Definitely "The Exorcist", had problems with it for years, probably because I saw it as a little kid. I guess I'd put the Shining second. Didn't give me much problems, and it wasn't that much after I saw The Exorcist.
Isabel, As a lifelong fan of Stanley Kubrick and his films, I can elaborate on that for you: The dog man (also sometimes called the bear man) costume scene is Kubrick's homage to the novel. The main reason why Stephen King was so unhappy with Kubrick's movie is that he felt Kubrick strayed too far from his novel (thus the reason why King decided to do a really sucky miniseries for The Shining). The dog man costume is one of the very few scenes that was really inspired by the novel. I have never read the book but I believe somewhere in the middle of the story, it talks about one of the old owners of the Overlook hotel, who was either gay or bisexual. This one young man really liked him a lot and the owner told him that if he dressed up as a dog, he would be his date to a costume ball. Near the end of the movie, the Overlook is trying one last time to do things, anything, to try to scare Wendy. One of the ways it tries to scare her is by showing her some of the weirdest things that had happened in its grim history. As for your other question, this one is always subject to debate and interpretation. What I believe is that seeing Jack Torrance in the 1921 4th of July ball reinforces what Grady had told him earlier in the bathroom - that he has always been here and always was the caretaker. You might remember earlier in the movie where Jack tells Wendy that he felt like he "knew what was going to happen around every corner - sorta like he has been here before." Well, he had been there before - he just didn't realize it at that time. Now of course, it has always troubled me, how no one had ever noticed that Jack was in that picture (like the people that interviewed him or his family). But I guess that is details that will always get overlooked. Of course, there are lots more essays on various parts of this movie on the net - just google "Kubrick's The Shining" if you are interested.
OK Manny you just jumped up a few more pegs on my respect ranking.. great taste in music and now movies.. Kubrick movies are some of my all time favs, good call.. But for me the scariest/grossest movie I have ever seen is SALO 120 DAYS OF SODOM..crazy movie..
This isn't even in the top 20 of scariest movies. But I'm curious. Was I the only one who found "The Event Horizon" sorta scary? It got awful reviews, but Sam Neil's descent into madness creeped me out.
Oh gosh why'd you have to remind me 'bout that movie. That movie is freaky, man. I definitely got scared in that movie. I hate scary movies, they haunt me. ha
I can't believe no one has mentioned the Omen. I watched that movie on cable over at my friends house when we were in about 5th grade. That night me, him, and all of his brothers and sisters slept together in the living room because we were scared sh!tless. Other very scary movies- The Exorcist- I didn't see this movie as a kid b/c just knowing the storyline scared the bejesus out of me. The Ring The Shining Poltergeist (When it came out, not now.) The Entity (At the end of this movie it tells you that the woman is now living in Houston and I was like Oh ****.)
Thanks dude. You may have already seen this, but if not, I urge you to get it as soon as possible - "Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures". This was a documentary hosted by Tom Cruise (ugh ) and features interviews with Kubrick's widow, Christiane, his brother-in-law (and executive producer for many of his films) Jan Harlan, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Malcolm McDowell, Peter Ustinov, Keir Dullea, Shelly Duvall, Matthew Modine, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Nicole Kidman, and many others. It is very good because it not only tells you about Stanley's life but it looks at each one of his movies (he only did 13) and gives you some information that you may have not known. At the very end, they show a montage of all of his movies, using the music from the beginning of "Barry Lyndon" (I think it is a piece by a traditional Irish band called the Chieftains) - very moving and a great way to end the documentary.
I rented session 9 on a whim a while ago. That move was really creepy. Nothing altogether gross or "shock-scary", but just incredibly, deeply unnerving. Interestingly, the movie used a new Sony camera that shot at 24FPS, instead of the traditional 30. Makes for really intense lighting contrast with very little excess light equipment. IIRC, but I think almost the whole movie is shot with natural light. Makes me want to see it again - I feel like I didn't even catch half the psychological subplot...
that part had me dreading walking the halls of my middle school. i hated going to the restroom during class time. i still kinda close my eyes even when i watch it now. it's just so damn creepy.
I like some of the classics. I really think that most of us have been desensitized to gore and its mostly psychological thrillers. The Omen - a classic. The music..the boy...Gregory Peck? It doesn't get any better. The Shining - The filmography and the music just sucked you in. A true masterpiece and Jack's best acting job ever. Halloween - When I saw this movie as a kid it just freaked me out. More Sci-Fi But Great Movies: Prince of Darkness Event Horizon Jacobs Ladder For some reason the Ring really didn't do anything for me. When she started climbing out of the television, I actually started laughing. I thought the rest of the movie did a good job of building the suspense. I remember I was on a date with a girl to see The Blair Witch Project and she happened to live in the Woodlands of all places. She got kinda freaked out by the movie and so upon dropping her off I proceed to take the back roads to get home with was through thick woods for about 10 miles.
for me it's always imagery that sticks with me. that haunts me. particularly ones where something innocent or good is perverted or distorted or upset. like: (in no particular order) 1. pet sematary -- not a great movie. but the image of the fight at the boy's memorial service where they bump into the little boy's casket and his body is disturbed...you see his arm come out of the coffin. that's just really unsettling to me. nothing scary about it...but it's unsettling. now the freaking girl in the bed who screams "rachel, rachel" over and over freaks the crap out of me. i seriously try to avoid that scene everytime it's on TV. 2. exorcist -- wow. the whole freaking movie is unreal. read the book, Possessed, which is the account of the clergy who were called out to see the little boy whom this story is based on. absolutely chilling. 3. i'm blanking on the name of the movie...but there's a movie with John Lithgow where he's psycho. there's a scene in that movie where a husband is visiting his wife in the hospital on new years eve. she's in a coma and has been for years. the female doctor comes in the room as the clock strikes midnight. she and the husband kiss. the husband opens his eyes and sees his wife looking at him kissing another woman....and then she goes flatline. unsettling. 4. Seven -- seriously, i was physically ill. went home and layed on the couch with my then girlfriend/now wife and watched Cartoon Network to get that crap out of my head! 5. Shining -- stupid twins!!!
That is certainly a heavy movie. It's rare to find someone who has seen Pasolini movies these days. Used to be one of my favorite directors. Did you know he was assassinated? The three scariest movies I have ever seen are probably the Ring, the Wages of Fear and Repulsion.
"Demon Seed" freaked me out back when I was 7 or 8 years old. It came out in 1977. It creeped me out. It was about: "Scientist Alex Harris, doing research on artificial intelligence, is working on a special kind of computer. This computer grows more and more powerful and eventually succeeds in raping the scientist's wife, Susan Harris. In the end, she gives birth to a hybrid baby." "The Exorcist" never really got to me. I just thought it was cool watching the possessed girl's head spin, the vomit comets, and the visual effects of possession. "Halloween" and "Halloween 2" definitely took the horror genre to a new level. Even today...after watching those movies...I still have to look down hallways or in rooms to make sure I don't see Mike Myers waiting to pounce. The combination of the excellent musical score and the creepy masked dude instilled the fear of the boogey man. Although, the later movies kind of ruined the whole series in my opinion. "Friday the 13th" deserves an honorable mention as well.
