I love horror but apparently I don’t vibe with a lot of recommendations I find online.
I’d seen so much hype about Event Horizon and I absolutely hated it and didn’t find it scary. I just watched Late Night With the Devil and whole it was definitely enjoyable, it wasn’t the least but frightening. I also just watched Let the Right One In and really didn’t like it. It also was not a horror movie in my opinion.
I will say one of my favorites is Sinister or the first Conjuring. Sinister for the stomach twisting dread and suspence throughout and Conjuring for the same.
So, what movies do you find to be the scariest?
The original Candyman.
Everything about it is excellent and holds up even now. The musical score is exceptional.
Don’t bother with the reboot. It has a message it’s trying to send, which I get, but they’ve done it to the detriment of the horror. Something could’ve been done with the premise but they fell short.
OG all the way.
This movie is incredible. The moment when the protagonist climbs through the wall and it turns out to be a mural is permanently imprinted in my mind. I don’t know if the pure horror elements work that well, honestly, and I don’t really find it that scary as a result, but it’s a fantastic and unique movie with a bold vision and strong themes.
I don’t consider many horror movies genuinely scary. The ones I have, at various times in my life, been actually in some way frightened (or at least shook) by, in no particular order:
- The Exorcist (The Version You’ve Never Seen)
- Hereditary (a masterpiece in my opinion. Free upvote literally every time I see someone recommend it)
- Blair Witch Project
- Paranormal Activity
- Ouija: Origin of Evil
- It (miniseries got me as a kid but Chapter 1 is good too)
- Lights Out (not the entire movie but it has its moments and overall a good style)
- Candyman (original)
- Poltergeist (original)
- Autopsy of Jane Doe (another poster reminded me of this one!)
- The Taking of Deborah Logan (for like one scene but IYKYK)
- The Dark and the Wicked
- The Orphanage
- Terrified and When Evil Lurks were both solidly unsettling at least
- Event Horizon (though I know you didn’t like this one)
- Conjuring 1-2 and Sinister too, all at least solid spookies.
Note that this does not mean these are the only GOOD horror movies. There are LOTS that I consider masterpieces that just aren’t strictly all that scary.
Can I ask what scared you about The Exorcist? Assuming you watched it as an adult and are not highly religious; otherwise I get it. I watched it for the first time a few years ago after seeing it regularly called one of the scariest movies of all time – maybe my expectations were too high but I found it almost comical.
I saw it when I was in my early twenties and I’d never seen it before. But tons of pop culture had made jokes of everything in the movie and I expected it to just be a laugh.
The film did such a good job developing dread and helplessness that I forgot all about the jokes.
Tap for spoiler
Plus the spider walk scene hits you in the face like a hatchet.
Blair Witch
spoilers
I’m glad I knew the ending was disappointing before going in.
It hit on a very specific fear of mine that I have difficulty putting into words. The fear of developing a fear or maybe the fear of becoming superstitious?
It’s an interesting movie. In a lot of ways it’s annoying or underwhelming and not much actually happens, but I actually loved the ending.
Tap for spoiler
The way the entire film, from the lore that was set up in the early interviews, was all brought together instantly in a single iconic five-second shot blew me away. It stuck with me for a long time.
Oh I agree that they’re not the only good horror movies, there are so many out there that are good in other ways and many of which I absolutely love. But I’m really just looking for that something to keep the lights on at night, lol.
Thanks for the list! There are a few I haven’t seen in there, I’ll give them a try :)
I’d love to hear your thoughts on anything new you try! Or if you have opinions on items in my list, even.
- The Exorcist (The Version You’ve Never Seen)
I’ve never seen this version? But I have read the book and eugh. It’s horrible in a sort of losing bodily autonomy way.
- Hereditary (a masterpiece in my opinion. Free upvote literally every time I see someone recommend it)
This one sat with me for a long time and I swore immediately after watching it that I would never watch it again. And now I absolutely love it. There are a few bright moments that really freak me out, but the tension and build up is so good. Chef’s kiss to this one.
- Blair Witch Project
Haven’t seen!
- Paranormal Activity
One of my favorites! I know this one gets dragged for being campy(??), but I think the original did an excellent job of building suspense and dread.
- Ouija: Origin of Evil
Mike Flanagan is one of my favorites and this one is a lot of fun. Not as high in my list as others, but still a good time.
- It (miniseries got me as a kid but Chapter 1 is good too)
I need to rewatch the miniseries, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the more recent movies. I think the actors were all great (especially for Pennywise), but it felt like it was trying too hard? Pt 2 seemed to realize they’d never match the book and it ended up being more funny than anything.
- Lights Out (not the entire movie but it has its moments and overall a good style)
- Candyman (original)
- Poltergeist (original)
- Autopsy of Jane Doe (another poster reminded me of this one!)
- The Taking of Deborah Logan (for like one scene but IYKYK)
- The Dark and the Wicked
- The Orphanage
- Terrified and When Evil Lurks were both solidly unsettling at least
These are all being added to my list!
- Event Horizon (though I know you didn’t like this one)
Bleh. Lol
- Conjuring 1-2 and Sinister too, all at least solid spookies.
Love these movies. I would add the first half of Insidious as well.
As for my list - I’ll throw that in a separate comment soon enough :D
I am too lazy to change the formatting, but those are my notes on the movies I’ve seen this summer… some of them I remember better than others, and I’ve definitely forgotten to include quite a few on here.
[V] Late night with the devil - 7/10 Fun, unique
[V] Barbarian 5/10 - Ew, asshole characters
[V] Talk to me 7/10 - unique, uncomfortable
[V] Hell House LLC 7/10 - fun, scary
[V] Smile 7/10 - didn’t need the ending, excited for the sequel
[V] The menu 9/10 - dread, uncomfortable
[V] Anna and the apocalypse 7/10 - fun! Sad!
[V] The descent 6/10 - strong people, ew
[V] Event horizon 0/10 - ew, ew
[V] Train to busan 10/10 - terrifying, great characters
[V] Underwater 7.5/10 - claustrophobic, unique
[V] The cleansing hour 7/10 - unique, funny
[V] Sputnik 5/10 - ((can’t remember))
[V] Freaky 6.5/10 - funny
[V] Longlegs - undecided. But maybe 8/10? Dreadful
I just recently watched Saltburn. Truly and genuinely disturbing. It’s a psychological thriller. If you’re not into that, well…
can recommend Coherence
I absolutely love horror movies and have a long list of fantastic ones but not very many of them actually scared me. Most of them have been named already but two I didn’t see were The Babadook (2014) and surprisingly a Netflix movie called His House (2020) was actually awesome. One of my favorites in the last few years.
Yeah I actually think that my favorite horror movies are the ones that get me asking questions, rather than being scared. I like being intrigued by the evil, like in Smile (until the twist at the end, it was a perfectly good psychological horror that did not need a monster)
