Scariest Movie You'v Ever Seen

Jeff Donald · August 27th, 2002, 05:29 AM

Chris, your right. I had forgotten that Andalusian Dog was shown first that evening. I'm going back close to 30 years ago. The other thing that made the scene so unsettling was the scalpel cutting the eye was cut with a shot of clouds passing in front of a full moon, then back to the eye. I saw the B & W version, probably on 16mm. Thanks for helping me remember a little of my youth.

Jeff

Chris Hurd · August 27th, 2002, 09:16 AM

Thanks Jeff, I had completely forgotten about the clouds passing in front of the moon... definitely sets the stage for the gruesome scene which follows. I have a copy somewhere on VHS, sometime maybe I'll work up the nerve to see it again.

Chris Ward · August 27th, 2002, 02:55 PM

The original version of The Haunting remains the single most frightening experience for me. I got to interview the director Robert Wise a few years ago and I was surprised to learn that he was surprised at well it turned out. Sometimes all the planets just line up. The remake was simply awful.

The slicing of the eye is certainly one of my greatest shocks sitting in a theatre, along with the infamous shower scene, I saw the Dali/Bunuel short on a co-bill with Psycho in college (what a night).

Here's my list:

1) The Haunting (1964)
2) The Innocence (1963)
3) Alien (1979)*
4) The Terminator (1984)*
5) Psycho (1960)

*movie theatre

Chris Ward · August 27th, 2002, 03:29 PM

That's actually The Innocents from 1961. It starred Deborah Kerr and was directed by Jack Clayton. If you loved the original The Haunting, you'll love The Innocents.

Chris Hurd · August 28th, 2002, 04:15 AM

I mentioned this thread to my colleagues working the Canon booth here at WEVA in Las Vegas. My very good friend Jon Sagud said that the scariest movie he saw in a theatre as a kid was George Pal's "War Of The Worlds." Early on when the preacher gets vaporized, you knew all bets were off and this was serious. I had the same reaction when I saw "Panic In The Year Zero" with Ray Milland. Kid stuff, but when you see it as a kid, that's when it really counts.

Rik Sanchez · August 28th, 2002, 09:27 AM

Un Chien Andalou was great, I think the eye they used was actually a cow's eye, I lent my Bunuel book to a friend but I'm pretty sure it was a cow they used. Found my copy of L'age d'or, now if I could only find the other tape. Anybody read the book by Bunuel, My Last Sigh. Great stuff.

Takeshi Fukushima · August 28th, 2002, 11:04 AM

My scariest was Deer Hunter. man that was one scary movie. not the horror type of movie though.
12ed

Eric Emerick · August 28th, 2002, 07:53 PM

"Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte". I was about 6 years old and my sisters were babysitting while my parents were out. I could here that they were watching a movie in the living room while I was supposed to be sleeping, fat chance. They finally gave in to my incessant whining, I wish they hadn't! Woa! I wasn't ready for that flick. New meaning to "Betty Davis Eyes".

Chris Hurd · August 29th, 2002, 12:48 AM

Woohoo, good one Eric, this one can be found occasionally on Turner Classic Movies. Sweet Charlotte is a really bizarre, totally wierd southern-style experience. Not a horror movie but, eh, definitely disconcerting.

I'll throw in another, a cheesy made-for-TV-in-the-70's that got my goat when I was about ten or eleven years old or so: "Bad Ronald" -- see http://home1.gte.net/res0a2u7/reelreviews/reviews/badronald.htm -- this is a great website by the way.

Barry Goyette · September 1st, 2002, 09:20 PM

I went to see "The Kid Stays in the Picture" today, and I was reminded of the film that probably got to me the most back in film school (when I thought I couldn't be scared by anything). Rosemary's Baby scared the crap out of me, I think because the satanists win. But for pure creepy, twisted, strangeness, Polanski's earlier "Repulsion" takes the cake. Catherine Deneuve as a sexually-confused shut-in paranoic. Do a double feature with his little seen "The Tenant" and you'll probably not want to be spending much time around the house for awhile.

Barry

Alexander McLeod · September 1st, 2002, 10:14 PM

The original Diabolique where the guy sits up in the bathtub after being supposedly drownd. Fantastic. The whole theater in Santa Barbara, filled with college students like me, freaked. Just a few years ago. :-)

Steve Nunez · September 2nd, 2002, 10:41 AM

Definitely wasn't "Salem's Lot"- that movied sucked. (but not as bad as, "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things")

Chris Ward · September 3rd, 2002, 06:07 AM

I don't agree that Salem's Lot sucked. In fact, the scene in the kitchen was a real shocker for me. There is a European version that's even darker but I think the TV version, directed by Tobe Hooper. was well down (so does Stephen King).

Chris Ward · September 3rd, 2002, 06:08 AM

Make that "well done" not "welll down". Its early here...

Peter Koller · September 3rd, 2002, 07:53 AM

What about the last shot in "Invasion of the body snatchers" where Donald Sutherland points and screams..?

This was one of the scariest moments I have ever seen on screen.

The scariest movie overall I have seen was Halloween. Home alone at the age of 15 at 11pm it scared me shitless.

