What are some "good" horror movies?

[Soviet Heavy]

Really? No 28 Days Later? The movie is fantastic. It remembers that in order to be invested, you need to care for the characters. It also contains hope, that helps watchers through the movie, the hope that they'll survive.

Just don't bother with the shitty 28 weeks later. It's nowhere near as good.

 

[Nouw]

Once again, Alien is genuinely scary as long as you don't know the shock-scene which is how the film is remembered.

 

[suicide samurai]

Thanks, gmaverick019.

Liked yer stuff, too (Jeepers creepers rocked when it came out--I think I was 23 or so.)

Maybe I'll list my horror movie fav's tommorow.

Phantasm, though... not a bad series, and part two got me going at 10. Super-surprise ending.

 

[Hexal6]

Ju-on
Chinese movie, translates to either "the curse" or "the grudge"
it comes in two parts, white ghost then black ghost.
white ghost is much scarier and wraps itself up well except for one scene at the very end which is left unexplained until black ghost.
white ghost follows several individual and seemingly unconnected scenes which are wrapped up later
black ghost is one story mostly separate from the original, but doesn't make sense without white ghost.

tl;dnr its a pretty scary movie with a good original story

 

[6_Qubed]

Alright, now how many of these are on Netflix Instant? A lot of what you guys are recommending sound really obscure.

They are obscure. I wouldn't be surprised if you really had to do some digging to find them, especially on DVD.

That does not mean they aren't worth it. Many of these, REC and Let The Right One In, are simply amazing.

Now, depending on what you mean by "stupid plots", (I'm going to assume you are referring to formulaic plots, i.e. teenagers getting themselves killed and so forth,) I will try to suggest a few that I like, that avoid "stupid plots" as best I can.

Last such movie I saw was Pandorum. Found a Blockbuster DVD at Goodwill one day, had heard about it before on TV Tropes, decided to get it. Was a good suspenseful movie, with a decent range of stuff for differing tastes. If you like sci-fi horror, this is worth looking into.

Another I recommend is Secret Window, a surprisingly unheard-of movie starring Johnny Depp. More of a psychological thriller, but one of those movies that is scary because it could actually happen. In much the same vein, The Strangers, starring Liv Tyler. Granted, this one comes dangerously close to "stupid plot" territory, ("if they just did X, they would've blah blah blah") but worth giving a look, just to say you did.

An old favorite of my dad's is The Howling. It features one of the best reveal scares ever filmed, in his opinion. On the topic of my dad and horror movies, Stephen King's It. Dad says he watched this after reading the book, and while driving home one night, saw a mailbox that someone had tied balloons to for someones birthday. It scared the bejeezus out of him. For context, this is a man who responds to scary jump things by punching them. In the stomach. Hard. (Ow.)

Finally, it was said once or twice already, but The Grudge. I "only" saw the U.S. remake starring Sarah Michelle Buffy, but it was enough to make me fear the dark for the first time in over a decade. And this one, by virtue of starring Buffy Michelle Gellar, shouldn't be too hard to find through mainstream channels.

...Sarah Buffy Gellar.

 

[Arsen]

Just rent one of the following David Lynch films:

- Lost Highway...holy shit. The tapes over the course of several days...a sensation went up my spine.
- Mulholland Drive.
- Eraserhead

Other notables:

- REC
- The Exorcist III. The first one CANNOT hold a candle to this movie.
- The Shining. It's STILL scary.
- The Thing

- The Phantasm series. Yes, it gets more action worthy and "fun" as time goes on...but what an unforgettable experience.

 

[ImBigBob]

First, that 3.5 stars for "the excorcist" is based on what they (netflix) think you will rate it.

Second... horror is subjective. For me, tastes have changed. If you want some net-flix lovin, watch some films, rate them, and it will help you.

Every film mentioned here has been seen by me, and they're all good for what they were, at the time they came out. I've rewatched some, forgotten others on purpose.

Based on what they "think" I'll rate it? Huh. Maybe my problem is I need to show Netflix that I'm pretty well-rounded and don't just watch anime and Doctor Who.

I'll keep your suggestions in mind. Though, a couple friends of mind recommended Birdemic. Looks kind of lame to me, but what do you guys think?

 

[PAGEToap44]

Really? No 28 Days Later? The movie is fantastic. It remembers that in order to be invested, you need to care for the characters. It also contains hope, that helps watchers through the movie, the hope that they'll survive.

Just don't bother with the shitty 28 weeks later. It's nowhere near as good.

What he said. Also The Shining, The Mist, The Evil Dead, Drag Me To Hell and others I can't remember at this moment in time.

 

[InfiniteSingularity]

Cloverfield. I dunno if it counts as "horror" but it's still fucking hectic

 

[Sonicron]

I'll join in on the recommendations for
- Event Horizon (probably the best horror movie I've ever seen)
- Alien
- Aliens
- John Carpenter's The Thing
- Jaws

Then there's the Hellraiser franchise; the first four were really just gorefests, but numbers 5 and 6 were actually real horror flicks that for the most part relied on atmosphere instead of blood and guts. So, I recommend
- Hellraiser: Inferno
- Hellraiser: Hellseeker

Furthermore, I know it's controversial regarding quality, but as a horror movie I quite liked Silent Hill, and seeing how you liked the second instalment of the game franchise, I say give it a try.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Alien
The (original) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Eraserhead

If that last title doesn't spook you, nothing will.

EDIT. You might also wanna check out Jacobs Ladder. Not so much a horror movie, but terribly unnerving nonetheless. It has some very Silent Hill-ish moments.

 

[violent_quiche]

Note on REC- get the subtitled version, the overdubbed version loses atmosphere which is arguably more vital than catching every word of dialogue. It's not hard to follow, nor is it all that original, but damn if it didn't get me sleeping with the lights on.

 

[Llil]

Also, the miniseries Harpers Island. It's more of a horror/slasher miniseries, but the atmosphere was really good most of the time, and not to mention, the plot twist as fucking mind blowing.

I liked the show but I absolutely hated the last episode. I did like the plot twist, but what happened after that was really annoying to me. Also, it was kind of obvious from pretty early on...

Spoiler: (I put this in spoilers just in case, even though it's not really a spoiler.)

...who are going to survive through the whole series.

A lot of people have mentioned [REC]. It was fine, but it had the same problem most fake documetary styled movies have. The cameraman acts like he's almost constanly having a seizure. I would understand it in situations where he's running from something for example, but the camera shakes like crazy even when the cameraman is standing still. It's really distracting. And you'd think the characters would want to get usable footage for their documentary, instead of a blurry mess.

OT: Most of the movies I was going to say have been mentioned already, so I'll just say Cube. It's one of my favourite horror movies.

 

[Rawne1980]

Alien
Lost Boys
The Thing
Pet Semetary
Dog Soldiers (not scary as such but a damn good film)
Hellraiser
Night Breed
The Howling
American Werewolf in London (best werewolf transformation scene EVER)
Puppet Master
Childs Play (first 2, got a bit daft after that)
Evil Dead 1 and 2 and Army of Darkness (not really horror more comedy horror but come one BOOMSTICK).

 

[ImBigBob]

I actually saw Cube 2 on Netflix and found it stupid but insanely fun. Then I watched the first Cube and it was merely decent. However, I will say this about some horror films - I actually DO like it when they explain what's going on. People say it's scarier when you don't pull back the curtain, but I find it far more unsettling to suggest that something so horrifying actually could exist in the real world, which is a big difference between Cube 1 and 2 for me.