The Serpent and the Rainbow. It’s been 20 years since I’ve seen it so I don’t know if it holds up.
I’ve always had a soft spot for The Exorcist.
I did a super scientific study once where I monitored my heart rate while watching movies that were listed as being the scariest. The highest my heart rate went was during a scene in the movie Hereditary, where it went up to a whopping 85 bpm!
Yeah, I don’t get scared easily LMAO but the answer is Hereditary!
I’m not sure that’s a very good measure of fear, though.
If you showed me an average jump-scare-infused “horror” flick of the variety that gets tossed out by the film-making industry every five minutes or so, you’d see my blood pressure and heart rate spike each time, but five minutes after the end I’d likely not even be able to identify that film it was I’d watched.
On the other hand, The Thing (the John Carpenter version) keeps me feeling unsettled each time I think of it (and has the occasional starring role in my rare nightmares). During the movie, though? Maybe a blood pressure increase, and a slight increase in heart rate. But nothing compared to the jump-scare fodder.
Scientific proof!
Never been one to get scared by horror movies. I just can’t get the buy in necessary to feel scared for the characters. However, the closest to traditional horror I can think of that really was effective was Green Room. It’s intense in its loud parts and tense in it’s quiet. It’s realistic modern cult horror.
If you expand the field out a bit and look to more of a ‘leaves you with dread about reality’ effect, ‘When the Wind Blows’ is very affecting. It’s animated but the story is quite realistic.
A Serbian Film wasn’t scary but it was the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen and would never watch it again.
Hard to say what the scariest is because I don’t personally find movies scary.
- The Exorcist (1973).
- Funny Games (1997).
- Eden Lake (2008).
- Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008).
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✍︎ arscyni.cc: modernity ∝ nature.Requiem for a Dream
That fridge though
That’s not the scene ppl remember
Huh? What is then? I watched it relatively recently and don’t remember anything that spooky apart from that. What like the arm?
You will never seen Jennifer connelly get fucked like that again, trust me.
ASS TO ASS
Meh. Who hasn’t done that?
as far as feature films go, probably the shining. I found the blood coming down the hallway to be really unsettling. also, since I’m a huge wuss, there were a couple analog horror series that freaked me out; in particular, dreams of an insomniac by pastra on youtube. I’d highly recommend that one, mainly due to how cool the art direction is.
Threads (1984). I was in shock for a week when I first saw that. No horror film has come close.
I saw that in Sheffield in my first year at university there.
SKINAMARINK.
Two kids wake up in the middle of the night, and things are just … Not right. The door’s not where it’s supposed to be, the chairs in the dining room aren’t right, mum and dad are acting odd…
It’s such a primal form of horror for me, when simple things are just - different… It’s either painfully boring for people, or uniquely terrifying.
I tried to watch that but I couldn’t figure out at all what was going on. I eventually just turned it off I was so lost.
What did I miss?
Fair enough, a CBC News review said
“Even though [Skinamarink] has cemented its place as one of my favourite releases of 2023, I almost feel I’d have better odds playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun than finding someone to recommend it to who’d actually enjoy it.”
It’s not a narrative film as much as just a mood, an evocation, tapping into a very unique experience.
Nothing. It was shit.
I think if you’re expecting traditional horror, it’s more likely just going to frustrate for sure.
You either have the fear the director is trying to evoke, or you don’t.
I wasn’t expecting traditional horror, but I was expecting at least a traditional movie instead of like an hour and a half of the tops of doors with some grunting.
I’ve trawled many streaming services looking for horror, and I’ve watched some of the worst drivel imaginable in the far depths of Amazon Prime, but at least they were all still movies. This is more an arthouse thing.
Lord that does sound scary
The only horror that has really had an effect on me is The Descent. I think it’s the claustrophobic nature of being underground and then hunted by those things. I can’t think of any other horror that has sent a shiver literally all the way down my spine before.
If you liked The Descent, you should try As Above, So Below. They felt very similar to me.
Oh god that terrified me too. I haven’t seen it in years but I remember it pretty clearly. I remember screaming the first time you see thr monster
Have to ask if the version you watched is the extended (or proper) ending? There’s the US version which cuts off the true ending which is shown in the UK (at least) version. The truer ending makes it even more disturbing.
Never fea I’m british so I’ve seen the true ending. And can confirm disturbing as fuck
Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
Doesn’t look like it but no single other film shattered me as much as this one when I first saw it, well, in the 90s.
This was my answer too - this film really got under my skin in a way that most traditional scary films don’t, and Tim Robbins is riveting, as always. I was not prepared.
This was my answer too - this film really got under my skin in a way that most traditional scary films don’t, and Tim Robbins is riveting, as always. I was not prepared.
Neither was I. Would you have known younger me of back then it would not have come as surprise to say I was a little more than receptive to this movie. Watching it, I was absolutely terrified and shattered. Like you said, Time Robin was amazing as he often is.
Man, it is such a sleeper! The title doesn’t make it obvious as a horror film, and it isn’t one of the bigger successes, but it is awesome
Heard this title my while life, only today learned it’s a horror movie.
It is, indeed :)
The Thing (OG, of course) unreasonably scared me, so much so that while shivering during the blood test scene I was thinking to myself “This is literally all practical effects why am I so utterly terrified?”
I love that movie! IMO the practical effects make it more unsettling. It feels more real than CGI even if some of those effects look pretty fake.
thwipthwipthwipthwipthwipthwip
The OG was from 1951. You mean the 1982 remake.
I had the 2011 reboot in mind :P
I’ve had 2 sleep paralysis episodes in my life and both of them were themed around The Grudge. I’ve never really been scared by horror movies before or since I saw that at the cinema as a teenager, but for some reason that movie rocked me. It also started my lifelong obsession with Ju-On (though I have never rewatched The Grudge) and Asian horror in general.
Kayako is the ultimate ghost villain; once you are cursed, you are fucked. There is no protection ritual, no solving of unfinished business, no escaping a haunted location. She can get to you anywhere, any time of day. She can distort reality to trap you and even time travel. I have goosebumps while writing this comment!
I’ve also had two episodes of SP but I didn’t know what they were until after the first one, which was a generic old “witch” sitting on my chest. However, by the time I got the second one I had read up enough about it that I thought it wouldn’t be so bad - nope, it was just as terrifying of not more so because I knew what was happening and couldn’t really do anything about it
my sp episodes usually consist of me being bound in some way, usually by and invisible force. my first one was really horrifying, with my vision going all red and black, and the one thought racing through my mind being “you have to wake up”. now they’re usually just met with feelings of annoyance that I can’t simply wake up, lol.
also recently began gaining the ability to lucid dream, which has had some scary results as well. one time where it happened, I was in a messed-up version of an old childhood house, and I kept calling out “hello” to see if anyone would help me. another one was where I was looking in the mirror, sad that I had three eyes. then, I became lucid because I remembered that I’m not supposed to have three eyes.
+1
Watching that as a little kid was not a good idea lol
The only time I have ever turned a horror movie off because of how uncomfortable it made me was when I was watching Jordan Peels “Us”.
All his films are worth a watch!
I’ve never heard of that what made you uncomfortable about it?
I couldn’t say exactly what it was, but I did find it unnerving. The whole tone of the movie just did something to me no other movie has done
I get that sometimes tone and atmosphere is bigger than words said
