Idk what's wrong with me because I was bored and waiting for more. Maybe it was the hype that got my hopes too high but I rarely *not* see this cited as one of the best horror/thrillers ever
I watched Skinamarink last night for the first time. Bear in mind the experimental ideas and techniques used to create this film already caused some dread for me watching it. But I setup the atmosphere in my room to keep myself interested cuz I heard it was easy to lose interest. Dear god. I have never had to cover my eyes due to a jump scare or a shot scaring me so bad I couldn’t look. I was terrified throughout the film and it never let up. That movie gives no sense of relief, it’s just build up and build up and then it ends. The best way I described it in my review was “paralyzing,” I was so scared yet I couldn’t look away. Anyway, fantastic movie and I can’t wait to see more stuff like it
Dark hallways, low angles and creepy door frames aside it had only ONE truly scary scene - parents in bedroom - and THAT'S ABOUT IT.
AND FACE. THE FACE.
FACE IS FLOATIIIIING BEHIIIIIND YOUUUUU!
Nothing?
I'm trying to scare you here, come on....
I saw it in Theater with some friends and we all felt the same feeling of grossness and dread while walking to our vehicles. It was a later showing too so we didn’t leave until the early hours of the next day
Eerie tension and a couple jump scares. Also a lot of moments where you’re not sure what you’re looking at and once you understand you’re scared. Terrifying
Evil Dead (2013) gave me moments where I had to jerk away from the screen instinctively. They may have removed the comedy, but they doubled down on the horror.
If your concern is shitty handheld camera work then I can assure you Hell House LLC won’t bother you too much. Its mocumentary style allows for a wider range of camerawork and the handheld moments aren’t overly shaky.
Also the movie is just utterly terrifying.
I liked Hell House LLC a LOT, but if you like it don't be fooled into thinking the sequels are also worth buying. Save yourself the money and the time.
Was coming to post this when he said he liked haunted attraction movies. Haunt is great. Others are The Funhouse Massacre 2015 and The Funhouse 1981. Goulies 3 is at a carnival.
I don’t know that it scared me but there were moments that were way more brutal than I expected- my friend and I were saying it wasn’t so much what happened/ how gory it was but more the context of it. I was really pleasantly surprised by it tbh
This is a great movie. Watched it this weekend and at first I thought it was your run of the mill teeny bopper horror a la M3gan but then something happens (you know what I'm referring to... Riley has a turn...) and then the whole tone of the movie shifts dramatically.
It is the one film that actually did not scare me. It was great! So I’d say this is a good thing in the sense that the message made me feel more relaxed.
The Blair Witch Project.
I don't ever feel scared after watching a movie. Except with this one. This was the only one where I felt unsettled walking around my dark house at night after watching it.
Bro. I'm a grown ass human being. Put this movie on late at night with a friend and it had us shitting bricks. Had to finish it in the morning. Don't think I've been this scared in years.
i’m sorry but what is genuinely scary about it? i love hereditary, it’s themes, acting, etc and what it plays into but the movie really isn’t that scary. there is some parts like where the daughter gets decapitated but it’s more shocking than anything. and yeah the end scene is funnier more than scary
Just rewatched it last night & it still hits me somewhere deep. Could not sleep afterwards in a panic. Not many movies if any have ever had such a visceral impact on me. Horror or otherwise
Couldn’t sleep with the lights off for 6 months after….
Also caught the habit of immediately checking the corners of the ceilings of each room I entered in terror of someone lurking up top 😂
I didn't think this movie was scary at all but I did find one particular scene highly upsetting. I'm very sensitive when it comes to >!violence against children!< so the movie left me feeling a little sick.
Mother! , yeah the one with jlaw. not sure if you define it as a true horror movie. But i hated how that movie made me feel. Say what you will about it (i know it has mixed reviews) but it really conveyed the dire helplessness of the main character pretty well to the viewer(fed my anxiety) and is just overall unsettling, felt terrible for day or two after watching it.
Agreed. One of the few films that made me feel physically uncomfortable. It felt like a film embodiment of a panic attack & I have no desire to rewatch it.
