Bravo's 100 Scariest Movies

John@Bophe

John@Bophe

I just finished watching Bravo's 100 Scariest Movies special. It prompted some questions I thought might make for an interesting thread--

1. What movie(s) scared you? Or, have you never been scared by a movie?

2. Do you remember your first horror movie experience? What was it?

3. What makes a horror movie effective?

Feel free to answer any or all of the above if you feel like it.
 
Here's the link to the (flawed) list

1. Session 9 really scared the crap out of me. The first time I watched it I was alone and it was 1a.m. I didn't want to walk down the hallway to go to bed. It just creeped me out.

2. The Amityville Horror('79 version) forever scarred me. There's a scene where a little girl is sitting by an open window, waiting for her cat to come in, and the girl's mom goes to close the window and they bright eyes pop out of no where from the darkness. It looks pretty cheesy now looking back on it, but at the time, when I was like 6 or 7, it was pretty hardcore. I have this thing with scary looking eyes and I'm sure it came from this. This was the first major one I can remember.

3. For me, what makes a horror movie effective at being scary is the way the movie gets inside my head. If it's just a slasher movie...forget it. It's not going to work. The movie has to strike that psychological nerve and really prey on some traditional fears. It has to successfully pull me into it's world and make me believe that the events that are happening, are happening for real, and make me forget I'm watching a movie. If at any point, something too cheesy happens, I will instantly think "eh, it's just a movie" and the scare factor will drop because I've been pulled out of it's world.

And what's the deal with this list? Audition #11? Scream #13 OVER Halloween #14? What the hell? House on Haunted Hill #37? Should that even be on an all time Scary Movie List? Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory #74? What a give-up answer! There are some great ones on that list, but man, it that list messed up!
 
Session 9 was good.. but (it's been a while since I've watched it..) I felt like there should have been more to the story or something.
 
Horror films usually don't scare me, and never have. Maybe it's because I was able to seperate reality from fiction. Maybe it's because I have always been watching with the eye of a future filmmaker. Or Maybe it's because I am more of a man than all of you combined.

The two films that came closest to actually scaring me were:

The Legend of Boggy Creek -- The bathroom scene got me good. The toilet is one of my most sacred places. If a monster can get me on the toilet, they can get me anywhere. :scared:

Poltergeist -- The clown. The peeling of flesh from your own face. The lion ghost thing. the midget lady shouting "Go to the light children." That sh*t is scary, yo!

CommanderGoat said:
And what's the deal with this list? Audition #11? Scream #13 OVER Halloween #14? What the hell? House on Haunted Hill #37? Should that even be on an all time Scary Movie List? Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory #74? What a give-up answer! There are some great ones on that list, but man, it that list messed up!
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I think the House on Hanted Hill they are referring to is the original with Vincent Price, not the Chris Kattan pulls the rpe version fromm '99.

When you make a "Best Of" list, it's never going to please everyone. There a some titles on that list that are better suited for a comedy list if you ask me.

Poke
 
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Poke said:
I think the House on Hanted Hill they are referring to is the original with Vincent Price, not the Chris Kattan pulls the rpe version fromm '99.
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When you click on the "Buy" button to the right, it links to the '99 version...and apparently it's scarier than Poltergeist - #80.


Edit -
I just realized it's the 100 Scariest Movie MOMENTS. I wish the list would include what moments they are talking about.
 
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The one movie that scared me more than any other would have to be "Titanic"

I mean it. An hour an a half of watching that ship sink, knowing that all of those people really did die in that way. All the ghosts, demons, and zombies can't compare with truth. And the nice candy coated love story just added an interesting, albiet annoying, counterpoint that just added to the tension.

I didn't help that my watch battery died halfway through that movie. Just plan creepy.


Best horror film, hands down "the exercist." I want a horror film to have an interesting story line, not a simple conceit that is just a vehical for cheap starts and jumps. A horror film shouldn't go for the easy frights but be committed to the slow build.

One of my first memories with a horror film would be "salems lot." Imdb says it first aired in '79, so they must have replayed it a couple of years latter because I was six or seven when I saw it. The scene with the kid's brother floating at the window begging to be let in, nightmares I tell you, nightmares.
 
What makes a good horror film? Certainly not any of the drek that is polluting the sliver screen these days. I think The Exorcist is the king. I love the way Freidkin plays religion and science against each other, coupled with the loss of faith and having it. To me, the Devil will always be the most frightening. He is the ultimate evil.

