topic Re: Scariest Movie Ever! in SmorgasBoard

Scariest Movie Ever!

LilMirth — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:02:43 GMT

Excluding slasher movies (I don't think those movies are really scary-- they just have gore & shock value), what's the scariest movie of all time? I mean, truly & exquisitely terrifying?

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

fused — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:15:27 GMT

The Shining??

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

trumpet-205 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:45:19 GMT

Many Japanese horror movies are scary, since they focus on psychological (suspense, tone, ghost, etc) rather than graphics (blood, gore, etc).

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

plasticman — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:43:50 GMT

When I was a teenager, "The Exorcist".

I still have vivid memories of sleepless nights after seeing that movie when it was first released.

I suppose there have been scarier movies released since it was. However, no other movie since has invaded my memory so dramatically.

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

Booner72 — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:06:58 GMT

The Blair Witch Project when I thought it was a real documentary! About a week later I saw them on TV doing an interview and I was just furious.

Yes, I'm a gullible girl, but I guess I liked thinking it was real because I was scared cusswordless.

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

Pacman2012 — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:09:47 GMT

I agree with the Japanese comment above... The movie shutter and the grudge (jap version) scared the CRAP out of me! And I refuse to watch paranormal activity because I'm too afraid something will hapen to me lol

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

LilMirth — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:42:19 GMT

fused wrote:
The Shining??

Redrum! Redrum!

Still one of my all time favorite movies! Yep, The Shining is still scary, although not nearly as scary as when I first saw it when I was a little kid. A few years back, I vacationed very near to the Overlook Hotel, with some friends, and I was dying to go visit. Sadly, I was outvoted, and we only had one car! Everyone else was too scared!

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

LilMirth — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:43:12 GMT

trumpet-205 wrote:
Many Japanese horror movies are scary, since they focus on psychological (suspense, tone, ghost, etc) rather than graphics (blood, gore, etc).

Come on... name a few. I'm in a mood to scare myself silly! :smileyvery-happy:

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

LilMirth — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:12:05 GMT

plasticman wrote:
When I was a teenager, "The Exorcist".

I still have vivid memories of sleepless nights after seeing that movie when it was first released.

I suppose there have been scarier movies released since it was. However, no other movie since has invaded my memory so dramatically.

Ah, yes... The Exorcist! Funny story--

When I first saw the Exorcist, I must have been about 8 years old. By that time, the movie had been out for a good 9 or 10 years, I think it came out the year before I was born. Anyway, my late, maternal Grandfather really, really, really wanted to see that movie. But, my very religious, and extremely superstitious (but as sweet as pie) late grandmother would NOT allow that movie to be shown in her home. Under any circumstance. Period. She was convinced that even looking at the movie could cause one to be posessed by an evil spirit, or the head honcho of evilness himself. So, one weekend when my older sister and I were visiting, my grandfather set up a TV in their basement, popped popcorn, got candy for us-- the works. My grandmother was going to be busy haveing a meeting with some women from her church...

Without my saying more, surely you can see that this story doesn't end well for my grandfather, right? :smileyvery-happy:

As it should turn out, The Exorcist was going to be playing on some Saturday night movie special. It was a big deal, and maybe the 1st time that it'd been shown on "regular" tv, or something. I remember them talking about it on the news. So, while Grandma was upstairs planning good works, my grandfather, me, and my sister snuck downstairs for evil.

And we would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for the neighbor... He ratted us out. He came to borrow something from my grandfather, so my grandmother directed him to the basement. We didn't even hear him come down. He flicked on a light, and me and my sister stared screaming bloody murder! When he went back upstairs, my grandmother asked what all the screaming was about, and he told her that what we were watching. My grandmother and her church friends went NUTS! I had rarely ever heard my grandmother raise her voice, and certainly not without just cause... apparently, practically handing over your young granddaughters to the Prince of Darkness, and unleashing the power of evil into your humble home qualified as "just cause". I thought that poor man would never hear the end of it. Not to mention, my grandmother was doubly mad, because her friends ran away, refusing to be in the den of evil that we'd created.

