Halloween is just around the corner and there is nothing more fun than popping some popcorn and snuggling up to watch a scary movie with friends. A truly good scary movie isn’t necessarily a “startle-fest”, instead a good scary movie should scare you by immersing you into situations that make you feel genuinely scared for the characters involved. In other words, it’s easy to shout “boo!!” in someones face and startle them, yet it’s much harder to tell a story that brings the audience into a true feeling of fear, worry and panic.
The following is my list of the 5 scariest movies of all-time.
#5 Frailty (2001)
Plot: A man confesses to an FBI agent his family’s story of how his religious fanatic father’s visions lead to a series of murders to destroy supposed “demons.”
My Review: This movie has one of the best endings of all-time.
#4 Alien (1979)
Plot: A mining ship, investigating a suspected SOS, lands on a distant planet. The crew discovers some strange creatures and investigates.
My Review: Oddly this movie is tough to find on Blu-ray but if you can find it, buy it! This movie has a fantastic feel of realism in the midst of unbelievable circumstances which adds to scarieness factor.
#3 The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Plot: A young FBI cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims.
My Review: I really didn’t want Jodie Foster’s character to enter the serial killers house near the end of the movie, that’s the point where you almost wish you weren’t watching it. Anthony Hopkins was brilliant as Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
#2 The Changling (1980)
Plot: A man staying at a secluded historical mansion, finds his life being haunted by the presence of a spectre.
My Review: No fancy special effects, no over-the-top Hollywood wackiness, just good ol’ pure unadulterated scariness! The Changling could have easily made my number one pick, trust me on this one it’s a great movie. (although this following movie trailer doesn’t do the movie any justice whatsoever)
And now, my number one pick for the scariest movie of all time.
#1 The Ring (2002)
Plot: A young journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone in a week of viewing it.
My Review: Yeah, yeah, yeah… sure it didn’t scare you. Ha! I don’t believe you. Several years have past since this movies release and many of the effects and styles have been copied by other movies therefore some folks look back at The Ring and don’t think it was as scary as it really was. When this movie came out there was nothing like it, I can remember actually feeling like I didn’t want to finish watching the movie because it was scaring the pants off me. Neither The Grudge, nor any of the other sequels came close the pure scariness of the original.
Other great scary movies to consider: Carrie, The Omen, No Country For Old Men.
I would love to get your comments below on your favorite scary movies of all time.
The changling has always been my number 1, but the Ring was also very scary
I love vampire films & one of my all-time favs is Salems Lot…
I thought “The Ring” was quite scary. Considering it only garnered a PG-13 rating and still makes the top of your list is a testament to the sheer mental torture it put the viewers through. In a good way.
Good list. I want to see “The Believers” in that top 5 (The one with Martin Sheen about the cult), but maybe it would be in the top 10. Everyone usually lists “The Exorcist”, but it didn’t scare me. It mostly annoyed me with the 1 frame face drop ins.
Trying to work some honorable mentions/6-10 in.
“The Believers” Voodoo and spiders…eep.
“The Vanishing” was genuinely creepy and scary.
“The Omen” was not good for a small kid to see back in the day.
“The Shining” could have been called “The Shattening” for what almost happend to my pants. (Thanks to my mom for taking me to everything when I was young.) That movie had a ton of suspense build for a long time and I was still creeped out after it was over.
“The Thing” also had tons of “gotcha” moments, but waiting to see who was next/infected and the ending.
Well, so many good movies with scares and knot inducing tension. Good topic Eric.
Great choices! Although I’ve never seen “Silence of the Lambs” all the way through, mom always made me change the channel, I’ve seen pieces of it and agree it seem quite disturbing.
As for some other scary movies, even though it was sort of strange and low-budget “Session 9” gave me a lingering creepy feeling after watching it, as did the original “Tale of Two Sisters.” “Stay” was not a scary movie but had several eerie scenes.
And last but not least(not a horror movie) but the old movie, “They” which contains the curse of OG and should never be watched again!
I Thought the Ring was pretty scary, have not seen “Frailty”. Loved ‘The 6th Sense”. I watched the Changeling a few months ago, it seemed dated and not as scary. When I saw it when it first came out, it scarred me, but my kids laughed at it. Always loved “Alien”, Riddly Scott did a wonderful job making you feel helpless, and lost and vulnerable. How about “Psyco”, or “Dementia 13”, a weird scary movie is “Carnival of Souls”, all old black and white films. Sometimes you watch old movies that got very little play, you will see where some of today’s big hits got some of their ideas. The movie “Seven” was pretty scary in my opinion. Great topic to discuss!
Wow! Those are all really good choices. “Silence of the Lambs” was good, but made me feel too voyeuristic. Definitely scary, though. I also thought that “The Others” was a frightening movie. The vulnerability of the little boy, the eeriness of the situation, and the neurosis of the mother all came together to keep me on the edge of my seat!
Come on now Kyle… admit it… you peed your pants the first time you saw the Ring. 🙂
hmmm… i definately agreee with silence…but the ring?? really? haha
Frailty! Good movie, quite disturbing, and good ending