What's your scary movie list?
75No monster-types on my list
All these good for a nightmare or two!
We all know that scary movies fall into several categories.
There's the slash-'em-up movies -- which usually involve masked humans, and then we have the gross-'em-out movies (see Excorcist photo from other post re: scary movies), which usually require non-human characters, as in Alien. Then there's the devil's-gonna-get-you movies...as in the original Gregory Peck's Omen or Mia Farrow's Rosemary's Baby types. But my favorite scary movie favorites are about normal people, doing normal things...that is...until life events go terribly WRONG! These are the "build-the-suspense-until-your-ready-to-scream" type, but with hardly any blood 'n' guts gore...or spewing vomit either for that matter. The kind where your knuckles hurt when the movie's over because you were grabbing the arm rests so tightly! Now that's the sign of well done suspense!
And, for full disclosure here, I've never had the nerve to see Silence of the Lambs. If I could ever get myself to see it...I'm sure it'd be on my list!
But, as someone who's been going to movies a long, long, time...my favorites span decades! So, here we go!
When a guy is the creep...
Psycho (1960)...If you can put yourself back in time to before computer effects "enhanced" films, you'll know why Hitchcock the greatest scary-movie maker!
Charades (1963), often known as "the best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never made," All about a crew of really dedicated bad guys out to get Audrey Hepburn. And they're out to get her in Paris!! Does it get better?
No "Fair Lady" here!
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Wait Until Dark
Price: $13.39
List Price: $19.98 |
Eastwood no match for woman scorned
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Play Misty for Me
Price: $6.60
List Price: $14.98 |
![Play Misty for Me [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ljZVJFrRL._SL75_.jpg)
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Play Misty for Me [Region 2]
Price: $45.98
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Waiting 'til Dark
Wait Until Dark (1967) again, with Audrey Hepburn. This actress had the wits scared out of her a lot before she became My Fair Lady. One review from http://www.imbd.com/ said that "Never in my life have I ever seen 800 people fly off their seats like I did the night I saw WAIT UNTIL DARK at the cinema in 1970. And I was up there with them. Moaning away in shock. Screaming! (and I don't scream) ...In the run up to the final 20 mins the cinema management slammed the foyer doors, switched off all the aisle lights one by one all around the cinema, and turned up the volume; ripples of creepiness washed over the audience....and then....whammo! The noise from the audience, the screaming and the shifting about in our seats.....I haven't heard shocked noises like that in a cinema since. Do yourself a BIG favour...get the DVD and watch this at home, by yourself, in total darkness! You will scream your head off and tell everyone you know what a great thriller this is." Once my daughter got old enough, she and I watched this one together. Until seeing Audrey Hepburn in this one she's only seen her in Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady: Now she knows that Miss Hepburn was much more of an actress than she ever had imagined!
Okay, so I'll leave the sixties behind and move forward a bit.
Really wacked out women
When a 'lady' is the creep...
Misery (1990) With James Cahn and Kathy Bates. Rather like Wait Until Dark, the movie needs only one room for its entire plot! Here's the most understated summary I've seen of this one ... "When a fan crosses the line between admiration into obsession."
And, with that same summary could be Clint Eastwood's Play Misty for Me (1971). If my memory serves (don't count on it) I think this was Eastwood's first directing work. According to Wikipedia, this film "paved the way for later stalker films such as Fatal Attraction, particularly those with a female antagonist."
So, oh yea, Fatal Attraction (1987). Stars Glenn Close and Michael Douglas. Man, if this movie won't keep your hubbies on the straight and narrow...nothing will!
Makes your nerves jagged!
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Jagged Edge
Price: $7.43
List Price: $14.94 |
Has anyone but me seen this one?
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Blow Out
Price: $7.32
List Price: $14.98 |
Now that's some legal aid!
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Suspect
Price: $4.44
List Price: $9.95 |
![Suspect [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21DDGWSM97L._SL75_.jpg)
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Suspect [Region 2]
Price: $31.99
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You'll never wanna be a defense attorney after seeing these!
Again with Glenn Close, as a defense attorney, in Jagged Edge (1985) How charming the bad guy can be!!
Female defense attorneys...boy, they better watch their backs! Cher plays one in a this good suspenseful courtroom thriller, co-stars Dennis Quaid, The Suspect (1987). Take a look at the judge...it's Frasier Crane's dad! And Liam Neeson long before Schindler's List.
Two more: one extremely famous and one ... well, has anyone out there seen this one, or am I the only one?
Blow Out (1981) stars John Travolta, directed by Brian de Palma, so you know it's really, really going to have you on the edge of your seat! But I don't think I've ever met anyone who's seen it ! If you have, please leave me a comment!
