[PenultimateManStanding]

It's Alive about a mutant baby that goes on a murder spree from the moment it's born to a couple in Santa Monica in the early 70s. Blockbuster says it's a "cult classic" so OK I thought, let's see what's up with this one. The first thing I notice: the music is by the great Bernard Herrmann who wrote the music for Psycho, Taxi Driver, a lot of Brian dePalma movies, the Cape Fear remake and so on, a very distinguished career. Sure enough, It's Alive is a B-flick with a weird premise and terrific music. Somehow that and the quirky nature of it makes it interesting. You wonder what the hell can happen with a premise like this and just dig the music and find out. Two thumbs up.

edit: Herrmann wrote the score for the original Cape Fear and Scorsese hired Elmer Bernstein to adapt that original score for the remake. The classical orchestra is alive and well in the movies. In the concert hall it's mostly just 18th and 19th century stuff.

[PenultimateManStanding]

Sure, 28 Days is a scary flick. It's hard to say what's the scariest movie, for me. After I saw Jaws at the theater, I not only would not go in the ocean, there was even some sort of primordial fear of water that I noticed just getting into a bath like some shark was going to come up the drain or something! Seeing The Exorcist also creeped me out. But I'll tell you something, in high school we went to the drive-in to see Christopher Lee in House Of Dark Shadows and that vampire's hypnotic power grabbed me, best vampire flick ever.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'S')ure, 28 Days is a scary flick. It's hard to say what's the scariest movie, for me. After I saw Jaws at the theater, I not only would not go in the ocean, there was even some sort of primordial fear of water that I noticed just getting into a bath like some shark was going to come up the drain or something! Seeing The Exorcist also creeped me out. But I'll tell you something, in high school we went to the drive-in to see Christopher Lee in House Of Dark Shadows and that vampire's hypnotic power grabbed me, best vampire flick ever.

[dinopello]

Not sure it's scary, but it is a cult classic and I was a little freaked by it since i saw very young.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The killing wasn't the freaky parts. The same YouTube user seems to have almost the whole movie as clips.

Exorcist spooked me, but a lot of the reaction depends on your state of mind when you see it. Same with comedy.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', ' ')Exorcist, hands down scariest. I came away from the movie, an atheist/agnostic type at the time, thinking, "It's true". But what? The idea that evil exists as an independant creature or creatures in a realm I had tried to ignore u p until that point.

[PenultimateManStanding]

Well I've got to check out the Carpenter vampire flick now. I think Carpenter has done some good stuff. Ever see that remake he did of The Thing? wow!

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', ' ')The special effects were and remain state of the art. And the concept.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'I')t's like you're watching some National Geographic special on Antarctic Explorers that turns into a nightmare.

[dinopello]

I don't know if it is horror, but Jacobs Ladder freaked me a bit. There is a lot of subtle and not so subtle hallucinations in it that sent shivers.

Definately not horror, but the first scene in Scanners back in the day was pretty shocking

ESP Demonstration

now its kind of funny.

[PenultimateManStanding]

well, I watched It's Alive all the way through. It was really meant to be a straightforward scary movie in spite of the seemingly goofy premise. Rosemary's Baby had come out just a few years earlier so it was one of those knock-off things that Hollywood always does: something strikes a chord, makes money, and out come the knock-offs. They did go to the trouble of hiring a prestigious score writer. Anyway, this one came out the year after The Exorcist but it's definitely a B-flick. If it's a "cult-classic" then that means some people like to get stoned and watch it for it's campy qualities. heh heh. Not bad, but very dated.

[TWilliam]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'r')ight, it was made 25 years ago and I doubt anyone has topped that scene where the dogs in the kennel start to freak out and the alien "dog" starts to metamorphose. Another top-notch scene from that flick: the blood test. Remember that? they make everybody give a little blood and then put the hot knife down in it. Then all hell broke out as the alien blood started running away from the knife. What made that movie work so well was the casting and the clinical scientific air. It's like you're watching some National Geographic special on Antarctic Explorers that turns into a nightmare.

[PrairieMule]

I think the scariest horror films are the ones that bring a creepieness with out the gore. Like Barnabus in Dark Shadows

or this one.
Legend Of The Hell House

[strider3700]

I've seen a lot of horror flicks and very few scared me anymore. That was until I decided for kicks to start watching japanese horror. The ring and the grudge both scared the crap out of me for some reason. I didn't see the ring 2 but the grudge 2 sucked.

For american writing the exorcist is damn creepy and I really liked Black Christmas for having the best ending ever. Original texas chainsaw is still hard to watch and I get goose bumps every time I see a meat hook.

Original Alien was excellent the first time around as well.