Ever since I became a horror fan, as a teenager, I haven't seen many new films in the past decade that have scared me. There have been a few that gave me a creepy feeling, or produced tension, but no outright fear. I've had to find 'classic' horror films to get my scare fix and even then it has only reached spine tingling levels. The Italian 'Giallo' films seem to be the only thing that can invoke hints of fear in me, at this point in time.
'Frozen' was actually pretty scary. Particularly the scene where the guy decides to jump from the stuck ski-lift down to the snow. Needless to say that it didn't turn out very well.
Well, Insidious actually^^ I was scared of every darkness for three days. But I guess it was more the Image I always have been frightened of: An old Ghost Lady! My worst nightmare ever! I jumped a lot on that Movie but towards the end I've more being afraid of another BANG-Moment than the Plotstuff^^
Disturbed would be Visitor Q not a horror film but that was the last film that really disturbed me... REC was the last horror film that genuinely had moments where I jumped... particularly towards the end.
Paranormal Activity - but I think you have to watch it on your own, with the lights off.
It helps when the house you are in has an dark open stairs/landing above your head, there are three cats wandering around spitting and hissing at the Jack o'lantern you've made because it is Halloween, and the house doesn't belong to you.
The thing that ruins horror films the most is watching them at the cinema.
Could I ask you a question in return: Why is it a "wonderful" feeling when you get so scared/disturbed that you want to stop watching a film? When that happens, I always just wish I hadn't watched it. I guess that's why I was never a fan of horror films, since I never saw that feeling in a positive sense. Isn't fear one of the most uncomfortable feelings one can generally have anyway?
Last time I was properly scared was Neil marshall's The Descent! Didn't walk out, though, but enjoyed the film's influence on me, which is so utterly rare nowadays.
I'd have to say it was the 1992 animated short film 'The Sandman.' truly creepy and atmospheric, when I watch it I feel like I'm six years old again, lying in bed at night contemplating the shadows in my room with the covers over my face. Also 'Felidae,' another animated film is quite disturbing. It is so gruesome it is almost unwatchable.
I think the most disturbing film I saw quite recently was Eden Lake but most modern horror is not great and comes no where near to the great era of horror films..the 1970's !
Is there any other 'job' in the world that involves as much whining and whinging?
Thank you so humbly for constantly complaining about the sad state of film affairs and doing nothing about making one yourself...or won't artists work with you?
Rec scared the living daylights out of me, so did paranormal activity. I know what kermode means about being scared though, there's something addictive about it!
Martyrs is my pick. Saw it two years ago and it haunted me for a couple of days. I still think about it a lot. Not only is it creepy, It's also genuinely unconfortable and harrowing to watch.
Still... no movie, book or any other form of media has frightened me as completely and filled me with such nightmarish dread as when I played the original Silent Hill back in 1999. I felt less than human afterwards.
Totally agree with you on the Silent Hill issue!, The fear the game grips you with is nothing any movie can come close too. There is a way the games (Silent hill 2 the most) make you feel like your the person walking around, your not just controlling it.
Drag Me To Hell got a few jumps out of me (usually followed by a laugh as well), but I'd have to go all the way back to 2006 and mention David Lynch's Inland Empire for a film which truly got under my skin. In fact, that film has stayed with me completely and just thinking about it now is giving me a spot of the 'ole goosebumps!
For the most part, its not that horror movies arent scary anymore (i will admit alot of them arent) but everyone has their own triggers as to what scares them. That's why some people thought Paranormal Activity was scary while others didn't. The reaction to horror is unique to the individual. Me personally, home grown horror moviesare far more frightening that fancy, polished hollwood films.
the trailers for The Burningmoore Incident, Atrocious and Grave Encounters freak me out.
i know it wasn't that good and the animation sucked and there was no reason to be scared, but it FREAKED ME OUT. i did not sleep for two years and i was convinced that the girl was coming for me!
Same here, [Rec] had me scared for weeks afterwards. Also just rewatched Mulholland Drive and the scene with the man in the alley seriously gives me the fear.
I have to agree with Mr. Kermode, most modern horror movies utterly fail to scare you. The last horror flick to really creep me out was the original 1998 version of Ring.