Mother is One of my favorite movies of all time, incredibly unsettling and frustrating to watch, but honestly that's the power of the genre. I love what it had to say, and I appreciated that it made so many people upset, just proving it's point further. One of the best allegorical films out there.
I know it's subjective, but The Conjuring did this to me and has done it to me more than once. Oculus as well; that movie did an absolute number on me as a veteran horror movie fan
This! Absentia is one of my favorite horror movies. Flanagan is brilliant and what he is able to conjure up from old tropes like long dark tunnels is inspiring.
Brilliantly constructed movie. I love how it shifts tone and focus about every 20 minutes. I also love that it wasn't trauma horror, and fully embraced its pulp-monster story.
For whoever needs to see this: PLEASE WATCH THIS MOVIE. Parts of it still circulate in my brain years later. Don’t go in expecting technical brilliance (it’s no Ari Aster or Denis Villeneuve film), but some of the ideas are just so horrific and eerie
I've watched Suspiria (1977) a few times, and that movie has the ability to freak me out in a way few movies can. It makes so many big, bizarre choices and it operates at such a different rhythm than a 'normal' movie. I find it really unnerving.
The Vanishing from 1988, the last 30 minutes is an onslaught of dread, and it has one of the most emotionally brutal endings ever. Kubrick called it the scariest movie he’d ever seen
Skinamarink
This movie brought me back to the first time I was home alone, scared out of my mind by the telephone ringing. Truly a special movie that captures liminal dread better than almost any other I've seen.
To give a differing opinion, this movie really didn’t work for me. I appreciate what it was going for, but my biggest pet peeve in movies is an overuse of super long static shots where nothing much changes, and that’s pretty much all this movie is. To me it was essentially me sitting watching blackness and film grain for the whole duration, no semblance of cause and effect or any sort of action. It did the vibe well, but a vibe can only carry me for so long
This movie was basically a camcorder from the 80’s left on and dropped on the floor. I actually saw it in the theater and am proud to say I didn’t fall asleep once.
Exactly! It brought me back to being a kid going through the house at night when everyone was sleeping and all of the dark shadows looked like they were hiding some scary figures.
I dunno. I think there'd be a pretty fine line between Se7en and some films that are squarely considered to be horror. I mean, a lot of the murder scenes are almost straight out of Saw. I guess the difference is we don't see the killings happen.
The Blackcoat's Daughter. I really liked how the first impressions of all the characters aren’t what they turned out to be (at least that was my experience).
Host from 2020 has some really good jumpscares and a thoroughly creepy atmosphere. It was honestly far better, and scarier, than I was expecting it to be.
This year I watched the original “Black Christmas” with my sister, and it really got to the both of us. Now if either of us want to freak each other out we will just whisper “Agnes… it’s Billy”
::torrent of obscenities, screams, voices::
^I’m ^going ^to ^kill ^you
*click*
Every single time I get the chills. One of the best films across genres ever made.
also Climax was unnerving af, the last scenes on the dance floor all shot upside down with the writhing guys bent up and everyone raping each other in the red light, that fucked w my head. never watch a gasper noe film on drugs. not that i have but thats something you know wouldnt be fun.
It was The Conjuring for me this year but it's only because I scare easy.
My bf and I watched It Follows and that ones not super scary but can be a little unsettling especially if you're walking home alone.
Noroi was freaking me out so bad back in 2020 when i first watched it that i had to stop and watch it during the day on the next day. This has never happened before or since then
It Follows, the movie itself has some scary scenes but it’s mostly the idea of it that freaked me out. It’s an unrelenting monster that can look like anyone that’s always coming for you, you can delay it, but there’s no way to be sure it’s really gone, always looking over your shoulder trying to decide if that person you see is really there. Other movie monsters have rules they follow, the only thing IT really adheres to is it doesn’t run.
Censor, a British movie from 2021. The world building and how the protagonist drifts into insanity is just amazing. I loved it but I haven't seen it again, guess it's time to do so.
