Halloween theme: best scary movies

[Zuni]

I am looking for some real scary movies. I have been on a horror film kick lately and I want to see one movie that is truly terrifying before the Halloween season is over.
Any suggestions?

[Bertha Venation]

1. only one

There's only one movie scary enough to terrify me. Gore doesn't do it, Jack Nicholson w/ an axe doesn't do it, dripping blood doesn't do it....

Only Ted Levine & Anthony Hopkins scared the shit outta me. "The Silence of the Lambs."

[Zuni]

2. I loved the whole series

Hannibal and Red Dragon were both damn good. Unfortunately I have seen them all.
Good picks though.

[Brucey]

3. I like the old Val Lewton films from the 40s.

TCM is showing some today: I Walked With a Zombie, Cat People, Curse of the Cat People. They are not scary by today's standards, but stress psychological suspense.

[flamingyouth]

4. I Walked With a Zombie

I love that film. Actually, all you listed are great. I'm so pissed at my cable co. for taking TCM off our system! ARGH!

I love some of the scary silents, like Nosferatu, the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the Student of Prague, Golem, Phantom of the Opera too. Again, not scary/gory by our standards, but pretty creepy.

[Brucey]

7. Those are great, and don't forget

Vampyr, M, and Freaks.

[thebigidea]

5. "I Walked With a Zombie" has a killer calypso song in it, too

[Bluzmann57]

6. This one may be a little hokey

by todays standards, but "The Birds", an Alfred Hitchcock film has always scared me. And of course, we can't forget "Psycho", another Hitchcock film. The man had a strange imagination. A pretty good halloween read is "Salem's Lot", by Stephen King. You may believe in vampires after that.

[Swede]

8. Mothman Prophecies is creepy

The Ring is unsettling. The Shining. Mouth of Madness,Hallowe'een I & II,Dunwich Horror,Rosemary's Baby,the Sentinel,Exorcist. There are too many to choose.

[flamingyouth]

11. I liked Mothman more than I thought I would

I do think that the first half is best - especially when he's talking to the creature on the phone! That part gave my husband a nightmare.

Also, I love The Ring - that one really creeped me out.

[kayleybeth]

9. Night of Dark Shadows

Not the cheesy TV show but the cheesy theatrical movie. I saw it when I was about 6 and it scared the bejesus out of me. For months I was convinced that Barnabus Collins was hiding under my bed.

[arwalden]

10. The Mummy.

Wizard of Oz

[kyrasdad]

12. Anything with Ronald Reagan in it...

28 Days Later
Alien 1 & 2
Jaws

[meow mix]

13. yummy

john carpenter ones are good.
i like "Prince of Darkness" best

alice cooper has a good role in that and donald pleseance of course.
i also like "In the Mouth of Madness" (carpenters too)

couple other old favorites..
"Dawn of the Dead" and "Day of the Dead"

[FloridaJudy]

14. "Freaks"

An oldie, but goodie, made way back when by Tod Browning, the director of the original *Dracula*. I once attended a Halloween Horror Marathon featuring *Night of the Living Dead*, *Eyes Without a Face*, *Psycho*, and *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre*, along with *Freaks* in Berkeley, California.

*Freaks* was the movie that drove me out of the theatre screaming and hyperventilating. It was made back in the thirties.

No "Freddy", "Jason" or "Michael" movie made since has topped it for sheer terror.

[imax2268]

15. I'd have to say...

Alien...It scared the crap out of me when I was younger...!