I don't know, but I somehow remember Cujo being so scary at the time of its release that people were actually leaving the theater. I've only had that experience once -- 8 MM. That movie is just sick and sort of artful at the same time.
First, I read Amityville about the same time, and I can say the same thing.....except my mom also left "Wifey" hanging around, and I kinda enjoyed that. Second, I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiment, but not with your example. Certainly, the movie wasn't completely true to the book, but I don't think that most movies can be. The writen word is just so much more effective at conveying people's thoughts and feelings. That being said, I think Kubrick (and whover was the screenplay writer) did a fine job with the Shining. Was it as scary as the book? Hard for me to answer that properly.....as I always expect the book to be better (and when we're talking about horror, that means scarier), but I thought the Shining was damn creepy. I picked the Exorcist as the scariest movie, but the Shining is number two in my book....and my favorite movie of the genre.
From the movies that where available to choose from, hands down.... the exorcist (the original) but, i must say stephen kings "IT" ranks up there with one of the best horror flicks of all time. my lil brother keeps telling me "the ring" is the scariest he's seen... the previews dont look that great !!
Good Call! First time I saw that movie was late at night - no lights on - scary! Also, Signs Halloween 1/2 Nightmare on Elm Street 1 Night of the Living Dead (the original and the remake) IT Poltergeist 1/2 The Thing (Kurt Russell) Aliens 1/2 When I was a kid, "An American Werewolf in London" used to scare me. I liked the Scream and I know what you did movies, but they weren't that scary to me.
I've heard that critics thought the TV miniseries was better than the movie and that it was closer to the book. I havn't read the book so I can't be sure. I do know that the ending was different, the main character didn't freeze to death in the maze. Damn, I only remember that I thought the ending was better for the tv version, but I can't remember how it ended. . . little help please.
While I thought The Ring was well done. I didn't find it all that scary. Creepy, but not scary. Maybe I'm just too narrow-minded to get scared by supernatural horror at this point in my life.
Im suprised to see you are the only one that named Halloween 1 and 2. I was a kid when these movies came out and coupled with the fact that my brother was really into Friday the 13th (seriously .....he bought a hockey mask and a machete and would walk around the house dressed up like Jason and my parents thought it was normal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) made these two movies terrifying for me. To this day, when Halloween 1 or 2 come on, I still get creeped out even though I know when someone is going to get whacked.
I remember watching Event Horizon at home alone years back when I was still married. Pretty scary. A couple of nights later, I was coming home after a game and I called home to see what my then-wife was doing. She was flipping through the channels and she happened to stop on Event Horizon. She was getting interested in it and I told her to change the channel before she got scared. Right before she changed it, the air con duct scene came on. You know, the one where the guy has no eyes. The gasp of air she took and the ensuing "OH MY GOD" still makes me laugh. She kept me on the phone until I got home! The remake was WAY too long. I never got to read the book, but there were quite a few things that were added that I did like. The internal struggle was a great addition to the movie. As far as scary "movie", the original Shining is scarier IMHO, than the remake. The Movie did not do the book justice. Maybe because the movie was made for network TV...If it was made for the big screen, it could have been much more gory and scary. Has anybody mentioned Pet Semetary as a scary movie?
I was 6 years old when JAWS came out. That movie f***ed me up for years. I mean, I imagined fins on land. My therapist says I'm better now. AUGH! What was that? Da-dunh. Da-dunh. (pause) Dunh-dunh-dunh-dunh, dunh-dunh-dunh-dunh....
I don't go for scary movies, and as a result, I've seen very few of the movies mentioned thus far. But when I was pretty young, I don't remember what was going on, but I caught a few minutes of Watcher in the Woods, and ever since then, I've had issues with mirrors.
Halloween was pretty good. Little kid in mask killing someone is pretty freaky. Shining is great. Daddy goes insane. I didn't finish the book, but it's really different. They focus on the kid's powers and Daddy's physical abuse of him. Tells a very different story. But movie was great. Nightmare on Elm Street 1 was great Friday 13th 1 was great at end. Jaws was pretty scary for a whole nation. Nobody would go to beach. That's too funny. Opening sequence in Scream was pretty good. Rest of movie went downhill after that.
I voted Excorcist. Another movie that I think deserves to be on the list, and one that scared the crap out of me as a kid was Carrie. Another King book that while the movie was great it misses much of the intelectual impact of the book.
Exoricist combines dread, implied horror and explicit horror deftly, with shock and surprise elements. The director did a fantastic job, esp. use of light. Some of the shock is lost today, when you know what's coming. Part of the effect is a lurking paranoia, because you know evil can manifest anywhere, anytime. There's a lot of shots that track down the hall to that door. The audience gets quesy along the way, because they know what's there. The lingering doubt about your own will vs. evil is also effective. Most good horror pics have an element of paranoia - body snatchers, vampires, zombies, a monster - and elements of self doubt or human failings that give the monster it's invitation to attack. There's a book out on monsters across different cultures right now. Seems a pretty universal impulse, to create these things.
You are starting to scare me. That really speaks to how vivd your imagination must be. Have you ever written yourself? The only other person I have ever heard say something like that was a writer.
"My girls did not care for the Overlook at first and one even got a book of matches to try to burn the place down. But, I CORRECTED her! And when my wife tried to prevent me from doing my duty, I CORRECTED her!" King was never happy with Kubrick's version because it didn't really follow his book, thus for the remake.