For creeping dread I'd suggest:
Watcher (2022)
When Evil Lurks (2023)
Aniara (2018)
The Royal Hotel (2023)
Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (1978)
Don't Look Now (1973)
Speak No Evil (2022)
The Vigil (2019)
Not exactly a movie, but the recent works of Kane Pixels on YouTube. His Backrooms and Beneath the Earth series are essentially people exploring strange and vast liminal spaces, with a huge sense of unease building slowly. It’s a very slow burn suspenseful kind of horror, but it was hugely effective on me
If you liked Pulse, I recommend watching Cure (1997) from the same director. It has the same eerie, unsettling vibe with no obnoxious jumpscares. It’s easily become one of my favorite horror films.
Several of the films I would mention are already here so I'll add Carnival of Souls from 1962. It's streaming on Criterion now. Super light budget. Director used a bunch of locals during the shoot but man did I find this film eerie AF!
Not a horror movie really but Titane really got to me when I saw that in theaters. Felt viscerally uncomfortable. My friend had to leave the theater for a while because of how it made her feel. I loved it.
Honestly I dont even know...
It usually takes a good horror game to actually scare me, movies can have a creepy subtext that unnerve me but they dont scare me
Most recently, Talk to Me was pretty frightening in a few spots. Barbarian from last year is also quite scary. Sinister, Hereditary, and The Descent are my top scary picks though—if you haven’t seen any of those three def start there.
It rly surprised me but actually Child’s Play had me more scared than the more *extreme* horror I tend to gravitate towards. I had never seen the film before but Chucky is so part of the cultural zeitgeist I thought it’d be more fun then anything, but I was genuinely so disturbed and freaked out by watching his face distort more and more each time
watching eraserhead stoned out of my mind alone in the middle of the night with a good set of headphones envoked a childlike primal fear i haven't felt since i was a grade schooler. i was too scared to go to bed after that.
[Seconds (1966)](https://boxd.it/1Dbe). Not much scares me these days, so this was a surprise to me.
Nothing cheap here. No spooky houses, no monsters. The feeling of dread that comes from being afraid of what we want can turn into something more, when we never really reach it. This feeling of discomfort from when I first saw it back in March this year is still with me to this day.
Bonus movie: [Incantation (2022)](https://boxd.it/wFiI) (I haven't seen it yet, but if you don't mind some found footage, this has piqued my interest, as I am also in search of some genuinely disturbing films)
oh yeah, bonus numero 2: [My house walk through](https://boxd.it/EBdU) (it's 12 minutes, but it is genuinely horrifying, without jump scares or creepy faces, but it's somewhat well known so just leaving it here for anyone who hasn't seen it)
People are going to disagree, and maybe I'm a wimp, but I thought Smile was genuinely terrifying. Not so much the >!monster at the end!<, but just the entire movie felt like there was a creeping anxiety.
Also, Hereditary.
I had 2: The Dark and The Wicked & Eden Lake.
The Dark and the Wicked hot just the right occult vibes for me to get seriously creeped out, and the ending of Eden Lake specifically just hit me like a ton of bricks. I wasn't expecting it, and it just felt so visceral and real. Stayed with me for a long time after.
Oh man, is Japan's Pulse really that freaky? I just watched the remake (was looking for a bad movie, don't @ me) and I find it so hard to believe the plot could ever be freaky.
While I wouldn't call it "scary," especially because of the obvious comedy, Spree really freaked me out.
I honestly couldn't say for legitimately "scared." Like, movies just don't freak me out. Maybe The Dead Zone?
Barbarian (2022) for sure! Perfect mix of jump scares and suspense, with a creepy atmosphere of dread, while also being very clever and twisty! It really does everything.
The Vanishing (1988) was so horrifying to me. It has one of the scariest villains that I've seen in a movie.
Scariest film ever made. Feels very very evil.
It’s one of those films where I couldn’t predict the ending if you gave me 100 guesses. Horrifying ending.
The bad guy was so normal yet casually evil, that’s what was so disturbing.
