OK, so I travel a lot. I flew to San Francisco today and the film choice was crap. But - the one item of hope was American Werewolf in London was in the film library (BA).
I remember seeing this when it first came out - I must've been 13 - and it scared the living daylights out of me.
BA rate all of their films and this one was classed as a comedy! FFS. It wasn't at all cut or edited so I really failed to see how it is a comedy. I get the black comedy edging to it. But for my money it still stands as a good quality horror flick.
Whilst I get the idea that 'horror' has moved on - for me it's just got more gruesome - certainly not more horrifying.
So come on, name the films that made you fill yer pants in their day, but are now considered - lame(?).
salem's lot the movie 😀
See - I get that. Salems Lot was scary - but would now be laughed at.
I guess the ultimate in this area is The Exorcist. It is pretty lame if look at todays gore fests - but it's still a good scary yarn.
I'll add the original Omen film to the list. Thats a proper scary film.
American Werewolf in London was written and directed by John Landis of Trading Places, Animal House and Blues Brother fame. It was always meant and classed as a comedy horror. Fantastic film.
I'll second the Omen, saw it by accident when I was 7 and it gave me the fear right into my teens
Somewhere along the way the majority of horror film makers (with the exception of some Japanese & Korean directors & Guillermo del Toro being notable exceptions) forgot about scaring people & thought gore was scary.
Doubt it's still on iplayer but [url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1738321/ ]Mark Gatiss' History of Horror [/url]was pretty good viewing.
Bugs Life;
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bought as a treat for my then 18 month year old. He had nightmares for weeks.
"It was the hassgropper again, Daddy!"
BA rate all of their films and this one (American Werewolf in London) was classed as a comedy!
That did scare me when I was younger. I must have been about 13 too and probably wasn't meant to be watching it as I'm pretty sure it was 18 rated. But it was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek, in fact I seem to remember the back of the video box saying it was a comedy.
Beetlejuice
American Werewolf still sends a chill when I'm alone in a tube station at night.
Saw it when I was about 9. My parents were watching it and I managed to sneak downstairs and watch some through the doorway before they noticed. Once they noticed they said if I really wanted to watch it I could, think most of it was from behind a cushion, but the tube part really stands out. I was fine with the gore and actual wolf parts, just the chasing bit freaked me the **** out
Most old horrors don't stand up anymore however my 10 year old regrets his decision to sit on the stairs and watch The Thing after I told him to go up to bed recently.
I would put American Werewolf down as a comedy too. Was never really scared by that one.
Scariest films for me with the Exorcist and Evil Dead. Evil Dead gave me nightmares for a while.
Oh, and the original Amityville Horror.
She's got an invisible friend who's like a big massive bear? GET OUT OF HERE!!!!!!
i should have added dario argento's demons film.i saw that when i was 12 and it scared the **** outta me 😯 still a good film mind you 😉
to be honest.. there are kids tv programmes now that have way more peril and horror than some of the 80s movies.. and some of the themes are more disturbing than more modern horror..
which pisses me off a bit.. are our kids really that much more brutalised by life..?
why..?
but.. if you missed the comedy and thought at any point that American Werewolf was a good horror then you were a mummy's boy.. 😉
The Devil Rides Out scared the bejeesus out of me when I was young. I don't think it would add 1bpm to my heart rate now.
Gore isn't scary. Supernatural is.
I saw the Exorcist when I was 10 and it gave me nightmares for weeks. I didn't see it again until I was in my early 40s and I thought it was more of a thriller than a horror.
The Omen still puts a bat up my nightdress, especially the bit with the dogs in the grave yard.
You realise any scary movie ever invented pales into insignificance against British Government information films don't you?
All I have to do is type 'Running on a beach' and any reader over the age of 38 will cringe and lift their feet off the ground. If I type 'Swimming in a Quarry' the same people will look over their shoulder for the grim reaper.
I still cannot run on a beach.
Good call!
Protect and Survive! When you hear the air attack warning..." ARGHHHHHH!!!
Only film that's actually scared me (to the point of bad dreams) is 'Don't look now' - for me scariness is linked to 'believability' and films like AWiL might make you jump a few times but scared, can't say see it myself......
There was a tv show (either late 80s / early 90s) called Chimera...it was about this half monkey half human....scared the absolute crap out of me as a kid and frankly is still the monster that is chasing me during solo night rides in the woods
Saw a few clips of it recently and it didnt seem so bad now 😀
samuri i just googled running on a beach.believe me it wasn't scary in the slightest (think baywatch 😉
+1 for American Werewolf
Has anyone mentioned than it was Rik Mayall's first appearence on film? he was one of the yokels in the "Yorkshire" pub....that was filmed in Wales.
Don't forget Brian Glover: "THAT'S ENOOOOOOOOFF!"
For me, it did have some proper scares, especially the dream sequences. Great soundtrack too.
It's really all about Jenny Agutter though, who occupies a special place in the heart of nearly all men of my generation.
IT
Still can't watch it now.
Scariest films for me with the Exorcist and Evil Dead. Evil Dead gave me nightmares for a while.