Im a big horror fan, but i too cant actually remember the last time a film scared me. There have been films which grossed me out, or that were just unpleasant to watch (such as the "torture porn" films) but nothing that actually scared me. And its a real shame.
The White Ribbon. I can't even put my finger on why it made me feel horrible and have bad dreams, and it's not even a horror film. Maybe it's just because I'm German - Hereditary guilt?
Horror is so subjective, though. I recall Kermode's review for the Orphanage(my favourite film) and he admitted to being scared at various points through that. However most people I've spoken to who've seen it didn't get spooked at all. Mark also raved about Drag Me to Hell and I have to say it really left no impact on me whatsoever as a horror or a comedy and I like Raimi's movies. It's inevitable that one will become desensitised unless horror is a genre you visit rarely
10 years ago watching nightmare on elm street 1 I was 12, had nightmares for a week, watching it again tho it just make me laugh, although before that I saw "Earth warp" in primary school the first episode gave me the worst nightmare I have ever had.
when i was a kid i watched b movie horror Colobos and it scared the shit out of me i was scared to walk around the flat at night or take a shower. i think that after seeing so many horror movies its easy to anticipate what happenes next so the only thing they give you are sudden jumps you did not expect. movie that comes to my mind as something that left a mark is Seven. After seeing it i sat and watched the full credits in a bit of a shock
A little known Canadian flick called Rituals starring Hal Holbrook, that I saw just recently. Not scary in the haunted house, supernatural sense, it's more of a Deliverance style backwoods tale. Some kind soul posted it on YouTube, and I watched it after a podcast recommended it. Wow, is it powerful stuff, should be a lot more well known than it is.
Eden Lake, especially the end where the camera moves way from the heroine with no escape- annihillation- than takes the young thugs point of view. Flashbacks for days!
It has to be "Requiem For a Dream" for me. I was visibly disturbed after watching this movie. The haunting sound track, and how drug abuse can go so easily wrong. Darren Aranofsky could have easily killed those characters with the drug abuse but he actually makes them live. Which is what is so terrifying. The situation the characters find themselves in is so real it makes you want to think twice before you take up drugs. An absolute masterpiece and I haven't seen any movie quite like it since.
Hate to say it, but for me, it was the 'Blair Witch Project'. I have a vivid imagination, so even though you really don't see my much, my mind works over time and the last part really gives me the creeps and has me up at night. As does Paranormal Activity, to a lesser extent.
see, since i can remember, ive never been scared of scary movies, and i find a lot of horror movies boring, unless they have some amazing narrative, but if its a movie made to scare and nothing else and it doesnt scare me, then whats the point?
I was certain that i would never be scared of a movie in my life until i saw the strangers. It has been a while since I've seen it but i just thought the whole idea and the fact it was based on a true story freaked me out. I might see it again and think differently but from first viewing i was actually shocked as i heard nothing about it. I'd recommend watching it.
For me it's M. Night Shyamalan's 'Signs'. It may be an odd choice but the use of lighting and the camera angles really create an un-easy feel the whole way through and a personal scene I hate is the scene with the news footage. That scene remains scary even 9 years on!
Dead of night was an old Dan Curtis anthology film from the mid 70's. The first two stories were not scary in the slightest. but he last Story.. Bobby was absolutely terrifying. I use to think the Entity scary, but that might have something to do with the fact that I brought in to the true story angle. Yes I was an idiot .but i stand by the Bobby episode of Dead of night.
Horror films are best viewed when you're a kid. Theres something (not sure what exactly) in the Shining which is just creepy. One film i remember scaring me was a low budget american horror from the 80s called Retribution. Ghostwatch by the bbc creeped me too.
i was 10 or 11 and my grandma let me watch Misery with her, i can honestly say that was the last time i was properly scared by a film. i think it was because up until that point in my world there was only the idea that a man could catch you and kill you,kidnap you etc. Then kathy bates strolls into my life and freaks me the hell out!! she's strong, demanding, psychotic! obsessive! a murdering crazed woman!
and i'm thinking oh god! anyone can get me!!! haha
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.. The original by Tobe Hooper. That movie still gets under my skin, hell even thinking about it gives me the heebiejeebies. I can't really say why, cause I don't know exactly.. maybe that's what makes it so scary.
