Saber Forum

Who doesn't love a good horror movie? Well, a lot of people. However, horror movies are loved by many people and I thought it would be great to start a horror movie thread, a place to discuss any of the following:

great horror movies
bad horror movies
classic horror movies
modern horror movies
post favourite movie scenes
discuss directors, great dialogue, bad dialogue, horror movie cliches....

The only rule is that any posts should be restricted to the horror movie genre (with occasional tv show mentions).

To get us started, here is a great video from YouTube movie reviewer Chris Stuckmann discussing the problem with modern horror movies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz6KOsePEHs

In the last 10 years my two favorite horror films are: "The Cabin in the Woods" and "Tusk."

I can't wait for Kevin Smith to finish "Moosejaws."

I quite like "Tale of Tales", I feel it's a very unique fantasy/horror blend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3hVmpGzl7A




"The Cabin in the Woods" is definitely one of my favorites. Also very different! As far as POV horror movies go, I like REC and VHS.

i loved Cabin in the Woods. it did for horror movies the same thing Scream did in 1996. And THAT was a great movie too - Scream. especially the opening scene with Drew Barrymore.

I saw Quarantine before I saw Rec (the former made me discover the latter). Loved them both.

I also love classics like The Fly (both versions, but prefer BrundelFy), Candyman, Jaws and of course An American Werewolf in London.

Good modern ones are harder to find in my opinion, but I loved 28 Days Later and it's sequel, Shaun of the Dead, Nightwatch, Daywatch

I first watched "Scream" through a crack in the door. My sister had the movie rented for her birthday and you would think as a budding adolescent male that I would be more interested in ogling her friends, but no, I wanted to see what movie this was that I was told I wasn't allowed to watch. For an introduction to horror films, a deconstruction of the genre, directed by one of the genre's best could not have been more perfect.

Shaun of the Dead, however, is 100% perfection. It came into my life much the same way it came onto the horror scene, which is to say, unexpectedly. The DVD came in a double pack with Zack Snyder's "Dawn of the Dead," and it sat on my desk for probably at least a month before I uncovered that diamond.  :D

I must also praise "House of 1000 Corpses." It is not a film that I would watch more than once a year, but it is the first film my wife and I, as teenagers, ever watched together. As oxymoronic as it may sound, horror has brought more joy to my life than I could've ever imagined.

I always liked Darkness Falls. Probably the most underrated horror movie of the last twenty years.

Great movie, Darkness Falls is the reason why I turn the on the light in the hallway before I leave the room.

I've been watching horror movies since I was about 10 years old. yes, when i was younger, they occasionally gave me nightmares, but i loved the actual films. i even read up on classic movies and read books by h g wells and edgar allen poe before moving onot dean koontz, james herbert, and of course, stephen king when i hit my teens. being a fan of RPG games helped to as there was vampires and werewolves, orcs and goblins, dragons and giant snakes (long before game of thrones and the like).

Unfortunately, my standards are very high when it comes to horror movies. I don't think i have been scared by one since i was 15 years old. However, i have altered my expectation from being scared to being entertained. I have very little time for cliches, lazy writing or plot conveniences that point to a lack of imagination. The problem is, most studios have realised you can make a movie cheaply (for $10 million say) and it will make $125 million at the box office. that's a good return. however, they are not so concerned as to whether the movie is good or not.

That being said though, you can get really creative with low budgets. Has anyone ever seen "Teeth"? Really enjoyed that movie.

Also, check out the two horror shorts on these threads:

http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=29995.0

http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=29927.0

80's slasher movies

And this of course!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjD42P7BAaA

Just found this little gem

http://media.giphy.com/media/AxVvkceIgh4XNn2K9q/giphy.gif

I'm a late Scream fan, first one I saw was Scream 4, wanted to be Ghostface for Halloween a few years later/for parties/possible conventions. Love the Insidious series. Go back even further me and a buddy always watched the older Halloween movies every Halloween. I also love Darkness Falls, the first GOOD Boogeyman, Both versions of The Grudge movies, definitely Shaun Of The Dead :P Few others I like but can't think of the names at the moment. I've been wanting to make an Insidious fan film for almost a year now. I have ideas so. Its a tradition of me and my brother's to go see the movies now. Though we started on the 2nd one because we never thought anything of the Insidious movies. I just love James take on horror/ghost story type movies. I think that's his name that directed the movies? I'm good on anything horror/stress related for awhile after The Walking Dead finale tonight x.x I do like the Dawn Of The Dead movies though but never saw the old one yet. I know kind of way off but still, my mom never really let me get into horror movies at a young age but oh well

A couple trailers for horror movies played before "Hardcore Henry" and they were both really effective to me.

