The Scariest Movie Ever?Locke's Very Quick, Personal, From-the-hip, Un-Official Answer

Earlier today, in regards to all this "scariest movie ever" hype around Paranormal Activity, reader Scott asked me "Locke, in your opinion, what is the "scariest movie ever"? Gigli? I kid, but that probably is a hard question, so what are your favorites?"

I started to write something in the comments, but soon my answer was longer than many full reviews here at redblog.

So here's my quick reply. A huge caveat: I was just answering off the top of my head--I haven't spent days compiling a thorough list or thinking over my choices and reasons. (If I had, like so many of my well-intended redblog columns, this piece probably would have never seen the light of publication.) But here's what I said:

Ah tough question, Scott...

First off, let me go on record as saying... Gigli? Not really a bad movie at all. Of course, I have a higher Affleck tolerance than most, but it's really quite watchable.

But scariest movie ever? Well, I guess my problem is with the label itself. Like "funniest movie ever," it's so utterly subjective--fear and laughter are such primal emotions and therefore so personal and so different for everyone.

Also you get into questions of "scary" versus "good." And of "overall scary" versus "scariest moment/scene." I will hand that to Paranormal Activity--one of the things it does better than most is it maintains a strong level of creepiness and dread throughout. But for me personally there was never a really scary moment, and it did not haunt me (so to speak) later at night.

For example, I love The Shining and think it's a classic film thanks to Kubrick's cold direction, Nicholson's madcap performance, and King's story and characters. But if you're asking about what movies get me right in the gut, dig deep down in my lizard brain and scare the hell out of me, The Shining doesn't really do that. (The book did when I first read it in my teens, but not the film.)

Likewise, I watch Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2 almost every Halloween, but I adore it for its humor and flat out Looney Tunes sense of gory, gross-out fun--nothing about it really scares me.

As far as scary and good, number one would probably always be The Exorcist, which is not only deeply creepy throughout, and contains genuinely scary moments, and lingers with you days (and especially nights) later, but also is a tremendously well-made film, a marvel of cinematic storytelling from start to finish. (And yes, I like both versions, the original and the 2000 "version you've never seen" director's cut.)

But the scariest moment on film for me, as I was saying a few months ago in the comments, is actually in The Exorcist III, directed by the author of The Exorcist novel, William Peter Blatty. I personally think it's a good film, though it has a completely different tone and style from Exorcist I (and a terrible, cheesy ending tacked on by the studio). (The Exorcist II: The Heretic is scary only in how much whiskey must have gone into keep Richard Burton upright and "functioning" during the shoot.) But Exorcist III has a scene in it that is utterly terrifying in its set-up and single-shot payoff of a very simple image that isn't terribly scary on its own, but horrifying in context. (Everyone who's seen the film knows exactly what I'm talking about.)

Another very well-made and low-key scary film is Peter Medak's The Changeling from 1980 (not to be confused with Eastwood's from last year--completely different stories and genres). Again, it builds most of its scares from carefully constructed mood and atmosphere. (And, like Exorcist III, stars George C. Scott.) A near-perfect ghost story, The Changeling has no gore, no real "jump scares" and not even much in the way horrifying imagery. But it takes a child's rubber ball and antique wheelchair and makes them both utterly chilling. Also, like Paranormal Activity and The Grudge, (and Robert Wise's The Haunting) it uses sound to get you nice and freaked out.

Along those lines, I'd say the infamous last scene in Blair Witch is still pretty unsettling, even if the rest of the film doesn't really hold up to repeated viewings. There's no doubt Paranormal Activity and Blair Witch have a lot in common, not just in their DIY low cost and hype, but especially in the way both use sound, back story, and the viewers' imagination to do most of the work. And both use simply standing still as their creepiest image.

Another an example of a very scary scene from a pretty average movie would be the end of US remake of The Ring, when Samara emerges from the television. I don't care much for the whole film, but that scene really got me. Likewise, some of the stuff in the US remake of The Grudge.

And a recent film that did stick with me for a few nights was one that I didn't think was all that great of a movie overall: The Strangers with Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman. The film is interesting and well-directed, but it didn't really grab me throughout most of it. (Though director Bryan Bertino is definitely one to watch.) However its cold, nihilistic ending really bugged me out later, sort of sneaking into my subconscious where it disturbingly festered. And had me turning on extra lights at night.

If you look at The Exorcist, The Exorcist III, and The Changeling, (and Jaws, one of my favorite movies of all time, scary or not) it's clear that all create powerful, rich characters. That was one of my complaints about Paranormal Activity--the normalcy and banality of its two main characters worked well at drawing us into the idea of it really happening (and making what happens even more disturbing because of how boringly "real" Micah and Katie are), but I can't imagine re-watching the movie and spending another 100 minutes with those uninteresting characters and amateur actors.

I guess for me a scary movie is like a date--you have to woo me, seduce me, draw me in with interesting characters and stories before you go charging in for the kiss... or the kill.

So to sort of answer your question, Scott, while I can point to scary moments in several films, in the long run the "scary" movies I watch again and again tend to be those that are good movies with strong characters first, scary second. In that respect, yeah, I'll still give it to the original Exorcist, with The Changeling right up there as well.

And now, you guys? Care to chime in with your scariest movies or movie moments?

Comments

[dave p]

I think any scary-movie list has to include "Alien", which too often gets lumped into the sci-fi category, but is, in effect, a horror movie with a science-fiction setting. In fact, it's really just a haunted house story set on a spaceship. But, almost every moment of that movie is the definition of tension!

[Michelle]

I agree on "The Stranger". That line "because you were home" and the ending really freaked me out!! Guess I am kind of boring, since the original Nightmare on Elm Street movies still scare me.At least the original and the 3rd. The thought of something killing you in your dreams still bothers me.LOL

[Locke Peterseim]

Exactly my point, Dave P, about how personal these kinds of lists are.

Alien is a magnificent, masterful film, but like The Shining, I appreciate it more as a film than as something truly scary. I agree Scott ratchets up the tension, but as much as I love the movie, it never really haunted my nightmares. So when I'm asked about "scariest," my thoughts immediately go to those films that provoked a deep, basic, lasting fear in me. Alien never did that for me, even when I was a teenager--I always saw it more as "cool" than "scary."

Likewise, someone else may watch The Exorcist I or III or The Changeling and come away saying "eh, not that big of a deal."

[Locke Peterseim]

Yes indeed, Michelle.

The thing about The Strangers was that I was barely engaged by it most of the way through. It was well-done, but I just didn't care that much and was only half-watching it.

Then comes that ending and it's so impersonal, so detached and random, pointless. I kind of went "huh? huh."

But a few hours later, as I was turning off the lights for bed, boy did that ending creep back up on me. It just sort of gnaws at you, worries in the back of your mind. ESPECIALLY if you happen to watch the film in a rural or remote area. Then all of a sudden you start imagining that hooded mask in the window or doorway and...

[Locke Peterseim]

Oh, and thanks for mentioning Nightmare on Elm Street. The original was actually my FIRST real horror film.

I grew up in a funeral home and was very much a scaredy cat kid. It's ironic--growing up in a funeral home stripped away any belief in the supernatural in me (to this day I don't believe at all in ghosts, demons, etc.), and yet it seemed to have fostered way too much of an imagination. As a result, the only "monster" movies I watched on TV were the Creature Features that had Godzilla in them.

(I did once, as a kid, stay over at a friend's house and watch the terrible TV movie Bug, about giant fire-starting cockroaches. That freaked me out for years. Likewise, I'd get scared just at the ADS for movies like Carrie and Beyond the Door--a cheap Italian Exorcist rip-off.)

So it wasn't until I got to college that I started to actually seek out scary movies, and Nightmare on Elm Street was my first in the theater, and yes, it did give me nightmares for a while. However, today it amuses more than scares me.

[Matthew S.]

Alien was one of the movies that scared me as a kid and when you put it in the context of the year and how most of the movie you don't really fully know what's going on, it can haunt you for a while.

I remember being a blubbering baby when I saw the 80s version of The Blob, and was unable to sleep for a while.

I hadn't seen Blair Witch until maybe 2 years ago when it was on demand on one of my movie channels, and I can see why it had the effect it did, and was a little unnerved.

When I saw the Ring in theatres, when she crawled through the screen, I jumped...which I rarely do. Also "The Others" had some really creepy moments that lingered.

The Silent Hill movie really captured the essence of dread and hopelessness that the games conveyed very well, and wasn't happy that I watched it in a dark room by myself.

Though the last movie that really left me sick to my stomach was the ending to "The Mist" done in 2007. The ending was so incredibly messed up that I stared at my TV for a while in utter shock. Plus, when Stephen King was noted for saying that Darabont's ending was more messed up than his own, you know that's saying something.

Though I agree that reading things and not seeing them on screen often leave you more creeped out because your imagination kicks in and can go really far. Like reading Lovecraft's "In the Mountain's of Madness" I had trouble sleeping for a few days...this also read by myself in a relatively darkened room.

I'll be seeing Paranormal Activity tonight and will give my feedback once I do.

[Jenn]

One of the scariest film moments for me as a kid was in "Salem's Lot," when Danny's brother was floating outside the window, tapping on it and asking to be let in. That moment scarred me for life! I think it might have been because often I used to babysit my little sister, and when we'd be home alone, I was always afraid that vampires would emerge... I think most vampire movies are pretty scary. I've never seen "The Changeling," but with your recommendation, maybe that will make the Halloween viewing list at our house. :-)

[Michelle]

LOL, about your Strangers reply, had the same reaction! Had a hard time sleeping and had to double check the locks. I also live out in the middle of nowhere, in the woods!!

[Scott]

Glad I could initiate a little discussion. Thanks for answering.

To be honest, I have never actually seen Gigli, I just knew it won the grand slam at the Razzies.

And since we are admitting Affleck love here, I kind of liked Sum of All Fears and Paycheck. Kind of.

[Locke Peterseim]

Jenn, I fully agree about that window scene in the original Salem's Lot TV movie!

And good point about Silent Hill, Matthew--I thought the film was kind of a hit-and-miss mess, but yes indeed it did have that very pervasive, foreboding sense of doom--especially with the appearances of Pyramid Head. Even in its "quiet" moments, it does a great job of creating that unrelenting sense that Something is Very Wrong.

But I could go on for a while raving about Frank Darabont's adaptation of King's The Mist, starring Thomas Jane. That ending, my GOD, that ending. I mentioned it last month when I was writing about Darabont overseeing the AMC series adaptation of Robert Kirkman's zombie comic book The Walking Dead, a story in which Anyone Can Die. If you don't think gentle, humanistic Darabont, who did Shawshank and The Green Mile and The Majestic has it in him to do a brutal, hopeless zombie apocalypse show, then just watch The Mist.

And The Mist is also a very effective and fun horror film--it's a hoot of a creature feature for most of it, throwing all kinds of creepy nasty critters at you. But those last few minutes take it somewhere completely else, to some level (or depth) that I hadn't seen a horror film go in a long, long time. If you haven't already seen it, definitely add it to your Halloween viewing lists! But be warned--the ending is as dark as you may have ever seen.

[Matthew S.]

The Mist has been on Showtime for a few weeks now, and I come in 10 minutes before the ending, and I'm so absorbed in those final minutes that I sit, watch, and then am horrified at the results...The 2 Disc DVD has a black and white version...which adds so much to the overall creep factor and gives the monsters a different dimension.

I have a question I want to pose, but in doing so will give away a big plot element, it's what you think happened at one point, how would it best to ask you Locke, without ruining anything for anyone else?

One of the darkest endings for me when it first came out was Event Horizon. It left me shaken for a while after wards. And also John Carpenter's "The Thing", which I couldn't look at dogs the same for a while, especially when the director's cut had the alternate ending.

[Rob Brown]

Locke,

I agree with you 100% that The Exorcist and The Changeling are both masterful films that just happen to be nerve-janglingly scary as well. I really can't think of any other films that sustain dread for the entire running time like these two do.

On the other hand, yes, I too freaked out at "that shot" in Exorcist III, but there's one scene that I've found that tops it--and it happens near the end of Hideo Nakata's Dark Water (not the American remake with Jennifer Connelly, which has a great dreadful tone, but never delivers on the scares). If you've seen the film, you'll know the scene I'm talking about. If not, you need to rent it sometime this Halloween season.

On a personal note, I saw the film in Japan; a friend recommended it, and it had just come out on DVD. I watched it late one night while alone--a very large mistake. I wasn't able to fall asleep until the sun came up the next morning. It rattled me, and I thought that I was immune to being scared by horror films. It's so nice to be proven wrong on that point every once in a while!

[Locke Peterseim]

Matthew, go ahead and shoot me your Mist question in the comments with a big DO NOT PUBLISH at the top--if I can address it (it's been two years since I saw The Mist), I'll respond back via e-mail or vaguely in the comments. However, I'm traveling Tuesday and may not get to it until late in the evening.

(Oh, and I've never seen the alternate ending of Carpenter's Thing--I need to catch up on that!)

[Locke Peterseim]

Rob, I have not seen the Japanese Dark Water (nor the US version), but am moving it to the top of my Halloween dvd list now! The DAYTIME dvd list, that is...

[A. Mendoza]

I disagree with you all that think that the only engaging part of The Strangers was the end. The initial heavy rap on the door of a rural home at 4 AM was pretty effective. The tension is ratcheted up further when Scott Speedmen leaves Liv Tyler alone to go for cigarettes and the knocking starts again.

For me, a good horror experience can happen in a small dose even in a cheesy horror film. The best example for me is in Child's Play - there is one moment that never fails to send a chill down my spine. The kid in the movie is taken into police/psychiatric custody because he claims his doll is alive and murdered his mom's friend. His mother dejectedly drags Chucky home with her and at this point has no belief whatsoever that Chucky is alive. She leaves Chucky in the living room and goes to the kitchen. Out of curiousity she picks up Chucky's packaging for a look-see; when she does the enclosed batteries come sliding out and hit the floor. At that moment she realizes that the Chucky doll - which is out of sight in the living room - has been talking without batteries.

[Locke Peterseim]

A Mendoza is right--to be fair, The Strangers works so well in the end because Bertino does a good job of slowly cranking things up throughout. The film is working on you when you aren't even fully aware what it's up to, and I'm all for that. So in that light, I need to give it a second look.

[Matthew S.]

The build up is what made Paranormal Activity enjoyable for me. Each night things progressed and built some more, and I thought it was good in that respect. You have to see it with an audience, as by yourself, I don't think you'll enjoy it properly.

[Matthew S.]

[NOTE: Matthew sent this Mist SPOILER-LADEN question in for me to answer, but I'm going to go ahead and publish it with some snips. So if you have NOT seen THE MIST, the following refers to a SPOILER--though not the BIG spoiler about the ending.]

So my question revolves around the short haired woman in The Mist who says she's got to get her kids and asks if anyone will see a lady home. She leaves into the Mist, and isn't seen until the very end of the film, when she's on the army truck, looking down at the main character. My question is, how the heck did she survive, when anyone else going out into the mist was horribly murdered? I think the non-believers who went out together are dead too, as they are killed by one of the larger monsters in the book, so you would think they are dead in the movie too.

And the alternate ending for The Thing is you have the burning facility and a lone dog that was imitated standing on a hill, watching over as it burns, and then runs off into the night. Nothing big or extravagant, but enough to give your imagination the willies that eventually that dog will reach the general population.

