or almost any of the BBC Christmas ghost story things)
- Shutter (Thai version)
- Noroi: The Curse
- Mario Bava's Black Sabbath (especially the 'A Drop Of Water' segment)
- Angel Heart

A lot of 'Twilight Zone' episodes too, but they don't really count as movies, do they?

[Rev]

That's an incredibly broad question, the equivalent of asking if there have ever been any good comedy films made.  Actually, that'd be an easier one to answer.

It almost goes without saying that you should check out the Universal monster flicks and any Hammer stuff you happen upon, because there'll probably be a TV station showing one or the other right now.  I'll recommend a few mainstream slasher films to get the ball rolling, none of which are at all obscure:

-  The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, because it's a beautiful exercise in restraint.

-  Friday the Thirteenth Part 2.  Yeah, part two.  The slowest and most menacing of the daft saga, with an unexpectedly strong central performance.  Notable for containing the embedded advice that fucking off down the pub can save your life.

- Sleepaway Camp (AKA  Nightmare Vacation).  I'll never stop cheerleading for this one.  Cheap, ineptly made and poorly acted for the most part, but one of the few films in its genre to feature plot points that are still being debated.  If you've never heard of it, don't go looking for information about it as you'll be hit with spoilers - just find it and watch it.

[Noodle Lizard]

- Sleepaway Camp (AKA  Nightmare Vacation).  I'll never stop cheerleading for this one.  Cheap, ineptly made and poorly acted for the most part, but one of the few films in its genre to feature plot points that are still being debated.  If you've never heard of it, don't go looking for information about it as you'll be hit with spoilers - just find it and watch it.

It's fucking terrible, but there is "the part" which still haunts me a bit to this day.

[lazarou]

I'm sure I've mentioned these on here before but May and Excision are two of the best cult efforts in recent years. Not exactly conventional horror but ehh.

[Rev]

It's fucking terrible, but there is "the part" which still haunts me a bit to this day.

It's the sound, isn't it?  Well, no, obviously it isn't, but close your eyes and listen to it when that point arrives - it's extremely weird and creepy.

[Mini]

Of the classics I love A Nightmare on Elm Street, Eyes Without a Face, An American Werewolf in London, Night of the Living Dead, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Psycho, The Exorcist, Halloween and all those obvious ones.

For more culty stuff I'd say Ginger Snaps, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Slither and anything by David Cronenberg (Videodrome and The Fly stand out).

Then there's cool post-modern stuff like Scream, The Cabin in the Woods and Tucker & Dale vs. Evil.

In terms of newer films I'd recommend American Mary, Excision, Kill List, The Skin I Live In, The Descent...

[Noodle Lizard]

It's the sound, isn't it?  Well, no, obviously it isn't, but close your eyes and listen to it when that point arrives - it's extremely weird and creepy.

It's a bit of everything, it really burned itself into my mind as a young(er) 'un.  Partially down to the dodgy "special effects", no doubt, and another great example of why practical effects should not be forgotten when it comes to horror movies[nb]See also the 'A Drop of Water' segment from 'Black Sabbath' - it's really a terribly fake-looking doll, but it's infinitely creepier than any state-of-the-art CG ghost.[/nb].  It's just as good a final scene as 'Carrie' or 'Friday the 13th'.

Did anyone see any of the 'Sleepaway Camp' sequels?

[Thomas]

A lot of 'Twilight Zone' episodes too, but they don't really count as movies, do they?

Well, I just watched this one, and - [spoiler]wobbling child actors and general eighties-ness aside[/spoiler] - it chilled me more than any horror films I've watched recently.

[tookish]

I'm sure I've recommended this before, but A Tale of Two Sisters is very, very worth a mention. Beautiful, eerie, terribly, terribly sad.

[Noodle Lizard]

I'm sure I've recommended this before, but A Tale of Two Sisters is very, very worth a mention. Beautiful, eerie, terribly, terribly sad.

Yeah, I was going to mention that but then I remembered that it's sort of not really a horror movie.  Well, it kind of is.  But not really.  Sort of.

[Moribunderast]

I echo the A Tale Of Two Sisters recommendation. Great film. Loved Excision and May too.

Inside/À l'intérieur is a very effective recentish french horror. The first half hour, especially, I found very frightening.