Just about every misfortune, for the next several months was blamed upon my grandfather for watching that movie (and we didn't even get to see the end, that time). That very same night, there was a strong storm, and I think my sweet, non-violent grandmother would have gladly taken a cast iron skillet to his head had one been within reach in her hiding spot. Yep, the storm was the fault of that movie too! :smileyvery-happy:

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

demi — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:59:12 GMT

Scariest as an adult, Cape Fear. Sat in last row of the theater, about 10 p.m. showing, kept looking behind me, scared the crap out of me...gore does not scare me, it has to be mind playing to scare me. Before that, it was probably The Shining...or The Birds, or Psycho

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

plasticman — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 02:57:27 GMT

@LilMirth...great story:smileyvery-happy:

The recollection of your grandmother's outrage is very similar to the outrage and disdain by all religious groups at the the time of its' release. As I can recall, no other movie in film history was picketed and battered in the media more than "The Exorcist". The media attention at the time of its' release was astoundingly pervasive and only fueled the gross revenue of the movie for years.

Watching it today, the movie seems tame compared to what is now acceptable subject matter. It was clearly a groundbreaking movie.

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

plasticman — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 03:02:36 GMT

demi wrote:
Scariest as an adult, Cape Fear. Sat in last row of the theater, about 10 p.m. showing, kept looking behind me, scared the crap out of me...gore does not scare me, it has to be mind playing to scare me. Before that, it was probably The Shining...or The Birds, or Psycho

Hi demi,

Excellent picks all!

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 04:02:32 GMT

The Birds!

Saw it on TV when I was in 10th grade or so, and the next day walked with friends from our Army housing in Fort Kam to Hickam AFB. We had to walk under at least a half dozen banyan trees, all of them chock-full of mynah birds, chattering madly away. I've never been so scared in my life.

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

Uborrow-Upay — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 22:20:57 GMT

LilMirth wrote:
Excluding slasher movies (I don't think those movies are really scary-- they just have gore & shock value), what's the scariest movie of all time? I mean, truly & exquisitely terrifying?

"Dawn of the Dead", the original version. I think that was out back in 1979 or so.

I brought my girlfriend to see it in the theatre one night, and when it was over, some of the crowd walked through the foggy parking lot as if they were the flesh-eating zombies. She was absolutely terrified, but I had to leave her to go to work on the night shift, beginning only a couple of hours later.

She went to work with me that night rather than stay alone...she was that scared. And it took her several more weeks to get over that.

I'd go zombie on her every once in a while after that, just for laughs. Usually during severe thunderstorms, w/power outages.

(Yes, I know. I really am evil!) :smileyhappy:

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

RozBuds — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 05:37:49 GMT

Psycho from 1960

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

RozBuds — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 05:39:09 GMT

Halloween

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

usmc58555 — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 19:06:45 GMT

Bigfoot movies- all the rage in the seventies, and I hated the woods, parents had woods behind the house....I used to think he was looking in my bedroom window.

In my Adult years, scriest movie heard of but not Seen: The Undefeated.

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

RozBuds — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 01:20:46 GMT

No Country For Old Men. Kept my hands over my eyes alot!

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

eduardofabian1 — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:34:27 GMT

Who did't jump out of the seat with the scariest PG movie of all time...JAWS.

Re: Scariest Movie Ever!

LilMirth — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:47:56 GMT

demi wrote:
Scariest as an adult, Cape Fear. Sat in last row of the theater, about 10 p.m. showing, kept looking behind me, scared the crap out of me...gore does not scare me, it has to be mind playing to scare me. Before that, it was probably The Shining...or The Birds, or Psycho

Cape Fear... it rings a bell, but I don't think I've ever seen it. I've gotta Google it to be certain. If not, I'll have to see it this week!

But, I agree with you-- gore is just shock value. It's not truly scary. What I find the scariest is the stuff that's either psychological, or just paranormal enough that IF something paranormal were to happen, it seems realistic. Just a little left of normal. And, the people have to react like normal people would react.