To get into the spirit
Halloween is quickly approaching and of course to get into the spirit of things you have to watch at least one scary movie right? Well, here are ten movies I think are pretty scary, in no particular order. And no, you won’t find anything really gory on this list since I don’t do gore. I love good suspense though.
What lies beneath - I saw this movie on TV and I haven’t brought myself to watch it again. Not because it wasn’t good. It is so very creepy, definitely the kind of movie that will give you nightmares.
The Sixth Sense - The whole mood of this movie is dark and ominous. And more unsettling than the twist ending itself, I think is the skewed concept of what life after death is like according to this movie.
The Others - Another heavily foreboding atmosphere pervades the whole of this movie. Even before you know anything spooky is happening you feel like you’re in a haunted house. And some of the scares in this movie were fantastic!
Psycho - There is a reason this movie is on most Top 10 scary movie lists. If it’s gory, I can’t tell you because I’ve always closed my eyes when the trademark musical score begins sounding.
The Birds - I saw this for the first time just this week and was very surprised at how realistic everything looked. And yeah, I was squirming in my seat wondering what would happen next.
Labyrinth - Not necessarily scary (well, unless you consider David Bowie in tights with little left to the imagination, scary) but very Halloweenish, filled with goblins and ghouls and other crazy creatures. This is one of my favorites for any time.
Tremors - I first saw this as a kid and I still think it’s crazy, yucky, scary fun.
Signs - Wonderfully suspenseful, funny and touching all at the same time. The musical score gives me the shivers every time the movie starts. This definitely had me on the edge of my seat.
Rebecca - A fantastic old film with Laurence Olivier, a surprising twist and a psychotic maid. This is another all time favorite to watch any time of year.
Rear Window - How is it that Hitchcock is so good? I really appreciate his type of scare tactics. He doesn’t need to use ominous music or gore in order to have you ready to leap out of your seat with fright.
So, what are your favorite scary movies?
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I just can’t handle scary movies. I’ve seen a lot of those and of them all, Labyrinth is the only one I can handle perfectly well. It’s one of my faves. I thoroughly enjoyed The Others and it kept me thinking for days… it didn’t bother me too bad, but sometimes the idea of it freaks me a bit. This is the worst time of year for me, everyone inviting me to watch horrible, horrible things. Why am I tempted year after year? The images stay with me for decades.
Good choices. I don’t like the really freaky Amitycille / Chuckie type stuff, but I do like the type of suspense you have here. I would add the ORIGINAL Stepford Wives. If you saw the new one but not the old one and think it must be the same, they are extremely different. The original is a true thriller, of a feminist nature. The Nicole Kidman one was an absolute travesty.
I have been wanting to see the Stepford wives so I’ll be sure to add the old one to my netflix queue.
I’m’ not a scary movie person. Carrie and Friday the 13th part one about freaked me out as a teenager.
But, aside from “Psycho,” the best suspense movie I’ve seen is “Wait Until Dark” with Audrey Hepburn and Ephraim Zimablist, Jr. No gore, just suspenseful terror!
The first time we watched “Signs” it freaked my hubby out. You see, he was working on a farm that year… a farm that had acres and acres of corn….
Great list. Candyman…. freaks me out…not sure it is a favorite…but it is SCARY!!!!
Silence of the Lambs….eeekkkkk
i haaate scary movies. can’t sleep for weeks if i watch one. but i did like rear window. i like the old psychological thrillers.
If you like Hitchcock (and I definitely do), Strangers on a Train is fabulous. And so is North by Northwest. They’re not necessarily scary movies, but they are good, solid, suspenseful Hitchcock movies.
I’m with Holly, Wait Until Dark is a great movie. The first time I saw it was outside with a sheet for a screen. Good scary fun!
OK, so I was a film major and so am a sucker for movies! The twist is, I HATE scary movies! I have to pat you on the back though for picking some movies that aren’t too scary and more thriller-like. I’ve seen most of them, and also highly recommend them for the I-want-a-little-scare-but-not-really type of film goer. (PS, I love having a Wii!)
Good list! There’s one or two I haven’t seen, but the others are favs of mine. Nice!
I’ve seen all of those except the others, and Rebecca, although I read the book.
Poltergeist would have to be the scariest movie I’ve ever seen.
I was going to say “Wait Until Dark” but someone beat me to it… oh my gosh, It gets me every time!!! I don’t like Halloween when it gets scary and evil and dark and stuff. I stay away from that… which is why I loved this movie.
I’m with you McKenna, I can’t do scary movies, either. Not even old ones. I watched the 1963 version of The Haunting last halloween with Loni, and it STILL freaks me out when I think of getting up at night.
Oh, and yes, I owe all my “popularity” to you, my friend. :D
I think the last scary movie I watched was The Blair Witch Project. (haha!)
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These are my kind of scarey. I can’t do Freddie or chainsaws or other ridiculous gratuitous horror gore.
Rosemary’s Baby and Trilogy Of Terror are great classics.
Marissa and I like to watch Signs and The Sixth Sense.
We also like to watch Johnny Depp as Icabod Crane, and I don’t remember the name of the movie, but he’s an inspector after Jack the Ripper.
Other than that I like scary movies, not gory ones.
It started with Amazon. Once I found I could get recommendations based on my interests (loosely… see Amazon specific review below) I became quite the “movie rater”, rating what I had seen just to see what else would come up. Then I found much more devoted websites, my favorite of which is MovieLens because of the community. Now I’ve been with several rating sites for quite a while, and they’ve all had time to delve into my interests.
I think the scariest movie I have seen, that I had nightmares for three consecutive nights, is Devil’ Advocate by Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino.
It has been a long time since I saw it, but I remember “Three Days of the Condor” as being suspenseful.