Recommend Me a Good Horror Movie...

[Dense_Electric]

I'm looking for some good horror movies to watch that I haven't seen yet. This is proving pretty difficult, as most movies that people mistakenly refer to as "horror" are, in fact, "slasher." I want movies that are actually scary, not just bloody. No Saw, no Halloween/Firday the 13th/their runty knockoff children, and NO EXORCISM MOVIES (every single one is shit, end of discussion). I like horror with pacing and tension, not just blood and jump-screams.

I'm also not big on horror movies where the antagonist is human. The supernatural stuff is way more fun, and the weirder, the better. Ghosts and aliens are always good, but even better if it involves something less well-known like el chupacabra or the Jersey Devil. (For the record, I might go for slasher flicks if the slasher is some spooky-ass creature and not just a guy in a hockey mask).

So with these criteria in mind, what are some good movies you know of? They don't even have to be that good, as long as they're sufficiently spooky and out-there. Some films like what I'm talking about, to give you an idea:

- Alien and its sequels
- Paranormal Activity
- The Blair Witch Project (even though it wasn't that great IMO)
- Jurassic Park (not really a horror movie, but that kind of thing)
- Abominable
- I'm just about to watch 'It's Alive' (thanks MovieBob!)
- The Birds (not the scariest movie around, but that's the level of bizarre I'm after)

 

[Rumpsteak]

Pulling ideas from the top of my head yields to suggestions.

The thing (The original) and The blob (1958).

The blob isn't very scary from what I remember but is decent at holding your interest throughout.

 

[Popadoo]

Ingenius film. Each V/H/S tape was a different director, apparently.

 

[MasterOfHisOwnDomain]

Ninja'd on The Thing (it deserves to be mentioned twice though...). Perhaps:

- Event Horizon
- The Host
- Rec

... sadly not around my DVD collection at the moment, and my recall abilities are quite limited. Might report back.

 

[Wayneguard]

horror with pacing and tension

You need to see The Changeling with George C. Scott. Really, all you need to know is the George C. Scott part to know that its a good movie; but, it would be great even if it had starred another actor. It's a little bit dated now (came out in 1980) and a little hard to find (idk if it's on netflix) but ask anyone who has seen it and they will tell you that it is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, horror movies of all time.

 

[piinyouri]

Session 9
The Fourth Kind (It has it's moments, as long as you aren't bothered by whether a story is 100% real)
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Cube (Kinda gory, but not a splatter film)

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Carpenters 'Thing' was actually a remake of the 1951 'The Thing From Another World', btw.

That's actually kinda debatable. Core elements are there, sure... but Carpenter's version has a much different story that's actually much closer to the source material ("Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, Jr.). That said, I do firmly believe that the Carpenter version is the best of the three films.

So... with that...

OT:

John Carpenter's "The Thing" (1982) starring Kurt Russell is definitely my suggestion as well. I've always felt that it has great pacing, it does a great job of creating an atmosphere of isolation/suspicion, and it has some of the best practical creature effects ever put on film.

If you'd like something that's a little more horror/comedy, I always make a habit of watching Peter Jackson's "The Frighteners" (1996) starring Michael J. Fox every Halloween. It has Jake Busey playing... himself, more or less... and Jeffrey Combs (of the "Re-Animator" series) as FBI Special Agent Milton Dammers is freaking awesome (he was given almost complete creative control over the character, including ad-libbing most of the character's lines and nervous ticks).

 

[The Cliffe]

For something a little more left-of-center, Joss Whedon's Cabin in the Woods is a must see. Not super-scary, but definitely flat-out awesome.

 

[Beach_Sided]

The Descent
Cabin in the Woods
The Dawn of the Dead remake is pretty good IMO
Zombieland is OK
Rec
Silent Hill (1st one)
30 Days of Night (1st one)
The Hills have Eyes remake is OK
My Bloody Valentine
Wrong Turn is good
Wrong Turn 2 is OK
Land of the Dead is OK

 

[Twyce]

The Descent
The Thing (as mentioned tons already)
Jacob's Ladder (Adore this movie)


If you don't mind foreign flicks...
Tale of Two Sisters (Korean)
Shutter (Original Thai Version)
R-Point (Korean. Really strange movie, but it gave me chills and I'm a hard sell)

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (Honorable mention for being a fun horror comedy, but not scary in the least)

 

[havoc33]

Tale of Two Sisters
Ringu (if you've already seen the American remake "The Ring", then the orginal, although much better, looses some of its impact)
Open Water (again; the original, not the American remake)
The Eye
Villmark (you won't go camping in the woods after seeing this one..)

Some American classics:

The Omen
The Exorcist
Rosemary's Baby
The Shining
Psycho (the original from Hitchcock)

 

[SlaveNumber23]

My favourites:

The Cabin in the Woods
Insidious
Saw
Paranormal Activity
Cube

 

[Jay Knowles]

'The Devil's Rock' is an awesome horror movie, its got the NZSAS, Nazis and Daemons, what more could you want? a solid script and acting you say? well there's that too. Also, it's nice to support New Zealand's fledgling film industry.

 

[Kyrian007]

Quick, before someone remakes it and ruins it... It.

That's the 1990 miniseries based on Stephen King's "It." Tim Curry is brilliant as Pennywise the Clown. You have a teen-aged Seth Green, Harry Anderson (of Night Court fame,) and the late great John Ritter. Terrifying in a way that holds up pretty well today.

 

[Sonicron]

- The Thing (John Carpenter). Unbelievably tense atmosphere, and the prime example why costumes and robots are superior to CGI when it comes to giving you the willies.
- Event Horizon. Space horror with a nice dose of creepy mindfuckery and a rather unconventional antagonist (if one can call it that).
- Silent Hill. Slightly marred by lore inconsistencies, but still a very entertaining horror movie in its own right, and definitely the best game-based film I know. Wonderful soundscape and cinematography.

 

[nWax]

The Tunnel - This movie fits your criteria perfectly, highly recommended

 

[GoaThief]

Hmm, the problem I have is that films with monsters in just aren't that scary on the whole;

The Thing (I know it's been mentioned but it's great, make sure it's the 1982 version)
Mothman Prophecies
The Others
Let Me In
The Orphanage
Pan's Labyrinth
Drag me to Hell
Pet Sematary
The Fly
Zombie Flesh Eaters/Zombi 2 (make sure it's the uncensored version)
Jaws
The Mist

Some different flavours there, all decent IMHO.