The Sixth Sense (1999) with Bruce Willis, the "I see dead people" movie: directed by M. Night Shyamalan who has gone on to make several much less suspenseful movies. My daughter had to drag me to this one...I loved it!
So much more!
There are so many more I thought were great films for creating scary suspense. But hope this is a good sampling that goes back for decades!
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Comments
Man! You read this one quickly! I just hit the 'publish' button! Don't most attorneys sort of work for the devil? No wait, most attorneys ARE the devil! More devilish attorney jokes out there than dumb-blond jokes!! Thanks for reading! Oh, have you ever seen Blow Out? I'm looking for at least one other person who's seen this movie!
Very nice Desert Blondie, You really need to watch Silence of the Lambs, first...and Hannibal, later. Sir Anthony Hopkins is truly amazing!
I agree Sir Anthony is amazing, first time I saw him was 1968 in Lion In Winter, yes, I'm just that old! But I usually like him in movies like Remains of the Day and Howard's End. Yeah, I know, chick flicks. What can I say?
Great choices, especially "Wait Until Dark" and "Psycho." Another suggestion: "The Wages of Fear" starring Yves Montand (1952). Also "The Third Man" with Orson Welles.
Hi friends,
My scary movies are the original Chainsaw Massacre, Sybil, The Exorcist, Psycho, and In Cold Blood.
As a child, I used to watch Frankenstein, Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Werewolf,,I'm sure there were others. My mom and I would get cozy in her bed and watch these,,,nice memories, being scared out of our wits, eating candy,,surprised we didn't choke on some of it lol,,,
Patty
To Ralph: Yes! Wish more young women who adore Hepburn as "My Fair Lady" could admire her work in "Wait Until Dark."
To Trish1048: Never thought of Sybil as a "scary" movie, actually. But it would definitely rate on a all-time favorites list. And "In Cold Blood" I just always thought of as drama...but, again, great. But as usual, thought the book was better than the movie. And yes, cozy in bed with my daughters watching movies definitely a pastime I hope they'll always remember as fondly as I do.
My mother and I used to watch Alfred Hitchcock and pretend we were afraid; I think Psycho was scarey in it's time; I love mysteries; Mr. Brooks was the recent scare for me...the double personality kept me guessing. I'm always ready for a good scarey story but don't scare me in real life....i always get mad. LOL
wait until dark was sppooookkkky my mother was also blind; it had special meaning to me then...i love the movies!! good hub
Yep, in it's day PSYCHO was THE SCARIEST! Haven't seen MR. BROOKS but I think Kevin Costner great. Also, if all my cylinders had been working, I would have included TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999)...one of my first times to see Philip Seymour Hoffman...and the combo of Jude Law, Gwenyth Paltrow and Matt Damon was great!
Here's another one that deserves to be on any top ten list of horror movies: "The Shining" with Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, Directed by Stanley Kubrick 1981.
OOPS, you're right..."The Shining" should be on any great "scary movie" list! My head definitely in a bit of foggy mode when I was writing this hub! Thanks for input!
Haha, yep HubPages sends me an e-mail when someone on my list publishes a new Hub, and I have an add-on for my Forefox browser that checks my e-mail every fifteen minutes. So no matter what I'm doing, I Always Know. =)
I haven't seen Blow Out, but I have seen The Exorcist on acid. The Exorcist was based on a true account, which always makes things a little more interesting. I don't generally go in for horror movies myself, but found the Aliens series terrific not because it was scary (although it was in many places) but because it broke all the molds. It wasn't stereotypes, it wasn't cliches, the female protagonist was empowered and she didn't just scream, break a heel and then try to crawl away from the monster on all fours at like three inches a second. (Sigourney Weaver has played great empowered roles in everything I've ever seen her in.) It was good sci-fi, and the horror aspect didn't really hit me as much as the sci-fi-meets-womens'-self-defense-class feeling. Seriously, you just wanted to see her get the little blighter out of there. =)
I'm not really a big scary movie fan myself. But saw the "request" and realized I'd seen and enjoyed quite a few over the years. I guess I think of ALIEN as a scary movie 'cuz when the little dude monster popped out of the guy's stomach...I was SCARED!! Then again with the great editing to build suspense with the "here kitty kitty kitty" scene...THAT WAS SCARY! Or perhaps to be more accurate...that was the height of suspense!!! Nope. That was plain ol' full fledged scary!
Ooh, you might want to check out "Sliver" and "Single White Female", too. They're both great examples of someone's normal life when things take a turn for the creepy. Gotta love Bridget Fonda, especially if you've seen her in "Point of No Return".
Single White Female I've seen. Sliver I haven't. Hasn't anyone out there seen Blow Out? Some DePalma fan somewhere?
