Greatest horror film ever made?

It's Halloween, so I have put together a list of, in my opinion, the greatest horror films ever made. I'd like to see which one TWC dubs the scariest movie in recent history.

In my opinion it is The Exorcist, hands down the best horror. No explanation should be neccesary.

I can't choose one over the other ,so I will say any George A. Romero zombie films.

I would have to go with The Exorcist as well. The first time I saw it was in 1982 when it was on a double bill with Friday 13th (original). Friday 13th was on first & it was much the same as watching any other film, much rustling of food packets, inappropriate remarks being shouted etc. Then The Exorcist came on & everything went deadly quiet and a really odd atmosphere descended over the place. It truly was the scariest film I've seen at the pictures although my Dad once smuggled a live chicken into a cinema when The Birds was released & launched it at a most opportune moment which caused quite a commotion!

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

I would have to go with The Exorcist as well. The first time I saw it was in 1982 when it was on a double bill with Friday 13th (original). Friday 13th was on first & it was much the same as watching any other film, much rustling of food packets, inappropriate remarks being shouted etc. Then The Exorcist came on & everything went deadly quiet and a really odd atmosphere descended over the place. It truly was the scariest film I've seen at the pictures although my Dad once smuggled a live chicken into a cinema when The Birds was released & launched it at a most opportune moment which caused quite a commotion!

You will never know how much that made me laugh

I forgot about The Birds , I think it's still a little scary even today.

Originally Posted by Kid Dynamite

You will never know how much that made me laugh

I forgot about The Birds , I think it's still a little scary even today.

Yeah he got banned for 3 months for that little stunt & The Birds is a great film but of course it is a Hitchcock, the master of suspense.

i would have to go with the exorcist on this

Horror is too broad a genre to define 1 single greatest, c'mon!

What about monster movies? Jaws, without a doubt. It scared people ******** in an era when sharks were still mysterious. And it's based on a true incident (Matawan Creek). Deep Blue Sea however was an excellent entry into the shark genre, and in my opinion stands alone as a GREAT monster film. Anaconda also deserves mentioning, it was one of the greatest of the 90's. Especially now that the monster genre is pretty much dead, though I HOPE it can be ressurected in the same way other horror genres have.

Serial killers? Having just seen the IV (****ing amazing btw) the Saw series, without a doubt.

Zombie films? Dawn of the Dead probably.

Sci-fi horror? Alien series, but Jurassic Park quite possibly too.. Think of how original and terrifying the velociraptors were when you were a kid! Plus that movie literally ressurected dinosaurs. Do you realise that was the first time mankind ever TRULY saw dinosaurs? Ever.

But for sci fi horror you have my personal cult favorite, Event Horizon.

Torture? Saw series, once again.

Religious? The Exorcist or maybe The Omen.

Artistic? Sleepy Hollow, but Sweeney Todd might take that illustrious crown soon!

Cannibals? Hills Have Eyes, especially concerning the story it's based on.

Vampire? Could be Nosferatu, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, 30 Days of Night comes closest to portraying how vampires were originally seen, culturally world wide. Vicious, un-attractive, parasites.

Theres a slew of them,

Originally Posted by The Sword of Cao Cao

Cannibals? Hills Have Eyes, especially concerning the story it's based on.

Never seen Cannibal Holocaust I take it ??

Originally Posted by The Sword of Cao Cao

Artistic? Sleepy Hollow, but Sweeney Todd might take that illustrious crown soon!

I don't know about how broad it is, I'm not a fan of horror at least not by today's standards, I would consider this a 'scary movie' or 'ghost story' which I suppose falls in your local video horror section.

Personally I like sleepy hallow. My favorite is the one with Jeff Goldblum playing Ichabod Crane hey I grew up with that one

Otherwise Tales from the Crypt is enough 'horror' for me.

Originally Posted by The Sword of Cao Cao

Horror is too broad a genre to define 1 single greatest, c'mon!

What about monster movies? Jaws, without a doubt. It scared people ******** in an era when sharks were still mysterious. And it's based on a true incident (Matawan Creek). Deep Blue Sea however was an excellent entry into the shark genre, and in my opinion stands alone as a GREAT monster film. Anaconda also deserves mentioning, it was one of the greatest of the 90's. Especially now that the monster genre is pretty much dead, though I HOPE it can be ressurected in the same way other horror genres have.

Serial killers? Having just seen the IV (****ing amazing btw) the Saw series, without a doubt.

Zombie films? Dawn of the Dead probably.

