Scariest film you've seen?

Deluge Of Sound · #1 02-26-2010, 12:07 AM

Call it research, call it curiosity, call it whatever you will...

What's the scariest film you've ever seen, and why was it so terrifying?

electracoyote · #2 02-26-2010, 12:21 AM

Well, I was only about 16 years old when it first came out, but The Exorcist rocked my world. I went with a friend to see it at a drive-in theater. I drank a lot of cola, and I had too pee really bad, but I was so scared I wouldn't get out of the car and walk through the darkness to the restroom, so I just held it for two hours.

I have since seen a lot of freaky, sick, grotesque movies, but nothing has impressed me as quite as shocking as The Exorcist.

afinalfantasy · #3 02-26-2010, 12:27 AM

I'm a wimp for any horror movies, but the Exorcist kinda sticks out for when you see the devil's face pop up briefly near the beginning. Other horror movies such as the John Romero of the Dead movies I don't find scary, just disturbing.

elgecko · #4 02-26-2010, 01:07 AM

Phantasm - scary in a startling "there's a murderer out there and death is imminent" kind of way.

Sixth Sense - I don't believe in ghosts but that movie made kind of freaked me out. The ghosts in the movie weren't evil or anything...I just didn't want to see or communicate with any ghost.

bongomania · #5 02-26-2010, 01:34 AM

Apocalypse Now. My dad took me to see it when it first came out in theaters... I was 9 years old, and it scared the bejeezus out of me.

I don't get scared much by movies anymore, but there have been a few eye-opening moments. Recently "Martyrs" tripped me out some.

i_got_a_mohawk · #6 02-26-2010, 04:04 AM

It would have to be either Aliens or IT. Oh, and I was ~6 when I saw them :-\

(my old man has a cruel sense of humor

)

JacoLesFlea · #7 02-26-2010, 04:06 AM

exorcist rosemary baby when I was younger anything to do with the occult and satan always gave me the creeps. Have'nt seen it yet but I heard Shutter Island is pretty scary

odin70 · #8 02-26-2010, 04:08 AM

A requiem for a dream.

Joe Nerve · #9 02-26-2010, 04:25 AM

I don't get scared much by movies, but a few things stand out from when I was a kid.

The hand coming out of the grave at the end of Carrie in the movie theater seriously almost made me crap myself.

When I was about 7 or 8 years old I saw the movie Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. I was completely horrified by the chopping off of a hand in the beginning. You never saw anything like that at all on TV back in those days. The whole move freaked me out. I still can't look at Betty Davis without getting a tingle down my spine.

Wow, really can't think of any other movie that scared me. Maybe original House on Haunted Hill, but only because I was probably around 5 years old when I saw it. Ghosts are really scary when you're 5.

Alvaro Martín Gómez A. · #10 02-26-2010, 04:30 AM

You can read my opinion here.

crockpot2001 · #11 02-26-2010, 04:32 AM

I'd heard and seen nothing about Paranormal Activity. So, when I saw it, it scared me silly. I did not sleep that night. I just kept waiting to wake up and see my wife standing next to the bed. The dragging outta the bed scene also made me whimper.

Relic · #12 02-26-2010, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by electracoyote

Well, I was only about 16 years old when it first came out, but The Exorcist rocked my world. I went with a friend to see it at a drive-in theater. I drank a lot of cola, and I had too pee really bad, but I was so scared I wouldn't get out of the car and walk through the darkness to the restroom, so I just held it for two hours.

I have since seen a lot of freaky, sick, grotesque movies, but nothing has impressed me as quite as shocking as The Exorcist.

Oh yeah, big +1. Being a Catholic school kid and seeing that flick scared the living crap out of me. I would say that that would be my #1 all time scariest.
As far as more recent films? I really don't get too scared anymore. I thought that Paranormal Activity was good..had some good parts but then they were kind of interspersed with some goofiness. I'm still holding out for a good movie that will scare the heck out of me

john_martin_sai · #13 02-26-2010, 05:15 AM

In early 1974, as a 13 year old, I saw 'The Exorcist' as a newly-released film, after watching priests and doctors on TV talk of it being based on a real life event (while detailing many other similiar cases). Younger people may not understand the impact since all of us are pretty burnt out on horror flicks decades later. Also, before the internet, you really didn't have such a complete account of, or familiarity with a film prior to seeing it, with all the hype that goes on today.

That movie was infinitely more disturbing than anything previously seen at that time. The profanity, the 'crucifix' scene and overall religious angle really caused an uproar. I remember numerous stories of people fainting or running from theaters, along with others having complete emotional breakdowns after viewing this movie.

Yerf Dog · #14 02-26-2010, 05:22 AM

Idiocracy

Tom72 · #15 02-26-2010, 05:26 AM

The Shining really did it for me....still does. Admittedly, the acting is bad, and the movie overall isn't the best....but it still freaks me out. A lot of it for me is the isolation of it all. That movie had some of the greatest shots ever. Long shots down empty hallways....the echo of large, vacant rooms....the overhead shots of the hedge-maze....the distant shots of the hotel with nothing around it but snow. It just really got the whole point across of what do you do if things go wrong out here? For some reason, that's always what gets me.

Jaws had a lot of that too. That little boat in the middle of nowhere with a massive shark.

Alien is another good example. Anything that really gets the isolation angle across is always scary to me.

JacoLesFlea · #16 02-26-2010, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john_martin_sai

In 1973, as a 13 year old, I saw 'The Exorcist' as a newly-released film, after watching priests and doctors on TV talk of it being based on a real life event, while detailing many other similiar cases. Younger people may not understand the impact since all of us are pretty burnt out on horror flicks decades later. Also, before the internet, you really didn't have such a complete account of, or familiarity with a film prior to seeing it, with all the hype that goes on today.

That movie was infinitely more disturbing than anything previously seen at that time. The profanity, the 'crucifix' scene and overall religious angle really caused an uproar. I remember numerous stories of people fainting or running from theaters, along with others having complete emotional breakdowns after viewing this movie.

+1000

Phalex · #17 02-26-2010, 06:22 AM

Xanadu. It still gives me the Heebie Jeebies!

Mark Latimour · #18 02-26-2010, 06:36 AM

That youtube video with Maki and Jive1, wigs and one cup.....

Nedmundo · #19 02-26-2010, 06:54 AM

Hellraiser. I don't remember that much about it, but at the time thought it was easily the scariest I'd seen.

ubado · #20 02-26-2010, 07:05 AM

The first movie to scare the crap out of me was the 1975 movie Race with the Devil
(Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit)
Nothing like a band of Satan Worshipers chasing you to creep you out.
Especially since they are everywhere ... and you just can't escape them.

The last movie that made me want to sleep with the light on was The Grudge. There's just something about that black eye that just gets me.