Recommend Horror Movies

[mrc1214]

Hey guys ive been looking to get in to some horror films. Ive only watched Friday the 13th and Halloween 1 & 2. Im not really into Exorcist or anything cause im a wimp. So what are some good horror but not that bad similar to Friday the 13th?? Ive been thinking of trying Hellraiser but it seems it may be a bit much for my wimpy taste. And ive also never watched Evil Dead or any of them. So any movies you guys think would be good in this genre id appreciate it.

[Julusnc]

The first Nightmare on Elm Street is a great movie.Try John Carpenter's The Thing and Prince of Darkness.I also enjoyed the first Candyman movie.

[pennywisdom]

The Shining is my favorite. It's more about pacing and atmosphere than it is about pure shock and bloodletting. The whole thing feels like an eerie, claustrophobic fever dream.

[Buzz Dixon]

Silent:

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
THE GOLEM
NOSFERATU
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
THE UNKNOWN
HE WHO GETS SLAPPED
THE MONSTER (wild horror comedy with Lon Chaney)

Black and White:

Classic Universal horror:
FRANKENSTEIN
BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
SON OF FRANKENSTEIN
DRACULA (both the English language version with Lugosi and the far superior Spanish language version shot on the same sets)
DRACULA'S DAUGHTER
THE BLACK CAT (Karloff vs Lugosi at their peaks)
MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE
THE INVISIBLE MAN
THE INVISIBLE RAY (more sci-fi than horror but still pretty good)
THE WOLFMAN
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN

RKO/Val Lewton horror:
THE CAT PEOPLE
CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (a sequel but technically not a horror film)
I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE
BEDLAM
ISLE OF THE DEAD
THE LEOPARD MAN (forerunner of masked serial killer movies)
THE BODY SNATCHER
THE SEVENTH VICTIM (low key but has the original scarey shower scene)

Other pre-1950s horror films:
VAMPYR (a bit slow moving but good)
WHITE ZOMBIE (Lugosi in his last good role)
ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (early version of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU)
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
DR. X (early technicolor)
RETURN OF DR. X (sequel-in-name-only; Humphrey Bogart as a modern day vampire!)
MYSTERY OF THE WAY MUSEUM (early technicolor)

Vincent Price films:
HOUSE OF WAX
THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL
LAST TOMB OF LIGIEA
THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES
DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN
THEATRE OF BLOOD
THE HAUNTED PALACE
THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM
A COMEDY OF TERRORS
THE RAVEN (also a comedy; Jack Nicholson plays the romantic lead!)
THE HOUSE OF USHER

That should get you started... ;)

[hoffmandu]

The Devils Rejects was recent and fairly good. Very chaotic.

[HomerJay]

The whole thing feels like an eerie, claustrophobic fever dream.
Good description. I've always said that the feeling Kubrick creates is like the opposite of claustrophobia. While it's uncomfortable to be in an enclosed space, it can be equally uncomfortable to be in a too expansive space with little stimulation and be left to only the voices in your head.

My recommendations:
INTENSE
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (original)
- The Hills Have Eyes (original)
- Night Of The Living Dead (original)
- The Exorcist
- The Fog (original)

GORY
- Dawn of The Dead (either original or remake)
- Day of The Dead
- Land Of The Dead
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre pt. II

LIGHT (relatively)
- Scream
- Halloween
- A Nightmare On Elm St.
- Evil Dead II

GORY & INTENSE
- Hellraiser
- Evil Dead

[pennywisdom]

Good description. I've always said that the feeling Kubrick creates is like the opposite of claustrophobia. While it's uncomfortable to be in an enclosed space, it can be equally uncomfortable to be in a too expansive space with little stimulation and be left to only the voices in your head.
That's a very good point. When I said "claustrophic" I meant that the characters didn't have the option to leave the hotel. There is a feeling of being trapped. But you're definitely right in that a recurring theme is the horror of lonliness. The hotel is way too big and way too empty.