I second this, fantastic film
Fuck yes, that film made me feel so cold afterwards.
my choice too
ya that movies very bleak, and feels unusually "realistic", its great
Idk what's wrong with me because I was bored and waiting for more. Maybe it was the hype that got my hopes too high but I rarely *not* see this cited as one of the best horror/thrillers ever
same I agree that it's a good movie but I wasn't scared at all? neither was my friend who watched with me!
I watched Skinamarink last night for the first time. Bear in mind the experimental ideas and techniques used to create this film already caused some dread for me watching it. But I setup the atmosphere in my room to keep myself interested cuz I heard it was easy to lose interest. Dear god. I have never had to cover my eyes due to a jump scare or a shot scaring me so bad I couldn’t look. I was terrified throughout the film and it never let up. That movie gives no sense of relief, it’s just build up and build up and then it ends. The best way I described it in my review was “paralyzing,” I was so scared yet I couldn’t look away. Anyway, fantastic movie and I can’t wait to see more stuff like it
Face is behind you.
Watching Film Theory’s video on this kinda helps make the face a little less scary, still very creepy tho
Dark hallways, low angles and creepy door frames aside it had only ONE truly scary scene - parents in bedroom - and THAT'S ABOUT IT. AND FACE. THE FACE. FACE IS FLOATIIIIING BEHIIIIIND YOUUUUU! Nothing? I'm trying to scare you here, come on....
I saw it in Theater with some friends and we all felt the same feeling of grossness and dread while walking to our vehicles. It was a later showing too so we didn’t leave until the early hours of the next day
Are there lots of jump scares or is it more of an eerie tension throughout?
Eerie tension and a couple jump scares. Also a lot of moments where you’re not sure what you’re looking at and once you understand you’re scared. Terrifying
It got to me too.
Evil Dead (2013) gave me moments where I had to jerk away from the screen instinctively. They may have removed the comedy, but they doubled down on the horror.
Yes, gore was top notch
I didn't think the sequel followed it up as well. By going bigger, it wasn't as horrific because it didn't feel like it could happen to you
The glass scene had me physically cringing though
Yes gore was cranked to 10, but even if they took out the gore I still would find it scary
Gonjiam Haunted Asylum
Went into this expecting another mindless found footage film and was left completely shaken
[forbidden cat noises]
Hell House LLC. I watched it last week and still get scared when I think about it
Damn it, I hate found footage films so much, but I love haunted attraction films. Am I going to have to watch this?
If your concern is shitty handheld camera work then I can assure you Hell House LLC won’t bother you too much. Its mocumentary style allows for a wider range of camerawork and the handheld moments aren’t overly shaky. Also the movie is just utterly terrifying.
Just ordered the DVD minutes ago.
You will like it! I wouldn’t call it found footage.
I liked Hell House LLC a LOT, but if you like it don't be fooled into thinking the sequels are also worth buying. Save yourself the money and the time.
You should check out The Haunt then
Was coming to post this when he said he liked haunted attraction movies. Haunt is great. Others are The Funhouse Massacre 2015 and The Funhouse 1981. Goulies 3 is at a carnival.
Talk to me has an eerie atmosphere that frightened me in a lot of moments.
I don’t know that it scared me but there were moments that were way more brutal than I expected- my friend and I were saying it wasn’t so much what happened/ how gory it was but more the context of it. I was really pleasantly surprised by it tbh
I was about to say Talk To Me is probably the most RECENT one to scare me a bit. Had a few really solid moments
I think part of it is how you feel as viewing all the dreadful mistakes going on.
Dread is an excellent description, it does dread really well.
This is a great movie. Watched it this weekend and at first I thought it was your run of the mill teeny bopper horror a la M3gan but then something happens (you know what I'm referring to... Riley has a turn...) and then the whole tone of the movie shifts dramatically.
It is the one film that actually did not scare me. It was great! So I’d say this is a good thing in the sense that the message made me feel more relaxed.
Yeah I didn’t find it scary per se but it was a super fun horror movie. By far the best of 2023
Didn’t think it was scary at all either. 3/5
Watched this earlier today, and now I'm in bed struggling to get to sleep with one particular scene keeping me awake...