Lights Out and Bye Bye Man. I would post the trailers, but they seemed a little too much for the forum, so hit up YouTube to view them.

Dude... Lights Out has already been posted here...

http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=29927.0

Thanks for that...You'll have to forgive me for missing a 2 week old thread I never saw to being with....


Now that someone else has hopped in here, have you seen any good horror films recently?

Does Batman v Superman count?  :P


Seriously, though... I powered through all four [REC] film recently as well as Grave Encounters 1 & 2.

Good stuff.

Grave Encounters is one of those types that gets you thinking like if stuff like that could really happen. I recently watched a real life style movie on the Brown Mountain alien stuff and that was pretty creepy. I believe in ufos and stuff though so. Just the kids point of view from being abducted then sent back down to earth was way creepy x.x

I just watched " The Gallows" and the "Poltergeist" remake.

The Gallows had a great idea, but ultimately wasn't exactly sure how to execute it. (Pun intended  ;))

Poltergeist on the other hand did know how to use its material. However, I never found the first to be all that scary and neither is this one. It works better as a supernatural drama, than it does a horror movie.

I just watched Skinwalker Ranch (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2881698) (or Skinwalkers, as it was named when released on Blu-Ray).

I went in expecting a standard found footage flick. You know... jump scares, shaky cam, poorly defined evil, but I gotta say, I was very surprised by how high quality this movie seemed.

Unlike most found footage films, where you spend the first hour or so bored out of your skull waiting for the action to start, this ones gets you right out of the gate with the story of what led to the people coming out. Excellently paced with great acting all the way around, I was never bored and, truthfully, I didn't realize that I had already watched the entire film until the final scene was taking place. Not once did I really want to reach through the screen and strangle one of the hapless people, which is really saying something.

Overall, it was an enjoyable hour and twenty minutes of time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgdxIlSuB70



Sounds like something worth checking out. Is it worth buying or renting?

It's at that point where you probably want to rent it first to determine whether or not you want to buy it.

meh. Cliched I know, but Jaws did it first and did it best.

(http://i.imgur.com/G8EgoPZ.gif)

I hate you, Jev....

Be thankful it was just a GIF and not the video... Those sounds she makes... *shudder*

Actually, speaking of sound, while it's not a horror movie, the sounds made by the clickers in The Last of Us are really unnerving and really help add tension and a creep factor to lots of the scenes in the game.

Jev, I feel like I should recognize that .gif, but I'm drawing a blank.  What's it from?

The criminally underrated, Darkness Falls. :)

Darkness Falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
And grissly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom....

+1 for the Thriller reference.  :D

Which is fantastic to bring up in the Horror Movie thread, because while it's not a full on movie, it was effectively scary.

i remember watching it on tv when it first came out. it was a worldwide premiere and I was allowed to stay up specially so I could see it. Loved it (as I've always loved werewolves) but the only part that scared me (as a kid) was all the zombies breaking into the house towards the end. but, i'm not surprised at how good it was. Michael Jackson was so impressed with the transformation in An American Werewolf in London he contacted John Landis to get him to direct the video (or mini-movie which is what it actually is)

PS - thank you for the point

So what was it about An American Werewolf in London that captured your imagination? Was it the transformation? Or the film as a whole?

As a kid, the transformation and the gore.
As a teenager, Jenny Agutter (the nurse) and the humour (and the gore)
As an adult, it is just a masterpiece of filmmaking: The first movie to combine humour and horror in the same movie. The first movie to the the bathroom mirror reveal trick. To this day, still the best transformation from man to werewolf ever (and I defy anyone to try and compare it to The Howling, which is good, but not amazing. Rick Baker did such a good job in AAWIL that they created a new category at the oscars). The use of music that have moon in the title or lyrics. The victims coming back to haunt David. So many great quotable lines.