The Exorcist scared me witless (and at the time we were watching every single horror film available including all the gore ones like Zombie Flesh Eaters). Evil Dead didn't scare me but it had a dreadful effect on my mate - I had to walk him home and, because his dad was away and he was home alone, I had to sit with him in his bedroom until he went to sleep then walk the 2 miles back home at midnight.
We were about 17 at the time 😀
American Werewolf, Blues Brothers and Trading Places are al in my Top 10 all time fave films. (Mmmmm - Jenny Agutter and Jamie Lee Curtis Norkage).
The pub was The Slaughtered Lamb. Mayall and Brian Glover were in there. Fantastic scene.
my 16 year old watched Alien and said it was rubbish, not frightening, and you could tell it was a man in a costume
The pub was The Slaughtered Lamb. Mayall and Brian Glover were in there. Fantastic scene.
[b]Remember the Alamo![/b]
And what was that Nicole Kidman film about ghosts? The Classification Board admitted they got it wrong giving it a 12 rating (it disturbed me).
And the 'I See Dead People' one when the kid is sat in his den and the girl appears (shudders).
I have definitely got worse about watching horror/scary films compared to 25 years ago.
Samuri I know exactly what you mean, I still can't cross a railway line without worrying about getting my football boots stuck!
This little shit (not the bear, Raggity)...
Bloody terrified me as a child.
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And what was that Nicole Kidman film about ghosts?
The Others
The girl in the confirmation dress scared the crap out of me! I was 36 at the time!
The PIF about railway trespass showed a sign that threatened a fine of £25 for offenders!
The others is my kind of film, I love the supernatural stuff, gore isn't scary!
Looking forward to the film version of 'The woman in black'!
Mr. Noseybonk.
Terrifying then, equally terrifying now.
Good thread, for me its the exoricist too. It scared me when i first saw it, i was about 12, its laughable now and i find it slow paced.
Rosemarys baby was scary too, but no is more like a sunday night drama.
A big +1 for the AwiLondon, I recently got 5:1 fitted and made the girlfiend watch it (who's too young to have caught it the first time round). The scene out the moors scared her pretty well. Especially with the howling coming from behind us!!
Another for me was Poltergiest. That clown scared the bejeezuz out of me!
Scary clown time...
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The Omen (as mentioned) Used to freak me out, but now I think they are totally brill (box set owner)
prepare yourselves friends,for a journey into the furthest reaches of heaven/hell 😉 (this is genius)
😀
AWIL is a funny one, it does have some genuinely scary / shocking moments to it, however the scenes of Picadilly circus are comedy - not sure if thats deliberate or just bad acting / poor quality special effects.
[b]this[/b] is a scarey clown;
Poltergeist 1 and 2 [img] 
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And The changeling
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And what was that Nicole Kidman film about ghosts? The Classification Board admitted they got it wrong giving it a 12 rating (it disturbed me).
"The Others"
My 12 year old is watching it in school this week - as part of their study of Gothic Horror in english. We had to sign a form to give permission. Hope it doesn't give her nightmares. Having said that I remember watching the Exorcist and Nightmare on Elm Street etc at her age (round at a friends house, we didn;t have a VHS player for years!) and not really being effected. Probably helped that they were always watched during the day time
Nightmare on elm street, not too scary now, pretty funny really.
+1 for Chimera from the TV. I was about 10 at the time and I've never been so terrified.
There does seem to be a pattern here. Films of old do seem to have been capable of inducing nightmares in the people watching (American Werewolf certainly did for me).
My OHs daughter is mad about the likes of SAW, Hostel and the Human Centipede - but they're all just gore fests.
Although - whoever posted up the link about the hooded man who makes you drown when you swim in lakes has just given me nightmares again (that still scares me!).
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Do not go swimming!
My OHs daughter is mad about the likes of SAW, Hostel and the Human Centipede - but they're all just gore fests.I agree with this, apart from Human Centipede which isnt all that gory, its more suggestive. The second one is awful though and ive only seen parts of the 'cut' version.
King;s IT here too. Still wish I hadn't seen it.
Event Horizon did for me when I was old enough to know better.
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This..scared the cr@p out of me..but I was sooooo very wasted when I watched it..
+1 for Raggity
Jaws gave me nightmares after seeing it at the flicks when I was about 10
Funny you mention this, I'd watched adult films/TV content including horror, swearing and sexual content from pre-school but for some reason at around 7 or 8 when the Omen was first on TV my mum wouldn't let me see it. The next day a few of my mates were constantly talking about it at School so after school I went round to my dad's (who I knew had video'd it) to ask to watch it there. Knowing fine well my mum might not approve, instead of letting me watch it he sat with me and fast forwarded to all the killings so I could talk about it with my mates.BenHouldsworth - MemberI'll second the Omen, saw it by accident when I was 7 and it gave me the fear right into my teens
After this I didn't really find any of the "scary" horror films scary anymore (I'd obviously still jump at frights etc.) and I'm pretty sure this this went some way to desensitizing me to horror films from a very young age.