Sci-fi horror? Alien series, but Jurassic Park quite possibly too.. Think of how original and terrifying the velociraptors were when you were a kid! Plus that movie literally ressurected dinosaurs. Do you realise that was the first time mankind ever TRULY saw dinosaurs? Ever.

But for sci fi horror you have my personal cult favorite, Event Horizon.

Torture? Saw series, once again.

Religious? The Exorcist or maybe The Omen.

Artistic? Sleepy Hollow, but Sweeney Todd might take that illustrious crown soon!

Cannibals? Hills Have Eyes, especially concerning the story it's based on.

Vampire? Could be Nosferatu, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, 30 Days of Night comes closest to portraying how vampires were originally seen, culturally world wide. Vicious, un-attractive, parasites.

Theres a slew of them,

You kind of created a good category Cao Cao.. I'd like to post some of my favourites following your example:

These are based on greatness,not being the scariest however among them there might be a few exceptions,which I will indicate... Here is my list:

Monster Horror- The Jaws

And Deep Blue sea was very good as well.

Serial Killers- The Hitcher.. (the original '86 version Rutger Hauer was simply brilliant)

Zombie Films- Night of the living death..(1968)

This is the best I've seen so far and the rest is crap if you ask me.. However I emphasize that I haven't seen Dawn of the Dead,I saw the new version which I didn't like that much but wasn't that bad either.

Sci-fi horror- The Thing

This is absolutely a true classic.This one had just the perfect atmosphere and the creature was indeed original and its abilities were very intriguing.And this is probably the sole horror movie among the entire history of the horror genre where victims are not killed with the silly "I think I've heard something I'll better go and check..Or c'mon let's split into two groups) plot.. And marvellous ending.

Torture- Hostel

A great movie..I think this is the best one sofar..

Here is another category:

Most unnerving- The Ring..

Japanese are indeed the masters of playing with the nerve system both in movies and the games (Silent Hill first version in ps for instance)

When we were at the movie theater watching it,the cousin of my friend just shouted in the theater: "Man! I'm about to sh..t my pants" and that night when I returned home I opened all the lights in the house and kept on staring at the tv's screen for a while.

Vampire- Bram Stoker's Dracula

The most powerful scenes I've ever seen in the genre.Screenplay is fascinating as well as the theatrical presentation of the plot.Gary Oldman's performance is unforgettable as the Prince Dracula..Only problem with the cast is that antipathical,little Winona Ryder as Elisabetha.. Also good historical accuracy to a certain level.

Originally Posted by Zephrelial

Serial Killers- The Hitcher.. (the original '86 version Rutger Hauer was simply brilliant)

Man that was such a great movie...Hauer was just absolutely great in movies back then and never better then in that one. Whoever wrote the remake should be tied between two trucks though.

Vampire- Bram Stoker's Dracula

The most powerful scenes I've ever seen in the genre.Screenplay is fascinating as well as the theatrical presentation of the plot.Gary Oldman's performance is unforgettable as the Prince Dracula..Only problem with the cast is that antipathical,little Winona Ryder as Elisabetha.. Also good historical accuracy to a certain level.

"I love you too much to condemn you." absolutely brilliant Gary Oldman only movie he was better in was The Professional which is of course not horrible but a great movie.

Originally Posted by danzig

Man that was such a great movie...Hauer was just absolutely great in movies back then and never better then in that one. Whoever wrote the remake should be tied between two trucks though.



"I love you too much to condemn you." absolutely brilliant Gary Oldman only movie he was better in was The Professional which is of course not horrible but a great movie.

Let me post my favourite quote from the Hitcher:

Policemen interrogates John Ryder (Hauer),Ryder looks kind of bored and somewhat disinterested in everything around him...

The Policeman asks: "Where are you from? "

Ryder answers: "Disneyland..."

There are few quotes like this in the movies which can accumulate the distorted and disturbed mind of a killer into a single word..which is also a fine display of dark humour.

Although I wanted to see the remake a lot,I missed it.But according to what you say it's not worth seeing.Though I heard that Boromir (forgot that guys name) performed greatly.. :hmmm: Nevertheless I don't think that he exactly fits the role of John Ryder can anyone think of an alternate actor that may be able to portray the character effectively?

"I love you too much to condemn you." I thought it was " I love you too much.." but I may be wrong and either way it doesn't matter.

My favourite scene is the one that Dracula renounces God and when he stabs the cross with the sword,it starts bleeding,beginning to flood the whole church..