[mrc1214]

Good description. I've always said that the feeling Kubrick creates is like the opposite of claustrophobia. While it's uncomfortable to be in an enclosed space, it can be equally uncomfortable to be in a too expansive space with little stimulation and be left to only the voices in your head.

My recommendations:
INTENSE
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (original)
- The Hills Have Eyes (original)
- Night Of The Living Dead (original)
- The Exorcist
- The Fog (original)

GORY
- Dawn of The Dead (either original or remake)
- Day of The Dead
- Land Of The Dead
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre pt. II

LIGHT (relatively)
- Scream
- Halloween
- A Nightmare On Elm St.
- Evil Dead II

GORY & INTENSE
- Hellraiser
- Evil Dead

Whats the basic deal with Hellraiser??

[Gary Joyce]

The first nightmare on elm street IMO is the finest horror movie ever.

Bride of chucky is pretty good altho its probably more of a comedy.Plus i only mention it as it was on tv the other night and god do i love Jennifer Tilly

mmmm....might change my avatar to Jennifer Tilly now

I would recommend the first Hellraiser movie though.

[hoffmandu]

From Beyond
Re-animator
Bride of Re-animator
Scanners (sci-fi horror)
The remake of Dawn of the Dead

hmmmm, I see I have my 3 day ban badge down there in my sig............feel like I'm playing COH.

[Gary Joyce]

The remake of Dawn of the Dead


One of my favourite films of recent times can't believe i forgot about it.Skip land of the dead though its not really worth the time of day.

[Mike Kuypers]

Psycho (1960)
The Birds (1963)
Frogs (1972)
The Tingler
The Haunting (1963)
Legend of Hell House
The Innocents (1961)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Thing From Another World (1951)
Dead of Night (1945)
Curse of the Demon (1957)
Burn, Witch, Burn! (British title: Night of the Eagle)
Willard

[Buzz Dixon]

Whats the basic deal with Hellraiser??FOR THE LOVE OF GOD,

DON'T
OPEN
THE BOX!!!!!















That's pretty much it...;)

[HomerJay]

Whats the basic deal with Hellraiser??
Without spoiling anything...

The premise is actually very cool.
With the help of his sister-in-law (also his former lover) a man basically escapes from hell.
There is a secret puzzle box that when solved, summons sadomaschistic demons. When the demons find out that the man escaped from them (after being told so by his niece), all hell breaks loose, literally.

That's really over-simplifiying it, but it explores the notion of the blurring of the line between pain & pleasure and has some really pretty shocking moments.

[JeffreyWKramer]

The original HELLRAISER is an excellent, very original horror film... a much-underrated bit of Clive Barker goodness. Highly recommended.

[Royal]

There is so much to share... I have my list (http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=5320308) online if you're interested. Feel free to ask questions as well. :)

[G. Wayne]

Session 9 is a quality psyhological horror flick. Not perfect, but pretty good and realistic. Relatively light on gore if memory serves too.

[rick]

Buzz lists all sorts of awsome movies


That does pretty much sum up the basics doesn't it?

I'd like to add one more each from both Lugosi and Karloff.

White Zombie is one of the two or three best Lugosi movies ever made. Not terrifying, but creepy and cool to watch. It's a totally engrossing film.

And as good as the Frankenstein films are, my favorite Karloff film has always been the Mummy. Yet another in the creepy and cool variety.

I know some of these have already been listed, but I would also like to throw in a few of my personal favorites.

Two great horror films from the modern era, are Werner Hetzog’s slow as the grave, creepfest, remake of Nosferatu and on the B-Side, David Schmoeller’s Crawlspace.

These are very different films. One is almost a ballet and the other an 80’s gorefest. But what they have in common is that they both star the great actor Klaus Kinski.

In the Hertzog film, Kinski is the perfect picture of decay. His Dracula is more dead then undead. He barely moves, barely breathes but when he does, his every step is repulsive, leachlike, terrifying and impossible to look away from. He his truly the epitome of “undead”. And make sure to see it in the original German with subtitles. An actor as great as Kinski should never be dubbed.