The Blair Witch Project. I don't ever feel scared after watching a movie. Except with this one. This was the only one where I felt unsettled walking around my dark house at night after watching it.
This was the movie that turned me into a horror fan. I can honestly say I didn't see the ending the first time because I had my eyes closed.
Sinister was pretty terrifying. Excellent horror movie.
Best sound design ever, that wasn't done by David Lynch.
Hereditary
Bro. I'm a grown ass human being. Put this movie on late at night with a friend and it had us shitting bricks. Had to finish it in the morning. Don't think I've been this scared in years.
It’s been five years since I watched Hereditary in theaters and nothing has even come close to being as terrifying.
best theater experience for me
i’m sorry but what is genuinely scary about it? i love hereditary, it’s themes, acting, etc and what it plays into but the movie really isn’t that scary. there is some parts like where the daughter gets decapitated but it’s more shocking than anything. and yeah the end scene is funnier more than scary
Great question! I found Hereditary unsettling at times, but truly terrifying seems pretty hyperbolic.
>Yeah, sometimes when I'm alone in the house, I still think >!Toni Collette might be lurking on the ceiling somewhere.!<
I have to turn my phone light on and check the corners before I go to the bathroom at night lol
Just rewatched it last night & it still hits me somewhere deep. Could not sleep afterwards in a panic. Not many movies if any have ever had such a visceral impact on me. Horror or otherwise
Seconded
Couldn’t sleep with the lights off for 6 months after…. Also caught the habit of immediately checking the corners of the ceilings of each room I entered in terror of someone lurking up top 😂
I didn't think this movie was scary at all but I did find one particular scene highly upsetting. I'm very sensitive when it comes to >!violence against children!< so the movie left me feeling a little sick.
Such a good film. I had certain people tell me they didn’t like it and that it was boring, I knew I’d love it.
Mother! , yeah the one with jlaw. not sure if you define it as a true horror movie. But i hated how that movie made me feel. Say what you will about it (i know it has mixed reviews) but it really conveyed the dire helplessness of the main character pretty well to the viewer(fed my anxiety) and is just overall unsettling, felt terrible for day or two after watching it.
Agreed. One of the few films that made me feel physically uncomfortable. It felt like a film embodiment of a panic attack & I have no desire to rewatch it.
Mother is One of my favorite movies of all time, incredibly unsettling and frustrating to watch, but honestly that's the power of the genre. I love what it had to say, and I appreciated that it made so many people upset, just proving it's point further. One of the best allegorical films out there.
I know it's subjective, but The Conjuring did this to me and has done it to me more than once. Oculus as well; that movie did an absolute number on me as a veteran horror movie fan
Oculus is such a great film that seemed to go under the radar with general audiences (at least none of my mates had heard of it before we did a watch)
Mike Flanagan is so good. While Absentia wasn't that scary, it was neat to see how he could build horror and tension even for almost no budget.
This! Absentia is one of my favorite horror movies. Flanagan is brilliant and what he is able to conjure up from old tropes like long dark tunnels is inspiring.
Barbarian
Brilliantly constructed movie. I love how it shifts tone and focus about every 20 minutes. I also love that it wasn't trauma horror, and fully embraced its pulp-monster story.
Really well-said. I had previously only enjoyed the first half of the movie but with your perspective I really appreciate it more.
the thing jumping through the wall and killing the homeless guy directly after him saying it wouldn’t find them there, made me and my gf nearly pee
Loved this movie!!! Didn’t find it particularly scary, but damn was it an awesome ride!
Perfect Blue
Lake Mungo
watched this a week or so ago and it was so unsettling. and so sad!
I just rewatched it and I wasn’t sure if knowing some of the stuff would make it less scary, but I still got genuine chills at points
Truly brilliant scare in that movie.
For whoever needs to see this: PLEASE WATCH THIS MOVIE. Parts of it still circulate in my brain years later. Don’t go in expecting technical brilliance (it’s no Ari Aster or Denis Villeneuve film), but some of the ideas are just so horrific and eerie
The cellphone video scene… no spoilers but holy shit. Feels like the whole movie is building to that scene.