The top two choices on the list are excellent as well. I think they are the models for what makes a truely great horror film. The Exorcist did this too. That is, what you don't see is infinately scarier then what you do see. I think that your imagination will scare you more than anything. Sadly, todays audience has everything spoon fed to them. I watched the new Amityville today and was really missing a lot of the elements that made the original so scary. They may say the original is flawed, but how many films can you say are perfect, and lets face it, Amityville stuck us on our most sensitvie levels. Attacks on faith, family and the inner sanctum of our home. The new one lost so many chances to do that, plus seeing Jody wasn't scary at all. No make up or camera trick is going to tell me any different. By not seeing her, my imagination shows me something far more sinister.

last rant. Why isn't John Carpenter's The Thing not higher. No respect I tell you. One of those perfect films you'll ever see. Paranoia and the fear of the unknown can be extremely frightning and powerful.
 
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What film actually "scared" me...
I can only think of two that ever REALLY scared me.
As a kid my brother and I used to watch horror movies down in our basement with the lights out. And on this one occasion we were watching "Black Sabbath" starring Boris Karloff. There is a scene where an old mean lady dies and a short while later there is a sudden scene where she is sitting in a rocking chair. I think it was the suddeness of the scene... Beautiful editing!

Check this movie out and let me know if the scene gets you too!

That scene scared the shit out of my brother and me! 30 years later my brother and I still tease each other about how scared we got!

And the other movie that scared me... The Exorcist.
That movie is almost TOO scary! I got the director's cut and it's even worse!
'nuff said on that one!

Other than those... The rest have just been fun.

Remember, I was across the street from the Twin Towers on the morning of September 11... NOTHING on film scares me anymore.

-HAWKEYE
 
CommanderGoat said:
And what's the deal with this list? Audition #11?
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Have you seen Audtion? I was pleasantly surprised, but would not argue with, its high placement on the list. I thought it was brilliantly done. It follows the classic horror formula of establishing a premise and then slowly turning up the tension and the creepy factor until it hits you across the face with the ending. Granted, I don't think it was 'scary,' (but then again, most movie aren't to me). It WAS definitely creepy, though.

CommanderGoat said:
Scream #13 OVER Halloween #14?
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I totally agree with you here. I did not like Scream at all.
 
Films that scared me? Tearms of Endearment and Out Of Africa.

No, really... I'm surprised Audition made it to #11. It's definately worth that #11 spot. That movie will mess you up for months to come.

Recently, I watched Saw for the first time... THAT movie blew my mind. I got jealous that I didn't come up with a script that deliciously horrific.
 
mrde50 said:
Recently, I watched Saw for the first time... THAT movie blew my mind. I got jealous that I didn't come up with a script that deliciously horrific.
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That movie would have been so much better without Cary Elwes. His performance at the end was more comedic than dramatic.

Poke
 
I watched this as well, I'm not sure about Alien being ahead of The Exorcist... in fact I'm not sure of anything being ahead of The Exorcist.

The scariest film i saw in the theatre is Aliens (granted I was 10 at the time), but that freaked the shit out me. I watched all those old horror films in high school -- The Haunting, Legend of Hell House, the Uninvited and The Innocence. The Haunting and The Innocence are my favorite "ghost" stories. Though perhaps the first I saw was "Ghost Story." I was pretty young, and the image of that girl trapped in the car as it sinks in the lake has always stuck with me. Another older one I saw as a kid was "The Haunting of Julia." I loved it then, but haven't seen it since. Would be interesting to see it again as an adult.

I almost forgot the Changelling. Add that to the list with The Haunting and The Innocence.

Of recent films, I'd say Session 9 really freaked me out. I can't imagine watching it alone. Saw was pretty good too.

I guess the old fashioned ghost story is what really scares me (which I guess the Exorcist could be considered). Otherworldly entities making their presense known on this life.
 
CommanderGoat said:
When you click on the "Buy" button to the right, it links to the '99 version...and apparently it's scarier than Poltergeist - #80.
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Eek! That is scary!

I wonder what moment they picked. I remember the scene where the girl (I think it was Bridgette Wilson) saw the dead guy peeking around the corner and then in a flash he's on top of her...that was pretty freaky.

Poke
 
I know this is about horror films, but the first things that really scared me were the Darleks in Dr Who.

When it comes to film, I think Psycho is hard to beat. In fact most Hitchcock is just stunning. In interview Hitchcock always said that he would build his films aorund ideas that scared him. So the cop with the mirrored sunglasses at the start of Psycho creates an early unease which Hitchcock then builds on throughout the film.

