Thursday, August 23, 2012

The Horror! The Horror!


Even though the title of this post is from Joseph Conrad's story The Heart of Darkness, we're not going to talk about books today. (Shocking, I know.) No, I need help with something else - movies. 

I am banned from picking the next, um, five to ten movies my husband and I will watch. Why? Because the last handful I chose pretty much stunk. Now, to be fair, my husband is a good sport. He knows how much I like a good horror movie and he indulges me in my (occasionally) odd choices . . . to a point. So, I know it's gotten bad when he says enough is enough. 

What I need from you all is help redeeming myself. Plus, I just want to watch some good scary movies for a change. Here's an idea of what I like (and my husband likes/tolerates):

Jaws
Psycho
Misery
the Scream movies 
the Paranormal Activity movies
Joy Ride
Jeepers Creepers
Quarantine
28 Days Later 
The Woman in Black
Dream House

Please share your picks for horror, scary, creepy, suspenseful stuff. Nothing too gross or gory or freaky, please. Older, newer, independent, black-and-white, all fine. If you're not sure it's horror - like, I don't think Jaws technically is but it scared me! - mention it anyway. 

And please, hurry. My husband is talking about us watching some sports documentary DVDs he's got hanging around. Help!

11 comments:

  1. Hmmm... I do enjoy gory ones, so I'll try to reign in those.
    If you like thrillers with an edge of horror, Manhunter is awesome. (Director Michael Mann.) Carpenter's The Thing is a classic, but it is a bit gory. Do you like a fun monster movie? Tremors is fun. Humor and zombies? Zombieland. Vampires? The Blade or Underworld movies. Or Near Dark - highly underrated film by Kathryn Bigelow. Dash of horror in your science fiction wrapped in a great story? Super 8. And of course, the all-out fun romp of Evil Dead II. (Yeah, a little gory.)
    Hope that helps.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alex - ooo, thank you! I'm making notes here! I've seen a couple of those - Carpenter's "The Thing" was great and so was "Super 8."

    (I don't mind a little gore - it's hard to define how much is too much - so I'm usually willing to take a chance if the story itself sounds good or depending on who the actors, writers, directors are.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with Evil Dead 2, it's an excellent choice.

    What about The Birds? Oh, I know this isn't a *movie* but how about FX's "American Horror Story?" It's first season aired last fall and it's been praised by critics and fans alike...love it, it's spooky and suspenseful, and more than a little bit messed up. :-)
    Some Dark Romantic

    ReplyDelete
  4. i dont like horror, blood and guts...
    the closest i could suggest is I am Legend, if you haven't seen it. creepy goodness for ya!

    have a fun, spooky weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mina - I've put Evil Dead II on the list! And I've seen The Birds - another good one!

    Tara - love that movie! Did you know it was based on a short story?

    ReplyDelete
  6. ALL of Alfred Hitchcock's movies are excellent choices.
    I know it's not movie-like, but you would totally love Breaking Bad and if you catch it on Netflicks you can watch it all at once.
    Alex's picks are all pretty awesome. Zombieland is one of my favourite movies of all time.
    Have you seen The Hunger Games? It's good. Suspenseful.
    The Others with Nicole Kidman is great.
    Rosemary's Baby - fabulous!
    Amityville Horror scared me crapless when I was a kid.
    The Mothman Prophecies is cool.
    Seen Signs with Mel Gibson? Awesomeness.
    The Sixth Sense? Even better!
    1408 was scary.
    Seen Deliverance? It's pretty scary, plus it has a hunky young Burt Reynolds and the famous banjo song.
    The Shining? FREAKED ME OUT.
    Thanks for letting me list this stuff. Too much fun!


    ReplyDelete
  7. Cathy - thanks for all your picks! I've seen a good chunk of those and totally agree with you re Hitchcock. :)

    It's funny you mentioned Deliverance because I caught the beginning of it on TV the other day and made a note to watch the whole thing again at some point. I've seen it before but it's been awhile.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Can't help at all, I'm afraid. I'm not good with horror. I like all-out violence (Reservoir Dogs, The Usual Suspects) but horror seeps into my head and then I get scared going to the bathroom in the dark!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Annalisa - it's funny because the super violent ones scare me more than the horror ones do. I did like The Usual Suspects, though. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Silent Hill horrified me -- probably too gory, though. Shaun of the Dead is a zombie comedy -- and hilarious. The Ring is a freaky one. The Descent was also good, but gory. I'm not much help.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Milo - I remember The Descent and it was a good one. I'll check into Silent Hill and consider the gore factor. (See, you were more help then you thought!) :)

    ReplyDelete