There's some favourites of mine that I don't know if you'd consider horror - more psychological horror. Films like Wake In Fright, Magic Magic, Repulsion...

This thread is going to end up giving me way too many films to watch.

[Noodle Lizard]

Inside/À l'intérieur is a very effective recentish french horror. The first half hour, especially, I found very frightening.

Yeah, it's very good.  I don't know if our OP would consider it "torture porn" or not, though (I honestly still don't know what that really means).  It's certainly one of the goriest films I've seen.

[Moribunderast]

Yeah, I didn't recommend Martyrs because I assume that falls under the "torture porn" banner, even though I'd say it's much better and more thought-through than yer Hostels and whatnot. I don't have the visceral distaste for those movies that some do but I find them very boring as my favourite horror comes more from dread and anticipation rather than flat-out slashing and extra-gory violence.

I wouldn't think Inside would fall under that banner (though it IS gory) as I feel like TP films are the ones where people are just trapped in a room undergoing a series of grisly things, as opposed to having any agency or say in their own survival.

[Rev]

Did anyone see any of the 'Sleepaway Camp' sequels?

Yes, the first two sequels star - and I shit you not - Bruce Springsteen's sister, and are mainly played for laughs.  They're the sort of thing that was being churned out by the tonne in the 80s, but are a little funnier and more knowing than the rest of the sludge.  'Return to Sleepaway Camp', from the original director, came out a few years back after being on the shelf for many years due to it needing, so they claimed, a bit of CGI work.  It features Isaac Hayes as the camp chef, dressed pretty much exactly as his character in South Park, and Vincent Pastore off of the Sopranos.  He played 'Big Pussy' in that, and is called a big pussy in this.  It's meta as fuck, like.

It's absolutely terrible but strangely watchable.  The whole thing's on youtube if you're interested.

[BlodwynPig]

Tale of Two Sisters is one of my favourites too.

The original Dark Water is stunning too.

[zomgmouse]

Out of the really, really early European ones I think I've only seen Vampyr and Nosferatu and, if you count it, The Phantom Carriage. Out of the Universal ones I've only seen Dracula and Frankenstein, and also the Spanish-language version of Dracula, which was, like a lot of other films at the time, made on the same set with the same script, but with different actors... and at night. In many ways, it's a more haunting rendition of the story than the Lugosi one.

[Miasma]

A couple I've enjoyed:

The Ruins: A group of tourist run into a spot of bother on an Aztec (or is it Mayan?) temple... slightly unusual, largely overlooked.

The Devil's Backbone: An earlier Guillermo del Torro ghost story. 

[SteveDave]

It's the sound, isn't it?  Well, no, obviously it isn't, but close your eyes and listen to it when that point arrives - it's extremely weird and creepy.

I think it's the manic trumpets behind the noise too. And the [spoiler]cock & balls[/spoiler]

[billtheburger]

Two little films with enough quirkiness to fascinate the curious:
Alucarda Slated on IMDB. I like it a lot
Vampire Circus One of my favorite Hammer horrors.

[GeeWhiz]

I put together a list of overlooked Brit horrors for Den of Geek, which inevitably brought out the nerd rage for not being obscure enough. Link is here:

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/18165/10-overlooked-british-horror-curios

[biggytitbo]

One that I always mention that seems to have fallen through the cracks of great horror movie lists is The Entity. It's one of the few mainstream horror films I've seen that's got a genuinely unsettling, nasty and creepy atmosphere to it. I'd easily rank it alongside the Exorcist, if not better.


A few other perennial classics -
- Dead of Night (The anthology from the 40s)
- Night of the Demon
- The Wicker Man
- Phenomena (Argento's best film by a mile)
- Return to Oz (Probably unintentional but deeply nightmarish)
- Dawn of the Dead (Both the original and the remake)
- Lifeforce (A great B movie choice)
- Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (My personal favourite - and one of the nastiest, and best ideas for a horror film ever)

[prwc]

Kwaidan and Onibaba. Both really beautiful gorgeous films, that any fan of cinema could probably appreciate, horror fan or not. In fact nearly any 60s Japanese horror films are worth a look, both the high and low brow ones.

Angst (1983) is the best serial killer film ever made, unique in both its highly unusual yet appropriate camerawork and the fact it takes place in real time. As raw, visceral and brilliantly put together as the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Be warned, there's some really nasty scenes, but it's a truly great film that is well beyond the vast majority of extreme cinema out there. The chapter on it in the superb book 100 European Horror Films is good reading.