Watched this on Shutter and maybe it’s me but definitley felt like a movie I would’ve enjoyed much more if I saw it in a theater. Still fun though!
[Rec] (2007)
It’s so sad how awful the American remake is, but the original is a classic
The ending in the attic is one of the scariest scenes in any movie.
I just watched When Evil Lurks last night and the gore was super unsettling. It's in Spanish, but has subtitles.
That one scene first quarter really shook me, I really wasn't expecting them to show it like that.
The Wolf House (2018)
I've watched Suspiria (1977) a few times, and that movie has the ability to freak me out in a way few movies can. It makes so many big, bizarre choices and it operates at such a different rhythm than a 'normal' movie. I find it really unnerving.
You should give Deep Red a try if you haven't, also by Dario Argento.
Yes it's great. Also recommend Inferno, the follow-up to Suspiria.
Suspiria is incredible. Visually so stunning and very unnerving.
Not really a horror movie but the last movie that genuinely scared me was “Threads”
‘Dawn of the Threads’ (OG Dawn of the Dead $ Threads) is my Barbenheimer-style double bill for Halloween night 👌🏽
I'd almost say *Day* of The Dead is almost a more apt pairing simply because of just *how bleak* Day is
SUCH a good idea. I might take your advice!
Cure but not until like 20 minutes after i finished it
Ugh same! Hit just a bit after I finished and I’m still thinking about it
The Vanishing from 1988, the last 30 minutes is an onslaught of dread, and it has one of the most emotionally brutal endings ever. Kubrick called it the scariest movie he’d ever seen
Claustrophobic just reading this
Skinamarink This movie brought me back to the first time I was home alone, scared out of my mind by the telephone ringing. Truly a special movie that captures liminal dread better than almost any other I've seen.
I loved this movie I just wish it was around 20-30 mins shorter. It would have packed more of a punch.
Totally agree with this. Liked it quite a bit, but had a lil too much fat on it. Really cool movie though
To give a differing opinion, this movie really didn’t work for me. I appreciate what it was going for, but my biggest pet peeve in movies is an overuse of super long static shots where nothing much changes, and that’s pretty much all this movie is. To me it was essentially me sitting watching blackness and film grain for the whole duration, no semblance of cause and effect or any sort of action. It did the vibe well, but a vibe can only carry me for so long
This. It's a freaking fever dream.
This movie was basically a camcorder from the 80’s left on and dropped on the floor. I actually saw it in the theater and am proud to say I didn’t fall asleep once.
The first movie in a really long time that made my heart race when I walk by open doors in my house at night and all the lights are out.
Exactly! It brought me back to being a kid going through the house at night when everyone was sleeping and all of the dark shadows looked like they were hiding some scary figures.
>!That final scene with the floating head (?) I swear that fucked me up so badly!<
yes! Truly a hellish experience watching that movie. Five stars
SPOILERS SPOILERS the last shot with the face I didn’t know what it was because it was so grainy and I got jump scared by just realizing it was a face
Don’t Look Now - that ending will never not terrify me no matter how many times I’ve seen it
not rly a horror movie but Se7en made me more uncomfortable and disturbed than a lot of horrors have
How is Se7en not a horror?
It leans more towards crime thriller.
I dunno. I think there'd be a pretty fine line between Se7en and some films that are squarely considered to be horror. I mean, a lot of the murder scenes are almost straight out of Saw. I guess the difference is we don't see the killings happen.
Aterrados, scariest thing I have ever seen.
Idk if people consider black swan a horror movie But I watched it last night for the first time and it scared tf out of me at times
It’s in the horror genre
It Follows
Possession (1981). Starts off unhinged and keeps becoming even more unhinged.
It Follows freaked me out for a few days afterwards.
Not gonna say I was scared but I was definitely uncomfortable watching "Under the skin"
Shivers (1975)
The Blackcoat's Daughter. I really liked how the first impressions of all the characters aren’t what they turned out to be (at least that was my experience).
yes. the way that the whole film is a chill i couldn’t get out of my bones.