IT definitely is one of those films.
Although probably not well known enough to be mocked in modern times but John Carpenters 'Prince of Darkness' still scares the sh*t out me.
No question that supernatural is more frightening than gore, although I quite liked 'Dog Soldiers'. Don't know what category [i]that[/i] fits into.
To be honest, I found M Night Shyamalan's 'The Sixth Sense' extremely well done. Now that we know his forumla, it doesn't have the same impact, but that scene where the boy is in the car with his mum and explains that he sees dead people, and then the woman in the cycling accident is shown standing beside the passenger window freaks me out just to think about.
For months after I saw that, I couldn't stop at a quiet stop sign (in Canada) at night. I would just keep on driving...
I was scared to death when I was a kid by.....
Carry on Screaming!
I couldn't sleep as I thought there were Oddbods in my room.
I don't watch horror. Blouses of a female variety (size 20) do come to mind.
Watcher in the Woods was pretty scary as a kid.
Aliens scared the life out of me too. The scene where they have barricaded themselves into a room and they can't figure out why the aliens are getting closer on the scope (IN THE ROOF!! AAAAHHHGGHH!) kept me awake at night for a while.
American Werewolf in London... watched it on pirate video when i was about 10, didn't sleep for two days...!
Spiceworld.
Can't even get past the opening titles. Too traumatic. 😥
Poltergeist scared me silly, watched it at 14 through my fingers.
Funnily enough I found carry on screaming scary too, regrowing body parts freaked me out.
Not the film but the soundtrack LP from the film Dougal and The Blue Cat used to scare the **** out of me as a small kid!
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I'd have to go with Event Horizon.
Although the Moomins episode where the Groke appears gave me a few sleepless nights as a nipper.
event horizon bored me (same with the Aliens films tho). but weirdy, I get scared if I play scary computer games.
evil etna the tv in willo the wisp frightened me as a child.....
These days films aren't as scary but video games... first time I played resident evil I got freaked right out..
twotonpredator i love prince of darkness (one of john's best films imho
this was a good film also 😉 EDIT MAY CONTAIN GORE 😉
Another for Event Horizon - massively underated sci-fi/horror.
PrinceJohn - Member
These days films aren't as scary but video games... first time I played resident evil I got freaked right out.
This. Never really been properly scared by films/TV (apart from jumpy moments), but playing the original Silent Hill on my own in the dark was truly terrifying at times.
Would place Dog Soldiers in the same category as AWIL myself - supernatural horror with black comedy overtones.
Best modern takes on this genre I reckon have both been on TV - Being Human and The Fades (which has some of the best written dialogue I've heard on TV for ages in any genre).
slainte ❗ rob
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I read 'It', and thought it was awesome, the film was in HMV for £2, so I bought it, and was really disappointed (this was only about 5 years ago), not sure if it was because I'd read the book first (which is pretty scary frankly), or because of the shocking 90s 'special effects'. I suspect the former as much as the latter, IMO once you've read a book the film will always disappoint. And vice versa frankly!
The original Childsplay scared me as a young un, not seen it since, but I doubt it'd have the same effect!
"The Others"My 12 year old is watching it in school this week - as part of their study of Gothic Horror in english. We had to sign a form to give permission. Hope it doesn't give her nightmares
I dunno... I think they're scarier when you can relate to them, and imagine yourself in that situation. I can't see a period film being scary in the same way for a child, I think that's why these things scare you, it's irrational fear that it could happen to you. I saw it when it came out (I was 15), and thought it was pretty poor.
The Creepshow was the only one that gave me bad nightmares as a kid (the story with the thing in the crate - I think it's the fact it gets out at the end :p ). Watched it again a year ago though and thought it was pretty naff.
I also saw the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre when I was about 9 (gotta love grandparents :p ) freaked me out a bit watching it but no nightmares after.
Event Horizon bored me too, I thought it was hugely overblown, but it's one of the few times I've actually looked away from the screen in the cinema when at some point a guy got injected in the eyeball.
I agree with the Nightmare on Elm Street films, quite scary when I was early teens, pretty lame now.
The Ring, the original Japanese one not the crappy American remake, now that was a scary film. I find psychological stuff much scarier than just plain gore and I think the language barrier and subtitles actually added to the creepiness of the whole thing.
As for computer games, the time I've literally jumped out of my seat was the first time I played the "Aliens" hack for Doom. On my own, in the dark, in front of a decent-size screen, plenty of volume in the headphones and when I encountered the first Alien I think I actually briefly tried to run away. I was 18...
I was about 7 when I crept downstairs and watched the Hammer House version of Murders in the Rue Morgue in a late-night re-run. Scared the sweet bejesus out of me and gave me nightmares. 😥 I saw it again quite recently and it seemed incredible tame. No nightmares to report second time around. 8)
+10 for AWIL
Was also about 10-11 when I first saw it and that's what is partly responsible for my werewolf 'thing'. Proper scary back then. Still think of it every time I'm wandering a tube station alone at night (normally pretty pissed).