13 Scariest Movies Ever Made

Horrorphile

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Horrorphile's 13 SCARIEST MOVIES EVER MADE

October 29th 2009 01:22

It's not often I have to adjust a definitive list, but a situation has arisen. I was looking at my list of 13 Scariest Movies Ever Made which I compiled a year ago, and realised there was now a glaring omission. Of course I hadn't actually seen the movie back when I made the list, but having seen Paranormal Activity in the Sydney Film Festival earlier this year, and the recent hype for the movie filtering through the media (it's currently #1 at the American box office, which both pleases me that it's kicked Saw VI's ass, but frustrates me that an essentially underground movie will end up being over-hyped a la The Blair Witch Project).

Paranormal Activity was shot in one week in the director's home for $US15,000! It has currently grossed $US22 million!! Apparently the original ending was changed at the suggestion of Steven Speilberg. I wanna know what the original ending was, and what exactly was Speilberg's suggestion? I do like the released version ending, but I'm curious if it was a compromise in any way.

So I'm re-posting my list with the addition of Paranormal Activity. I've also shifted a few titles around after some further nightmare musing. It was very difficult having to shunt one of the other movies off the list, but I have to be strict on my rule of 13. So the end result being that Phantasm is forced off the list, as much as I love the movie, and I definitely rate it as a genuinely unnerving and nightmarish experience, but I just couldn't justify knocking off any of the others.

1. Alien
(US, 1979, Ridley Scott)
2. Halloween
(US, 1978, John Carpenter)
3. Paranormal Activity
(US, 2007, Oren Peli)
4. The Descent
(UK, 2005, Neil Marshall)
5. Ils
(France/Romania, 2006, David Moreau & Xavier Palud)
6. Ju-on: The Grudge
(Japan, 2003, Takashi Shimizu)
7. Ringu
(Japan, 1998, Hideo Nakata)
8. Suspiria
(Italy, 1977, Dario Argento)
9. Wolf Creek
(Australia, 2005, Greg Mclean)
10. The Blair Witch Project
(US, 1999, Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez)
11. The Omen
(US, 1976, Richard Donner)
12. The Thing
(US, 1982, John Carpenter)
13. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
(US, 1974, Tobe Hooper)

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: lists

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Comments

14 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by rokko

October 29th 2009 11:27

every year there's a list and lists becomes so crapy that someone thinks his list is better than everyone else's....

Comment by Chris C.

November 2nd 2009 22:46

What, no The Shining? It's high up there for me personally. Also sorry, but I found PA a bit weak, although I didn't see it in a proper setting to be honest..

Comment by Bryn

November 2nd 2009 23:33

Horrorphile

rokko, are you insinuating that I think my list is better than everyone elses? I'm not that arrogant. I'd be a liar if I said I don't think I'm very knowledgeable on the horror genre. But I'm the first to admit that what scares one person will make another yawn. I love making lists, and this is my list (read: my blog) of what I think are the scariest movies ever. I used the word "definitive" in my post because it's definitive for me. If works for you, that's great, but if it doesn't there's no need to bag me out simply because you disagree. If I was ill-informed, or saying something that was factually incorrect that would be a different matter.

Chris, yeah, I do really like the movie, but it's not one of the scariest movies for me. The novel is infinitely scarier. I enjoy Kurbrick's movie for different reasons, but not for it being a movie that frightens me. It is ominous fer sure, and atmospheric too.

As for PA, I'm expecting a lot more comments like yours. It's inevitable for a movie so hyped up. The same thing happened to The Blair Witch Project. It's a shame this kind of disappointment occurs because of people's high expectations. The best way to enjoy PA is to have seen it knowing almost nothing. I was lucky that way.

Comment by Michelle Sweeney

November 6th 2009 21:56

Competition Queen
Always Learning
Cinema Voyage

Great list. I haven't seen Paranormal Activity so will look out for it. I think if you catch these horror films in the cinema they are so much scarier than if you were sitting at home watching them. I too really enjoyed Wolf Creek.

Comment by Bryn

November 7th 2009 02:17

Horrorphile

Hi Michelle, cheers. I agree for the most part about movies being scarier in the cinema, but there have definitely been some movies I watched alone on video at night at home that freaked me out. Ils (Them) was one of them. When I was much younger a friend and I rented Suspiria (VHS days) and that worked a treat!

Comment by Mountain Fog

November 9th 2009 07:03

Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!