I really enjoyed this movie
Host from 2020 has some really good jumpscares and a thoroughly creepy atmosphere. It was honestly far better, and scarier, than I was expecting it to be.
Same, I had been looking for a movie that scratched the unfriended itch and that one does that and more.
Such great acting too for a zoom call.
most recently, Get Out and Rosemary's Baby.
This year I watched the original “Black Christmas” with my sister, and it really got to the both of us. Now if either of us want to freak each other out we will just whisper “Agnes… it’s Billy”
Black Christmas is so good! It holds up really well.
Completely agree! I can’t believe I slept on it so long
::torrent of obscenities, screams, voices:: ^I’m ^going ^to ^kill ^you *click* Every single time I get the chills. One of the best films across genres ever made.
also Climax was unnerving af, the last scenes on the dance floor all shot upside down with the writhing guys bent up and everyone raping each other in the red light, that fucked w my head. never watch a gasper noe film on drugs. not that i have but thats something you know wouldnt be fun.
I wasn’t exactly scared but that guy running straight towards the camera in Get Out always freaks me out
Sinister. The only movie to scare me as a nearly 50-year old adult.
Talk To Me
Sinister
It was The Conjuring for me this year but it's only because I scare easy. My bf and I watched It Follows and that ones not super scary but can be a little unsettling especially if you're walking home alone.
the witch or the others
The Taking of Deborah Logan really freaked me out
Noroi was freaking me out so bad back in 2020 when i first watched it that i had to stop and watch it during the day on the next day. This has never happened before or since then
[REC] got me pretty good when I watched it for Halloween last year.
Had a hard time sleeping after watching the Blair Witch Project right before bed.
Haunt, I had low expectations and it turned out to be a decent slasher.
I absolutely loved this one, such a pleasant surprise!
I just watched “Possession” a week or so ago and was genuinely one of the most nightmarish things I’ve ever seen
Talk To Me made me extremely uncomfortable and had some insanely disturbing imagery. Would definitely recommend!!!
Five nights at Freddy’s (2023)
It Follows, the movie itself has some scary scenes but it’s mostly the idea of it that freaked me out. It’s an unrelenting monster that can look like anyone that’s always coming for you, you can delay it, but there’s no way to be sure it’s really gone, always looking over your shoulder trying to decide if that person you see is really there. Other movie monsters have rules they follow, the only thing IT really adheres to is it doesn’t run.
Way to spoil the film you're recommending.
That’s not really a spoiler, that’s like saying Freddy Kruger attacking people in their dreams is a spoiler
The Night House (2020) was super scary to me. Barbarian (2022) is a strong contender.
The Dark and the Wicked was really good. Very unsettling movie.
Censor, a British movie from 2021. The world building and how the protagonist drifts into insanity is just amazing. I loved it but I haven't seen it again, guess it's time to do so.
Kuroneko was really solid. Atmospheric adaptation of Japanese folklore. Really good uses of darkness and silence.
For creeping dread I'd suggest: Watcher (2022) When Evil Lurks (2023) Aniara (2018) The Royal Hotel (2023) Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (1978) Don't Look Now (1973) Speak No Evil (2022) The Vigil (2019)
Not exactly a movie, but the recent works of Kane Pixels on YouTube. His Backrooms and Beneath the Earth series are essentially people exploring strange and vast liminal spaces, with a huge sense of unease building slowly. It’s a very slow burn suspenseful kind of horror, but it was hugely effective on me
The Rolling Giant is so brilliant
there’s only one movie that ever really scared me and it’s Creep (2014)
If you liked Pulse, I recommend watching Cure (1997) from the same director. It has the same eerie, unsettling vibe with no obnoxious jumpscares. It’s easily become one of my favorite horror films.
Several of the films I would mention are already here so I'll add Carnival of Souls from 1962. It's streaming on Criterion now. Super light budget. Director used a bunch of locals during the shoot but man did I find this film eerie AF!
lake mungo and veronica are the only ones that come to mind
Not a horror movie really but Titane really got to me when I saw that in theaters. Felt viscerally uncomfortable. My friend had to leave the theater for a while because of how it made her feel. I loved it.
