Do you like horror movies?

[VillageDweller]

Do I like horror movies? Do I need to breathe oxygen, eat food and drink water to survive? The answer to all of those questions is a resounding yes! To the surprise of absolutely no one who has seen my posts on these forums over the years.

Horror movies have basically always been a part of my life. My first exposure to a horror movie came at a very young age, probably around 3 or 4, when I saw the original Child's Play from 1988. Despite what one might expect, the movie never scared me back then and throughout my life I've never been scared of horror movies. I also played the original Mortal Kombat around 3 years old since my older sibling had a copy for the Sega Genesis, so I was always able to recognize that what happens in movies, shows and games is just happening in the movie, show or game, that the monster or killer or whatnot isn't real, and I don't need to be scared of it. I enjoy horror movies for the atmosphere, the stories, plots and characters, the oftentimes awesome music, and cool practical effects.

I love horror so much that I run a month-long horror movie marathon throughout the month of October every year leading up to and including Halloween day, and oftentimes including November 1st and 2nd to incorporate the Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos. It's a mix of trying to watch movies, new or old, that I haven't seen before as well as watching movies that I've already seen and know I love.

Horror, when done well, is my favorite genre. That said, there's a lot of crappy horror out there if you don't know what quality stuff to look for.


Some of my favorites are:

- The Return of the Living Dead (1985, directed by Dan O'Bannon)
- Alien (1979, directed by Ridley Scott)
- Aliens (1986, directed by James Cameron)
- An American Werewolf in London (1981, directed by John Landis)
- Army of Darkness (1992, directed by Sam Raimi)
- Black Christmas (1974 original, directed by Bob Clark)
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935, directed by James Whale)
- Bubba Ho-Tep (2002, directed by Don Coscarelli)
- Candyman (1992, directed by Bernard Rose)
- Child's Play (1988, directed by Tom Holland)
- Creepshow (1982, directed by George A. Romero)
- Dawn of the Dead (1978, directed by George A. Romero)
- Day of the Dead (1985, directed by George A. Romero)
- Deep Red (1975, directed by Dario Argento)
- Dracula (1931, directed by Tod Browning)
- Dracula, Spanish language verison (1931, directed by George Melford)
- Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn (1987, directed by Sam Raimi)
- Frankenstein (1931, directed by James Whale)
- Fright Night (1985, directed by Tom Holland)
- Gojira (1954, directed by Ishirô Honda Honda)
- Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982, directed by Tommy Lee Wallace)
- Hausu (1977, directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi)
- House of 1000 Corpses (2003, directed by Rob Zombie)
- House on Haunted Hill (1959, directed by William Castle)
- Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988, directed by Stephen Chiodo)
- Night of the Creeps (1986, directed by Fred Dekker)
- Night of the Living Dead (1968 original, directed by George A. Romero)
- Nosferatu (1922, directed by F.W. Murnau)
- Phantasm (1979, directed by Don Coscarelli)
- Phantasm 2 (1988, directed by Don Coscarelli)
- Re-Animator (1985, directed by Stuart Gordon)
- Son of Frankenstein (1939, directed by Rowland V. Lee)
- Suspiria (1977, directed by Dario Argento)
- Tenebrae (1982, directed by Dario Argento)
- The Blob (1988 remake, directed by Chuck Russell)
- The Changeling (1980, directed by Peter Medak)
- The Devils (1971, directed by Ken Russell)
- The Devil's Rejects (2004, directed by Rob Zombie)
- The Evil Dead (1980, directed by Sam Raimi)
- The Fly (1986 remake, directed by David Cronenberg)
- The Howling (1981, directed by Joe Dante)
- The Invisible Man (1933, directed by James Whale)
- The Lost Boys (1987, directed by Joel Schumacher)
- The Mist (2007, directed by Frank Darabont)
- The Mummy (1959 Hammer version, directed by Terence Fisher)
- The Thing (1982, directed by John Carpenter)
- The Wolf Man (1941, directed by George Waggner)
- Trick 'R Treat (2007, directed by Michael Dougherty)
- Zombi 2 (1979, directed by Lucio Fulci)

I could keep going, but that list is long enough. But yeah, I love horror.

omg this long list.. I love how much you love horror! Are there any post 2010s horror movies you like? I just notice a lack of them in your list - I would say that sort of classic style horror film has largely disappeared now.