But apart from all that, it's just okay! lol :D ;D ;

The very first Paranormal Activity freaked me out. Had trouble sleeping for about 2 weeks cuz the place lived in at that time, I believe, had a spirit in there. My son would tell us of a "man" who would talk to him. He was 2-3 at the time. I'd wake up in a subconscious where a black shadow would spread through the room and despite my efforts, no one could here me. So yeah, it struck pretty hard. Other than that, meh!

Fire in the Sky was chilling, purely for its camera angles when he's being abducted. Oh hell no! Never watched it again. I've even forgot what the story was about, just jacked me up

Fun fact: It was based on a true story.

I think I remember it saying at the end of the film that they were all screened, or tested in some way, and they were shown to not be lying. Was that correct? I'll Google it too

Via wikipedia, they were subjected to further polygraphs, which they passed, corroborating their innocence...
Yikes!

I don't think I've seen "Darkness Falls."  I'm watching it right now.  I'll let you guys know if it freaked me out.  ;)

ETA:  So far, it's really not doing it for me.   I'm about 30 minutes in and it's not grabbing me.

Guys, it just didn't do it for me.  I wasn't into it and it definitely didn't scare me.  However, I can see how it WOULD scare people.   Just not me. 

who's in it?

Chaney Kley and Emma Caulfield

Something that may be of interest to you folks
http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=31546.new#new

So, this isn't exactly horror, but I consider it horrifying, so I'll ask about it here.

What's your favorite alien abduction movie?  Is there one in particular that scared the crap out of you?  I've seen quite a few and "Fire in the Sky" freaked me out pretty good.   "Dark Skies" was also fairly creepy. 

Any other suggestions?

Dark Skies was pretty good, but The Fourth Kind was really quite unnerving.

True, it was

I modified your post so that the movie isn't spoiled for those that might be interested in checking it out.

Except that because you quoted him, I saw it anyway lol. (The spoiler doesn't matter to me, though.  I'd still watch it!)

Rats!

It stars Milla Jovovich, what's not to like.  ;D

Well, I mentioned Skinwalker Ranch (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2881698) in another post, so I won't rehash it. Suffice it to say that it was a pretty damned good found footage film.

Extraterrestrial (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2960930) - Part found footage, part traditional camera work. The trailer makes the dialogue seem stupid, but it's actually better than that.

Alien Abduction (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2510434/) - Found footage movie, but quite good. Probably the only found footage movie that actually explains why the person filming doesn't ever turn the camera off: He's an autistic kid and the camera is his coping mechanism.

Area 51 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1519461/) - A nice found footage film about a group of people who manage to break into the infamous Area 51. Predictably, all hell breaks loose. Still a good movie, though.

Hangar 10 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3245656) - Similar to Area 51, this one takes place in England and involved the Rendelsham Forest Incident, which has often been described as "Britain's Roswell."

Alien/Extraterrestrial films do it for me. Hell, Signs spooked me the first few times. It's the found footage stuff! Feels authentic. Paranormal films too. It can happen, it's not too far off from reality. Jason, Myers, just thrillers, no lingering, thoughtful fear. Buffalo Bill, from silence of the lambs, that dude scares me, cuz you know there's sick mofos out there like that!!

Alien abduction movie - Can't think of any ones that I found scary. All the movies I have seen that I found scary as a kid are the classics (Carpenter's The Thing, Alien). Would Event Horizon count?

I just got finished watching another alien movie called The Phoenix Incident (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4341532/), a half found footage film/half documentary which was based on the actual Phoenix Lights Incident (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Lights) from 1997.

While not the best movie I've ever seen, it does go in a rather unique direction and had a very quiet viral marketing campaign behind it in the form of an official-looking missing person's website and a faked episode of a true crime show.

As I said, it wasn't the best movie, but it was rather enjoyable because of its uniqueness.

Like so many other's Horror movies can at times be somewhat amusing at times, and not scary , i like the Creepy ones, Darkness Falls thats creepy, and perhaps not scary But  the first Horror depicted movie i ever saw with a Girl was  ' A Nightmare on Elm street - 1984, she didn't want to go to sleep after that lol.
                       But i'm going to throw into the ring " Hellraiser' '87 i believe , any movie where your flesh gets torn off for pleasure is out there, my Cult Classic pick is for  Script is ' Evil dead' Army of  Darkness" Go Bruce Campbell !

