Favorite Classic horror movie?

[Serum]

The Shining. Can't beat it

[Remilia Scarlet]

The Thing

Godzilla (1954 Japanese version)

Psycho

[Hawk of The Crystals]

The Shining. (Stanley Kubrick Version.)

 

Alien. (The sexual aspects of it contribute.)

 

120 Days Of Sodom. (The film might as well be. I can't listen to Son Tanto Triste without getting a visceral reaction of disgust and unease.)

 

Halloween 3. (It's a schlocky 80's mess, but I love it because of that.)

 

Evil Dead. (I may prefer 2 and Army Of Darkness, but the original still has a place in my heart.)

 

Gojira. (An allegory to japan's inhumane defeat during the second world war, but also an allegory to the dangers of nuclear weapons.)

 

The Thing (John Carpenter Version.)

 

 

[LadyMistDragon]

The Shining

The Exorcist

Alien

[TheLippyServer]

On 7/4/2022 at 1:01 AM, Thelokk said:

 

 

Arguably not a horror movie in the strictest sense, but I think it still qualifies. 

It's definitely a horror movie, and a fine pick. That ending is something else.

 

To answer op, if I were pressed to pick a SINGLE film as my favorite piece of horror cinema it'd have to be the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There's so much more to that movie than people give it credit for.

[sophsoph316]

The Shining and The Thing are my favorite horror movies.

[Rudolph]

On 7/4/2022 at 12:07 PM, Mr. Freeze said:

The Shining

Speaking of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, how do you feel about Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep?

[Mr. Freeze]

I have no desire to watch it, nor read the book it's based on. Kubrick's film is a masterpiece, the second film can only ever be that: the second one. Pass. 

[Toilet_Wine_Connoisseur]

OG Texas Chains MAssacre

 

but if we are going rrreallly classic than 

 

the Cabinet of Dr Caligari 

[Jello]

On 7/10/2022 at 10:43 AM, Mr. Freeze said:

I have no desire to watch it, nor read the book it's based on. Kubrick's film is a masterpiece, the second film can only ever be that: the second one. Pass. 

You're in the right. I read the book when I was in Seventh grade after seeing the movie. And my teacher took me to a science fair, and he asked me what was the last book I read, and I said "The Shining". And he asked me what I thought of it, and I said "The book is better than the movie". And it took me years to realize that I lied because he was a book nerd and I wanted to impress my teacher. The movie is far better than the book it's based on, and that's why King hates it. Yes the movie wasn't entirely faithful to the book, and Kubrick decided that some things needed to be changed. And it was all for the better.

[Daytime Waitress]

Hands down, ハウス/House, even if it is more of a comedy vignette that happens to be set in a haunted house where a group of schoolgirls are murdered in increasingly ridiculous and gruesome ways. Visually, it's a goddamn masterpiece, and has a contrastingly jolly pop soundtrack by Godiego (the dudes that did the Monkey Magic themes, if anyone's old enough to remember that). It also features a man(girl)-eating piano. It's schlocky and silly, but it does everything with 100% sincerity at a hundred miles an hour and you can't not have a good time with it.

 

If we're going straight horror: The Thing. The disorientation of the opening. The gradual ratcheting of the tension as the thing picks the group apart. The contemplation of the futility of life if such a creature escaped the arctic. Carpenter and Morricone's score. Kurt Russell's hair/beard combo. Everything about this movie is perfect.

[Goat-Avenger]

Phantasm and all the continuations after: II, III, IV, Ravager

 

I was never a big fan of horror films, and even less so today.

 

However, in my youth, I'd tune in, late night, to Joe Bob Briggs hosting TNT's Monster Vision.  haha.  I'm sure several Phantasm films were played.  And that was it.  The, "Tall Man," "Reggie Banister (as himself, lol)," and all the rest of it...  It's definitely classic 70's/80's B movie horror; but, it's almost a genre of it's own, in a way, IMO.  It's story is a bit like an onion, or a fractal.  Peel a layer off, and there's another, then another... 

 

Good times.

 

 

 

 

 

[Lippeth]

6 hours ago, Goat-Avenger said:

Phantasm and all the continuations after: II, III, IV, Ravager

Curious as to what you (and others) love about this series. I tried watching the first one last Halloween and while I like the setting, and thought the beginning was pretty strong and the silver balls that shoot blood are pretty cool, the rest of the movie blew me away with how dull and random I thought it was, to an almost painful degree. But the tall man is usually included with all the greats, so I wonder if there is, I don't know, a certain mental lens I could re-watch the film with, because there are certain aspects to the series that I like already. It was just shocking how bad I found most of it, to the point it almost bugs me. Granted, I did watch it after a few giallo films so maybe I was just exhausted from a constant slow pace, but I stopped the movie in the third act and put on Messiah of Evil, which I really liked.