And the lines in rumenian there is well suits the situation,although I'd prefer the lines to be in Slavic Latin which was actually spoken among the boiars and priests..The lines are unfortunately in rumenian,which at 15th century Wallachia that time the peasants and commonfolk spoke in.. Not the nobles nor the priest class..But still it's not much a problem..

On the other hand I think that Wynona Ryder lacks the physical resemblance of Dracula's bethrothed which was historically a female boiar.

Elaborating I know that due to lack of variety in feeding habits as well as the non-mixture of the races back in 15th century;the Wallachian women were probably not attracted at all compared to the modern day Rumenian women..

Despite this fact that Elisabetha's looks had to be more Slavic to some extent.. This should have been taken into account when the cast was selected.

Although the incarnation of Elisabetha is an English women in the movie,the incarnation should have looked more slavic as well,if you know what I mean..

Moreover,Wynona's acting style seems too pretentious and is repulsive at times which is not attractive..( at least from the perspective of a melancholic,fathead man such as myself)She has the looks and demenaour of an average 21st century women who happens to be working as either a journalist or a girl that works in an advertising company.. But certainly not fitted to the role of a wallachian princess nor a boiar..Too casual..

Well I can't specifically think of a women that would fit this role better..:hmmm: (my ex-gf maybe)

Well Ryder is usually a downside in any movie she is in Only person who comes to mind is Mila Jovovich though she is so sterotyped as a female bad ass but at the time of the movie's release maybe. Honestly cant think of anyone better to fit Hitcher then Haur...the character just seems to fit him. Christian Bale obviously did a great job as whacko in American Pyscho but different type of disturbed. John Malkovich could probably do it great actor who sadly doesnt get many good rolls anymore since coming out of the closet...the closet in this case being a pretty hard right winger in Hollywood

Sean Bean was not a bad choice for the remake its just the movie itself was bleh and I hated the reversal of characters so it was the girl (Nash renamed in the movie) is the focus...Hollywood seems caught up in the whole female must kick ass syndrome its as bad as the large breasted woman does something stupid and gets killed nonsense.

Originally Posted by Zephrelial

Vampire- Bram Stoker's Dracula

The most powerful scenes I've ever seen in the genre.Screenplay is fascinating as well as the theatrical presentation of the plot.Gary Oldman's performance is unforgettable as the Prince Dracula..Only problem with the cast is that antipathical,little Winona Ryder as Elisabetha.. Also good historical accuracy to a certain level.

That was a awesome film, one of Coppola's best films.
Oldman at his best as well as Anthony Hopkins.
And yeah I agree about Winona Ryder.
She was dreadful.
And funny thing is that in the movie she is suppose to get married to a even worse actor, Keanu Reeves.
Seriously, they could have used a tree to play Harker and still would have been a better performance then Reeves did.
I half-way expected him to go "Damn, it's Dracula dude" only with a faked british accent.

Nah I've heard of it, but it's just a snuff film, imo. Not true horror.

Originally Posted by The Sword of Cao Cao

Nah I've heard of it, but it's just a snuff film, imo. Not true horror.

Not really.
It's goes more for the shock but it's still scary.

Minus Scream that is a really tough list to pick one, I went with The Shining but just barely. The original Texas Chain, Pyscho, Dawn of the Dead (though I liked the remake more wierdly enough) etc all pretty much genre changing movies. Id actually replace Scream with Saw as far more modern horror flicks go. Some other movies would be Carrie, Suspira, Rosemary's Baby, Evil Dead 2 and Dead/Alive.

Sci-fi horror? Alien series, but Jurassic Park quite possibly too.. Think of how original and terrifying the velociraptors were when you were a kid! Plus that movie literally ressurected dinosaurs. Do you realise that was the first time mankind ever TRULY saw dinosaurs? Ever.

Event Horizon.

The Omen - Being of a religious bent, you can't comfort yourself with "It's not real". Also, if you've heard about the apparent curse it does make you wonder

Nosferatu? Like the original silent?
Man, Cao Cao, that's awesome!

You guys all make me realize how few horror movies I've seen!
Of the ones I've seen though, probably Poltergeist... that medium?

What was that movie that the guy who plays Gibbs on NCIS was the star of? Mark Hammond! (or some spelling therein) I hear he was a quickly aspiring actor, but then he took that role and was so good at being a complete psycho that even his wife could hardly look at him anymore.
I haven't seen it, but any movie that shows real psychopaths are scary.

Jaws - plain and simple, since I first watched it when I was like...10 there has never been another movie that has caused some serious phobia that I have of swimming in open water - since seeing Jaws I can't do it, I can't just swim in deep open water without visualizing a massive shark methodically closing in for the kill.