What's the scariest movie you know?
Posted: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 4:46 PM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under:
Movies
One of my co-workers wanted a good old scary movie last weekend. So she rented this.
Whoops. She managed to confuse "scary" with "gory," and was rather distraught. (Although Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, which he later had to defend to angry readers.)
The mistake started those of us in the office talking about our favorite scary films that don't load on the blood. They don't need to, after all. The most frightening thing in any movie is the monster you never see. Your own mind can invent things that are much more horrifying than anything a special-effects department can dream up. (This was proven for me in "Cloverfield" -- I liked the movie, but the monster was much scarier when it was just a roar and thumping footprints.)
I admit it, I'm a scary-movie fan. And I'm not above the occasional gore...love almost all zombie movies. I sometimes feel as if the "horror" section of the video store should be divided into two parts:"slasher" and "scary," or maybe "blood" and "no blood."
Some of my favorite films that would fit in the "scary but not gory" category would include:
"The Shining"
Yes, there's some blood, but the success of this movie is its utterly creepy feel: the snowed-in hotel, the rooms holding long-dead secrets. Oh, and Jack Nicholson's manic portrayal, and Stephen King's writing.
"John Carpenter's The Thing"
Like "The Shining," another spooky, snowy setting that lends itself perfectly to the rising dread. A classic. (NOTE: OK, yes, this movie qualifies as gory. But I don't know...I couldn't leave it off because there's so much scare that doesn't involve the gore. So sue me.)
"The Others"
I didn't expect to like this 2001 film, with Nicole Kidman as a protective yet fragile mother, as much as I did. I guessed the twist partway through, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the scares.
"The Ring" and "The Grudge"
You may have seen the American versions, but rent the original Japanese films for a double dose of scary. The plot of "The Ring, and that creepy phone call whisper, "seven days," stuck with me long after the movie ended.
"Aliens"
I know, I know, this 1986 classic is a science fiction film, not strictly horror. But I have to include it because no scene scares me more than the one where Ripley is watching what the Marines are seeing via their helmet cameras, and slowly begins to realize they are all doomed. When this one reruns on cable, I can't stop watching.
What movies scared you, and didn't need a bucketload of blood to do it? Let's discuss in the comments.
