What's your favorite scary movie?

Question

It's almost that time of year again. My favorite is The Conjuring 2 followed closely by Scream.

abc3643 · Accepted Answer

I am not sure I've ever really been scared in a movie although I was edgy.
Seeing "Jaws" in 1975 was something.

Seeing "Alien" in 1979 was a bit scary.

However, seeing "Aliens" in 1986 was something else. You were on the edge of your seat through much of the last hour of the movie.

I will let Roger Ebert speak from his ORIGINAL 1986 3.5/4-star review. (*)

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/aliens-1986

Aliens
Action 135 minutes ‧ R ‧ 1986
Roger Ebert
July 18, 1986

[The bold and italics below are my additions.]

The ads for “Aliens” claim that this movie will frighten you as few movies have, and, for once, the ads don’t lie. The movie is so intense that it creates a problem for me as a reviewer: Do I praise its craftsmanship, or do I tell you it left me feeling wrung out and unhappy? It has been a week since I saw it, so the emotions have faded a little, leaving with me an appreciation of the movie’s technical qualities. But when I walked out of the theater, there were knots in my stomach from the film’s roller-coaster ride of violence. This is not the kind of movie where it means anything to say you “enjoyed” it.

“Aliens” is a sequel to the very effective 1979 film, “Alien,” but it tells a self-contained story that begins 57 years after the previous story ended. The first time around, you may recall, Sigourney Weaver and a shipload of her fellow space voyagers were exploring a newly discovered planet when they found an abandoned spaceship. Surviving in the ship was an alien life-form that seemed to consist primarily of teeth. The aliens were pure malevolence; their only function was to attack and eat anything that was warm and moved. And they incubated their young inside the bodies of their victims.

Weaver was the only survivor of that first expedition, and after saving her ship by expelling an alien through the air lock into deep space, she put herself into hibernation. She is found 57 years later by a salvage ship, and when she awakes she is still tormented by nightmares. (The script does not provide her, however, with even a single line of regret after she learns that 57 years have passed and everyone she knew is dead.) (*) A new expedition is sent back to the mystery planet. Weaver is on board. She knows what the aliens are like and thinks the only sane solution is to nuke them from outer space. But in the meantime, she learns to her horror that a human colony has been established on the planet and billions of dollars have been invested in it. Now Earth has lost contact with the colony. Has it been attacked by aliens? Are there stars in the sky? The crew is made up of an interesting mixed bag of technicians and military personnel. My favorites were Lance Henrikson as a loyal android, Jenette Goldstein as a muscular marine private and Michael Biehn as the uncertain Cpl. Hicks. Also on board is the slimy Burke (Paul Reiser), who represents the owners of the planet’s expensive colony and dreams of making millions by using the aliens as a secret weapon.

The movie gives us just enough setup to establish the characters and explain the situation. Then the action starts. The colony has, of course, been overrun by the aliens, all except for one plucky little girl (Carrie Henn) who has somehow survived by hiding in the air ducts.

The marines explore the base on foot, which seems a little silly in view of the great speed with which the aliens attack. Nobody seems very interested in listening to Weaver’s warnings. After all, she’s only the one person who has seen an alien, so what does she know? And then the movie escalates into a nonstop war between human and alien.

It’s here that my nerves started to fail. “Aliens” is absolutely, painfully and unremittingly intense for at least its last hour. Weaver goes into battle to save her colleagues, herself and the little girl, and the aliens drop from the ceiling, pop up out of the floor and crawl out of the ventilation shafts. (In one of the movie’s less plausible moments, one alien even seems to know how to work the elevator buttons.) I have never seen a movie that maintains such a pitch of intensity for so long; it’s like being on some kind of hair-raising carnival ride that never stops.

I don’t know how else to describe this: The movie made me feel bad. It filled me with feelings of unease and disquiet and anxiety. I walked outside and I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I was drained. I’m not sure “Aliens” is what we mean by entertainment. Yet I have to be accurate about this movie: It is a superb example of filmmaking craft.

The director, James Cameron, has been assigned to make an intense and horrifying thriller, and he has delivered. Weaver, who is onscreen almost all the time, comes through with a very strong, sympathetic performance: She’s the thread that holds everything together.

The supporting players are sharply drawn. The special effects are professional. I’m giving the movie a high rating for its skill and professionalism and because it does the job it says it will do. I am also advising you not to eat before you go to see it.