Cheers, Peter

August 27th, 2002, 09:16 AM	#32
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Thanks Jeff, I had completely forgotten about the clouds passing in front of the moon... definitely sets the stage for the gruesome scene which follows. I have a copy somewhere on VHS, sometime maybe I'll work up the nerve to see it again. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

August 27th, 2002, 02:55 PM	#33
Chris Ward Contributor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: New England Posts: 68	The Haunting The original version of The Haunting remains the single most frightening experience for me. I got to interview the director Robert Wise a few years ago and I was surprised to learn that he was surprised at well it turned out. Sometimes all the planets just line up. The remake was simply awful. The slicing of the eye is certainly one of my greatest shocks sitting in a theatre, along with the infamous shower scene, I saw the Dali/Bunuel short on a co-bill with Psycho in college (what a night). Here's my list: 1) The Haunting (1964) 2) The Innocence (1963) 3) Alien (1979)* 4) The Terminator (1984)* 5) Psycho (1960) *movie theatre

August 27th, 2002, 03:29 PM	#34
Chris Ward Contributor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: New England Posts: 68	Correction That's actually The Innocents from 1961. It starred Deborah Kerr and was directed by Jack Clayton. If you loved the original The Haunting, you'll love The Innocents.

August 28th, 2002, 04:15 AM	#35
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	I mentioned this thread to my colleagues working the Canon booth here at WEVA in Las Vegas. My very good friend Jon Sagud said that the scariest movie he saw in a theatre as a kid was George Pal's "War Of The Worlds." Early on when the preacher gets vaporized, you knew all bets were off and this was serious. I had the same reaction when I saw "Panic In The Year Zero" with Ray Milland. Kid stuff, but when you see it as a kid, that's when it really counts. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

August 28th, 2002, 09:27 AM	#36
Rik Sanchez ChorizoSmells Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Osaka, Japan Posts: 424	Un Chien Andalou was great, I think the eye they used was actually a cow's eye, I lent my Bunuel book to a friend but I'm pretty sure it was a cow they used. Found my copy of L'age d'or, now if I could only find the other tape. Anybody read the book by Bunuel, My Last Sigh. Great stuff. __________________ ChorizoSmells Video Barrio Tamatsukuri, Osaka, JAPAN

August 27th, 2002, 05:29 AM	#31
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Chris, your right. I had forgotten that Andalusian Dog was shown first that evening. I'm going back close to 30 years ago. The other thing that made the scene so unsettling was the scalpel cutting the eye was cut with a shot of clouds passing in front of a full moon, then back to the eye. I saw the B & W version, probably on 16mm. Thanks for helping me remember a little of my youth. Jeff

August 28th, 2002, 11:04 AM	#37
Takeshi Fukushima Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 86	old one My scariest was Deer Hunter. man that was one scary movie. not the horror type of movie though. 12ed

August 28th, 2002, 07:53 PM	#38
Eric Emerick Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Melbourne, FL Posts: 171	"Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte". I was about 6 years old and my sisters were babysitting while my parents were out. I could here that they were watching a movie in the living room while I was supposed to be sleeping, fat chance. They finally gave in to my incessant whining, I wish they hadn't! Woa! I wasn't ready for that flick. New meaning to "Betty Davis Eyes". __________________ esquared

August 29th, 2002, 12:48 AM	#39
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Woohoo, good one Eric, this one can be found occasionally on Turner Classic Movies. Sweet Charlotte is a really bizarre, totally wierd southern-style experience. Not a horror movie but, eh, definitely disconcerting. I'll throw in another, a cheesy made-for-TV-in-the-70's that got my goat when I was about ten or eleven years old or so: "Bad Ronald" -- see http://home1.gte.net/res0a2u7/reelreviews/reviews/badronald.htm -- this is a great website by the way. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

September 1st, 2002, 09:20 PM	#40
Barry Goyette Trustee Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: San Luis Obispo CA Posts: 1,195	I went to see "The Kid Stays in the Picture" today, and I was reminded of the film that probably got to me the most back in film school (when I thought I couldn't be scared by anything). Rosemary's Baby scared the crap out of me, I think because the satanists win. But for pure creepy, twisted, strangeness, Polanski's earlier "Repulsion" takes the cake. Catherine Deneuve as a sexually-confused shut-in paranoic. Do a double feature with his little seen "The Tenant" and you'll probably not want to be spending much time around the house for awhile. Barry

September 1st, 2002, 10:14 PM	#41
Alexander McLeod Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 90	The original Diabolique where the guy sits up in the bathtub after being supposedly drownd. Fantastic. The whole theater in Santa Barbara, filled with college students like me, freaked. Just a few years ago. :-)

September 2nd, 2002, 10:41 AM	#42
Steve Nunez Trustee Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Pembroke Pines, Florida Posts: 1,418	Not scary Definitely wasn't "Salem's Lot"- that movied sucked. (but not as bad as, "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things") __________________ Steve Nunez-New York City www.stevenunez.com

September 3rd, 2002, 06:07 AM	#43
Chris Ward Contributor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: New England Posts: 68	Scary I don't agree that Salem's Lot sucked. In fact, the scene in the kitchen was a real shocker for me. There is a European version that's even darker but I think the TV version, directed by Tobe Hooper. was well down (so does Stephen King).

September 3rd, 2002, 06:08 AM	#44
Chris Ward Contributor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: New England Posts: 68	Make that "well done" not "welll down". Its early here...

September 3rd, 2002, 07:53 AM	#45
Peter Koller Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Brunn am Gebirge, Austria Posts: 161	What about the last shot in "Invasion of the body snatchers" where Donald Sutherland points and screams..? This was one of the scariest moments I have ever seen on screen. The scariest movie overall I have seen was Halloween. Home alone at the age of 15 at 11pm it scared me shitless. Cheers, Peter __________________ Peter Koller Vienna, Austria http://www.kop11.com