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437857)

This movie starts out as a documentary-style film where some graduate students meet and interview Leslie Vernon as he prepares for his big night, the night he makes his mark as a slasher-type bad guy. It ends in a standard movie style of filming. The movie is notable for having numerous references to some of the great slasher films of the late 70's and 1980s (a Lament configuration puzzle box is seen sitting on someone's table, Zelda Rubenstein, Robert Englund, and Kane Hodder all have roles (the latter of which apparently lives at 1428 Elm Street), the Rabbit In Red Lounge is in the movie (a reference to Halloween), and numerous other mentions and Easter Eggs) as well as heavily implying that all the slasher movies take place in the same universe, a notion stated on a small scale in Freddy vs Jason and more broadly hinted at in Cabin in the Woods.

Now there is a movie that went under the radar, but surely deserves all of the praise it can get.

Psycho killer
Qu'est que see'est
Fa-fa-far better
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, away

LOVE Hellraiser. I think movies like that, Candyman. Elm Street etc probably won't ever reach the same heights as they did before. I think the kind of stuff that James Waan is doing is redefining the genre and making studios take it seriously once more. Even though I don't find the movies scary, I can see why others do. When they are done well I really enjoy them, especially when they avoid the more overdone cliches, or use a cliche well.

I keep watching the Lights Out trailer and as I said before, it is my most anticipated horror movie in many many years

I just watched "Drag Me to Hell" and it wasn't too bad.   I kind of felt like they stole half of it from "Thinner," which made the end entirely predictable, but it had some moments that made me go, "oh SHI-----!"  just for the jump factor. 

I liked the movie. However, the seance scene made ma laugh from the sheer ludicrousness. Raimi really brought the Army of Darkness vibe with that scene.

Oh hell no! I saw the trailer for Lights Out as well, and nope! I'm not watching that! I go through that whole lights out, walking into dark rooms with little light, too much, everyday. It'll play with my mind too much. No, no...no!

I remember really enjoying the movie. Had some really effective moments of suspense. I've got it on DVD but haven't seen it in years. Might rewatch it soon.

oh come on! That's the perfect reason to watch the movie

Did you avoid the woods after watching The Blair Witch Project?

I know I did... At least at night, anyway. Then again, I saw it at midnight on opening night back in 1999, before spoilers went crazy.

Still don't understand the hate that movie gets, though. It's minimalist, it's highly effective, and it's quite well done. I guess everyone got pissy because they got duped into believing the story was real.

i found it funny, not scary. but it's not an awful movie at all. it's actually well made.

I didn't freak out initially with Blair witch, cuz I had already been on ghost trails camping, I did enjoy it, however. Yeah, alot of despise for that film, which in hindsight, gave horror movies a new platform with the "found footage" cinematography.. so, if anything, great job with that.

And still, nope, nope, nope to lights out..  I value my 3-4 hours of sleep too much to lose any of them on that film. We had my niece stay with us when she was maybe 3, and her mom never combs her hair. She had a habit for just waking you up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, so I woke up to her shadow, standing at my bedside, with her hair all ratted.. freak me the F out! I told her mom and she said "yup..she does that".. a little warning next time!
So when I see that image in the Lights Out trailer, it's kinda funny, but ultimately, frightening. It's not just standing there like a mannequin either, it's like a freaking leprechaun! I'll stick to inside out, the animated film

have you seen the original lights out short?

I wasn't aware there was one. Crap.. I'll give it a shot, but if can't sleep tonight, theres only so much fapping one can do to get my mind off things

Well, it's in the Lights Out thread.

Also, ew.

http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=29927.0

I saw it about 20 mins ago... maybe, I'll be okay watching it, but my boys watching it, that's a for sure no.. that thing is nasty!

how old are they?
i used to watch horror movies when i was 8 and i turned out absolutely fine (because none of my victims have ever been found! mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!!!! :D :D :D)

Haha!! 9 going on 10, and 4 going on 5. The little one is fearless, but my eldest is the scared one, since he was young. I mentioned a few days ago that he sed he used to talk about "a man" at our old place, so the dark scares him. My little one will wake us up to tell us his older brother is scared in the room. He's even going to therapy for his fears/seeing things in the dark

I thought it was a joke when they labeled it "horror."  It was an interesting concept for a movie, I have to admit.  However, watching all that camera jiggling and such made it pretty much impossible for me to immerse myself in it and about half-way through, I got a headache from all the screen-tilting and shaking nonsense.  At that point, my interest plummeted and the whole thing became an annoyance.  I really don't like "found footage" movies at all.  It's like when someone switches perspective in a book too many times.  Just not my thing at all and if I see the words "found footage," it's almost a guaranteed "no watch" for me.


