What is by far the scariest horror movie you have ever seen?

I absolutely adore horror and respect the fact that I might be desensitized to being actually scared by them, as I tend to watch one every other week. Regardless, it's my favorite genre by a good mile.
I'm still hoping for that feeling when a movie hits you in the nerve and catches you off guard, maybe even creeps into your thoughts later when you're in bed.

So I turn to you my fellow horror fans, what are the movies you have found to be the scariest?

 

When I was like 6 or 7 I saw John Carpenter's The Thing on television, had me fucked up for weeks with nightmares. Now it's one of my favorite movies!

"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly" - Robert A. Wilson | "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

Definitely top ten horror movies of all time.

It’s a rare horror movie where the characters are simply outmatched. They are all intelligent people, making decisions that we think we would make in a similar situation, incredible tension.

 

Exactly! My favorite part is there is no cliché or opportunity for you to put yourself in any of their shoes and think "why on earth did this person do that it's so stupid". Those "nothing you can do but survive" scenarios are the best vehicle for horror IMO

"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly" - Robert A. Wilson | "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

Will still stand by that the original Saw is one of the greatest horror movies ever made, and holds up very well. All the cash grab sequels and the pivot the series had to being outright gore porn instead of just a gory movie make that a unpopular opinion, but the original saw:

- Had a solid cast for a horror movie

- Was a pretty novel concept at the time, in a genre that has recycled slasher/murderer ad nauseum 

- Based in realism, not fantastical elements

- sympathetic villain that actually had a legitimate motive instead of a psycho looking to kill just because

- and the best part of all, a legit top tier twist. Horror movies try to tack on a cheap twist all of the time and it almost never lands or is telegraphed miles away. This one was legitimately one of the best twist endings in film

Good flick

 

The original when it first came out was so awesome, sequel was also great but they started to lose the plot starting after 3 IMO

"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly" - Robert A. Wilson | "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

We need more information on what exactly horror is?

Is it jump scares?  Paranormal Activity

Is it gore?  Saw

Is it terror/fear?  The Conjuring

Is it a thriller?  Scream

Is it creepy?  Childs Play

Is it awful?  Any Ben Affleck/Matt Damon movie

Theme?  Friday the 13th/Halloween

Hard to pin down as horror is vague these days.

 

In your opinion, what do you consider to be the most terrifying horror movie ever? It's up to you to decide what kind of horror you enjoy the most. I personally love terror/fear and the Conjuring is a great example, my favorite horror series EVER.

 
Most Helpful

As some others have said, Hereditary by far. Horror movies in general don't scare me... you know, the typical jump-scare-gore-blood stuff. I honestly wish they scared me more since it's such a great genre, but that makes finding a good one so much better.

I don't even know how to describe Hereditary. The best phrase I can think of is 'eerily and diabolically disturbing', to be honest. It's a fucking masterpiece. The storyline, the plot details, the cinematography, and especially the music score. Blended together, they make this cool sense of dread and flight response fill your body. There are a couple of scenes specifically that stand out; for those who have seen the movie, you know which ones I'm talking about. The mom on the ceiling. The reaction to the car accident by the mom. And of course, the ending. Fucking hell, that slow-paced ending. 

Just fantastic work by Ari Aster. Midsommar was exceptional too - not quite as 'scary' as Hereditary but just proves that Aster is the best modern horror director that we have. I'd like to also highlight Toni Collete's acting skills - one that stands out in addition to the aforementioned ones would be her speech to her son at the dinner table. Just a wild ride from start to finish. 

 

Agree on Hereditary, it is one of only two movies to ever actually freak me out. The movie is so terrifying that even watching it a second time I was absolutely terrified.

The only other movie that I would say was equally as scary isn't a horror at all, which is Requiem for a Dream. Nothing has freaked me out like Requiem, Hereditary included. 

 

Is that the drug addict movie? They should show that in school as part of a revised DARE curriculum.

Seeing the outcome of addiction would likely deter substance use more than just say no.

That ending when his veins were black is forever burned into my mind.

 

I'll throw a curveball in there (and date myself yet again), "The Good Son". That was creepy as [expletive deleted]. Or Arachnaphobia is another, even though I used to have a Tarantula as a pet. Candyman (the original) scared the [expletive deleted] out of me as a young'in. People tried to get me to do the famous three words in the mirror and I ran out screaming before finishing it. That movie scared me that much. For whatever reason, Paranormal Activity never bothered me. And Tremors is listed as horror but I thought it as comedy. And I thought the Blair Witch Project was just stupid. Same for The Ring.

It's not a movie (at the time), but playing Resident Evil at midnight with the lights out and sound turned up became a word show. Or again playing Doom 3 at the same time and as soon as a cell phone goes off at the same time as an Imp spawns made people jump hardcore and became another word show. 

The poster formerly known as theAudiophile. Just turned up to 11, like the stereo.
 

Insidious still to this day has messed me up. Anytime i think of it instant chills.

Amityville Horror House I found super scary too. They’ve actually had to do numerous renovations & remodelings to it to try and make the house no longer recognizable because people where trying to burn it down.

The exorcist of emily rose was horrifying too

 

A priest friend of mine is an exorcist. (Do I dare admit that?)

Yea, while The Exorcist was exaggerated, it wasn’t made up.

 

It did do a brilliant job of establishing a sense of dread throughout the entire film. Like you always felt It was somewhere, walking for you. Also enjoyed some of the shots that felt really voyeuristic.

 

I love horror movies. I am sure the majority of these have already been listed, but in no particular order:

Hereditary

The Conjuring

Insidious

Sinister

The Witch

The Exorcist

The Exorcist III - has some terrifying moments

Exorcism of Emily Rose

It Follows

The Invitation (2015) - More of a thriller, but I love it nonetheless

Get Out - Pretty much everyone has seen this and not "really" a horror film, but very good 

The Babadook

Speak No Evil - Truly a fucked up movie

Barbarian - Not really scary but a really fun time

Blair Witch Project - Not as scary now, but the first time I watched this as a kid I was scared shitless

28 Days Later - Once again, not super scary but probably my favorite zombie movie if that is your thing

Rec (2007)

 
GWT

I

28 Days Later - Once again, not super scary but probably my favorite zombie movie if that is your thing

28 Days Later wasn't scary, but was fun. The scene where the blood dripped into his eye? That was wild.

The poster formerly known as theAudiophile. Just turned up to 11, like the stereo.
 

I agree 110%. Gone Girl is the most realistic horror movie of all time. No jump scares, no ghosts, no Satanic rituals, no weird masked killers, just 100% real life. I was genuinely afraid of what would happen to Ben Affleck at the end. 

 

I saw Army of Darkness when I was little in 1993 (I think it came out in '92) and it seemed scary at the time haha. I was in middle school.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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