[heliumlamb]

House (1977), Alien, The Evil Dead, Troll 2 (yes) and (?)The Toxic Avenger(?)

i haven't seen John Carpenter's The Thing yet. shame, but i have yet to find it on at least DVD and i'm not a big movie watcher in general. that would probably be one i enjoy immensely.
 

[Ludi]

Does Mondo Cane count as horror? If not, then house of 1000 corpses rocks my boat in the best way possible

[Goat-Avenger]

On 7/19/2022 at 7:47 PM, Lippeth said:

Curious as to what you (and others) love about this series. I tried watching the first one last Halloween and while I like the setting, and thought the beginning was pretty strong and the silver balls that shoot blood are pretty cool, the rest of the movie blew me away with how dull and random I thought it was, to an almost painful degree. But the tall man is usually included with all the greats, so I wonder if there is, I don't know, a certain mental lens I could re-watch the film with, because there are certain aspects to the series that I like already. It was just shocking how bad I found most of it, to the point it almost bugs me. Granted, I did watch it after a few giallo films so maybe I was just exhausted from a constant slow pace, but I stopped the movie in the third act and put on Messiah of Evil, which I really liked.

It's a cult classic.  So, I suppose you'd just have to be the type that gravitates towards it.  The acting is sooooo bad, lol, when I look back on those films now.  However, I can see why my younger self was so immersed.  There's always this mystery about it.  "who is the tallman?"  "how's this going to end?"  I always found myself wanting answers, and you get some, but your always left with more questions...

 

It has the horror aspect and rests in that genre; but, there's this mystery too it, that unravels, but never completely...  lol.  I dunno...

 

 

[Sotenga]

I have a few hot takes here and there about horror films, but for the most part, I can agree that nearly every film mentioned in this thread is great. I'll have to think of one that hasn't been mentioned yet... ah, I've got three to share.

 

Return of the Living Dead: I actually wasn't too captivated by this one the first time I saw it, but I'm glad I gave it a rewatch and I'm glad it sunk in. It just keeps getting more bonkers the more it goes on, and I'm not sure if it qualifies as a horror-comedy or not, but I'm amused by how ridiculous it all is.

 

Re-Animator: The film that put Jeffrey Combs and Stuart Gordon on the map, the last ten minutes are some of the loudest I've ever heard in a horror film. It's a hilarious if not grim watch from start to finish, though one scene might prove too far into the bad taste zone for some. Still, loved it on the whole.

 

The Wicker Man: Not many films accumulate upon the dread factor as much as this one. It just keeps feeling wrong all around until the revelation and infamous ending, but there's really not many other horror films that goes for the style of this one. And I'm not even big on musicals, but if this film counts as one, it's my favorite!

 

... I just realized all three films I've mentioned above have bad endings. Oh well, happens sometimes in horror, haha.

[Wyrmwood]

Not a huge horror fan but discounting monster movies (Aliens, zombie movies, the Thing, etc, which I do love) I would have to say: 

 

The Amityville Horror (70s) - read the book/diary of the family and it creeps the shit out of me, movies pretty creepy too. The part with the kids imaginary friend always gets me.

 

Frailty - perfect example of horror done with intelligence not gore, in my opinion best horror/thriller since Alfred Hitchcock died.

 

Psycho - talking of which. Loved the Birds too, making you afraid of something we see all around us and never even notice.

 

Rosemary's Baby - highly paranoia inducing, the demon rape scene was incredible at the time, movies ending suffers from poor effects but enough to spoil it.

 

American werewolf in London - OK not a horror but I didn't realize that when I first watched it (I was 8) but those transformation effects have never been bettered. It looks so painful, bones stretching and twisting.

[Eurisko]

The classic slashers like Halloween, Scream, Friday the 13th....... I also like George Romero's original 'Of The Dead' trilogy. I'm also a fan of a movie called 'Cube' not sure if that is classed as classic or not but worth checking out.

 

 

[Rudolph]

1 hour ago, Eurisko said:

I'm also a fan of a movie called 'Cube' not sure if that is classed as classic or not but worth checking out.

It is definitely considered a cult classic, that is for sure.

