Halloween is coming up. Favorite horror movies?

[Cagey]

I think your own imagination is often better than a movie producer's. A story as boring as Cujo can be told well on paper, but doesn't translate to a visual medium very well. A good example would be another Stephen King book, one of the few that hasn't been made into a movie, called "Geralds's Game". Same sort of deal, where everything happens (or doesn't, as the case may be) in the same setting for 90+% of the story. A woman is handcuffed to a bed for some reindeer games with her warped husband, but he croaks in the process. This happens early on in the book, then you get 300 pages of her shackled in bed by herself in the middle of nowhere while things unravel.

You'd think the story would be boredom on a scale solitary confinement in prison couldn't touch. But, it's actually a horrifying book. Buddy of mine couldn't even finish it. Mr. King is a master at whipping up your imagination. There are 687 copies at the link above starting at $.01 if you're interested.

edit: not terrifying, horrifying

 

[Cagey]

I felt the same way when Misery came out as a movie, it was blah. But the book kept me on edge all the way through.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and even the movie the first time. But, once was enough with that one. Like many of his movie treatments, it tends to drag.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

I felt the same way when Misery came out as a movie, it was blah. But the book kept me on edge all the way through.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and even the movie the first time. But, once was enough with that one. Like many of his movie treatments, it tends to drag.

It did drag. It also got too far away from the book in places that killed it.

 

[Graceful Ghost]

Paranormal Activity 3. Best of the series IMHO.

The Blair Witch Project also gets under my skin pretty easily.

 

[bagman67]

I'll always have a soft spot for The Blob, one of my first horror movies.  And Night of the Living Dead was the first movie to ever scare the bejeezus out of me - stayed up WAY past my bedtime when I was 8.

 

[KaiserSoze]

The Japanese films that started a few years back really had some great imagery.  An old movie called Jacob's Ladder is worth watching.  Watch for a very young and uncredited McCauley Culkin in it.  Session Nine had an awesome creepy-build-up factor.  I still love the Exorcist because it was so far ahead of its time and truly reached a new level of terror in a lot of people.   

 

[erogenousjones17]

It's not a movie, but MJ's "Thriller" totally scared the crap out of me as a kid. I couldn't sleep for weeks after, and maintained an insane fear of zombies until I was practically an adult. I think it wasn't until I saw "Shaun of the Dead" that I got over it. And while more a comedy than a horror movie, it is one of my favourites in the genre.

 

[Pelagaard]

The Japanese films that started a few years back really had some great imagery.  An old movie called Jacob's Ladder is worth watching.  Watch for a very young and uncredited McCauley Culkin in it.  Session Nine had an awesome creepy-build-up factor.  I still love the Exorcist because it was so far ahead of its time and truly reached a new level of terror in a lot of people. 

I live in the next town over from where Session 9 was filmed, and I know people who were committed to the old Danvers State Hospital for a whole gambit of reasons.  There was a lot of seriously messed up stuff that happened there.  It now houses a bunch of luxury condos...

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

Every year the wife and I sit down and watch "The Lost Boys" and Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow."  I can dig some films like "A Nightmare On Elm Street" and the likes, but the wife...not so much.

For me...

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Lost Boys
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4
A Nightmare on Elm Street 6
Freddie vs. Jason
Devil's Advocate
Constantine
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters II

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

The Japanese films that started a few years back really had some great imagery.  An old movie called Jacob's Ladder is worth watching.  Watch for a very young and uncredited McCauley Culkin in it.  Session Nine had an awesome creepy-build-up factor.  I still love the Exorcist because it was so far ahead of its time and truly reached a new level of terror in a lot of people. 

Is "Session 9" the one with David Caruso in it?

 

[crash]

Homer Simpson to Mel Brooks: Your movie, Young Frankenstein, scared the crap out of me.