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(*) Notice what Ebert wrote in parentheses that I bolded and italicized...

Ebert later upgraded his review later once he saw additional footage that was not in the 1986 release but should have been for the sake of the story. That footage tells us of Ellen Ripley being gone for so long that her daughter had grown-up and died while Ripley was in hypersleep for 57 years. She was supposed to be home for her daughter's 11th birthday, but her daughter died at age 68 just before Ripley was found and revived.

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I saw "Aliens" 3 times in 2 weeks when it first came out in May 1986. I was 23 and it was such a spectacular movie that paying to see it once was not enough. Even though I was a poor, unfunded graduate student, I needed to see it at least twice more.

I did that again in fall 2017 when the 40th Anniversary Edition of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was released.

That, too, is a wonderful scary movie. I first saw it in December 1977.

Slate69 · Accepted Answer

Silent Hill

avery58 · Accepted Answer

Thanks for reminding me of the Conjuring 2. I have to finish it before it leaves Netflix on the 30th... And since I'm stuck at home with a hurricane about to hit in a few hours, I guess a scary movie would be a good choice 😂

To answer your question, I think the best one is The Exorcist

TsundereMatrix · Accepted Answer

I like the Friday the 13th movies. I watched The Conjuring and it freaked me out so much that I couldn’t sleep that night. I thought I was hearing voices and I had to sleep with the TV on.

Cinematic Lily · Accepted Answer

When it comes to scary movies, I have a soft spot for classic horror with a fresh twist. My absolute favorite has to be "Hereditary." 🎭 The film does an incredible job of blending psychological horror with supernatural elements, delivering a chilling experience that's hard to shake off. Plus, the cinematography and Toni Collette's performance are just phenomenal. I also enjoy "The Babadook" for its unique take on grief and terror. These films keep you thinking long after the credits roll. What's your favorite scene from "The Conjuring 2"? 💀👻

nolabels · Answer

The Exorcist. I've never been able to watch it again ever since originally seeing it on the big screen when it first came out. There's absolutely no way I'll ever watch it again.

Agape93 · Answer

Rigor mortis

Chazmatazz269 · Answer

“Halloween” (1978), and the first sequel. I rarely watch just one. So they kind of make one long flick for me. Ell oh ell!

Maybe_Maybe_not · Answer

Don't make me watch it again

LiamJHayden · Answer

The original  Carrie . I saw it after the remake after my dad said the original was better. To date it is the only movie that has given me a nightmare - the hand coming out of the grave.

Peter_Penetrator · Answer

Threads, The Day After , Countdown to Looking Glass, Warning Sign, Thirteen Days, The Hot Zone…..

SeriouslyNotSerious · Answer

Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Wrong Turn (2003)

strateguy632 · Answer

Bloody is gross. all equaly bad so all tie as best.

Nikki1989 · Answer

The Exorcist is my most-watched Horror movie.

exitseven · Answer

There was a movie called Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman. It had a torture scene thst was intense.

paledreams · Answer

Hmm.  That's a tough one to pick - I think it's tough to pick just one

KittygosMeoWW · Answer

Definitely the fourth kind, any of the conjuring movies, the nun, wrong turn ahead, tusk, and Constantine

DrPepper12 · Answer

My wedding video... JK it's the Exorcist. Scared the shit out of me as a kid

Ironco · Answer

Definitely "Cojo"... Fucking scared the hell out of me as a kid

Anonymous · Answer

None, all horror movies are basically the same, not scary at all, and the fact that I know how they’re gonna end before they do everytime is just boring.

Anonymous · Answer

Halloween, Nightmare on Elm street, I kinda like 80s movies.

Finchie40 · Answer

Evil Dead with Bruce Campbell

NathanDavis · Answer

Jessica Biel...

Kreneman · Answer

Nightmare on Elm Street 4

Dargil · Answer

The second Aliens.

Mati91 · Answer

Misery I like psychological horror.

PeterLegg91 · Answer

I like the chainsaw massacre 2003 version :)

normalice · Answer

Kazaam

Iron_Man · Answer

Halloween

Reijen · Answer

The Thing from 1982.

EnjoytheDay777 · Answer

Evil Dead

Jpie555 · Answer

Halloween!!

Slim57 · Answer

Scary movie 2

Anonymous · Answer

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