Not a horror as such but in Jaws when the severed head appears in the porthole window.
Jaws is a horror movie. Make no bones about that one.
It always listed as one of the great horrors, but it's not horror for me. The big issue with a real horror, whether it's a ghost, a vampire or a knife wielding maniac, is that there's no getting away from it. Sharks? Well, that's easily solved, I'll take a dip in the hotel pool rather than going down the beach today. No problem - no horror. For me it's one of the most over-rated films of all time. Great score, great look of fear on Roy Scheider's face and a great use of the moving-zoom camera shot. Other than that, it's pretty dull fare.
I think Horror movies tap into underlying fears, or set out to disgust you or make you jump. Unless you have an underlying fear of sharks (which I don't) it isn't very frightening apart from the odd jumpy bit. It was a pretty good action film as far as I was concerned.
The genre isn't in the eye of the viewer. By your reckoning, if I don't have an underlying fear or sense of disgust around ghosts, boogeymen or knife wielding maniacs, there's no such thing as horror movies to me? What action are you referring to? When three guys sit in a boat for a few days?
'Nosferatu'. The old silent is over 90 years old now but still manages to chill the blood.
I love all the old German expressionist cinema of the 20s. Absolutely terrifying but brilliantly layered stories. Out Tim Burton'ed Tim burton 50 years before he even existed. Check out the cabinet of dr caligari as well.
Don't want to get butchered by Michael Myers on Halloween? That's cool, book a cab and go to a restaurant, he never kills people in restaurants.
No way am I getting a cab on Halloween; I wouldn't be at all surprised if Mike Myers does a few sly shifts in his mate's taxi and there's no-one about to stop the butchery in a private cab - I think we've got the makings of another sequel there ;-)
I like The Amytiville (sp?) Horror and The Shining. The Others is eerie, although not scary. Anyone seen The Norfolk Ghost Story? Might be a BBC production.
'Nosferatu'. The old silent is over 90 years old now but still manages to chill the blood.
I love all the old German expressionist cinema of the 20s. Absolutely terrifying but brilliantly layered stories. Out Tim Burton'ed Tim burton 50 years before he even existed. Check out the cabinet of dr caligari as well.
Jaws isn't a horror movie. It's a character story, driven by superlative acting from Shaw, Scheider and Dreyfus and some wonderful dialogue. The last 45 minutes of the film when they're on the Orca together is up there with my favourite bits of cinema ever.
Jaws isn't a horror movie. It's a character story, driven by superlative acting from Shaw, Scheider and Dreyfus and some wonderful dialogue. The last 45 minutes of the film when they're on the Orca together is up there with my favourite bits of cinema ever.
Another vote for The Thing, just brilliant. And another vote for Suspiria, Tenebrae and Deep Red, like Alfred Hitchcock turned up to 11. Genius.
What about George Romero's zombies though? or the classic Zombie Flesh Eaters? that one scared the young me well enough, and it has a three-way underwater battle between a naked scuba diving woman, a zombie and a shark :-)
Jaws isn't a horror movie. It's a character story, driven by superlative acting from Shaw, Scheider and Dreyfus and some wonderful dialogue. The last 45 minutes of the film when they're on the Orca together is up there with my favourite bits of cinema ever.
The Indianapolis monologue is some genuine cinema gold, top quality stuff. Even the subtler bits (Quint crushes tin, Hooper crushes a cup) are better character moments than some movies ham-fisted expository crap.
When we beat West Ham 4-0 in out last season in the Premiership, the club shop was selling a DVD of the game which I seem to remember was titled 'Hammers Horror Show', or something similar. So I'm going to nominate that!
Jaws isn't a horror movie. It's a character story, driven by superlative acting from Shaw, Scheider and Dreyfus and some wonderful dialogue. The last 45 minutes of the film when they're on the Orca together is up there with my favourite bits of cinema ever.
Pretty sure Spielberg described it as his attempt at a "Japanese horror movie", while Ridley Scott pitched Alien as "Jaws in space". I'm gonna go with those guys.
I used to love horror when I was a kid, but I can't stand it now. I get scared much more, and I actually have nightmares really easily (27 now, btw!) The first Halloween film definitely scares me more than any other, everything about it is terrifying.
As for being scared of things when I was a child, there were some Jonathan Creek episodes that chilled me. I remember the one where the guy gets impaled on a sword in a locked room particularly unsettled me.
Paranormal Activity and Rec shit me up pretty well when I first saw them. Think some George Romero has to be in this list, although not particularly scary (especilaly not now) its great movie making and a genuine classic
Another vote for The Thing, just brilliant. And another vote for Suspiria, Tenebrae and Deep Red, like Alfred Hitchcock turned up to 11. Genius.
What about George Romero's zombies though? or the classic Zombie Flesh Eaters? that one scared the young me well enough, and it has a three-way underwater battle between a naked scuba diving woman, a zombie and a shark :-)
Lucio Fulci's Zombie Flesh Eaters. Don't get me started on Italian horror films, mate, or I'll be here all day.
I rate the first two Romero zombie films, Night Of The Living Dead and Dawn Of The Dead, as being among the very best. The climax of 'Night' is shockingly downbeat.
Comments
The Others is eerie, although not scary.
Anyone seen The Norfolk Ghost Story? Might be a BBC production.
Absolute shocker
whose that giving away the penalty for their 2nd?
omen
entity
human caterpillar not scary just fukd up
What about George Romero's zombies though? or the classic Zombie Flesh Eaters? that one scared the young me well enough, and it has a three-way underwater battle between a naked scuba diving woman, a zombie and a shark :-)
Texas chainsaw masacre
Saw 1
Woman in black
Thought Se7en was class...very chilling for the mind.
The first Halloween film definitely scares me more than any other, everything about it is terrifying.
As for being scared of things when I was a child, there were some Jonathan Creek episodes that chilled me. I remember the one where the guy gets impaled on a sword in a locked room particularly unsettled me.
Am I sounding like a wimp here?!
Scared the living shit out of me.
I rate the first two Romero zombie films, Night Of The Living Dead and Dawn Of The Dead, as being among the very best. The climax of 'Night' is shockingly downbeat.
But I also used to find Chucky (Child's Play) rather uninviting.