Your favorite horror movie is...?

"The Abominable Dr. Phibes"--I don't think there would have been any "Saw" movies without Dr. Phibes laying out some of the foundational elements.
Todd Browning's "Freaks"--maybe not true horror but certainly an honorable mention.
I do like some of the "Killjoy" & "Puppetmaster" series from Full Moon Features.
Although already mentioned, ya' gotta' love some "Killer Klowns From Outer Space". Plus it was filmed near where I live.
Another semi-horror flick "The Lost Boys" also filmed near where I live so this one's a bit sentimental.
And "The Tripper" yet another one filmed near where I live and I knew some people who managed to get in as extras so again kind of sentimental.
 
Wow, how could I forget An American Werewolf in London ('81) as a hoot (John Landis, Director)
and The Howling for the terror !
 
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I don’t really care for horror movies. That said John Carpenter’s version of The Thing is my hands down favorite. It’s a perfect blueprint for how a suspenseful horror film should be made.

Honorable mention goes to The Ring for a very personal reason. My dad, in true old person fashion was unwilling to give up his console TV with the wood cabinet. I can’t remember if he was still searching for a replacement or was trying to find someone to fix it, but in the interim he had bought a really crappy small portable set to tide him over. Once he had a big TV again I moved the little one into my old bedroom to have something to watch when I stayed over. This TV was pretty junky and had all sorts of issues. This is an important part of the story.

For those of you who don’t remember the central plot point of The Ring was a videotape. Spoiler alert. When you watched it your phone would ring and a voice on the other end would say “You have seven days.” Seven days later your TV would switch itself on and a creepy girl would crawl out of the static and murder you. Maybe a month or so after seeing the movie I was asleep in my old bedroom. Sometime around 3am I was jolted awake when that TV switched itself on to a screen of blaring static. I’m pretty sure some poo escaped…
turns out "The Thing" is Stephen Colbert's "comfort movie" it's what he puts on anytime he's sick, or just "down"

First time I saw "the Ring"...you know the part of the tape, where you just see a Ladder, leaning against a wall?
ringwallladder.webp

the Wall of the Theater i was in, lined up PERFECTLY. same apparent color, pattern. everything lined up so that it looked like the wall just continued out of the screen...
slightly creepy.
 
Nosferatu (1922) man it gives me the chills every time lol.

Then the ones that everyone laughs at me for is Paranormal Activity 1-6 haven’t seen the two newer ones yet. But I love movies like that. And to me they are actually quite spooky haha. Give me the chills in most parts.
Max Schreck. Nomen est omen. Willem Dafoe is going to play Nosferatu soon. The movie will be a Christmas 2024 release. 🤣

Have you seen M from 1931? Peter Lorre is fantastic in this thriller about a serial child murderer. As creepy a performance as it gets.
 
The Shining is one of my favorites. Not sure if the Frankenstein movies from the 1930's count here, but I always enjoyed them along with The Mummy, and a little later on The Wolfman.
 
Old school pick: The Birds. How about Duel, Steven Spielberg's first film?
I like those as "suspense" movies. Duel was a good thriller. The fear was increased since you couldn't see the truck driver, as I recall. I think Spielberg actually wrote it but am not sure.

My first favorite is "The Haunting of Hill House", circa 1963 version not the later one. I was about 12 at the time, watching on a black and white TV, and later learned the movie was black and white. Still scared the heck out of me.

To me the movie is very Hitchcockian in that you see little but your imagination does the rest. The special effects of a "cold spot" and the bulging door are terrific, especially considering when it was made. No blood, no guts but when it comes on cable as it did earlier this month I record it...and may or may not watch it :o)

Oh, and don't miss the bit part by the actress who played Moneypenny in many of the later James Bond movies.
 
"It Follows" was a film that left a lasting impression on me after leaving the theater. There's just something dreadful about being pursued by something that slowly- yet inevitably- reaches you.

Other favorites include:
Alien
Child's Play
The Ring
Hereditary
Smile
 
Old school pick: The Birds. How about Duel, Steven Spielberg's first film?
Duel is not a horror movie. It's also not exactly Spielberg's first move.

Spielberg's first movie was Amblin' (1968), a short after which his production company Amblin Entertainment is named.

Spielberg's Duel (1971) was a made-for-TV movie that had a theatrical release with a few minutes added to make the running time long enough for a feature movie.

In 1971 Spielberg also directed the Columbo episode Murder by the the Book with the Jack Cassidy as a murderous novelist.

Spielberg's first proper feature movie was The Sugarland Express (1974).

Jaws came out in 1975 and that movie is still great.
 
I like those as "suspense" movies. Duel was a good thriller. The fear was increased since you couldn't see the truck driver, as I recall. I think Spielberg actually wrote it but am not sure.
You can see the trucker's arm and his legs and boots. The movie was an adaption of a Richard Matheson short story that had been published in Playboy.

My first favorite is "The Haunting of Hill House", circa 1963 version not the later one. I was about 12 at the time, watching on a black and white TV, and later learned the movie was black and white. Still scared the heck out of me.

To me the movie is very Hitchcockian in that you see little but your imagination does the rest. The special effects of a "cold spot" and the bulging door are terrific, especially considering when it was made. No blood, no guts but when it comes on cable as it did earlier this month I record it...and may or may not watch it :o)

Oh, and don't miss the bit part by the actress who played Moneypenny in many of the later James Bond movies.
I wonder if anybody likes the original The Wicker Man (1973) with Christopher Lee as the creepy laird and Ed Woodward as the unfortunate policeman who finds a fiery end. Not to detract from Nick' Cage's "The bees. The beeees!" scene in the remake.
 
From memory I liked that one, I don’t think I’ve seen it since I was a teenager though.
It's much better than I remembered it from watching it maybe 30 years. It seems pretty tame but the underlying tale is rather creepy and the end is horrific.
 
It's much better than I remembered it from watching it maybe 30 years. It seems pretty tame but the underlying tale is rather creepy and the end is horrific.
I’d like to see it again. Have you seen the longer “lost” version or only the original shorter version?
 
I’d like to see it again. Have you seen the longer “lost” version or only the original shorter version?
There is the theatrical release (87 min), the Director's Cut (102 min), and the Final Cut (93 min). The Final Cut is the director's preferred version. There may be other versions. Remasters, reedits for video releases etc. I prefer ,the Final Cut. The Director's Cut (marketing term) had some bloat. You can stream the theatrical release for free on Tubi. All the singing gets a little on my nerves.
 
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