Hi Bryn,

a very interesting list. I haven't seen Ils, Descent, Ju on, Ringu or Suspiria, so have some catching up to do!

But, definitely Alien is a winner for me, rarely have I gasped out loud in a cinema, that one got me. And Blair Witch, so cleverly shot, the ending seemed a trifle anticlimatic for me though, but it deserved an Oscar for clever marketing, via the net, genius.

I think you handled the ignorant comment, at the top, admirably well. Anyone who reads your work, and has a modicum of intellect, realises you speak from a huge knowledge base and have excellent critical insight.

Besides, I think anyone's 'best of list', besides being obviously a personal subjective choice, also depends on when you first see a film too, as often those first impacts stay forever, like Count Yorga (?) Vampire, I saw as a young lad with my mates and it scared the shit out of us! Mainly because it was the first vampire film I saw set in the present day. AND Rokko ignores your popular voters choose lists!

Lastly, WOW!!! Paranormal shot for $15,000- Incredible. That surely must be the top of bang for production buck, and he shot it in one week!!!! Just those facts alone make me want to see it. Geez, will the director ever be in demand from now on...

Try and find out what the changed ending was! My bet is this, it was a bummer dark and nasty ending, too negative that made Spielberg 'box-office takings' wince. What was its rating by the way?

cheers

fog

Comment by Bryn

November 9th 2009 22:26

Horrorphile

Fog,
cheers mate!
If you can avoid watching any trailers for Paranormal Activity, it makes for a much more effective movie. The original ending was more suggestively violent, arguably a little creepier, but had less immediate impact. I actually like the changed ending (but I didn't know it had been changed).
I saw a trailer for it yesterday before Final Destination (the movie opens in Australia next month) and it is packed with more critics superlatives than you can throw a stick at. Talk about saturating the movie in hype. It's ugly. I hate that kind of thing. It ruined The Blair Witch Project for a lot of audiences ...

Comment by Mountain Fog

November 10th 2009 06:32

Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!

Hi Bryn,

thanks for the heads up on PA, I'll try and avoid the promos. That's good news on the ending too! OH! And how was Final Destination? OOPS! Just saw your advert for your review! I'll check it out now.

cheers

fog

Comment by Anonymous

November 22nd 2009 13:35

Sorry, can't agree with Blair Witch or PA being on any scariest list, of any kind.
IF Paranormal Activity was real footage of craziness in a real haunted home; even with far less going on, I would have been impressed.
Otherwise there is nothing scary about it at all. The shining is far superior in building tension.

As for blair witch, the only thing it disturbed was my stomach. Although I was not one of the ones that got full on motion sickness from watching it, I came close.

Comment by Bryn

November 23rd 2009 00:16

Horrorphile

Anon, sorry you feel that way ... Your loss, not ours.

Comment by Anonymous

February 9th 2010 02:23

paranormal activity? i laughed throughout that whole movie...

Comment by Bryn

February 9th 2010 09:56

Horrorphile

Anon ... So tell me what keeps you up at night then?

Comment by Anonymous

February 20th 2010 16:57

When I was seven, I was going to watch three horror movies back to back The first one was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This is still one of my fave movies but it was not scary.

The second one was The Exorcist. I was so scared of that one that I didn't sleep for three days after. The fact that the Exorcist is not even in the list makes the list look bad.

I never saw the third one which actually was The Omen. Still haven't seen The Omen today but it is to the Video Ezy do not have it and no network ever shows it.

I cannot even begin to fathom how Blair Witch made it on there.

Comment by Bryn

February 21st 2010 23:10

Horrorphile

Anon, fathom what you like, my list is my list. It's definitive as far as I'm concerned, but I've never said it's the list everyone else should agree with. I really like The Exorcist, but I've never found it that scary. Whereas I saw The Blair Witch Project months and months in advance to its theatrical release and found it genuinely frightening. Just as I found Paranormal Activity, for very similar reasons. The basic truth is some people aren't scared by the elements within the latter two movies, and some are. I frequently find that when the supernatural is presented in movies, the less you see the scarier. Blair Witch and Paranormal will continue to polarise audiences, primarily because they both suffered from being over-hyped, and also because they rely on the less-is-more approach, and they also rely on the mockumentary technique, which you either allow yourself to be taken for the ride or you don't.

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[ Next - Stephen King's Cat's Eye AND Stephen King's Silver Bullet ]

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