Suspiria, the plot and acting are both appalling but it is one of the most gorgeous and lavish pieces of cinema imaginable. One where the style becomes the substance. One of the best cinema (as in big screen) experiences possible.

Last House On Dead End Street would be in my top 5 horror films easily, though I could totally understand why someone would hate it. The acting/dubbing is awful, the cinematography muddy and ugly and a soundtrack made entirely from pinched stock music. But those factors genuinely manage to enhance the film which has an atmosphere like no other. Apparently the director spent most of the budget on crystal meth and it shows, it's got an utterly rotten, nasty feel soaked in 70s bargain basement surrealism.

[BlodwynPig]

Prince of Darkness

John Carpenter - check
Donald Presence - check
The 80s - check
The Anti-God - check

[Ignatius_S]

I put together a list of overlooked Brit horrors for Den of Geek, which inevitably brought out the nerd rage for not being obscure enough. Link is here:

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/18165/10-overlooked-british-horror-curios

Personally, I think that’s a lovely list – a nicely varied selection of films. Funnily enough, The Shout was touched upon in another thread a little while ago.

I can understand why some would comment about them not being particularly obscure or overlooked – however, I felt feel the introduction (e.g. that it’s very subjective) neatly gets around that. Also, I suspect even the better known ones that many people may be aware of but haven’t actually seen. Thinking about it, these days, I feel that The Sorcerers is an overlooked one when conmpared to Witchfinder General.

[GeeWhiz]

Aw fanks. Looking back, the whole thing is a bit woozy and poorly punctuated, but I stand by the list. I bloody love a bit of Cush. A new print of Corruption is showing at this year's Frightfest, I see. Am v tempted.

[prwc]

I put together a list of overlooked Brit horrors for Den of Geek, which inevitably brought out the nerd rage for not being obscure enough. Link is here:

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/18165/10-overlooked-british-horror-curios

I've only seen The Shout, Eden Lake and The Abomnible Dr. Phibes from those, all of which I liked a lot, so I'll look into the rest, cheers. Heard good things about Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny And Girly. Take An Easy Ride is one I recommend, not a "good" film by any means but an interesting snapshot of the time and far more lurid than most UK horror of its era.

[biggytitbo]

Prince of Darkness

John Carpenter - check
Donald Presence - check
The 80s - check
The Anti-God - check

Phenomena
Dario Argento - check
Donald Pleasence - check
The 80s - check
Crazy euro metal soundtrack - check
Young Jennifer Connally and she can psychicly control insects - check
Monkey butler - check
Swimming pool full of mashed up corpses - check
Crab faced boy - check


Phenomena wins!

[billtheburger]

But I could make a Paul Naschy horror film sound great if I did that.
EG.
Horror Rises From the Tomb
15th century Witchcraft,
Beheadings,
Nude inverted crucified hangings,
Artist with visions,
Ethereal floating heads,
Seance & psychic mediums,
Mountain dwelling hill billies with their own laws,
Grave digging,
Occult rites,
Possession,
Zombies,
People on fire,
Violence & gore including throat slitting, skin tearing and heart removal.
Spanish film set in France where everyone speaks Spanish,
Unintentionally funny,
The ladies dress length,
Boobs & bush,
Hypno-seduction.

or
Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll
Serial Killer.
Rapists.
Pig killings.
Eye removal.
Bitch slapping.
Throat slitting.
Cruelty.
Strangulations.
Hypnosis.
Corpses & corpse storage due to heartbreak.
Freaky European Cemeteries.
Stalkings.
Maggots in empty eye sockets.
Death by wheelchair.
Spanish film set in France where everyone speaks Spanish, (Spanish giallo!?)
Almost great soundtrack apart from the over use of Farajaka.
Twisty plot line that resolves nearly every bit of insignificance.
Ladies 70's style boots,
Prosthetic arms (including erotic kissing of),
A nymphomaniac,
Boobs,
Comedy spinny cinematography during love making scenes.
Disappointment post-coitus from both parties.
Unnecessary perviness:

[BlodwynPig]

Prince of Darkness

John Carpenter - check
Donald Presence - check
The 80s - check
The Anti-God - check

I of course meant Donald Pleasance - I must have been possessed.