I agree. There are probably a good bunch but the most recent one that connected with me was The Strangers. Its premise has precedent, reminded me specifically of the Keddie Murders but any home invasion would be terrifying. The "conversation" at the door, the sounds of something coming, and one tiny "don't blink or you'll miss it" moment when a muscle/chord in Liv Tyler's neck jumped. It was such a small detail but I knew exactly how it felt and just imagining that alone was enough to pump pure uncut ice cold adrenaline straight to my heart, make every single hair stand on end, put my ears back, suck the air out of my lungs and bug my eyes out, all in an instant. Oh I was scared, really truly scared, scared like I haven't been since I was 7 years old staring at an open closet door all night long.

It was awesome.

Definitely agreed.

I first saw this with a couple buddies in a cold-ass garage eating sweet marinara Domino's pizza (when they still had different sauces and the 555 deal).

The creatures themselves weren't that scary, but the overall sense of being trapped was enough to keep me on the edge of my moth-chewn cushion.

After that we watched Peter Jackson's King Kong and laughed at how insanely retarded Jack Black is.

Shade, you have nailed every reason why I find this film so terrifying. Many people thought it was crap, but to think, things like this do happen.

I agree with that. When I was around 9 I first saw “The Legend of Boggy Creek” and for a while afterwards I was a little paranoid about home-invasion-by-Sasquatch. There’s something fundamentally frightening about something just walking up out of nowhere and reaching into the window to grab you.

One thing that made that film scary for me at that time was the fact that it was supposedly based on a “true story” and it had a blatant documentary style and folksiness about it that made it seem less like a movie and more real. Combine this with culturally well known reports of “real” Bigfoot encounters and the film does its job well.

Boggy Creek helped pioneer the now familiar docudrama style of filmmaking and supposedly was one of the inspirations for the completely un-scary “The Blair Witch Project”.

Edit: I really love the movie poster. I think it really captures the laid back eeriness of the film.

I remember reading that during one of the first showings of “Alien”, in reaction to the chest buster scene, two women fainted and one usher vomited. That’s how you know you have an iconic classic.

And then there was the movie too fearsome for me to even continue watching. Kill Bill 2. Weird? I suffer just enough from claustrophobia to be unable to bear watching the particular torment the Bride endures in the first portion of the film.

I enjoy pretty much any kind of horror movie but prefer atmospheric horror.

Carnival of Souls is near the top of the list. B&W visuals, creepy organ music, and though you can guess the ending if you like, it won't make it any less weird.

Also, several old episodes of Twilight Zone and Night Gallery are excellent (though not movies).

When I was 16 my dad asked me to go see "The Exorcist" with him. I didn't even know what an exorcist was but I went anyway. When it first started my first thought was, "Oh great, a foreign movie" but the second it jumped to the scene in Georgetown I got a creepy feeling that something bad was going to happen.

I look back on it now and chuckle but at the time it scared the crap out of me and every time I hear "Tubular Bells" I still get the chills. In general our house is an "all horror movies are cool" kind of place with a few exceptions, of course. "The Exorcist" is one of those exceptions.

I have to agree with you on two counts.

"Horror" movies are mostly what I watch. They seldom scare me. But...

The Descent had some scenes that scared the bejeebers out of me. I am extremely claustrophobic. And the scene where the girl got stuck? Scheisse!!! When I watch it now, I know the scene is coming up and close my eyes. I would have lost my mind in the same situation. IF, that is, anyone could have talked me into going into a freakin' hole in the ground to begin with. Which is very doubtful.

I took a couple of girls to the theatre to see the first Alien. When we came out, BOTH of my biceps had bloody fingernail holles in them.

In another vein; a young (possibly 11 or 12 years old) kid told us the movie would scare the crap out of us when "the thing comes out of his chest."
I told the kid,"It won't scare me because I have figured something out that you haven't."
"What's that?"
"That thing can't get off the screen."
He still screamed when the scene in question came around.



Since most (if not all) intelligent people realize the creature can't come off the screen, I think the psychological type horror films are the ones that scare people the most. The fact that it could REALLY happen.

I did find Shutter Island a bit disturbing for just that reason.

This one scared the shit out of me when I was younger. Other episodes did a great job too.

The Descent is amazing. It has this unique atmosphere although the ending could be a bit more optimistic. The caves are quite frightening. I think the film is an allegory of the descent into the unconscious inhabited by some of our dangerous, underdeveloped and wild instincts. However, it is only my opinion.

The French movie "Humains" is a bit similar about the tourists finding themselves in a mysterious abyss/gully where they meet prehistoric creatures.

Paranormal Activity had me stiffening and jumping like a school girl. The minimal special effects pulled me in and the sounds sounded so...well, real.

Human Centipede filled me with a sense of dread I rarely experience while watching a movie.

In my adult life, these two movies stand out. The Strangers does get an honerable mention!

As a young 'un, the Shining was a favorite of mine.

I saw The Exorcist in the cinema when I was 15. At the time, it was banned in some states in the US and had people fainting in cinemas throughout the UK.

I got past the ticket guy because I had very long hair and he must have assumed I was an 18 year old girl. Maybe he even fancied me.

I've experienced tension, disgust, dread, anxiety and shock during horror movies since then, but never the relentless sensation of terror I felt as a naive and innocent child that evening.

@Derby: I just downloaded The Human Centipede (on a friend's recommendation) but haven't watched it yet. Is it worth watching?

I haven't been scared by a horror movie since I was a child but I do still enjoy watching them.

My vote goes to the French film Irreversible. It's not a horror movie exactly but I certainly came away with a very bad feeling inside.