 

[hannaugh]

It's not a movie, but MJ's "Thriller" totally scared the crap out of me as a kid. I couldn't sleep for weeks after, and maintained an insane fear of zombies until I was practically an adult. I think it wasn't until I saw "Shaun of the Dead" that I got over it. And while more a comedy than a horror movie, it is one of my favourites in the genre.

You're not the only one.  I remember seeing it when I was little and it scaring the hell out of me. 

 

[hannaugh]

The Blair Witch Project also gets under my skin pretty easily.

I remember seeing that as a preview/test movie when they were still pretending that it was actual found footage.  I did not sleep that night. 

 

[Graceful Ghost]

How could I forget...Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Not a thriller for me, but top notch for the family.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The Blair Witch Project also gets under my skin pretty easily.

I remember seeing that as a preview/test movie when they were still pretending that it was actual found footage.  I did not sleep that night.

I was dating my wife at the time, and we were staying at her parents' place.  I was sleeping on twin mattress in their living room with no blinds in the woods.  Did not sleep.  Now it's laughable, and was to many at the time.

 

[whitebison66]

Audition was directed by Takashi Miike, who has made both some very messed-up movies (Ichi the Killer) as well as a lot of straight commercial stuff (13 Assassins, Crows Zero, etc.).

But he directed an episode of the Masters of Horror series called "Imprint" that was apparently so disturbing they wouldn't broadcast it.

Which reminds me of that X-Files episode about the family tree with no branches that they only broadcast once.

THAT frightened me.

I'm still partial to the old Hammer Studios stuff that I saw as a kid on the Creature Double Feature. Great atmosphere, often great acting, and just a lot of fun.

 

[hannaugh]

Sorry if this kind of sounds like a Yelp review, but I can't get over how rad this place was.  Last weekend I had to do some shopping for a show I'm working on, and I ended up at this Halloween store in Burbank.  Holy crap... so awesome. 

They had 2 stores on the same block.  One was just a cool Halloween costume and makeup place, but the other one was all stuff for people who love Halloween and horror in general.  They had over 100 different tee shirts for tons of horror franchises.  I got an HP Lovecraft shirt, and we got a Twilight Zone shirt for my husband.  They had an entire room that was just art prints and movie posters, and a lot of them were signed. 

They had tons of books too, everything from this huge coffee table book on the Universal Movie Monsters to travel guides for visiting graveyards and macabre places.  You could buy a huge model kit for the Munster Mobile and a cupcake form that looks like brains -  I mean, everything you could think of horror or Halloween related. 

The best part was that it was all dark inside and decorated like The Haunted Mansion, and they played nothing but Halloween music.  I went with my mom who isn't even a big horror fan, and she loved it.  We were both like "That place was soooo cool" when we left.  I could have spent a LOT of money there, and I'm not even into collectibles that much.  The staff was really nice too.  I would recommend it if you're into that kind of thing and within driving distance of Burbank. 

 

[SustainerPlayer]

For us too far away I think this is their website:

http://www.halloweentownstore.com/

 

[KaiserSoze]

The Japanese films that started a few years back really had some great imagery.  An old movie called Jacob's Ladder is worth watching.  Watch for a very young and uncredited McCauley Culkin in it.  Session Nine had an awesome creepy-build-up factor.  I still love the Exorcist because it was so far ahead of its time and truly reached a new level of terror in a lot of people. 

Is "Session 9" the one with David Caruso in it?

Thats the one.  I cant stand him but the movie was really good.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

The Japanese films that started a few years back really had some great imagery.  An old movie called Jacob's Ladder is worth watching.  Watch for a very young and uncredited McCauley Culkin in it.  Session Nine had an awesome creepy-build-up factor.  I still love the Exorcist because it was so far ahead of its time and truly reached a new level of terror in a lot of people. 

Is "Session 9" the one with David Caruso in it?

Thats the one.  I cant stand him but the movie was really good.

Not to judge your fine taste in films, but I wanted the 1.5-2.0 hours of my life back after that one...  :redflag: