Monday, October 31, 2005

The Scariest Movies of All Time

Here's a top 5 list of the scariest movies I've seen so far:

5. Seven
I was deeply disturbed many years ago after watching this. Each seven deadly sin torture scene was cringe-worthy. I still find this to be one of the most brutal movies ever made. It leaves a lot to the imagination of the viewer, which adds to the horror and disgust. The whole thing was so dark and depressing.

4. Signs
This is pure psychological terror, and also one of my favorite movies of all time. You experience the sense of isolation and uncertainty of the Hess family as if you were there with them. There was also this great exchange between Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix on the couch about types of people and faith that was both thought-provoking and chilling at the same time. It's the sort of movie that will stay with you long after watching it.

3. Audition
Can't tell you much about this japanese film because to reveal more about it will destroy the intended horror effect. I was exhausted, mentally and physically spent after watching the final scene. The slow, easy-going, romantic first half is deliberate and meant to lull the viewer to a false sense of security. This had the biggest bang shock value I've ever experienced on a DVD.

2. Mulholland Drive
I originally wanted to watch this to see Naomi Watts topless in a lesbian scene but it turned into one of the most weird, disturbing, scary movies I've ever seen. Nothing is what it seems, nothing is explained. And the more you think about what transpired, the more layers of questions and horror are revealed as you lie wide awake at night. The effect is greatly magnified especially for those who have a big imagination. There were three extremely frightening scenes in this one: the dumpster scene outside the diner, the decaying corpse on the bed, and the entire Club Silencio part. I felt sick a whole month after watching it, I had just moved to a new dark empty apartment without TV and having only a few lights, which only made me afraid of going to certain rooms at night, or even looking out the window.

1. The Blair Witch Project
OK drum roll... there are two types of people, those who think The Blair Witch Project is the scariest thing ever made, and those who hate it. Let me tell you why this gave me the best scare experience ever. First of all, it was shot to look like it was really happening, that the events were actually recorded as an amateur documentary film, with the footage being discovered later. I came in the theater knowing this was fiction, but by the middle of the film I was thinking it was all real. Second, the greatest horror lies in our own imagination, and much of the footage provides fodder to our greatest fears. You start to imagine the witch, what it must be like to be trapped in the woods. You identify and feel the panic and terror that these college kids are experiencing. Last of all, the final scene is one of the most frightening movie moments of all time. My friends and I went to watch this at 12 midnight. After it was done, it was almost 2am and I was begging my friends to keep me company or at least accompany me home (I was concerned the witch might go after me, or I may see something I shouldn't be seeing at the corner of my house). After their laughter subsided and they could see I was shaking with fear, they decided to keep me company the rest of the night. And for several months after that I avoided dark corners around the house, or being alone in a room at night, just to be sure.


In related news, I'm planning to rent what could be one of the scariest horror movies ever made, one with a reportedly sick, twisted ending. The title is 'Oldboy'. If it's as good as they say it is, I'll add it to the list above.

17 comments:

rmacapobre said...

6th sense didnt make it? I thought that the idea of an afterlife, esp of an afterlife that we are unaware of, when we should be, is pretty scary ..

imagine not knowing were dead ..

rmacapobre said...

silence of the lamb series was scary and gruesome. that scene when anthony hopkins had the guy eat his own brain. or the paraphlegic who was left to fend for himself amidst the carnivorous hogs, helpless and betrayed.

rmacapobre said...

hottest women who speak french ..

1. jodi foster
2. jane fonda
3. naomi watts

robdelacruz said...

6th Sense and Silence of the Lambs are ok. Usually I look for a horror film that will make me uneasy to the point of being fearful. It also has to be strong enough to stick with me several days after watching it. Some scary movies are "boo" scary while watching them, but the really good ones are those that keep you awake in the middle of the night thinking of them.

Anonymous said...

"Some scary movies are "boo" scary while watching them, but the really good ones are those that keep you awake in the middle of the night thinking of them"

parang matanda ka na for that : ),
i mean really nag-iisip ka pa sa gabi about scary movies, ako if ever hindi iyong mga scary kundi iyong natuwa ako, and madalas hindi na ako nag-iisip sa napanood ko, pansin ko nga detailed kayo kung manood, good thing.., napanood ko nga iyong love actually pero gitna na.. syempre natutuwa ako kay hugh grant.. : ). nga pala so what type are you duon sa sign?

robdelacruz said...

Kathy, I'm probably more like Graham Hess in Signs, I look at the lights in a very suspicious way, could be bad, could be good, but whatever happens, we're on our own. There's no one out there. And that fills me with fear.

Anonymous said...

"There's no one out there. And that fills me with fear."
-and in my part of course i don't agree, anyway according to your view, why fear?

rmacapobre said...

nag-iisip ka pa ba?

i think therefore i am.
to stop thinking is to stop existing ..

robdelacruz said...

>-and in my part of course i don't agree, anyway according to your view, why fear?

Actually I probably oversold my fear. Nowadays I am more accepting and less fearful. Greed and fear are the biggest of human weakness.

Anonymous said...

k, dnt want to detail it..

Anonymous said...

Nothing on your list is scary; they're not even just plain weird, they're just trying-way-too-hard-to-be-W-E-I-R-D-movies; a complete waste of time, energy and money if you paid to see them.

The real scary ones are movies such as The Shining and Psycho, the likes and geniuses of which have sadly not been replicated in the last 2 decades. sayang!

robdelacruz said...

I remember watching Pet Sematary with Hector at Harrison Plaza, and he was terrified with the movie. He was particularly scared during the scene of the disfigured sister who the family kept hidden in her room because they were ashamed of her. Strangely enough, the movie did not affect me as much.

The Shining - I heard good things about it, so I started to watch it, but got bored quickly (even fell asleep) and found Jack Nicholson's character more annoying than scary. Psycho also didn't affect me much, even during the shower scene. And they are supposed to be highly acclaimed suspense films. I guess my taste in movies are weird.

robdelacruz said...

Roehl, ah ok, so I guess it must have been greenbelt where we watched Pet Sematary 1. It must have been delayed in getting released to the Phils. so Hector and I must have watched it 1990, after graduation. I probably got Pet Sematary mixed up with some other movie, and yes Harrison Plaza is not that great a place.

Marigold, now that's one hot babe. Pretty and innocent too, I would want to 'coerce' her to go to Makati.

robdelacruz said...

Roehl yes I think you mentioned it to me before, and we did do an extensive analysis of the emotional attraction during several starbucks sessions. Some of these events are more spiritual-mystical. Perhaps Marigold was some sort of nexus, a zone of concentrated energy that led to a domino chain of events, with the dominos still falling one after the other even as we speak. I really need to get laid.

rmacapobre said...

> i was emotionally attracted to her and not physically attracted

this thread has gone a long way from blairwitch. but i understand completely what you say here. there is this someone i like and when i looked at our pictures. its not very attractive (physically). but i am still drawn because of personality.

robdelacruz said...

From Blair Witch to this?? What happened?? hehehe.

It's not merely personality or physical, but I think it's some particular quirk in the current mental state combining with the physical and mental vibrations of the target of your affection - there is much dependence on the mental and vibrative states of the people. O kung malaki ang boobs.

rmacapobre said...

also REC the film didnt make the list ..