As a picture, The Blair Witch (1999) chilled me to the bone. More recently, David Fincher's Zodiac (2007) contained several scenes of murder that left me deeply frightened and disturbed for several hours after viewing. There's something about seeing people being murdered in a film rooted in reality (not a torture porn film) that is absolutely terrifying to me.
@ExleySC I completely forgot about Zodiac. I remember watching it a few months back and the scene with the woman and her child chilled her bone. Also the scene where the killer speaks on live air.
A remember seeing The Children (on your advice) a few years back which made me feel pretty uneasy, even if it was a little silly. It all comes back to paedophobia
Kind of ashamed to admit it but hell, I vividly remember as a child being terrified especially night times by Ghostbusters 2 not during viewing but after feeling fear that a ghost would snatch me at night or pictures were watching me and it sort of stuck with me for years still not being able to have pictures of people in my bedroom.
My first viewing of Silence of the Lambs got under my skin. Something about Lecter really got to me. I could'nt eat after leaving the cinema and I remember that I didn't get to sleep until about 5am. No film had done that before, or done it since.
As I got older, I became desensitised to horror movies. In my teens, the Exorcist, The Shining, The Tenant, The Fly and Aliens were movies that really made me scared and played on mind. I remember after the watching the Fly and there was a fly in my room....couldn't go near it! But years on and I just don't get scared of movies no more!
The original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" when it came out on video. I was in my early teens at the time and watched it at night before bedtime. Needless to say, I couldn't sleep that night.
I saw The Others when I was 13 (for it had a 12, not 12A certificate back then). That really freaked me out.
But the film that scared me the most recently was Juan Antonio Bayona's The Orphanage. I went back to see it again 3 times during it's limited release in Brighton, and although I knew the scary bits that were coming up it still scared me every time.
I always watched horror films to be thrilled but never to be scared. Ever since I was a kid I've understood they are not real and not one film ever made me scared. The term 'Horror' is a misnomer for me but it doesn't matter because I don't expect any different and I don't miss what I never knew.
I like the fact he didnt want us to count jumps. Jumps can appear in any type of flick really. Last time i was scared was as a kid i watched Candyman, that messed me up somewhat. Not being able to look in a mirror is a bit mental. More recently, the ending of The Mist left me unsettled but also jealous of such a brilliant ending. Love that film
The last film to invoke such a feeling of nervousness in my was 'The Girl Next Door' (the 2007 film), which I consider to be the best horror movie I've ever seen. The Spoonyone said it best, this idea of jump scaring people so they go "OMG that was scary!" is like someone coming in your house and kicking you in the crotch: scary, but not entertaining. The Girl Next Door was truly HORRIFIC. I feel a true horrror film is one that plays on real fears, disturbs you and leaves you a little upset.
Yes.....that was creepy, but one that did catch me by surprise was May.....I thought it was a chick flick that my ex partner wanted to see, but I was so so so wrong.....
Getting scared by a film greatly depend on the circumstances in which you are watching the film and on the mindset with which your watching the film. It's not hard to not get scared by a modern horror film with the prejudgement of thinking that you want be scared - this could be trying at all time predict the film or being unfocused to the suspense (which I is common for you considering your job). Try watch a ''unscary'' film when you are home alone and see if you get scare without prejudgement
The only film to ever really scare me was the original Halloween. I used to look out my window at night thinking I'd see that white mask glistening in the moonlight. Thank God I never did.
The last film to properly SCARE me was The Strangers, with Liv Tyler, purely because it wasn't paranormal, or had monsters in it, it was a plain and simple home invasion horror, which is scarier to me than any monsters Hollywood can throw at me. Home invasion is actually real and you hear it in the news regularly, when it was put on film in the manner that it did (the 3 invaders wearing bags on their heads - freaked the hell out of me) was absolutely terrifying.
Good question Mr. Kermode, for me the original 1968 Night of The Living Dead always gets me. There's just something I can't put my finger on, maybe the fact that I live Pennsylvania where the movie was filmed (Butler County), so it's literally in my backyard. Or it's the ever present sense of dread and confusion that fills the film, maybe both. That said, the ending always weirds me out and leaves me paranoid, I always watch it on Halloween night with the lights on :) Cheers!