[DeathWolf1982]

And we have Killer Klowns From Outer Space 1988 which i like its cheesy 80's film look about alien clowns kidnapping people and shooting them with ray guns that cocoon them with cotton candy. not to mention they have rocket launchers that shoot popcorn and other things that they terrorize their victims with.

also i gotta love shorty!

[Jello]

1 hour ago, ElmStreetSlasher1984 said:

And we have Killer Klowns From Outer Space 1988 which i like its cheesy 80's film look about alien clowns kidnapping people and shooting them with ray guns that cocoon them with cotton candy. not to mention they have rocket launchers that shoot popcorn and other things that they terrorize their victims with.

also i gotta love shorty!

My older cousin was tasked with babysitting my older brother and me one night. I would've been about 7, my brother 10, and she was 13. And she decided we should watch Killer Klowns From Outer Space. I'm pretty sure they were in cahoots, because it scared the crap out of me. 

 

I didn't go anywhere near cotton candy for a few years after that.

[TheSlipgateStudios]

Jeepers Creepers 1. For many it may be an underwhelming movie, but for me it's a childhood thing so it got stuck in my head for a while. I have a day off on October 31st so I might tackle the first Friday the 13th movie for the first time.

[knifeworld]

I can't decide between The Thing, Alien, or Event Horizon, although event horizon is a bit more sci-fi + cosmic horror i guess, I'd have to rewatch it to make a proper decision.

[hybridial]

Yeah I can't pick one. But I certainly have favourites

 

The Thing - Masterful use of effects and the theme of paranoia

 

Hellraiser - It's more recent than I've really taken to this movie and arguably more to the novella, but, this is still a very good adaptation of it. 

 

The Exorcist III: Legion - Production issues aside, this is a fantastic, scary film with a centrepiece performance by George C. Scott

 

Phenomena - Mentioned here a couple of times already, this is a lucid nightmare of a movie and is my favourite Argento film

 

Re-Animator - Equally a pitch black comic farce as it is a horror movie, this is for me the ultimate zombie movie. I tend to find most of them dull, this is anything but dull. And yeah, I like it more than Evil Dead II even. 

 

Videodrome - Like with Hellraiser, it's been with more rewatches but this is a fascinating movie, that starts out like a noir thriller about under the radar broadcasting and becomes something else entirely. 

[Rudolph]

1 hour ago, hybridial said:

The Thing - Masterful use of effects and the theme of paranoia

And Kurt Russell!

[smeghammer]

So many good choices!

 

 - Evil Dead 2, probably my fave - "who's laughing now!" as Ash cuts his own hand off...

 - Alien - but never really considered it a horror movie as such

 - The Thing (John Carpenter version) - also never considered a 'horror' movie, but so good for its time.

 - House and House 2 were fun as well

 - and the best movie EVER MADE! - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Taste! You know it's true :-)

[Sonikkumania]

- George A. Romero's first 3 "Dead" movies.

- Tobe Hooper's the Texas Chainsaw Massacre

- The Thing, starring Kurt Russel.

- The Exorcist.

- Alien.

[HorseJockey]

Lot of good answers here, mine in no particular order

 

Halloween

The Thing

Susperia

Nightmare on Elm Street 2

The Shining

Evil Dead

Night of the Living Dead

Return of the Living Dead (Schlocky camp nonsense, but filled with quotable lines and really great practical effects)

[MrFroz]

On 8/30/2022 at 2:48 AM, TheSlipgateStudios said:

Jeepers Creepers 1. For many it may be an underwhelming movie, but for me it's a childhood thing so it got stuck in my head for a while. I have a day off on October 31st so I might tackle the first Friday the 13th movie for the first time.

 

I was actually going to mention the Creeper in the recent "creepiest movie villains" thread, because at least in the first movie it is for sure terrifying. Then in the sequel I don't like the way that it takes full advantage of his flying ability to snatch the victims, I liked it more as a ground threat, and Jeepers Creepers 3...well, let me just say that I think the truck is more scary than the Creeper in that one.

 

Also, I don't believe that people think that the movies are bad per se, its just that Victor Salva was convicted of being a pedophile and had been causing controversy whenever he was on the spotlight after that, especially when Disney decided to produce Powder some six years before Jeepers Creepers 1. But thankfully he's now no longer making movies and I believe a new Jeepers Creepers has been released with another (hopefully less insane) director, which I would like to see sometime.

Edited October 22, 2022 by MrFroz