In Crawlspace on the other hand, Kinski is happily, enthusiastically murderously insane. He kills beautiful girls left and right, plus he keeps a woman with her tongue cut out in a cage and spends all of his time making her listen to his long winded monologues. When she hands him a note begging for him to kill her, he refuses because he says that he can't because then he would have no one to talk to.

For very different reasons these are two really good horror movies.

Another two I really like are both David Cornenberg movies from the 70’s.

The first one is 1977’s Rabid, starring of all people, Marylyn Chambers as a young woman who after experimental grafting surgery turns into this semi-vampire with this fanged tube that shoots out of her underarm, and whose “bite” causes her victims to go murderously insane from an especially nasty form of rabies.

Another and even more disturbing movie is The Brood starring Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar. People keep getting horribly murdered by what appear to be half formed monster children. What they are and where they come from is simply to repulsive for me to talk about here. But if you want to get grossed out by a horror film, this is the one to watch.

And speaking of Samantha Eggar, another good scare film with her in it along with old General Zod himself Terrance Stamp is William Wyler’s version of John Fowles, The Collector. This is the story of a strange little man who collects butterflies and what happens when he expands his collecting in other directions. I don’t want to go on about it, but I will mention that the book gets a serious thumbs-up from one of the attendees of the Serial Killers convention in that early issue of the Sandman.


A good one from the early 1970’s is the filmed version of Richard Matheson’s classic haunted house novel, The Legend of Hell House, starring a wonderful Roddy McDowel. Most people will point to the House on the Haunted Hill as the great haunted house film, but for my money it’s this forgotten classic that’s the real deal. Twisted, dark and vicious, it is a film that never lets up. And look for a wonderful understated “performance” from Michael Grough.


And one more from that same era that I really have fun with is Night of Dark Shadows starring the entire cast of televisions Dark Shadows. It really isn’t anything but a low budget filming of the first Barnabas Collins arc, but the fake blood squirts everywhere and Nancy Barrett was never sexier. It’s cheap fun, but still fun.


I want to remind the world that before the stupid comedy remake from a couple of years ago, Ira Levin’s, Stepford Wives was a scary, mean spirited movie with some great performances all the way around. The Polanski version of his book Rosemary’s Baby is a true film classic and I recommend that one too.

In the 80’s there were lots of good horror films. Oddly, my favorite is Fright Night, with Chris Sarandon and once again Roddy McDowel. It’s a straight forward, in your face vampire movie and really very good.

A good creepy one from the early 1970’s is Let’s Scare Jessica to Death which is also a vampire movie. Or a ghost story. Or maybe, just maybe, something far, far worse. This film moves slowly, but in the end it really does pay off.

And finally, I want to put in my vote for the entire Hammer film library. Because even at their worst, they are great, and finally let's give a call out to my boys, Doctor Phibes, Count Yorga and Blacula.

[Frankie Dennis]

Some of my favorites...

Night Of The Living Dead
The Shining
Deliverance
Creature From The Black Lagoon
A Nightmare On Elm Street
Frankenstein

[Royal]

Buzz and Rick covered the basics.

I'll possibly help with intermeddiate level when you're done.

[marshal99]

Ah , the guy should expose himself to Uwe Boll's movies. It's a different kind of horror(ible) , once he sees Boll movies - House of the dead , Alone in the dark etc , nothing will ever frighten him again. ;)

[Indigo Al]

Yep. If you are, you say, a "wimp", start with the classics which opt for elegant atmosphere as opposed to gore

[DDM]

Whats the basic deal with Hellraiser??

First read Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart, the basis for Hellraiser.

Hellraiser centers on a puzzle box named the Lament Configuration; when the the puzzle box is solved, it opens a doorway to Hell for the Cenobites to enter Earth. The Cenobites' are meant to give pleasures of the soul & flesh to anyone who solves the box. However, the Cenboites' definition of "pleasure" is vastly different than what the people think when they open the puzzle. When done, the Cenobites take their victims' souls to Hell for more "pleasures" to last for eternity.

