A lot of you know about my obsession for all things dark and macabre. So it comes as no surprise that I really, really enjoy a good horror flick.
Over the past couple of years, I've sort of made it my personal mission to find the scariest movie ever made. About two years ago, my brother and I actually sat down and watched about a thousand hours of film in this quest. And you know what?
The more movies I watched, the less scared I became.
I've sat through countless hours of stabbings, disembowelments, freakish monster rapes, eye-gouging, brain eatings and a lot of limbs being hacked off with piano wires and I have to say, nothing really shocks me anymore.
It's kind of eerie, this desensitization, and perhaps that's the most frightening thing of all.
The way I look at it there are three different kinds of scary: there is the visually graphic, gory, special effects kind of scary (i.e. House of 1,000 Corpses, Hellraiser), then there is the element of surprise scary (i.e. The Ring, The Grudge), then the psychologically disturbing scary (Last House on the Left, Audition).
What I am in search of is a movie that has a subtle mix of all three. Something so scary you feel the urge to leave right in the middle, or so scary that you have trouble separating the movie from reality--trouble seeing past the fact that "it's just a movie". And I'm not interested in snuff films or anything of that nature. Just pure, dark creativity.
What I'm looking for is a controlled thrill, a playground for my fears. If I could bottle the way it felt watching Nightmare on Elm Street for the first time at 10 years old huddled under a blanket on my parent's couch, breath scared right out of my lungs, palms sweating, riveted....I would patent that shit and sell it as a drug.
Because it sure is addictive.
That dark underbelly of things. Unchartered fear.
And you can be sure if there is an unexplored, poorly lit hallway, I'm going down it.
So now, a few of my favorites.
The Eye
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)
Un Chien andalou
The Thing (remake)
In Cold Blood
Ôdishon (Audition)
Poltergeist
Young Poisoner's Handbook
Last House on the Left
In the Mouth of Madness
Jacob's Ladder
Jaws
The Exorcist
The Ring
Suspiria
When A Stranger Calls (original)
Spoorloos (The Vanishing)
The Descent
A Clockwork Orange
Happy scaring!
June 2018
6 years ago
6 comments:
great list... a lot of them are my faves, too.
a clockwork orange, o.g. tx chainsaw, the exorcist all scare the shit outta me.
happy halloween!
LOVE the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. That scared the living shit out of little Peter back in the day.
I just realized that I have a horror movie channel on my satellite dish. So tonight I am going to do some viewing.
Have you ever seen any Dario Argento films? A old buddy of mine swears by them. Years ago he sent me ten on VHS. I still haven't watched any...
I love a good scary movie. It is harder and harder to find a good one, though. Thanks for the list. I'll be checking them out.
I remember watching Nightmare on Elm Street and being scared for a long time after. That was good stuff!!
Last night, I watched Halloween 5. It's just not the same.
asian scary movies, be it they japanese or hong kong, are hella scarier to me than the hollywood films....dunno why.
Still can't watch the Shining!
I like all of these. I would definitely add John Carpenter's "The Fog" to the list. I still get creeped out when a fog rolls in wondering 'what if...'
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