Hi,
I agree, the book is better. I find that to be true about most movies,,,the book, to me, wins out.
Those two movies, although not classified as 'thriller' or 'horror',,,the acts committed in those movies I think would scare anyone to death, to know there are such sick people 'out there'.
Patty
Suspect is a fantastic movie, but I wouldn't call it scary! I do think I may have to check out that Hepburn flick though, I'm always looking out for a movie that can scare me - none have so far...
Misery - yep, that's a real scary one (but I loved it!) The Devil's Advocate... well, that sent me into labor with my first child!
Misery, Sliver The Devil's Advocate...how could I forget them....eeeeeeeech love a good scare. as long as its fake lol
For a classic, I recommend Night Of The Hunter, with Robert Michum. Scared me to death when I was a kid. Also both versions of Cape Fear.
To J_Ed: Yeah, you're right. I guess Suspect isn't really a scary movie, but when Dennis Quaid doing the night search of the homeless area, and when Cher's caught in the holding cells, knowing that someone's after her and she can't get out. I was scared!
To Stephhicks68: Wow! That's the best "proof" of how scary a scary movie can be!!! Hope the baby OKAY! So, Devil's Advocate, Keanu Reeves. Sounds perfect for next time I think a good scare would be fun!
Yeah,Misery is creepy- it's hard to watch when Kathy Bates takes the sledge hammer to James Caan's ankle- gives me the creeps just thinking about it.
How about the original "When A Stranger Calls". That one will have you sleeping with one eye open.
"Aliens" (the second one) is really good. "The Omen" is freaky, too.(Especially the music) But the one that just freaks me right out is...
"The Ring" For some reason that movie blows my mind.
Uhhh...Lotbo61...that's some avatar you got there! Thanks for the comment and for stopping by...good luck with your hubs! Haven't seen "the ring." Like I've noted, this scary genre not my main thing, so I've missed out, obviously, on quite a few of the good ones! Gotta watch some of these about 10AM, that way I have the whole day to get them outta my brain so the boogie man doesn't get me that same night!
Great hub, desert blondie. I agree, "Psycho" (1960) starring Anthony Perkins was good -- and scary. But the scariest movie I ever saw was "The Mummy's Tomb" (1942) starring Lon Chaney Jr. It was so scary that I had to hide under the seat at the theater when the mummy appeared. In my day the scariest movies were "Frankenstein" starring Boris Karloff, and "Dracula" starring Bela Lugosi, both made in 1931, although I saw them around 1942, and "The Wolfman" (1941) also starring Lon Chaney Jr. Another very scary movie was "Cape Fear" (1962) starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum.
I would see these great classics back in the day when the tv stations ran movies on Saturday nights or after the local news. Boris Karloff as Frankenstein, and Bela Lugosi as Dracula are two I've always liked. Never was much of a Wolfman fan. And I missed both Cape Fear flix. I never realized until I started getting all these comments just how many, many scary movies there are!!! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Best!
Oh, I remember Silence of the Lambs. It opened on a Valentine's Day in the middle of the week. I made my husband take me to it. I left the theater, and quite honestly, I never wanted to be alone again, ever.
"The Shining" and "The Exorcist" would top my list. I remember having nightmares as a kid hearing "redrum"in my sleep....lol!
S. Spielberg's 1971 movie "Duel" is an incredible psychological thriller. Driving a Plymouth Valient, David Mann, played by Dennis Weaver, is literally stalked by an anonymous driver in a Peterbuilt tanker truck while traveling over a very lonely, mountain road. Although the driver is never seen, except for his arm a couple of times and his snake skin boots once, the truck itself takes on a truly menacing, evil personality. And one of the most frightening aspects is that the pursuit has no motive, just relentless pursuit. This is a classic.
Blondie- great question!!
I have to admit the scarriest movie I have ever seen (and it still gets to me today)\ is FOX news
man - that sh*t is terrifying
Well, my months in Alabama taught me enough southern manners to know to discreetly avoid delving into negative conversations with a stranger and all. So I'll just say...hum, this list is about MOVIES. But, do thank you for so kindly stoppin' by. You take care now, hear?
The most scary movie i have seen in my childhood and still get the chills is Night mare on Elm's street... Whoo since then i prefer mystery and thriller because i really get nightmares!
Definitely an awesome hub! I am a huge scary movie fan.
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Satori says:
4 months ago
That's so funny, I just recently watched "Charade" and "Misery" again, both! You'll love "The Devil's Advocate", too... Keanu Reeves plays an attorney and everything's going great for him - until he finds out just who he's working for. It sounds like one you'd enjoy; I certainly do.