Greatest Horror Movie of all Time

[Taverner]

I will not consider anything before 68's Night of the Living Dead. Anything before was jejune, and was not horror - almost cartoonish really. Sorry Bela Lugosi.

And notice I'm not saying "scariest" - since that is not the goal of the horror movie. The goal of a horror movie is to horrify. If you want to be scared, watch the news.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. John Carpenter's The Thing

[Taverner]

4. Oooh right-e-o

If I had room I would have added that one.

The scene where the guys head sprouts legs and crawls off....

[CatWoman]

12. You've gotta be fucking kiddin.............

[Beaverhausen]

51. Yes!!!

[Shell Beau]

2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was pretty damn creepy, but

I've always been a fan of The Shining!

[BigMcLargehuge]

3. two exceed all on your list

Men Behind the Sun

review here - http://www.horrorview.com/Men%20Behind%20the%20Sun.htm

Black Sun the Nanking Massacre (I wrote the extras for this DVD)

official site - www.menbehindthesun.com

[Taverner]

5. True...but most haven't seen or heard of Men Behind the Sun

I saw it, and yes...fucking-a right that was horrifying!

[BigMcLargehuge]

6. as horrifying as it is, it's still one of my favorite films

and I've only managed to watch it one time, and it took two sittings.

[Taverner]

8. I hear you

the scene where the flesh on that guys arms peeled back....... :puke:

Whats scary is all of that was based on real events...

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

46. They're on my "need to import" list (which is quite large)

although frankly I'm not looking forward to the infamous scenes. However, as with films about the Holocaust, I've got a historical interest - particularly as Japanese war crimes haven't really been given much of a treatment in film.

[edbermac]

7. The Sound Of Music...

"The hills are alive with the sound of music..."

The horror, the horror...

[swimboy]

21. I'm sorry, but I have to spank you now.

:spank:

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

That one horrified me as well.

[WeRQ4U]

10. My wife swears that it's "Watcher in the Woods"....

And yes, it's a Disney movie. I haven't seen it yet. Perhpas tonight.....oooowahahahahah!!!!

Actually, I think the scariest movies that I've seen involve religion in some way. That or little kids. Gauge scared the hell out of me in Pet Cemetery.

Chainsaw massacre was pretty bad too considering it was a true story.

[Taverner]

11. Well yes and no on Chainsaw

It was (very loosely) based on Ed Gein. Gein lived up in Wisconsin and would dig up dead bodies and make lampshades, ornaments, clothes, masks, and whatnot out of the bodies. Eventually he got around to killing real people.

The family in TCM was fictional, but some of the things they did wasn't.

BTW...bit of trivia...notice the "mask" Leatherface wears at the dinner table near the end is the face of the girl who was put on a meathook earlier in the movie.

[WeRQ4U]

13. I'll go with "Loosely", lol.

I'll look for that little tidbit the next time.

BTW, I hated the ending. I alwasys thought it was so dumb.

[southlandshari]

14. How could you leave out "The Exorcist"?

[Dukkha]

24. indeed!

EVERYTHING else is a distant second. No arguments!

[redqueen]

29. That'd get my vote as well.

:scared:

[blackcatpgh]

15. texas chainsaw massacre

the soundrack & grainy film, the storyline, the film location(s); i dunno, it just works really well.

[Hobarticus]

16. While a huge Romero "Dead" fan, "Ed Gein" (2001) was the worst

It was truly horrifying, and while it was surely dramatized, there's a sick feeling that you know that this depiction wasn't too far off. This guy really lived.

[TK421]

17. Halloween

[Mutley]

18. Wrong Turn.

Not the best Horror flick ever, but it really creeped me out. I'm kinda scared of West Virginia now. Sorry WV DUers.

[Taverner]

19. It was a good one

Best new horror movie in a while....a breath of fresh air really. That flick and May (both had Jeremy Sisto too) were good.

[SkipNewarkDE]

20. Dawn of the Dead

The original Romero version, not the remake. Better than the original Night of the Living Dead.

[WeRQ4U]

25. So freakin' gorey.

When that biker dude gets eaten in the mall (by the escalator I think) and they break his arms and eat his guts.....that's about as gorey as it gets.

Personally, I loved watching the foreign language Romero film trailors at the beginning of my old video. They were hilarious. I couldn't understand any of them, except that they said "George A. Romero" about 57 times and that the name of the film in Europe was "Zombi".

I think I remember hearing that some of the Gore was taken out and replaced with more dialogue for the European version. Could be wrong though.

EDIT: Because I'm an idiot.

[redqueen]

28. "Zombie" is a Fulci masterpiece, not Romero.

Love that flick!

[jpgray]

30. Zombi was the Italian title of Dawn--Dario Argento helped produce the film

I'd wager the choice of Goblin to score the film was his influence. :o

[redqueen]

32. Whoops!

I know of only one Zombie. Fulci's!

Agreed about Goblin.

[WeRQ4U]

31. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" is referred to as "Zombi" in Europe

One of the original money men for "Dawn of the Dead" was given the rights to release the movie in Europe. He did some editing, took out some gore, and released it there.

Fulci did "Zombie" with "ie" at the end. It was posited as a semi-sequal to Romero's "Zombi" with just an "i" at the end.

[redqueen]

34. Got it.

That explains the Zombie "2" thing. Thanks... now I get it.