I actually had a rather colorful dream thanks to it.  Some would say I had a nightmare, but since it didn't scare me and instead gave a chance to a demon slayer with a really cool sword, I'd hardly classify it as a nightmare.   :D


Yeah, especially with the goat.  I started cackling like a lunatic!  The grave scene was also funny to me, especially when she got whacked on the head with a cross monument.

Or the dancing in the air. I have expected the Lamia to start singing "Little goodie two shoes!" over and over.

The end was also pretty stupid.  It seemed like they couldn't figure out what to do with it so they just did  . . . that?  Okay, then.  Very meh.

I don't know... I liked the ending. I mean, they flat out showed that you couldn't get rid of the talisman, so her attempts to do so were futile. The idea of just giving it away to someone else was suggested by the medium, but the demon flat out says that it will never stop until she was dead. It kept its promise and she was taken to Hell.

JEV.  Put that crap under a spoiler!   ::)  Have you no sense of decency?!?

I was talking about the actual scene they chose to portray it.  As in the actual scenario and then, the HUGE words on the screen.  I didn't like that.  I realize the ending was meant to be abrupt, but I didn't like the scene they used.  It seemed like they just wanted it over and done so they crammed it all into 10 seconds.  Didn't do it for me.

can we all agree that the old gypsy woman was very creepy and unnerving?

I think so. Gypsies have this "don't care about society, I'mma gonna live my life like I want" mentality. It goes against societal norms, so yes it's odd. Add in the fact that she very vocally put a curse on someone, and the weird factor goes up.


Nope. No sense of decency at all.

Seriously, though, it's a seven year old movie. I could understand a spoiler tag if it came out this year or even last year, but 2009 was a while ago.


Eh, to each their own.

i was thinking just the character herself, not gypsies as a group. But I understand the points you make.

Well, the fact that she looked like she hadn't bathed in a while certainly didn't help.

The old lady was my favorite part of the movie!  They did a very good job of making her absolutely cringe-worthy, yet somehow pitiable?  Again, I think they borrowed a lot from "Thinner" in this movie, but that's probably why I liked it. 

Personally, I would have liked to have seen the old lady drag the main character to hell in the end myself just to really stick it to her.  The whole train tracks and hands thing just didn't do it for me.  I did, however, like the image of her boyfriend holding out the "token" at the end. 

the emotion when she was pleading with the bank teller. so great. you really feel for her desperation.

i may have to rewatch the movie soon. maybe this weekend.

My introduction to horror was Salems Lot, I was just only 5 or 6, it was over 2 nights & we went to my nans to watch it. Scared the living crap outta me but i loved it so much, still do. The remake with Rob Lowe is fantastic as well.

I reckon one of the most truly terrifying films ever, maybe #1, is Alien 3. It copped a lot of flack but the setting & atmosphere are 2nd to none. Knowing you have no where to go, no help coming, no way to stop whatever it is that's picking off people one by one, depressingly scary stuff.

what is your opinion of the first two alien movies? I understand your comments, but in terms of the claustrophobic horror elements, Alien did it better than the third and Aliens ramped it up with having multiple aliens attacking while simultaneously giving a false sense of security with the marines, but also preserving the sense of isolation as the settlement on the planet is so far away from receiving help or rescue.

All 3 serve hefty doses of claustrophobic helplessness, it's just how dreary the prison setting is that made it all the more intense for me. With Aliens, at least they all knew they were heading into something nasty, fully armed, but as you say they weren't as prepared as they thought they were.

Is it my favorite?  I don't know tbh, it's probably a 3 way tie.

Youtube movie critic John Campea reviews the theatrical version of Lights Out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQv_tPpV874

A selection of short horror films, including one by the people who brought us Lights Out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIFkut11Xpc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwp4NjBybVc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrTtgOkA8Zw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEJEbHF3Ux8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6flB0XvmTo

And a couple more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV8UnfFmD-Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9jd6lyGvMI

This looks interesting. But i have been burned by Shymalan before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84TouqfIsiI