A very good question and point raised here by the good Dr. The last film to leave something close to a full on scared imprint on me was most probably Ringu. Although the film is not scary in a conventional manner and doesn't really contain any jump out moments aprt from the main set piece at the end the film is eerily atmospheric and filled with a real sense of foreboding dread that it leaves one feeling uneasy both during and after viewing.
Paranormal activity for me, the worst bit was going to work the next day, turning into a dark corridor and bumping into a woman who looks just like the one from paranormal activity
REC was probably the last film that made me look under the bed before I went to sleep. Last film i got up and left was Battle Los Angeles. It wasnt scary, it was just rubbish
Dead Space is not a great example, it's exactly what Kermode describes when he says "things that go Boo!". It has no subtlety and just plays scare chords everytime a monster pops up (completely loses any effect after the 3rd time). Silent Hill (esp. Silent Hill 2) is a much better example although it might be kinda hard as someone's first game.
@TehgiggleKing Amnesia the Dark Descent is the last piece of media that truly scared me. Still there aren't many good horror titles in either the Video game or film market
The last film that freaked me out was Spider Forest, which is a very strange Korean film. After watching it, an old childhood fear I had of mirrors and things that made a refection, returned to me in a huge way. I could barely muster up the courage, to walk from my front room to my bedroom upstairs. I love horror films, but I'm not usually scared by them. This however freaked me out.
Martyrs was the last horror film I saw to truly creep me out. But it's not really a horror movie. It's psychologically very testing and draining, and it's not a thrilling creep out like the Exorcist or The Shining is. Martyrs is probably the most disturbing, powerful and well made horror film I've seen in a decade, but it's also deeply unpleasant, it's not fun. I'd have to say the last film I saw to honestly scare, the way the old films do, is Ring or Tale of Two Sisters (original versions)
@nameless12345 im terrible when it comes to horror but even i completed dead space. its just an action game with good atmosphere, its not horror, and certainly not scarier than the scares provided by films
seeing the scene where the guy gets his guts torn out in shaun of the dead, loved the rest of the moveie that just scared the hell out of me after all I was a bout 10 at the time
Tideland crepped me out if that counts. I wasn't exactly having trouble sleeping that night, but it creeped more out far more than any other modern horror film I've seen recently.
Stupid really, but Jurassic Park really scared me as a kid, i was only about 12 when i saw it, but it terrified me, that first scene with the velicorapter and the man in the cage really caught my attention and scared the hell out of me!
garfield 2 a tail of two kitties scared the shit out of me!!
dinggledoser 6 days ago
Wolf Creek about 5 years ago. I had to watch 2 Simpsons episodes afterwards for a chance of sleep. Nothing since.
babyshambler 3 weeks ago
Ever since I became a horror fan, as a teenager, I haven't seen many new films in the past decade that have scared me. There have been a few that gave me a creepy feeling, or produced tension, but no outright fear. I've had to find 'classic' horror films to get my scare fix and even then it has only reached spine tingling levels. The Italian 'Giallo' films seem to be the only thing that can invoke hints of fear in me, at this point in time.
IamSnoogans 1 month ago
Ringu. I saw it shortly after it was released, which means it's been 13-14 years since a horror movie really scared me. Now that's sad.
DeadCamper 1 month ago
I really can't understand the Insidious hype - I can't see how it was any better than any other of the countless Hollywood attempts at horror.
MrVinushka 4 months ago
The Exorcism Of Emily Rose.
dryanpinney 4 months ago
28 Days Later, a balancing act between splatter and creepiness... C'mon, that church scene was flat out terrifying!
reservoirdog666 5 months ago
REC, Wolf Creek and The Orphanage were the last movies I saw that genuinely scared me.
WAAAAAAAAAAAY 5 months ago
'Frozen' was actually pretty scary. Particularly the scene where the guy decides to jump from the stuck ski-lift down to the snow. Needless to say that it didn't turn out very well.
zlwhite11 7 months ago
Well, Insidious actually^^ I was scared of every darkness for three days. But I guess it was more the Image I always have been frightened of: An old Ghost Lady! My worst nightmare ever! I jumped a lot on that Movie but towards the end I've more being afraid of another BANG-Moment than the Plotstuff^^
claptonfreak6 7 months ago
Disturbed would be Visitor Q not a horror film but that was the last film that really disturbed me... REC was the last horror film that genuinely had moments where I jumped... particularly towards the end.
