I’m not a specialist of this kind of films, but Shining from Stanley Kubrick stays in my memory as one of the most chilling movies I’ve ever seen. Jack Nicholson in one of his most outstanding (and terrifying) roles imo.
Otherwise, I’d also mention Brian De Palma’s Carrie. The latent violence in this film, leading to the outburst at the end, deserves a mention in here.
Last but not least: David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, which managed to terrify the absolute f*ck out of me when I saw it back in the time. Several nights on a trot, I made horrible nightmares, and then was at pains to find some sleep for the rest of the night!
I get what you mean. For me effective horror is about something that worms its way inside you…something that hits you on a personal level rather than just having moments that make you jump or avert your eyes. Lynch is a master of the dark psychological thriller and so I think the depiction of the confused psychological deterioration of Naomi Watts character qualifies to me as horror. Especially given the allusion to nefarious shit happening around her.
It wasnt a great film, but that one with Angelina Jolie where she is convinced someone has taken her kid and given her someone else’s is another example of something that hits me like a horror even if it wouldn’t ordinarily be classified as one.
I think one the best examples I’ve ever seen of this was from @Semmy boy, Ryan Reynolds, the one where he wakes up and finds himself buried alive in a coffin in Iraq.
The first two were really quite different films and I think sometimes all the action and guns and explosions of Cameron’s remake can make people forget how much more personal Scott’s original was. That felt a lot more like psychological thriller genre than it being an action film. So I’d say yes.
My favorite is Candyman (1992) but nobody ever votes for that so I’ll throw in The Thing (1982) and Psycho.
Always found The Shining to be hugely overrated like most Kubrick films. It’s not bad so to speak but it often wins these things despite there being at least 10 better horror movies.
My definition of horror is a bit liberal, you don’t need jumpscares to be truly frightened or horrified. In no particular order and off the top of my head, I’d like to see these in the running:
Shining
The Thing
In the Mouth of Madness
Eraserhead
Jacob’s Ladder
What Josiah Saw
The Endless
Berberian Sound Studio
Hereditary
Midsommar
The VVitch
The Lighthouse
Alien
Aliens
Kill List
Requiem for a Dream
Get Out
The Blair Witch Project
Nosferatu
Dusk till Dawn
Resident Evil
Underworld
Pitch Black
Constantine
Blade
The Fog
Omega man / i am Legand
Bram Stokers Dracula
Phantasm
Lost Boys
The Brood
The Wicker man
The Omen
Fright Night
Let Me In
Silence Of The Lambs
30 Days Of Night.
Phantasm was nasty @CymruRed. Remember that one scared hell out of me. Another from around the same time is Magic. Remember that one had me shrinking in my seat, too.
But you are right of course, it’s not a specialist horror movie, it’s just a f*cking good film, albeit a nerve-wracking one.
