What Are The Best Scary Films?

[Stargazer]

Cape Fear, River Wild, Deliverance.

[sanmac]

I found "The Shining" to be quite spooky. You're right about "Cape Fear" with Robert Mitchum...Really suspenseful.

[albaqwerty]

The Revenant (2009) not the DiCaprio one (2015)

The Hills Have Eyes.

[Canary42]

Nosferatu (1922)

[Googlewerenohelp]

I wouldn't describe this as a 'best scary film' for titillation purposes but more as a stark and artistic presentation of the horrors of WW2 for any that feel the need for a reality hit.
'Come And See' is based firmly on reality and is a must see WW2 film that uses unique filming techniques that make it seem VERY real.
It scared the sh!4 out of me and made me weep.
Just to ram home the point that this is based on real events during WW2 and to warn: live ammunition was used and a cow was killed during the making of this film, the main (very young) 'hero' had to receive councelling while this film was made. It's not meant to be a frivolous horror film, it's meant to give a real insight and took years to produce.

[johnny.5]

[Googlewerenohelp]

...and now, here are some of my favourite 'frivolous' scary films:
For creepy psychological disturbance and jump scares:
The Grudge, The Ring, The Others, The Shining, Blair Witch Project, Play Misty For Me.
For gross horror, blood and guts etc: The Evil Dead, Human Centipede, Human Centipede 2, Hellraiser, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
For all of the above plus utter depravity: A Serbian Movie (you have been warned on this one, I wouldn't watch it a second time).

[Googlewerenohelp]

..."A Serbian Film" (scuse me)

[Smowball]

I forgot all about Human Centipede

[Mozz71]

If you don't mind subtitles, Asia is the place to go. The original versions of The Ring, Yu-On: The Grudge and Dark Water. Add such movies as Train To Busan, Thirst, Tale of Two Sisters and Pulse, and you got enough jumps for many a Halloween party.

[Musictv2019]

I have the river wild on DVD I love it Meryl Streep is such a great actress.

[burlyshirley]

A scary film for me is about the supernatural. I LOVE a good ghost story. I always look forward to the Christmas ghost story that is usually on TV. There was a fabulous TV version of The Lady in Black a few years back which was as scary as hell and full of atmosphere. It was, in my opinion, a million times better than the ridiculous hyped up version done for the big screen with that Harry Potter bloke AND the ending was totally changed from the original.

[tiggerblue10]

The Changeling (1980), La Cabina and Wolf Creek are my most scary films.

[melv16]

The Exorcist made me jump.

[davebro]

Audition

[davebro]

oh - and The Night of the Hunter. Mitchum was a great actor.

[LadyCG]

The Forgotten (Julianne Moore) scared the poop out of me.

[andy-hughes]

The Haunting - the original is an amazing film.

But the finest ever horror film is Dead Of Night.

I saw it when I was about nine, and it has given me a serious morbid dislike of puppets and dummies that lasts to this day.

[Ken4155]

There are many horror/ghost/slasher films out there but for me, a scary film has to have that element of possibility. And the film that has that for me is The Whicker Man with Edward Woodward. The film was made in 1973, a time when cults were rife and one could just imagine someone like Christopher Lee's charismatic character brainwashing his followers into burning someone in a 'Whicker Man' to please the gods and replenish the fruits of the land.