BrianMaddenDesign 7 months ago
Paranormal Activity - but I think you have to watch it on your own, with the lights off.
It helps when the house you are in has an dark open stairs/landing above your head, there are three cats wandering around spitting and hissing at the Jack o'lantern you've made because it is Halloween, and the house doesn't belong to you.
The thing that ruins horror films the most is watching them at the cinema.
AnonGemini 8 months ago
Wolf Creek... That film scared the bejesus our of me. Turns out that a bejesus is a small orange coloured skittle shaped thing.
MMJackx2yz 8 months ago
SHUTTER ISLAND!
sspdirect02 9 months ago
Could I ask you a question in return: Why is it a "wonderful" feeling when you get so scared/disturbed that you want to stop watching a film? When that happens, I always just wish I hadn't watched it. I guess that's why I was never a fan of horror films, since I never saw that feeling in a positive sense. Isn't fear one of the most uncomfortable feelings one can generally have anyway?
tutani 9 months ago
@tutani It's the thrill. The adrenaline rush. The intensity of the best horror movies.
ellbo2 8 months ago
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tutani 9 months ago
Last time I was properly scared was Neil marshall's The Descent! Didn't walk out, though, but enjoyed the film's influence on me, which is so utterly rare nowadays.
It's harder for films on home video...
nuoyaxin 9 months ago
Martyrs. Definitely Martyrs.
Rac229 9 months ago
I'd have to say it was the 1992 animated short film 'The Sandman.' truly creepy and atmospheric, when I watch it I feel like I'm six years old again, lying in bed at night contemplating the shadows in my room with the covers over my face. Also 'Felidae,' another animated film is quite disturbing. It is so gruesome it is almost unwatchable.
CArownny 10 months ago
'Tetsuo: The Iron Man' still disturbs me to my very core.
craigrbryant 10 months ago
I think the most disturbing film I saw quite recently was Eden Lake but most modern horror is not great and comes no where near to the great era of horror films..the 1970's !
crazee635 10 months ago
have YOU ever made a film Mark?
Pardon?
Why not?
Oh, okay.
Is there any other 'job' in the world that involves as much whining and whinging?
Thank you so humbly for constantly complaining about the sad state of film affairs and doing nothing about making one yourself...or won't artists work with you?
scalesofjustice 10 months ago
@scalesofjustice So because I have never made a film I should go and watch Transformers and go 'me like film it good.'
ellbo2 8 months ago
I read your book on the exorcist and now all I notice are the things you write about and how good a movie it actually is :)
ZombieNinjaComedy 10 months ago
insidious creeped me out, i barely sleeped the night after i saw it..... seeing it again when it comes out :)
TheNoodle97 10 months ago
Rec scared the living daylights out of me, so did paranormal activity. I know what kermode means about being scared though, there's something addictive about it!
Manics1989 10 months ago
Martyrs is my pick. Saw it two years ago and it haunted me for a couple of days. I still think about it a lot. Not only is it creepy, It's also genuinely unconfortable and harrowing to watch.
Still... no movie, book or any other form of media has frightened me as completely and filled me with such nightmarish dread as when I played the original Silent Hill back in 1999. I felt less than human afterwards.
TheHitherto 10 months ago
@TheHitherto
Totally agree with you on the Silent Hill issue!, The fear the game grips you with is nothing any movie can come close too. There is a way the games (Silent hill 2 the most) make you feel like your the person walking around, your not just controlling it.
PhilVersion1 10 months ago
Drag Me To Hell got a few jumps out of me (usually followed by a laugh as well), but I'd have to go all the way back to 2006 and mention David Lynch's Inland Empire for a film which truly got under my skin. In fact, that film has stayed with me completely and just thinking about it now is giving me a spot of the 'ole goosebumps!
piggywigman 10 months ago
A tale of two sisters!
NorthSea0il 10 months ago 28
I actually thought The Silent House was extremely creepy. I felt so chilled I was almost nauseous. But that's just me.
terratrema 10 months ago
For the most part, its not that horror movies arent scary anymore (i will admit alot of them arent) but everyone has their own triggers as to what scares them. That's why some people thought Paranormal Activity was scary while others didn't. The reaction to horror is unique to the individual. Me personally, home grown horror moviesare far more frightening that fancy, polished hollwood films.
the trailers for The Burningmoore Incident, Atrocious and Grave Encounters freak me out.