[Kristin]

The only movie that had me scream out loud in the last little while was Quarantine, the scene near the end where the camera is lying on the floor....I'll leave it at that. To me, if a movie can actually make me jump up, it is damn scary.

I also agree about Blair Witch, that last scene killed me.

[Mark]

Perhaps I'm not an expert in this area, having not really kept up with the genre since I was a teenager. But when it comes to good, psychological thrillers, laced with a foreboding sense of dread, mixed with shocking, scary moments, I have to put "The Shining" near the top of the list. I first saw it when I was 19, and it stayed with me for days as I unraveled the realization that something had actually let Jack out of the walk-in cooler. And then the photo at the end. It was more than just a man going crazy. Something was really there!

But, again . . . I guess I'm a real amatuer.

[Locke Peterseim]

[My SPOILER-LADEN RESPONSE to Matthew's The MIST question]

In regards to the woman who leaves the grocery store surviving at the end, I agree it seems unlikely, but I think that underscores the point: she somehow randomly lives, against all odds, due to sheer dumb luck (not some sort of Rambo/commando survival skills), while Thomas Jane's character falls prey to just the absolute WORST case of bad luck and bad timing ever.

Showing the woman alive at the end just stuck the knife in deeper and twisted it on Jane's character, given what happened to him. Sure, it was a bit of a logical stretch that she survived, but it really drives the "S#!& happens" point home.

[Matthew S.]

[RESPONSE TO SPOILER-LADEN RESPONSE!!!WITH LESS SPOILAGE!!!]

Yeah, I have to agree, because she defiantly went off on her own against when everyone told her no and snubbed her for their own protection. And that definitely adds to the whole "this is how bad your life is" moments that all came crashing together at the end, because her face didn't even seem at all sympathetic to the tragedy that had just occurred...

[Barb]

Willard - rats, ugh

[john]

Matthew, which movie did you watch solo in Japan?

[john]

The above comment should be addressed to Rob and not Matthew, my apologies.

[Matthew S.]

Ah, good to know, though I think it's Hideo Nakata's Dark Water, that was the movie we was referencing.

[Raven Wolven]

I am a horror movie buff. Ever since I was old enough to watch tv (and that's pretty young!) my mom let me watch the Saturday Creature Feature. I also got the privileged of being taken to JAWS when I was 4 (and Star Wars too for that matter). It only took me until I was 13 before I learned how to swim...

I'd have to saw that I can't pick a scariest movie. I have a few scenes that were scary. Like, for instance, the Haunting (the newest version) when the skeleton pops out of the fireplace. Hokey, but the build-up was fabulous. There were people who literally leaped out of their seats and ran around in the theater. People applauded. There were a bunch of sound effect scares that were good too.

The Grudge catches me every time with the bus scene. It's not that scary, its just supremely creepy. I really like that movie.

The Ring has those "sudden-in-your-face" startles, that gets me every time.

But one of the most uncomfortable feelings I got was from House of 1000 Corpses and Devil's Rejects. I actually make it a habit of traveling the Nation's Highways and seeing roadside attractions. It really creeped me out.

[Vic]

I watched a lot of horror movies growing up and still love them to this day, but my wife pretty much refuses to watch them. As a result, I've not sen any newer films from the past 5 years or been able to catch some of the oldies I've never seen.

Three movies that really disturbed me growing up (2 were already mentioned here): Candyman, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Child's Play. Today, those movies are not scary to me at all, but definitely stuck with me after I first watched them.

With that said, I still get a little creeped out by any type of dolls resembling Chucky to this day, and I'm now 26 years old. It appears that the mind never forgets some things and can still play tricks on you.

[Locke Peterseim]

Vic, I'm of the generation that was THOROUGHLY freaked out by just the COMMERCIALS for the old "killer ventriloquist dummy" horror film Magic, starring Anthony Hopkins (during the boozin' days.) "Abracadabra, I sit on his knee. Presto, change-o, and now he's me! Hocus Pocus, we take her to bed. Magic is fun...we're dead." (A film that was written by William Goldman of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and directed by none other than Richard Attenborugh--his next film was Gandhi!)

