Favorite horror flick
 

Pretty simple: name your favorite horror film and <i>why</i> you love it so.

For me: <b>John Carpenter's The Thing</b>

It's a perfect horror film. Tight, claustrophobic atmosphere. Slow-burning intensity. Great cast, led by the indominable Kurt Russell. The most amazing SFX work I have ever seen, period. Even once it's all said and done you still don't know who is who or when any one person may have been assimilated. Even at almost 2 hours long it feels too short to me.

Edit: maybe this should just be a top ten of sorts. I should have known picking just one horror flick is too difficult.

So, with that said, in no particular order (other than #1, of course):

- The Thing
- Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ('74)
- Halloween ('78)
- The Exorcist
- Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
- Fright Night
- Re-Animator
- Phantasm
- Dawn of the Dead

I probably could list 50 more titles, but these are my go-to, cream of the crop ones that I've loved for years.

^i have always considered The Thing as scifi (Anything with aliens goes in the scifi section (it is a kick ass movie though)).

The combined version of The Re-Animator
and
Return of the Living Dead are probably my favs
mostly because I grew up on them being scared watching them and then when I was older I found the humor in them and enjoyed them in a whole new capacity

John Carpenter's Halloween

I love it because Michael Myers is the most terrifying character ever created. Nothing scarier than someone who kills for no reason, has no conscience, never speaks, and is unrelentingly patient.

The John Carpenter score is still haunting to this day, and might be the most effective in all of horror.

Donald Pleasence is terrific as Dr. Loomis. You really believe he's trying to stop "pure evil." The rest of the cast is good as well, playing normal, everyday people.

The sequels have kinda cheapened the original (if nothing else, they could've at least hired guys who walked and moved like the guys who played Michael in the original), but I still think it's one of the best.

DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)

just because it's got great replay value. it's campy yet serious. epic but never drags. i mean i remember the first time i saw it and i had already decided that i loved it and then the next thing i know bikers are running through a mall killing zombies and then a fucking three stooges style pie fight breaks out...classic. seriously i used to dream about living in a mall surrounded by slow moving zombies.

Horror/Suspense

The Shining

I just watched Return of the Living Dead and Re-Animator recently. Both did not age well.

My favorite: Poltergeist.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre of course.
If i had to pick one that would be it.
I am a huge horror fan so i'm all for a topten or whatever.
"C'mon grandpa,hit that bitch"

Same Leather Face

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a beautiful work of art. Dripping in atmosphere, and the greatest family ever.

Rosemary's Baby for me. I'm not a gore fan per se, but Rosemary's Baby is a movie which stalks you right up until it's chilling conclusion.

Night of the Living Dead

A perfect horror film that created an entire sub-genre. From the opening scene to the final frame, this film terrified the shit out of me when I was a kid.

And not your typical stereotypical characters, each of them are flawed in some way and have their own agenda.

I agree completely. Halloween was one of the first horror movies I ever saw and has remained my favorite over the years. I liked it so much that I actually enjoyed the sequels...except for the one with Busta Rhymes. That one just sucks all sorts of balls.

Being sci-fi doesn't mean it isn't horror. The Thing is a great paranoid thriller/horror flick with a scifi twist.

My favorite in recent years has been The Descent. It's highly derivative but, at least for me, highly effective. One of the few horror movies to get me involved and get a response out of me.

I would say Alien. It absolutely terrified me as a kid.

that's very hard to say...

not sure i could say just one with the emphasis and clarity with which you chose 'The Thing'...

'Frailty'... may be my favorite... i consider that a modern masterpiece... i think i'm alone in that view...

'From Hell'... this was first rate in every way for me... a classic...

'The Haunting'... this is one of the best ever... i mean the guy who did 'The Sound of Music' does horror...

'Phantasm'... i like this... it scared me when i was young... seems to hold up... not a great film, but effective...

'Nosferatu'... the archetype...

'Phantom Der Nacht'... the Herzog remake...

'Salem's Lot'... David Soul version... i always liked it... "look at me"... that was the first one for me that really made vampires scary... besides 'Nosferatu'...

'Shadow Of The Vampire'... not sure that's 'horror' but man i love that movie...

'Burnt Offerings'... stands out...

'The Thing' is on the short list... probably Carpenter's best film...

'Halloween'... i mean it's Halloween...

yeah, the sequels are enjoyable to some level ("2" and "4" being my favorites), but they felt too much like products of their time than actual movies. And the more I found out about Michael's "true nature," the less I was interested. "Resurrection" was terrible.

I agree with this.

An American Werewolf in London

that i'm the only one?...

or the other thing?...

which one of deez?...

He probably likes it, I thought it was one of the most disappointing movies I'd seen in a long time (when I saw it a long time ago :))

Frailty was cool.

That its a modern masterpiece. :toast:

The Shining, with Blair Witch Project at #2

The Exorcist - the version that was released into theaters a few years ago.

Chainsaw '74

IT. ....fucking clowns.

The Exorcist
The Shining
Nosferatu
The Haunting (1963)
The Entity
The Thing
The Innocents

All are excellent horror/scary films, but, to me, The Exorcist every time! :eek:

Black Christmas(1974). It's not as utterly frightening as certain others, like "Halloween", but it's second-to-none with regard to atmosphere. The bone-chilling cold of the winter outside contrasts with the deceptively welcoming, rustic warmth of the sorority house...where a killer is lurking behind every doorway, grandfather clock, and coat stand. The groundbreaking cinematography and distinctively creepy music help create the aura of claustrophobic doom. I only wish the killer's location could have been kept secret from the audience until the decisive moment, as in "When a Stranger Calls", but then all those great early prowling P.O.V. shots would have needed to be nixed.

Torque. Oh, wait...this is about horror movies and not horrible movies that I love. ;)

Some actual favorites:

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Halloween (1978)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Evil Dead 1/II
The Thing (Indeed a masterpiece.)
The Shining
Alien
Brain Damage (who knew anti-drug metaphors could be about brain-eating parasites?)
An American Werewolf in London
Prince of Darkness (so underrated)
The Fly (1986)
Videodrome
The Dead Zone
Dead Ringers
Re-Animator
The Lost Boys (the most entertaining 80's horror movie IMO)
The Serpent and the Rainbow
The Return of the Living Dead
From Beyond
Night of the Creeps
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Planet Terror
Suspiria

Recently, The Descent and The Mist have made great impacts on me for the horror genre.

Some guilty pleasures in the genre too:

Silent Night, Deadly Night (arguably the funniest, least rational slasher movie ever)
Maximum Overdrive (great soundtrack, questionable merit...except it's so fucking funny)
Deadly Friend (Ma Fratelli and a basketball. The world was never the same.)

A few personal faves ino:
Black Christmas (org)
Phantasm
The Burning
Friday 1 and 2
Hell Night
Deadly Blessing
Wrong Turn 1 and 2
The Night Stalker

I recently ran into a guy I knew in high school 15 years ago and when he saw me he went 'RE-ANIMATOR!!!'. I asked him what he meant, and he said I lent him a copy of the movie on VHS and it totally fucked with his mind. He didn't remember my name, but he remembered all about the movie.
It was my favourite horror movie before that happened though.

Also,
The Others
Event Horizon
28 Days Later
The Thing
An American Werewolf in London

ps. my sig is from Re-Animator