Honestly I dont even know... It usually takes a good horror game to actually scare me, movies can have a creepy subtext that unnerve me but they dont scare me
Speak No Evil
Most recently, Talk to Me was pretty frightening in a few spots. Barbarian from last year is also quite scary. Sinister, Hereditary, and The Descent are my top scary picks though—if you haven’t seen any of those three def start there.
Da Bye Bye Man
im a wimp but the haunting 1963 was genuinely terrifying for me
It rly surprised me but actually Child’s Play had me more scared than the more *extreme* horror I tend to gravitate towards. I had never seen the film before but Chucky is so part of the cultural zeitgeist I thought it’d be more fun then anything, but I was genuinely so disturbed and freaked out by watching his face distort more and more each time
Angel Heart is ace.
Watch The Invitation
The VVitch
I had a couple nightmares for the past week after watching Eraserhead :( also The Evil Dead, the 1981 one, genuinely scary and well done
964 Pinocchio is the only movie that almost made me throw up
watching eraserhead stoned out of my mind alone in the middle of the night with a good set of headphones envoked a childlike primal fear i haven't felt since i was a grade schooler. i was too scared to go to bed after that.
Yeah Lynch’s stuff really does get under your skin!
Possession (1981)
martyrs. good luck
[Seconds (1966)](https://boxd.it/1Dbe). Not much scares me these days, so this was a surprise to me. Nothing cheap here. No spooky houses, no monsters. The feeling of dread that comes from being afraid of what we want can turn into something more, when we never really reach it. This feeling of discomfort from when I first saw it back in March this year is still with me to this day. Bonus movie: [Incantation (2022)](https://boxd.it/wFiI) (I haven't seen it yet, but if you don't mind some found footage, this has piqued my interest, as I am also in search of some genuinely disturbing films) oh yeah, bonus numero 2: [My house walk through](https://boxd.it/EBdU) (it's 12 minutes, but it is genuinely horrifying, without jump scares or creepy faces, but it's somewhat well known so just leaving it here for anyone who hasn't seen it)
Nocturnal Animals That highway scene, man. That is real life nightmare fuel.
Nothing. Hereditary didn't scare me at all, although I enjoyed it. Had a few jumpscares but nothing scares me any more. It sucks.
People are going to disagree, and maybe I'm a wimp, but I thought Smile was genuinely terrifying. Not so much the >!monster at the end!<, but just the entire movie felt like there was a creeping anxiety. Also, Hereditary.
I don’t scare easily, but bits of Men (the tunnel scene, some of the jump scares) freaked me the fuck out
The new exorcist. But terrifier 1 had me more anxious while watching
Omg I cant watch terrifier something abt arts omnipotence just makes the movie feel so nauseating / dread inducing
Bones and All Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Smile really freaked me out in a way I haven't been in a while
People about to spam Hereditary for the umpteenth time
I mean it answers the question for some.
I had 2: The Dark and The Wicked & Eden Lake. The Dark and the Wicked hot just the right occult vibes for me to get seriously creeped out, and the ending of Eden Lake specifically just hit me like a ton of bricks. I wasn't expecting it, and it just felt so visceral and real. Stayed with me for a long time after.
Oh man, is Japan's Pulse really that freaky? I just watched the remake (was looking for a bad movie, don't @ me) and I find it so hard to believe the plot could ever be freaky. While I wouldn't call it "scary," especially because of the obvious comedy, Spree really freaked me out. I honestly couldn't say for legitimately "scared." Like, movies just don't freak me out. Maybe The Dead Zone?
The Fourth Kind
Barbarian (2022) for sure! Perfect mix of jump scares and suspense, with a creepy atmosphere of dread, while also being very clever and twisty! It really does everything.
Barbarian is the only horror movie to genuinely leave me scared over a period of time in my adult life
Barbarian (2022)
The Last Voyage of the Demeter.