Frank finds a way back to Earth through an accident when his brother, Rory cuts his hand on a nail. Frank comes back through the blood. Frank is a sort of vampire at this point as he needs more blood to rebuild his body. Julia, Rory's wife, is his accomplice. She brings men back to the house so Frank can kill them.

Kirsty, Rory's daughter, discovers Frank & Julia's plot through an accident. And Kirsty opens the puzzle box by yet another accident & lets the Cenobites know that one of their own has escaped Hell.

The victims who stay in Hell--depending on their depravity--are turned into Leviathon's servants. The upper rank are turned into Cenobites. Others are like Frank, people who are neither human nor inhuman, living vampires of a sort.

Rent Hellraiser & Hellraiser 2: Hellbbound for the full story...

[Buzz Dixon]

Like I said, don't open the box. ;)

[oddieson]

Hi, I watched Yorga one last night cooincidentally. Do you have any idea what the name of the low low low budget quasi yorga film, I am pretty sure it starred Quarry, They used to show it on the Elvira Mistress of the Dark L.A. tv show.

[Royal]

Count Yorga, Vampire or Return of Yorga?

[Buzz Dixon]

I think it was DEATHMASTER but am not certain. IMDB sould have the title under Quarry's credits.

Trivia note: COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE was originally supposed to be a soft core porn film but the producers decided their financial odds were better with a PG rating (or technically, an M as it was called in those days) in the mainstream drive-in market than a skin flick in the art house circuit so the nudity and sex scenes were not filmed.

[oddieson]

The first one. netflix doesent currently have return.

trivia, Return of Dr Phibes was originally to have been Phibes Vs Yorga.
didnt know about the porn aspect. That scene where Yorga starts his maniacal laugh still works.

[Corky]

Here's some must see horror movies in categories.

Zombies:
Night of the Living Dead ( 1968).
Dawn of the Dead ( 1978).
Day of the Dead.
Land of the Dead.
Dead Alive ( a.k.a. Braindead).
Re-Animator.
The Evil Dead.
Evil Dead 2.
Zombie ( a.k.a. Zombi 2).
City of the Living Dead ( a.k.a. Gates of Hell).
House By The Cemetery.
The Beyond.
Shaun of the Dead.
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie.
Nightmare City ( a.k.a. City of the Walking Dead). (This started the whole running zombie shabang)
Dawn of the Dead ( 2004).
Night of the Living Dead ( 1990).
The Return of the Living Dead 1, 2 and 3.
The Stuff.
Bio-Zombie.
Resident Evil.
Dead & Buried.
Pet Semetery.
Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror.
Hell of the Living Dead ( a.k.a. Night of the Zombies).
Cemetery Man.
Stacy.

Killer Dolls:
Trilogy of Terror.
Puppet Master.
Dolls (1987).
Magic. (Great role by Anthony Hopkins)
Bride of Chucky.
Dead of Night ( 1945).
Devil Doll ( 1964).

Psychological horror:
Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer.
Se7en.
Saw 1 & 2.
Pin.
Tourist Trap.
Manhunter.
Silence of the Lambs.
Hannibal.
Red Dragon.

Asian:
Pefect Blue.
Ichi The Killer.
Ringu.
Ju-On: The Grudge.

Supernatural:
The Others.
Silent Hill.
The Ring.
The Haunting ( 1960).
House of Wax ( 1953).
Suspira.

Vampires:
Dracula ( 1931).
Interview with the Vampire.
Near Dark.
The Hunger.
Vamp.
From Dusk Till Dawn.
Blade 1, 2 and Trinity.
Def By Temptation.
Underworld 1 & 2.
The Forsaken.
Bram Stoker's Dracula.
The Vampire Lovers.
John Carpenter's Vampires.
The Lost Boys.
Vampire Hunter D.
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.
Blood: The Last Vampire.