That and of course the classic Devil Doll segment of the Trilogy of Terror TV movie, with the little witch doctor doll stalking Karen Black.

(Written by the GREAT Richard Matheson, author of I Am Legend, [The Legend of] Hell House, A Stir of Echoes, What Dreams May Come, The Shrinking Man, and the short story Nightmare at 20,000 Feet that the classic Shatner Twilight Zone ep was based on -- in fact several TZ eps are based on Matheson short stories.)

[Matthew S.]

As if the Movie gods were listening, The Mist has been on like every single day on Showtime, and through catching it at different spots, I have now more or less rewatched the film. With the exception of the drug store scene and them leaving the grocery store.

When I came upon the ending just before the big twist, I still felt my stomach turn as if I had seen this for the first time.

It's kind of like when I watch The Prestige, the ending gets me every single time as if I had never watched it before.

[Locke Peterseim]

Matthew, on your tip, I Tivo'd The Mist the other day and have been catching up on it here and there over the weekend. (Usually when breaking for meals--in hindsight, not the wisest strategic gastronomic decision.)

I'd forgotten what a well-made, perfectly executed monster movie this is--it really has it all: creepiness, shock scares, fun comic-book beasties, gross-outs and gore, and some nifty social and human behavior commentary. (The most horrific scenes in the film come at the hands of the humans, not the critters. Marcia Gay Harden is the scariest movie monster evah.) And all of it put together SO well by Darabont and nicely anchored by Jane.

It's a shame it never got more love at the box office. Maybe releasing it at CHRISTMASTIME might have had something to do with that... lol (Or may have something to do with it being a big-budget, mainstream horror film that beats with an utterly unrelenting dark, nihilistic heart of despair.)

Haven't gotten to the very end yet, so the "worst" is still to come...

(Oh, and I LOVE The Prestige--here's a blaspheme for ya: I think it's my favorite Nolan film. Yep, sorry Dark Knight...)

[Matthew S.]

Actually Locke, for your blaspheming...*grabs a shield* I am actually with you on that.

While Dark Knight is the best of the Batman films (even though I am a bit partial to Batman Returns, Tim Burton was my favorite director and Keaton will be my favorite old Batman [sorry Adam West...]) the Prestige has the story that wraps me up each time, and the ending...always...gets me...I have my nay-sayers out there who go, "that was predictable", and sure, maybe it was...but what is great how the beginning monologue and the ending come together in such a horrific and beautiful ending, that I still get goosebumps every time I watch it. The depth that Nolan goes to and how well the actors are together...I mean, it's wonderful.

But back to the Mist, in the director's cut I have, you can watch it in black and white (I may have said this before, if so, I apologize), but it adds a new level of creep and dread to the film, as if the Mist itself is even taking over your screen at times.

I think what the Mist does feels very much like Lovecraft...that the people, not the creatures of the night, are the true monsters. That deep down inside we can go to dark places that we, most sane people, never want to visit. But when pushed to your limits you'll do some pretty crazy things for survival. I know I'm hooked in a film when I truly can't stand a character and begin to loathe them for their actions. Marcia Gay Harden from the very beginning made me unsettled and I watched her closely...Her moment in the bathroom when the teacher finds her, is probably the moment I really began to hate her for what she was, a monster.

[mary]

Has anyone mentioned "IT" I saw this movie when I was 18, it freaked the heck out of me I couldnt even watch the whole movie. I was supposed to walk home after the movie, it took weeks before I would walk anywhere alone.Another one for me was the sound effects in "The Grudge" totally creapy.

[Segolene Allahana]

I have to say the scariest movie that had me leaving my closet light on at night and which the thought of gives me the chills is THE ENTITY. Made in 1981 starrint Barbara Hershey. Supposedly based on a true story of a woman is tormented and sexually molested by an invisible demon.