The Scariest Movie Ever Made

[huskyd]

What the UConn women are about to unleash on the basketball world may be the scariest contemporaneous event, but in the more or less permanent world of cinema, what's the scariest movie of all time?

IMO it's the original (1951) version of “The Thing.” What makes this movie so scary are several elements. First, it's in dreaded black and white. It's set in a claustrophobic research facility in the Antarctica. AND you never clearly see the Thing that has dropped in from outer space. Sounds w/out sights, the chill and endless winds, the moaning of the shifting ice. And somewhere outside, stalking its terrified victims is a blood-seeking creature from outer space. Well. We never get to see exactly what the Thing looks like (he is very tall), but we do know now that it's an early role for James Arness of “Gunsmoke” fame. In fact, in 1947 Arness made his first ever movie appearance in “The Vault of Horror,” pictured here:

In horror and sex, the less you see, the more enticement.

 

[paisan]

Everyone has one movie that scared them more than anything when they were young...this was the one for me! I loved Frankenstein and Dracula and the werewolf etc but for some reason which I still do not understand this movie gave me nightmares. Nice to see it did it to you.

 

[rvwsleep]

The movie that affected me the most was the Excorcist. I remember lying on my bed, after coming home from the movie, and really hoping it wasn't going to move. I'm sure it was a combination of my parochial school education and my age at the time.
For a truly disturbing contemporary movie, my choice would be Mother!
In theaters now, if you dare.

 

[chj001]

I don't know if I think "The Thing From Another World" is the scariest movie I've ever seen. I've seen it so many times that I can't remember how scared I must have been on the first viewing. But it certainly is my favorite sci-fi movie of all time, and, in my opinion, the greatest. The directing credit went to Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks' longtime cinematographer, but most movie historians believe that Hawks was the actual director. Other than Kubrick with "2001: A Space Odyssey," I can't think of another sci-fi film directed by someone of Hawks' stature.

 

[VAMike23]

I thought the first Omen movie , with Gregory Peck and Lee Remick(sp?) was very scary, and I really liked the 1982 version of The Thing, by John Carpenter. Watched that one dozens of times as a kid! Someday I will have to check out the 1951 original.

Exorcist III with George C. Scott was the most chilling horror movie I can recall. When I had my first apartment, my roommate was out of town and I decided to watch E-III. By the time it was over, every light in the place had been turned on! LOL true story.

 

[THEMAN/MAN]

Play Misty For Me , soooooooooo scary!!!

 

[UConnCat]

The UConn v Mississippi State game. I literally covered my eyes.

 

[cohenzone]

The most intense movie I’ve ever seen you might not classify as horror, but it was horrific. The Pawnbroker was the mist difficult movie about the Holocaust. Rod Steiger was robbed of Oscar and got it on a make up call the next year for In The Heat of the Night. It was about a man who’d been a professor in Germany who was the sole survivor in his family. He came to NYC and opened a pawnshop in Harlem. Events starts causing him to flashback and he has overwhelming survivors guilt. He eventually does an act of self mutilation so he can feel the pain. Saw it at the old movie theater just off the Storrs campus. A truly scary movie.

 

[Vowelguy]

The doc about the LVs winning the title in 97.

 

[TDiNozzo]

The only time I got scared out of my seat was during was the movie "Carrie". At the end, when a hand came up out of the grave....never expected that...

 

[Bestiarius]

Not sure about the scariest movie in total, but the scariest scene was, to me, in Alien, where the beast came bursting out of the crew members stomach.

However, I was not a pre-teen at the time it came out, so the impact was not as great. The one that really got me was a 1950s film, (Not Carrie) can't remember the title, but there was a hand crawling about. When I saw it years later, I thought, "This kept me awake at night?" Special effects then weren't what they are now.

 

[Aluminny69]

As a child, the scariest movie I saw was Elephant Walk, starring Elizabeth Taylor. They had built a mansion blocking the path the elephants used to get water. Eventually, the elephants destroy the house. I was in fear of elephants after that.

I saw Alien at a large movie theater. People were walking out at several scary moments in the movie. Not because they didn't like the movie, but because they couldn't take the intensity.

Things that could really happen I find the scariest. There was an obscure movie starring Peter Fonda, where he and two of his friends kidnap couple in remote area of Canada. After killing the man and raping the woman, they release her into wild, for the purpose of "hunting" her. I thought it was very scary.

 

[huskyd]

The most intense movie I’ve ever seen you might not classify as horror, but it was horrific. The Pawnbroker was the mist difficult movie about the Holocaust. Rod Steiger was robbed of Oscar and got it on a make up call the next year for In The Heat of the Night. It was about a man who’d been a professor in Germany who was the sole survivor in his family. He came to NYC and opened a pawnshop in Harlem. Events starts causing him to flashback and he has overwhelming survivors guilt. He eventually does an act of self mutilation so he can feel the pain. Saw it at the old movie theater just off the Storrs campus. A truly scary movie.

Yes, a horrifying movie. The self-mutilation you mention was pressing his palm down on a nail note stand until it punctured his hand--an image I'll never forget.