Sci-fi Horror hybrid:
Alien.
Aliens.
Alien 3.
Alien Resurrection.
The Thing ( 1982).
The Blob ( 1958).
The Blob ( 1988).
The Deadly Spawn ( a.k.a. Return of the Aliens).
Night of the Creeps.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers ( 1957).
Invasion of the Body Snatchers ( 1978).
The Fly ( 1958).
The Fly ( 1986).
Phantasm.
Lifeforce.
Contamination.
Bad Taste.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
Event Horizon.
Doom.
Critters.
Critters 2: The Main Course. (Gotta love a sexy naked bounty hunter centerfold)
The Faculty.
Predator.
Predator 2.
Scanners.
Videodrome.
The Dead Zone ( 1983).
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky.
Battle Royale.
IT! The Terror from Outer Space.

Fantasy horror hybrid:
Army of Darkness.
Versus.

Slashers and psychos:
Psycho (1960).
Psycho II.
Halloween series.
Friday The 13th series.
A Nightmare on Elm Street series.
Freddy Vs. Jason.
Sleepaway Camp.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series & 2003 remake.
House of Wax ( 2005).
Scream 1 & 2.
Maniac (1980).
The Hills Have Eyes ( 1977 and 2006).
Silent Night, Deadly Night.
Deep Red.
Tenebre.
Opera.
Phenomena.
Jeepers Creepers 1 & 2.
Mother's Day.
Terror Train.
The Untold Story.
American Psycho.
High Tension.
Wolf Creek.
House of 1000 Corpses.
The Devil's Rejects.
Wrong Turn.

Shock and gore:
Final Destination Trilogy.
Cannibal Ferox.
Men Behind The Sun.
Jungle Holocaust ( a.k.a. Last Cannibal World).
Mountain of the Cannibal God.
The Toxic Avenger.
Terror Firmer.
Cannibal Holocaust.

[jessecuster3]

I can't believe there is no love for Rosemary's Baby.


I will also add The Ring, both the US Version and the Japanese one.

[hoffmandu]

I just discovered a gem- Dead and Breakfast (play on Bed and Breakfast), very hilarious.

[Royal]

D&B was a bore. Just another "Find Container, Add Monster" movie.

[hoffmandu]

D&B was a bore. Just another "Find Container, Add Monster" movie.

Yeah, since it's not really a serious horror, I think you may have missed something.

[Royal]

Yeah, since it's not really a serious horror, I think you may have missed something.

What's to get? It's a movie trying to hard to be a cult hit with David Carradine. Instead of taking the subgenre in a different direction, they relied too much on Billy Kane.

[DDM]

Blood Beach: A monster eats sunbathers on a pristine California beach. The monster is not really shown save for the sand slowly sinking in a hole created by the creature. It's a good B-movie.

[Mike Kuypers]

Blood Beach: A monster eats sunbathers on a pristine California beach. The monster is not really shown save for the sand slowly sinking in a hole created by the creature. It's a good B-movie.

Apparently that one isn't available on VHS or DVD.

[DDM]

Looker: An advertising company uses sophisticated holograms to use from real people; unfortunately, the company kills the people once they have them in the computer. The company also pays for the victims cosmetic surgery enhancements. It's a weird suspense movie. Susan Dey gets naked.

[Erisu Kimu]

"Dog Soldiers." I think you should check that movie out, if you're into werewolf horror. I personally think it kicks ass.

[hoffmandu]

Blood Diner is premium B movie Horror.

[wheresmycape]

try 'shaun of the dead' it's an amazing horror comedy.
also try 'audition', 'deathwatch' and 'screamers', all great horror films.;)

[marshal99]

Blood Beach: A monster eats sunbathers on a pristine California beach. The monster is not really shown save for the sand slowly sinking in a hole created by the creature. It's a good B-movie.

Gawd , I watched that in the theatres when i was much younger. It was utter crap and the ending - ugh. If you want to watch a sand monster ,might as well get the first tremors movie , now that's a fun popcorn movie.

[DennyK]

Shaun of the Dead

[Erebus]

Can't believe no one's said Jaws yet. It didn't have the supernatural or slasher element to it, but the suspense, tension, and fear it caused was just as heartracing as any other good horror movie.