10 of the Most Brilliant Frightening Films Ever Made

[Phr3121]

The Shining and The Exorcist, they were never particularly frightening to me.

'The Shining' never did anything for me. Now, 'The Exorcist' I watched when I was in my early teens and it scared the heck out of me. I could not sleep alone for days. If I watch it tonight, I guarantee you I will not sleep. That movie has damaged me forever. Being Catholic makes it all worst.

Heather Langenkamp, from 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', is from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We worked together one summer and I went out with her twice. Tim Nelson, the actor, went to my high school here in Tulsa. I remember Heather and Tim as we were many years ago. It is really weird to see them on screen.

 

[Darth_Inv1ctu5]

Not gonna lie, The Skeleton Key was the last horror that I felt anything about

 

[Bobby Boulders]

'The Shining' never did anything for me. Now, 'The Exorcist' I watched when I was in my early teens and it scared the heck out of me. I could not sleep alone for days. If I watch it tonight, I guarantee you I will not sleep. That movie has damaged me forever. Being Catholic makes it all worst.

Heather Langenkamp, from 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', is from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We worked together one summer and I went out with her twice. Tim Nelson, the actor, went to my high school here in Tulsa. I remember Heather and Tim as we were many years ago. It is really weird to see them on screen.

I'm in Edmond. Come hang out some time.

 

[ufcfan4]

I say without exaggeration that no horror film bothered me as much in the aftermath of watching it as Hereditary did.

The list is quality of course. I'm partial toward The Exorcist just because I think it's an extremely well-made, well-acted film. I didn't see it all through until my early 20s and didn't find it particularly scary, but it was a great film.

Original Nightmare on Elm Street is classic 80s. Freddy is an iconic character that sort of transcended any single film from that franchise but the first one is better than most of the sequels because they made Englund become sort of a comedic anti-hero in subsequent entries. That's entertaining in its own right, sure, but it doesn't fit the vibe Craven was initially going with.

Halloween = GOAT slasher film in my opinion. Better than ANOES and way better than Friday the 13th.

Psycho is an absolute classic. Hermann's score is as instrumental to the creepiness of that film as Perkins' performance is.

I haven't seen the Shining all through in way too long but that's a great Kubrick movie.

 

[BisexualMMA]

I vote for The Exorcist, but that's an excellent group of films from top to bottom.

 

[ObsoleteSoul]

Alien. I'm just more afraid of that type of horror. Weird unknown creature coupled with a claustrophobic atmosphere.

It worked for me. Or against me, depending on how you view horrific movies and such.

 

[drbolony]

Top 5 according to drbolony:

5. Alien
4. The Omen
3. The Shining
2. Silence of the Lambs
1. The Exorcist

 

[TheLinguist]

Unfortunately, this is going to end up being a battle between The Shining and The Exorcist, and everyone else is getting squashed.

Wrong.

Alien will win hands down if Sherdog has any semblance of taste and intelligence

 

[AgentSmecker]

Solid list, Can't argue with that really but Ringu is my personal favourite GOAT horror movie. The atmsophere, the build up of creeping terror and feeling of dread and the big payoff make it the perfect scary movie for me.

 

[Hoof Hearted]

I voted for Psycho but Jaws is no1 for me. I saw most of these films when I was very young and Jaws was the only one that really scared the shit out of me.

 

[Hoof Hearted]

I voted for the Omen mostly because I saw it when I was a kid and it shat me up big time.

I don't really have a favorite horror film, the genre is too big. You can't really compare something like The Orphanage to Night of the Living Dead.

Yeah The Orphanage is a fantastic film, but for all its scares and creepiness, it's a film that (at least to me) evokes more sadness than scares.

 

[mmamxfan]

I voted for Halloween because it's one of my all time favorite movies and terrified me as a kid. But Jaws should be on this list as well, that movie ruined the ocean and any large body of water for me. The last good horror movie I saw was The Strangers. It may be more of a suspense film, but movies that could actually happen in real life scare me way more than an Alien or Nightmare on Elm Street type film.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

Poltergeist.

The Exorcist wasn't even remotely scary to me, even as a Catholic kid.
It's just hokey and stupid.

The Shining is 20% story, 80% execution, definitely a contender

 

[Easy The Great]

I can honestly say that The Exorcist is the only movie I can watch time and time again and it still gives me the chills.

 

[ufcfan4]

I voted for Halloween because it's one of my all time favorite movies and terrified me as a kid. But Jaws should be on this list as well, that movie ruined the ocean and any large body of water for me. The last good horror movie I saw was The Strangers. It may be more of a suspense film, but movies that could actually happen in real life scare me way more than an Alien or Nightmare on Elm Street type film.

Jaws is an absolute classic. I still vote it as my favorite Spielberg film and that's saying something because he's made so many classics.

 

[Hyperglide]

This flick is more frightening than any of the poll options.

The game was equally underrated and terrifying.

 

[TheLinguist]

I voted for Halloween because it's one of my all time favorite movies and terrified me as a kid. But Jaws should be on this list as well, that movie ruined the ocean and any large body of water for me. The last good horror movie I saw was The Strangers. It may be more of a suspense film, but movies that could actually happen in real life scare me way more than an Alien or Nightmare on Elm Street type film.

Good call on Jaws

 

[TehJesus]

Carpenter's The Thing is the GOAT horror film.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

Wrong.

Alien will win hands down if Sherdog has any semblance of taste and intelligence

Well, Alien is having a good showing, but I was going off the other 20 times this thread was made and it came down to those two films every time.

 

[CerebralKnievel]

Unfortunately, this is going to end up being a battle between The Shining and The Exorcist, and everyone else is getting squashed.

Well, the Shining is the best film on the list, but in terms of horror movies, Halloween is #1 in my opinion. Sort of a mixed criteria on this poll.