 

[willtalk]

There were basically three films that scared me at two different times in my life. The first two I saw when they first came out in 1956. One was the Syfi classic Forbidden Planet. It scared me because the monster was invisible and could appear and disappear at will. It supposedly generated from our subconscious ids. The second was a B 1956 movie called the Werewolf that took place in modern times. It was about a family man who after being in an accident was injected with something that transformed him into a werewolf. I shared a room with my older brother, who old enough to drive, had already experienced an accident himself. I always watched him closely for some time after the movie because I always expected him to suddenly transform into a werewolf.

The last movie was 1997's "Event Horizon" it effected me to the point of nauseousness. It took me years to figure out why. I still could never bring myself to ever watch it again. It was about a space ship drive that had opened a black hole portal into a different universe which was the manifested of hell. To close the portal the captain of the rescue ship had to blow up the portal from the other side basically trapping him in hell for eternity. He basically had to sacrifice himself to save our universe.

 

[Husky fanatic]

In 1959 The man who could cheat death. Only time I ever ducked below the seat in front of me. Black and white of course

 

[cohenzone]

Yes, a horrifying movie. The self-mutilation you mention was pressing his palm down on a nail note stand until it punctured his hand--an image I'll never forget.

I know. Just didn’t feel like grossing out our more sensitive souls. Thanks a lot, now I’m grossed out again. What’s even worse for me, I went with a date, first date, and neither of us really knew what the movie was about. Turned our both of her parents were concentration camp survivors. We were both unnerved by the movie, but she was beside herself. We scrapped even coffee after the movie and just sat in her dorm lounge for awhile for her to collect herself.

A little factoid about the movie. We saw the original version which wound up being re-edited and re-released because of ridiculous censorship objections. Remember, this was the mid 60s There was a scene where a prostiute comes in to the shop and needs money but has nothing to pawn. She tries to seduce him by removing her blouse and bra. Her entire upper body was exposed. It caused him to flash back to when the Nazis has forced him to watch them abusing his naked wife. There was nothing the least sexual about the impact. Years later I saw the re-cut version on TV. Maybe if I hadn’t seen the original, my reaction would have not been negative, but the new version only implied the nudity and had far less impact. Also, the TV showing had several commercial breaks that relieved the tension in the movie. Not nearly as powerful.

 

[Sonofabeach]

Not sure if it's the scariest, but Jeepers Creepers Part 2... Hated Part 1, but part 2 with the kids on the school bus was a great scary movie.

 

[noirwestern]

My grandparents were busy raising me in a little country store in rural Louisiana when my aunt brought me to a drive in to see, "What's the matter with Helen". It starred Shelly Winters and of all people to be in a scary one, Debbie Reynolds. It's quite tame by today's standards but keep in mind that Shelly Winter's character reminded me of about 99% of all of the slightly odd and disturbing older women who drifted in and out of the store in the late sixties, early seventies. Have never ate rabbit since.

 

[Sonny44]

Anybody remember Black Sunday?

 

[Rocket009]

I remember watching The Birds as a youngster and then sleeping with my head under the covers for weeks after - just in case.

 

[cohenzone]

My grandparents were busy raising me in a little country store in rural Louisiana when my aunt brought me to a drive in to see, "What's the matter with Helen". It starred Shelly Winters and of all people to be in a scary one, Debbie Reynolds. It's quite tame by today's standards but keep in mind that Shelly Winter's character reminded me of about 99% of all of the slightly odd and disturbing older women who drifted in and out of the store in the late sixties, early seventies. Have never ate rabbit since.

Funny.

 

[cohenzone]

I remember watching The Birds as a youngster and then sleeping with my head under the covers for weeks after - just in case.

I saw Wizard of Oz on the big screen when I was a little kid. Took me a long time to get over the big close up of the snarling green witch. Wicked.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Last year's Mississippi State game gets my vote. That's one where you will not sleep after watching it.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Agree with PLAY MISTY FOR ME!
But the one that got the biggest reaction from me was the 1st BLAIR WITCH! The implied danger/horror was worse than seeing something happen!

 

[Uconnrick]

What the UConn women are about to unleash on the basketball world may be the scariest contemporaneous event, but in the more or less permanent world of cinema, what's the scariest movie of all time?

IMO it's the original (1951) version of “The Thing.” What makes this movie so scary are several elements. First, it's in dreaded black and white. It's set in a claustrophobic research facility in the Antarctica. AND you never clearly see the Thing that has dropped in from outer space. Sounds w/out sights, the chill and endless winds, the moaning of the shifting ice. And somewhere outside, stalking its terrified victims is a blood-seeking creature from outer space. Well. We never get to see exactly what the Thing looks like (he is very tall), but we do know now that it's an early role for James Arness of “Gunsmoke” fame. In fact, in 1947 Arness made his first ever movie appearance in “The Vault of Horror,” pictured here:

In horror and sex, the less you see, the more enticement.

1979's Salems Lot. Scared the you know what out of me. I was about 30 years old when i watched it and needed a night light for 2 weeks.