But, if I'm honest I've never seen a horror film yet that scared me anywhere as much as the scene in Cabaret where the little kid sings "Tomorrow belongs to me" only to have the camera pull back to show him in a Hitler Youth uniform. The depths of perversion taht lives in the hearts of real people is much more terrifying than all the chainsaw wielding maniacs and rampaging glove puppets that make up the genre.
 
if I'm honest I've never seen a horror film yet that scared me anywhere as much as the scene in Cabaret where the little kid sings "Tomorrow belongs to me" only to have the camera pull back to show him in a Hitler Youth uniform.
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that was an example i used in a film presentation of shocking cinema. the most shocking part of that film (and any film in my opinion) is where Minelli is on stage, and we cut from that to the fat guy getting done over by the Nazi thugs outside (while the claps from inside continue and we peer down from the above steps, like a passer by, unsure of what to do). brilliant scene.


The depths of perversion that live in the hearts of real people is much more terrifying than all the chainsaw wielding maniacs and rampaging glove puppets that make up the genre
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very true. i think thats what makes the most memorable horror. somebody earlier mentioned The Thing (never seen it myself) and Blair Witch has been mentioned - both films that allowed the audience to explore their own notions of evil and darkness - and nothing scares us quite so much as the horror within.
 
Mr Goat... here is the part from Charlie & The Chocolate Factory that scared a million kiddies out of their minds. On the chocolate river, going through a psychadelic tunnel...


WONKA:
THERE'S NO EARTHLY WAY OF KNOWING
WHICH DIRECTION WE ARE GOING
THERE'S NO KNOWING WHERE WE'RE ROWING

OR WHICH WAY THE RIVER'S FLOWING

IS IT RAINING
IS IT SNOWING
IS A HURRICANE A-BLOWING

Not a speck of light is showing
So the danger must be growing
Are the fires of hell a glowing?
Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes! The danger must be growing
For the rowers keep on rowing
And they're certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing!
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I haven't read the Top 100 Moments list, but I wouldn't be surprised if Disney's Fantasia was on it somewhere. Many children came out of that with nightmares that plagued them for years... "Night On Bald Mountain" was pretty intense for young impressionable minds.
 
John@Bophe said:
Have you seen Audtion?
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Yes, I've seen it. To me, it was more distrubing than scary. It didn't have me hinding behind the couch, it just had me thinking, "man, this is F'ed UP!" I was let down because a few of my friends had told me it was really scary...not to say it wasn't a well made film, I liked it, but I just think there are far better choices for #11.

Zensteve said:
Mr Goat... here is the part from Charlie & The Chocolate Factory that scared a million kiddies out of their minds. On the chocolate river, going through a psychadelic tunnel....
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I figured it was that scene...either that scene, or the part where the elevator had to bust throught roof at top speed or they would be torn into a million pieces by the glass ceiling! I was soooo scared and worried for Charlie at that part, I couldn't open my eyes!!!! Did he make it? Oh please tell me he did!
 
Both the orriginal Texas Chain Saw and the newer one with Sgt R Lee as the cop.

As a child the orriginal "The Fly" was kind of spooky.

The orriginal Excersist was extreemly frightening. it had its silly moments like the spitting up pea soup but when the mom went into the attic and saw Lucifer and the demons Was one of the most frightening moments in movie history to date. But im religous so that maybe why.

Rosemarys baby to this day is also frightening. Which i understand was followed by the directors wife being killed in the Tate/Bianca killings of Helter Skelter (Roman Polanski's).

though the movie was kind of corny at times I also think Poltergeist.

The Ring (American version) of the girl coming out of the TV stirred up some fear in me. I usually laugh at stuff like that. Its all about creating an atmosphere.

And though every laughs at the low budget film "Blair Witch" i think they did a great job at some parts of the movie.

Im wondering John, if Bravo added "Satans Triangle" to the list. It was a low budget 70s TV film about a couple out on the bermuda triangle on their boat when they take on a stranded sailer who turns out to be lucifer or his child. That movie was scarey as hell.

and though I saw it on video last year, parts of 'Its Alive" from the early 70s has some creepy scenes.
 
oh.. And that scene scared me in Willy Wonka too :D

I forgot one more film btw. Arthur! Arthur with Shelly Winters. The scene in which a guy is being choked to death when he inherited Arthurs best suit made me feel as if I was choking!

:D
 
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