What are some "good" horror movies?

[ImBigBob]

I was browsing Netflix streaming the other night, and noticed that the highest-rated horror movie was The Exorcist, which was only 3 1/2 stars out of five. I've never been a horror movie fan (mainly because I never saw one I was interested in), but I'm starting to think the genre as a whole is plagued with problems and relies too much on jump-scares or stupid plots. I mean, I can think of plenty horror games I like (Silent Hill 2, Limbo, arguably parts of Fallout 3), but the only horror movies I've actually liked were more for specific moments than the film as a whole. Like, Signs was very intense at parts, but the movie as a whole was pretty stupid.

 

[infohippie]

My horror recommendations:
[REC] (an excellent Spanish movie, do not get the shitty US remake called Quarantine)
30 Days of Night
Let the Right One In (Swedish and rather slow - not to everyone's taste but those who like it LOVE it)
Alien (the best scifi-horror film ever IMO)
Dead Set (a British TV miniseries)

Ummm... I can't think of any others right now.

 

[Tdc2182]

The Mist. It's got a pretty powerful ending.

And uhh... I don't know. I would say The Ring, seeing how that scared me when I was 11, but I recently rewatched it and it didn't really hold up.

The Blair Witch Project was pretty creepy, but you kinda have to be in the right mindset for it.

Silence of the Lambs isn't necessarily scary, but it is an all around good movie.

A little off Topic. Make a movie focusing on Slenderman. Seriously, that documentary type style of scare is the best way to keep me up at night and the only people who seem to realize that are on YouTube.

 

[Deadpan Snarker]

There are many great horror films out there. Also I'd recommend taking the Netflix user ratings with a grain of salt (granted there are some well-written ones).
Here's a couple:

The Thing (John Carpenter's version)
The Exorcist
The Night of the Hunter (it's really old, but it actually aged very well, that's pretty rare for horror films)
Alien
Aliens (more so action, but it has a large horror aspect to it)
Psycho (hasn't aged very well, but it's still a great film)
Jaws
A Nightmare on Elm Street (the original)
Halloween (again, the original)
The Shining

That's all can think of right now. There are also tons of great Asian horror films out there, though I can't think of any specific ones right now.

 

[Gaiseric]

Event Horizon
In the Mouth of Madness

The Thing (John Carpenter's version)

Seconded.

 

[ZeroChan]

If you're looking for horror that's more than cheap scares, I strongly suggest looking into some Asian horror flicks.

I really liked One Missed Call (the original, not the American remake of course), although the ending gets pretty weird.
And Reincarnation was excellent as well.

 

[Gaiseric]

Kiss the Girls
Pitch Black(actiony but has some scary bits)
Pontypool(interesting concept and good acting)

 

[Cheery Lunatic]

The Orphanage
Dorm
Arang
Shutter
The Crazies
The Devil's Backbone
Hansel and Gretel (personal favorite)
Black House
Aliens
Let the Right One In & Let Me In
A Tale of Two Sisters
1408

 

[Grottnikk]

The slow build up and documentary style of Paranormal Activity made it scarey in my book. Also liked ***minor spoiler alert*** how the antagonist isn't just a ghost.

 

[ImBigBob]

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

 

[Azaradel]

House of the D--- *shot*

Ok, so maybe not that one.

I'll second the gentleman who suggested The Mist and add one of my very favorite slasher movies: the constantly overlooked Candyman.

 

[Instinct Blues]

Theres a ton of good horror movies you just need to watch out for what studio made said horror movie. Usually the stuff from New Line Cinema is the highest quality stuff for the present day horror movies.

The Thing (John Carpenter's version)
The Exorcist
Alien
Jaws
A Nightmare on Elm Street (the original)
Halloween (again, the original)
The Shining

All those films are great choices and if you want something straight up fucked up get an Asian horror flick. They always scare the bejeezus out of me and freak me out with how messed up they can be. I saw one where a lady ate aborted fetuses to stay looking youthful, so yeah if you're looking for something like that go for it.

 

[infohippie]

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

I don't know which of my recommendations are on Netflix at all, since Netflix haven't deigned to start operating in my country yet.

 

[Quaidis]

I recently found The Breed. It's your generic breed horror movie about rabid dogs attacking a group of college students, but I absolutely loved how it was played out. No computer animation garbage and the antics aren't too hokey. There's even a bonus video about the attack dogs used in the movie and how professional everything was taken.

I liked it so much that I bought it immediately after rent.

Most other movies I saw were pretty bad. Black Sheep had some absolutely terrible jokes and puns, but also was one I loved. Then you get into the classic like Alien, Jaws, Poltergeist, etc. Stephen King and Spielberg movies are a sweet spot in the horror industry.

 

[suicide samurai]

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.

 

[dj Facchiano]

I actually saw Insidious last night on net flicks with some friends of mine. As far as modern horror movies go these days it was pretty freaking good.

 

[poppabaggins]

The Descent (much better than the description makes it sound)
The Omen (original)
Alien
Audition (Japanese)
The Shining

Edit: I forgot about "Suicide Circle" aka "Suicide Club" Japanese, really fucked up. really good.

and play Amnesia: The Dark Descent if you want a good horror game

 

[OutforEC]

*The Thing
The Ring
Nightmare on Elm Street (the original)
Saw (again, the first one)
*Deep Red/Opera (if you like his style of horror, Dario Argento is amazing)
The Serpent and the Rainbow
*Some of the 'Masters of Horror' and 'After Dark Horrorfest' yearly horror anthology stuff
*Audition

(* titles are available as instant watch on Netflix.)

 

[chawlie fair]

Arg im not reading all these comments, im sure people has already said like the top 10 best horror movies like 20 times now. Yeah, really just google the top 10 best horror movies.
Some horror movies that I like and are actually good movies in general and not just good horror movies:
The Thing ( really psychological, John Carpenter's best work TBH)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola version, really really really good)
The Exorcist ( obviously)
Wolf Creek ( about an Australian Murderer in the Outback If i remember, based on a true story, really scary)

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

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.

god i can't believe it took that many people down to point out the error in the stars there...

+1 to you for knowing the problem with that

OT: Eh it really depends on what you find scary, a bunch of the movies people are listing here, especially ones saying "original", i find hilariously bad (as in laughing out loud in my chair) at their pathetic attempts to be horror, but there are some that are pretty good.


the paranormal activity movies are pretty good, make sure the lights are off and you got decent bass and it will scare the piss out of you.

insidious was actually pretty good for pg-13 (i think it was at least?), once again lights off and good bass and it will definitely give you some good chills.

one that used to get me when i was younger were the jeepers creepers movie, but then again i did have this fucking old rickety chair outside my window which had a perfect profile of the monsters face constantly creaking by my window..

i would just suggest checking out maybe trailers on youtube for titles you find on netflix, watch em, rate em, and it helps netflix pick movies better for you.

the more movies the rate, the more it can find good stuff for you.