[WeRQ4U]

36. No problem.

Those crazy Italians.

You should hear the Italian foreign language trailors and how they pronounce "ZOMBI". It's hilarious.

They say it at least 10 times and it sounds like "Chorch Ahh Rromeroz.....Tsombi"

I guess you have to hear it.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

40. To confuse things futher, Fulci's "Zombie 2" is called

"Zombie Flesh Eaters" over here (and was only passed uncut last month. Previously the eye-meets-splint scene was completely cut).

[Divameow77]

26. Dawn of the Dead

the remake did kind of freak me out, and had some cool people in it, like the yummy Jake Weber.

[jonnyblitz]

22. I love Suspiria and anything by dario argento but i dont think

I could ever pick out the greatest horror movie ever. you are probably right about "before 1968" now that i think of it, too. I do find bela lugosi more amusing than scary, especially after seeing him in ed wood movies and being portrayed in the movie about ed wood with jonny depp.

[Fox Mulder]

23. Other:

Nosferatu.

I don't know why, though. I think it's more of the creepiness of Max Schreck than anything else.

[China_cat]

27. I have to go with NOTLD

because a lot of the zombies are cousins of mine.

[Shakespeare]

33. The Vanishing

If you're not already somewhat claustrophobic, you will be after seeing this movie.

:scared:

[ghostsofgiants]

42. The atmosphere of that whole film is creepy as fuck...

But the ending...gives me chills just thinking about it.

[geniph]

35. Using the criterion: Movies that scared me most

I'd have to go with When a Stranger Calls. Scared the fuck out of me.

The only other movie I can say actually scared me was Them, but that doesn't meet your arbitrary 1968 cutoff.

Oh wait - I forgot one. It's not usually classed as horror, because it's got kind of a sci-fi overlay, but it's a classic horror story, and probably the best of the bunch:

ALIEN.

[Ramsey]

37. Evil Dead!!!!!

It's brilliant! Bruce Campbell, ohmygawd, too funny.

[childslibrarian]

38. Lady in White

Not well known, truly creepy.

[Rowdyboy]

39. I'll probably be the only one to vote for it, but Last House on the Left

is the hands down winner to me.

[GreenInNC]

41. Cars that Eat People

Really bad Australian movie

[Fountain79]

43. 28 Days Later

The first time I saw that movie in the theater I literally was afraid to go to my car.

[tigereye]

44. I disagree with your premise Taverner

Psycho is hardly jejune or cartoonish. Some of the older horror flicks were horrifying for the time as well.

[salin]

45. If criteria = still are reminded from time to time and eeked out...

then I would have to vote "The Birds". From time to time, living in the middle of a migration area, thousands of birds will gather in an area - sitting on all high surfaces, squawlking loudly, and the memory of a movie I probably last saw twenty years ago comes back. And for a second - a shiver down the spine.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

47. Not the greatest, but great to see "May" on the list

One of the best recent horrors IMO and Angela Bettis is fantastic. I'm cautiously anticipating Roman next year.

[khashka]

48. Suspiria

Argento's almost lyrical direction and use of colour and set design counterpointed with scenes like the girl in the attic falling into the razor wire.

And the best soundtrack of any horror film..... the music really gets under your skin.

Or "I Spit On Your Grave". The long drawn out gang rape isn't really scary but it is horrifying. Or where she seduces one of her rapists, castrates him and let's him bleed to death while she listens to music (the only revenge scene that really worked for me).

Khash.

[GreenInNC]

49. * and Pickle's Wedding Video

[elshiva]

50. Dead Alive by Peter Jackson

I still retch at the gore...

[Broken_Hero]

52. i voted other...

I was born and raised on an island in SE Alaska, the ocean was part of my life, and after watching JAWS at the ripe old age of 7, it totally terrified me to death, that movie changed my life. I cannot go into the ocean, or a pool for that matter, without thinking of that damn shark....damn you JAWS!! and what is crazy, it is only rated PG, isn't that a hoot?

[elshiva]

53. Similar story with Stephen King novels and Maine vacations.

My brother read "It" on our way to Maine and I was so afraid something would come out of the toliet in Maine.

To this day: Stephen King=Grrrrrrr!

[Metta]

54. The * administration.

without doubt.

[NMMNG]

55. I'd have to say it's a tie between The Evil Dead and The Gates of Hell

[Merrick]

56. Exorcist?

[lovelaureng]

58. I agree,

it probably should be number one on the list.

[Cult]

57. Peter Jackson's "Dead Alive"

Or "Meet The Feebles". The latter truly horrified me. But, then again, 'Large Marge' in 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure' also screwed me up for many years.

[drhilarius]

59. Halloween...

Oh,let me count the ways...

1. I saw the film when I was ten years old, and it haunts me to this day not only as an effective horror film bu as a beautiful film in general. A sense of dread and creepiness permeates ever scene of the picture. But what really gets me is how I will forever associate october with that film. Those tree lined streets full of leaves being swept by the chilled october air (yes, yes, I know it was actually filmed in April) is precisely what I think of and feel when I hear October/Halloween.

2. This horror film actually trades a low body count for the chance to build actual tension.

3. Pretty much the first modern slasher film and set the tone for that sub-genre.

4. Creepiest mask in a horror film.

5. Creepiest music in a horror film.