I used to really enjoy horror movies when I was around 17, 18, my friends and I used to always watch them together (back when I was a social butterfly!) We really got into the Insidious films, The Conjuring, some other ones along the way and it was a really nice tradition. Since then my interest in them has sort of fallen by the wayside, the most recent ones I've seen would be the Candyman remake in 2021 (which was, somewhat confusing) and M3GAN, which I actually thought was really good lol.

As a side note, for some reason I can handle jumpscares and terror a lot better in movies than I can in video games, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the level of involvement.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

Love them for the most part! I will never watch the Saw movies or Human Centipede though.

Hereditary is worth at least one watch!

 

[Aniko]

Yes I like them, especially when I'm stressed out. I don't think they are scary, realistic stuff scare me more, I think they are entertaining, however I get tired of too much gore, although it can get funny.

 

[Halloqueen]

omg this long list.. I love how much you love horror! Are there any post 2010s horror movies you like? I just notice a lack of them in your list - I would say that sort of classic style horror film has largely disappeared now.

Thank you!

I absolutely have a strong preference for the older stuff, yeah. All of my favorite stuff is pretty much older.

That said, there are indeed things released post-2010 that I like. Most just don't make it to the level of being favorites. Of the post 2010 horror movies that I remember well enough, I've liked:

- 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016, directed by Dan Trachtenberg)
- Anna and the Apocalypse (2017, directed by John McPhail)
- Candyman (2021 sequel to the 1992 original, directed by Nia DaCosta)
- Color Out of Space (2019, directed by Richard Stanley)
- Curse of Chucky (2013, directed by Don Mancini)
- Cult of Chucky (2017, directed by Don Mancini) though I didn't like it near as much as Curse.
- Don't Breathe (2016, directed by Fede Álvarez)
- Fear Street Part One: 1994 (2021, directed by Leigh Janiak)
- Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021, directed by Leigh Janiak)
- Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (2021, dircted by Leigh Janiak)
- Get Out (2017, directed by Jordan Peele)
- Halloween (2018 sequel, directed by David Gordon Green)
- Hellraiser (2022 reboot, directed by David Bruckner)
- Hereditary (2018, directed by Ari Aster)
- It (2017 remake, directed by Andy Muschietti)
- It Follows (2014, directed by David Robert Mitchell)
- Jakob's Wife (2021, directed by Travis Stevens)
- Krampus (2015, directed by Michael Dougherty) though his earlier Trick 'R Treat is way better.
- Late Phases (2014, directed by Adrián García Bogliano)
- Malignant (2021, directed by James Wan)
- Midsommar (2019, directed by Ari Aster) but it's inferior to the 1973 original The Wicker Man by Robin Hardy.
- Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016, directed by Mike Flanagan) though I've never watched the rest of the series and don't care to.
- Parasite (2019, directed by Bong Joon-ho) if it counts.
- Terrifier (2018, directed by Damien Leone)
- The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016, directed by André Øvredal)
- The Babadook (2014, directed by Jennifer Kent)
- The Empty Man (2020, directed by David Prior)
- The Invisible Man (2020, directed by Leigh Whannell)
- The Lighthouse (2019, directed by Robert Eggers)
- The Shape of Water (2017, directed by Guillermo del Toro) just listed here because of the Creature from the Black Lagoon similarities.
- The VVitch (2015, directed by Robert Eggers)
- The Wailing (2016, directed by Na Hong-jin)
- Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017, directed by Issa López)
- Train to Busan (2016, directed by Yeon Sang-ho)
- Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010, directed by Eli Craig)
- Under the Shadow (2016, directed by Babak Anvari)
- Us (2019, directed by Jordan Peele)
- We Are Still Here (2015, directed by Ted Geoghegan)

There are probably other things that I liked but don't recall at this time.

I have Terrifier on there but not Terrifier 2 because I still need to watch it but I'm saving it for October. Saw It Part One but never got around to It Part Two yet. Saving my first watch of Evil Dead Rise for October as well. I don't remember The Void well enough, would need to revisit it.

I used to really enjoy horror movies when I was around 17, 18, my friends and I used to always watch them together (back when I was a social butterfly!) We really got into the Insidious films, The Conjuring, some other ones along the way and it was a really nice tradition. Since then my interest in them has sort of fallen by the wayside, the most recent ones I've seen would be the Candyman remake in 2021 (which was, somewhat confusing) and M3GAN, which I actually thought was really good lol.

