Horror movies that are actually scary and not just gore/startles

[Froggy Slayer]

Danny Boyle's Sunshine (2007) has got a great atmosphere and was scary to me because I was young and I didn't know what I was in for. Beautiful, stunning cinematography, and I'm glad I saw it on the big screen, but if you're a horror veteran and expect to be scared, you're probably in for a disappointment.

Even though I wouldn't call it a horror movie, Sunshine is an excellent film that doesn't get nearly enough love.

 

[ninjaRiv]

I can't tell if people in this thread are being ignorant or are actually clueless. The 1982 version of The Thing is a remake and the 2011 version is a prequel to the remake.

Carpenter's was just plain better and I view it as more of a new adaption, same way I view the new Total Recall. That, too, has had a lot of people mistaking it for a remake.

But I think a majority of people here are joking.

 

[Mikeyfell]

It's probably been said already but...
Paranormal Activity

The first one anyway. after watching it I couldn't sleep for days.
I still get the creeps when my cat pushes my bedroom door open in the middle of the night.

 

[Deathmageddon]

I'm not exactly a big fan of horror movies, but I enjoyed The Woman in Black. Nice and spooky, very few jump scares, and not really any gore.

 

[Dangit2019]

There's a good Spanish 'handheld camera' type movie called Rec. Check it out.
SHAME THAT THEY NEVER MADE ANY SEQUELS. EVER

I know, right. It also sucks that they didn't make any sequels to the Matrix, Nightmare on Elm Street, or the Indiana Jones movies. Also, I can't believe that Star Wars didn't get anything like, say, a prequel.

What are you talking about? Indiana Jones got a sequel! People called it Indiana Jones 3, for some reason.

Oh, Temple of Doom wasn't that bad. It was a great movie interrupted periodically by a horrible Aubrey Hepburn ripoff. Short Round was a bit annoying, but I kind of liked him and his baseball cap.

 

[ninjaRiv]

There's a good Spanish 'handheld camera' type movie called Rec. Check it out.
SHAME THAT THEY NEVER MADE ANY SEQUELS. EVER

I know, right. It also sucks that they didn't make any sequels to the Matrix, Nightmare on Elm Street, or the Indiana Jones movies. Also, I can't believe that Star Wars didn't get anything like, say, a prequel.

What are you talking about? Indiana Jones got a sequel! People called it Indiana Jones 3, for some reason.

Oh, Temple of Doom wasn't that bad. It was a great movie interrupted periodically by a horrible Aubrey Hepburn ripoff. Short Round was a bit annoying, but I kind of liked him and his baseball cap.

Really? I rank it way down there with the last one. The fourth one. That... thing.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Paranormal Activity 2 got me good with one of its admittedly tired jump scares.

... Actually nevermind.

 

[putowtin]

There's a good Spanish 'handheld camera' type movie called Rec. Check it out.
SHAME THAT THEY NEVER MADE ANY SEQUELS. EVER

I know, right. It also sucks that they didn't make any sequels to the Matrix, Nightmare on Elm Street, or the Indiana Jones movies. Also, I can't believe that Star Wars didn't get anything like, say, a prequel.

What are you talking about? Indiana Jones got a sequel! People called it Indiana Jones 3, for some reason.

Sarcasam.... it's fantastic!

OT: Unfortunatley I don't think I've seen a decent horror movie in let last five years. Gore, yes, genuine scares, no.

 

[A Satanic Panda]

Watch Isolation and you will never look at cows the same way again. But don't read the full paragraph of the story, a lot of fun in this movie figuring out what is going wrong at the movie's pace.

 

[Froggy Slayer]

There's a good Spanish 'handheld camera' type movie called Rec. Check it out.
SHAME THAT THEY NEVER MADE ANY SEQUELS. EVER

I know, right. It also sucks that they didn't make any sequels to the Matrix, Nightmare on Elm Street, or the Indiana Jones movies. Also, I can't believe that Star Wars didn't get anything like, say, a prequel.

What are you talking about? Indiana Jones got a sequel! People called it Indiana Jones 3, for some reason.

Oh, Temple of Doom wasn't that bad. It was a great movie interrupted periodically by a horrible Aubrey Hepburn ripoff. Short Round was a bit annoying, but I kind of liked him and his baseball cap.

Really? I rank it way down there with the last one. The fourth one. That... thing.

You want to know something terrifying? One of my friends first contact with Indy WAS number 4. Thinks that the films are all about aliens now.

 

[ninjaRiv]

There's a good Spanish 'handheld camera' type movie called Rec. Check it out.
SHAME THAT THEY NEVER MADE ANY SEQUELS. EVER

I know, right. It also sucks that they didn't make any sequels to the Matrix, Nightmare on Elm Street, or the Indiana Jones movies. Also, I can't believe that Star Wars didn't get anything like, say, a prequel.

What are you talking about? Indiana Jones got a sequel! People called it Indiana Jones 3, for some reason.

Sarcasam.... it's fantastic!

OT: Unfortunatley I don't think I've seen a decent horror movie in let last five years. Gore, yes, genuine scares, no.

Hey, don't tell anyone (it's kind of a secret) but I know it was sarcasm. I was saying that Temple of Doom was shit.

Unless you were congratulating me on my sarcasm... in that case, thank you.

Back on topic, however, Cabin in the Woods was amazing but it had a fair bit of gore.

 

[Winthrop]

snip

My issue with it, and I only saw it the one time a few years back so I may have a different view watching it again, is that I don't like any of the characters possible spoilers about why. Its so hard for me to care if they are dying if they seem to be going out of their way to get killed, like throwing out the god damn map. I get that they are trying to show that the people are breaking down but damn it that scene pissed me off. I don't know. I didn't really find any of the people very likable either. They are all fairly bland personality wise and none of them are at all endearing. To its credit it does do atmosphere very well, probably better than any other horror movie I have seen, but I personally found the characters were bad enough that it cancelled out the effects of the atmosphere. Not hating it because its popular either, only place I had heard of it at the time was from my dad.

 

[Shagdawg]

While not a horror movie per se, 'Requiem for a Dream' was unsettling as fuck. Certainly scared me.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

The Devil's Backbone, and lots of old Japanese horror (I remember The Grudge terrifying me as a kid).
I haven't seen these, but really want to: The Thing, and The Shining.

 

[Nouw]

The Thing. It actually manages to have a great atmosphere and have tons of gore as well.

Which one? The new one, the 80s one, or the 60s A Thing From Another World?

John Carpenter's one.

 

[phatty500]

Its been a long time since ive seen it but i remember "Prom night 4 deliver us from evil" having excellent suspense. of course i was a lot younger so take my suggestion with that in mind.

 

[TheFinalFantasyWolf]

Jacob's ladder was pretty freaky. I heard about a rumor that a certain scene (the hospital one maybe) had been a partcial inspiration to Silent Hill. o_o

 

[Terrik]

'Dark Night of the Scarecrow' from 1981, a very underrated made-for-TV movie. Relies purely on athmosphere and suspense.

 

[Flunk]

I don't think they've ever made a horror movie that is actually scary.

 

[lunavixen]

Stephen King's It
The Orphanage
Rec

These are some of my favourites that i can think of without actually going throughmy movie collection (that'd take me a month of sundays)