Digitalscreamer1 10 months ago
The Grudge remake
Pablofinland 10 months ago
has to be the orphange for me. very creepy film.
stellapaulie 10 months ago
Session 9 (2001)
woodbell67 10 months ago
Rec was the last one that really did it for me
EurocellPVCU 10 months ago
the grudge 2
i know it wasn't that good and the animation sucked and there was no reason to be scared, but it FREAKED ME OUT. i did not sleep for two years and i was convinced that the girl was coming for me!
ihazachi 10 months ago
Michael Hanneke's The White Ribbon made me feel more uneasy and unsafe in the hands of the director than I've felt in years, does that count?
scljones1 10 months ago
Rec was the last film I was scared by.
arieger82 10 months ago
@arieger82
Same here, [Rec] had me scared for weeks afterwards. Also just rewatched Mulholland Drive and the scene with the man in the alley seriously gives me the fear.
projectcyclops 10 months ago
I know what he means, I have the same problem but with alcohol.
richandiben 10 months ago
His hand are so flappy!
blackadderthe4 10 months ago
Ringu.
providief 10 months ago 3
I also forgot Se7en when i saw it at the movies as well.....
dopplereffeckt675 10 months ago
The end of the Blair Witch Project was creepy....but nothing in the last 10 years.
Overall though I would say Alien, Threads, and funny enough Event Horizon.....
dopplereffeckt675 10 months ago
I was really freaked out by The Children.
But I find kids terrifying at the best of times.
JoeScaramanga 10 months ago
probably REC or paranormal activity. Also the departed but that was quite a while ago.
thepastry 10 months ago
Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The 1978 one.
wdm2112 10 months ago
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Chronolyse 10 months ago
First 15 minutes of 28 weeks later is very good for a scare.
[REC] too.
GullitSittingOnAShed 10 months ago
The trailer for The Smurfs. Completely terrifying.
MrDeejf 10 months ago
The trailer for The Smurfs. Completely terrifying.
MrDeejf 10 months ago
I have to agree with Mr. Kermode, most modern horror movies utterly fail to scare you. The last horror flick to really creep me out was the original 1998 version of Ring.
pypeworld 10 months ago
The Amityvile Horror 2
OisinL1 10 months ago
Stir or Echoes. Possibly the creepiest film since Rosmary's Baby and a very underrated film.
smalllions 10 months ago
If you want mark to read your cmments then post them here
bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/
just sign up for a bbc user name (like you youtube one) and post away :O)
badboy4life7878 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
The Descent and Switch blade romance were good but not to the point where I couldn't sleep.
farizben123 10 months ago
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farizben123 10 months ago
Im a big horror fan, but i too cant actually remember the last time a film scared me. There have been films which grossed me out, or that were just unpleasant to watch (such as the "torture porn" films) but nothing that actually scared me. And its a real shame.
Russell1982 10 months ago
the grudge :(
devilsmurf 10 months ago
@devilsmurf yeah, I watched the grudge at home on my own one night pretty scary when you're in the mood to be scared.
richandiben 10 months ago
the last film that creeped me out was definitely the Orphanage. Stayed with me for a couple of days.
markjeppo 10 months ago
The White Ribbon. I can't even put my finger on why it made me feel horrible and have bad dreams, and it's not even a horror film. Maybe it's just because I'm German - Hereditary guilt?
huehnerfressenponies 10 months ago
Horror is so subjective, though. I recall Kermode's review for the Orphanage(my favourite film) and he admitted to being scared at various points through that. However most people I've spoken to who've seen it didn't get spooked at all. Mark also raved about Drag Me to Hell and I have to say it really left no impact on me whatsoever as a horror or a comedy and I like Raimi's movies. It's inevitable that one will become desensitised unless horror is a genre you visit rarely
slimjimpui 10 months ago
Jigoku scared me breathless. Couldn't eat, couldn't drink, I just felt the need to watch something else that would calm me down.
Edhunter665 10 months ago
I saw The Descent and Open Water back to back one evening, and had trouble sleeping. Don't really know which one did the damage though.
jazzzjasper 11 months ago
10 years ago watching nightmare on elm street 1 I was 12, had nightmares for a week, watching it again tho it just make me laugh, although before that I saw "Earth warp" in primary school the first episode gave me the worst nightmare I have ever had.