I've never delved into the Conjuring franchise or any of the surrounding stuff like Annabelle because I don't really buy into Ed and Lorraine Warren. So no experience with those for me. As much as I love horror, I do have my limits to what I'll bother with just down to personal preference. Would you say they're good enough to check out for someone like me or should I continue to skip?

Since you mentioned M3GAN, I like it well enough but the AI thing doesn't do it for me personally. I didn't like the 2019 Child's Play remake that Lars Klevberg and the studios put out either, which also went with the AI angle. The original Chucky, the doll possessed by the soul of foul-mouthed serial killer Charles Lee Ray, is superior for me when it comes to killer dolls. Brad Dourif brings so much character and personality to his roles and especially Chucky.

As a side note, for some reason I can handle jumpscares and terror a lot better in movies than I can in video games, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the level of involvement.

I find a lot of modern mainstream movie jumpscares are shallow, low effort junk, so that probably contributes. The video games have to try harder to evoke the response.

---

As modern horror movies go, I don't tend to watch basically anything in the theater and always wait for them to come to either DVD/Blu-Ray or streaming. This gives the added advantage of being able to see reviews from horror fans and general public opinion as well. So there are plenty of things I haven't seen yet, though there are also plenty of things I have no interest in either. I like it this way though, as it saves me from going to see something I might not like (which still happens sometimes, but at least it saves money). It also provides plenty of new things to experience each year for my October horror movie marathons.

 

[Xara]

i do! i already said this in your “what’s your favourite movie genre?” thread, but horror movies are my favourite! they’re one of the only types of movies that can actually hold my attention, since my short attention span and difficulty sitting still and focusing on something for longer than five minutes makes watching movies hard haha. i only like them when they have a good storyline and substance to them, though— i’m not a fan of horror movies that are just one jumpscare after another.

 

[Blink.]

i love horror, but horror MOVIES (western ones) are really keen on relying on jumpscares and ghosts. which i hate.

I agree. For someone like me who loves playing horror games, good horror movies are like 1 in 100

 

[Equity]

I’m a scaredy-cat, so no to horror movies/stories!

 

[S.J.]

I do not.

 

[Plume]

I like horror movies when they're good! Bad horror movies can either be hilarious or terribly boring.

 

[OswinOswald]

I don't really choose horror movies most of the time, but there are some well made ones that I've watched and enjoyed. When it's on the less scary side, I can usually handle that. Or if it's campy or stylistic. I really enjoyed the recent Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series - it had horror elements, but definitely wasn't full-on scary. I also just watched Nope - the scene with the kids in the alien masks kind of freaked me out a little (but I think it was meant to induce the same feelings of suspense and fear in the viewer as in the main character for that brief bit), but everything else was not very scary. And then there were Aliens! which is quiet appropriate for this camp haha.

 

[demoness]

i don't even have to speak. the queen covered it all

the only thing i have to add is that i adore anthology horror as well. true horror camp is an experience like no other. from EC comics to Creepshow to V/H/S to our boy Art. lately i watched the reboot attempt of Creepshow (2019) through Shudder. the episodes aren't all hits but the one featuring ted raimi and deadites definitely was

 

[Aquilla]

I don't. I'm quite jumpy just while existing and don't like being jumpscared and frightened on top of that. I wouldn't voluntarily watch a horror movie.

 

[xlisapisa]

Yes I do, but I’m also a scaredy cat!

 

[deana]

I'm gonna say no but it's also something I don't have a ton of experience with it. I think the last time I ever saw a horror movie would be 10+ years ago.

 

[Roxxy]

Nope, no way. I just can’t watch horror.

 

[oath2order]

I am not particularly a fan, but I can tolerate them periodically.

 

[Soigne]

Love 'em! I usually only watch them with friends, though.

 

[Violet Witch]

No. I watched the first three Saw movies back to back years ago and as much I loved the first one (for the ending) the films gave me nightmares as I have an over active imagination. Overall though I just avoid horror films like the plague.

 

[easpa]

I'd never put one on myself for solo viewing but they're a lot of fun with friends I'm not trying to make myself scared and then carry on about my day by myself what am i going to gain from it........

 

[digimon]

i don't like horror as a genre and get scared pretty easily i'm a major scaredy cat that appreciates the cutesier side of halloween/and spooky things. i don't really ever suffer from nightmares, but i imagine i'd have a pretty hard time trying to fall asleep after watching anything scary!