Apexgun 11 months ago
when i was a kid i watched b movie horror Colobos and it scared the shit out of me i was scared to walk around the flat at night or take a shower. i think that after seeing so many horror movies its easy to anticipate what happenes next so the only thing they give you are sudden jumps you did not expect. movie that comes to my mind as something that left a mark is Seven. After seeing it i sat and watched the full credits in a bit of a shock
hYpYz 11 months ago
Horror films aren't made for Adults anymore.
heroehat 11 months ago
A little known Canadian flick called Rituals starring Hal Holbrook, that I saw just recently. Not scary in the haunted house, supernatural sense, it's more of a Deliverance style backwoods tale. Some kind soul posted it on YouTube, and I watched it after a podcast recommended it. Wow, is it powerful stuff, should be a lot more well known than it is.
BlackieGirl 11 months ago
Paranormal Activity 'worked' on me. *shudder*
shatminer 11 months ago
Candyman - the original one... (Did you dare to say it 3 times?)
BipedalMale 11 months ago
Eden Lake, especially the end where the camera moves way from the heroine with no escape- annihillation- than takes the young thugs point of view. Flashbacks for days!
stormsears 11 months ago
i agree with him 100%
sislacs 11 months ago
i thought 'The Orphanage' was genuingly creepy and didnt rely on BOO tactics
hazuki2k 11 months ago 2
same here@hazuki2k
stellapaulie 10 months ago
Blair witch project ending had me a bit pissy
highnine9 11 months ago
I'd probably say A Tale Of Two Sisters, and two or three occasions it had me on my toes.
brollan1234 11 months ago
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest as my mum is a nurse...
ellbo2 11 months ago
Snuff 102 was a grim film to watch. Easily the most shocking film I have seen.
NedsMissingTeeth 11 months ago
Man On Wire!
LordTrilby 11 months ago
meet the feebles
zeightygeisty 11 months ago
Drag me to hell. Although the Shining and The Blair Witch Project are the scariest I've seen.
ciaranj1992 11 months ago
Achtung bitte!
Mark Kermode doesn't read youtube responses, if you want to write a comment that he will read then go to his blog on the BBC website!!
(I don't usually ask this, but please thumb this up so more people see it)
KingOfTheShrews 11 months ago 7
@provenelk. Same here, there was something about Signs that really creeped my out.
CharlieRTH 11 months ago
It has to be "Requiem For a Dream" for me. I was visibly disturbed after watching this movie. The haunting sound track, and how drug abuse can go so easily wrong. Darren Aranofsky could have easily killed those characters with the drug abuse but he actually makes them live. Which is what is so terrifying. The situation the characters find themselves in is so real it makes you want to think twice before you take up drugs. An absolute masterpiece and I haven't seen any movie quite like it since.
ammarlilamwala 11 months ago
@ammarlilamwala mental torture
highnine9 11 months ago
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Woodshatter 11 months ago
Hard Candy, maybe it's just a guy thing. That also starred Patrick Wilson.
DodgerRiley 11 months ago
Dear Kermode, go watch Jee-woon Kim's I saw the devil (2010). You will be scared... and disturbed...
DoctorHello 11 months ago
Hate to say it, but for me, it was the 'Blair Witch Project'. I have a vivid imagination, so even though you really don't see my much, my mind works over time and the last part really gives me the creeps and has me up at night. As does Paranormal Activity, to a lesser extent.
Spoonerism2501 11 months ago
see, since i can remember, ive never been scared of scary movies, and i find a lot of horror movies boring, unless they have some amazing narrative, but if its a movie made to scare and nothing else and it doesnt scare me, then whats the point?
Mavarik 11 months ago
I was certain that i would never be scared of a movie in my life until i saw the strangers. It has been a while since I've seen it but i just thought the whole idea and the fact it was based on a true story freaked me out. I might see it again and think differently but from first viewing i was actually shocked as i heard nothing about it. I'd recommend watching it.
Breslaunt 11 months ago
Sex and the city 2
ottopotomas 11 months ago 36
Eyes Wide Shut
ooaaveehoo 11 months ago
For me it's M. Night Shyamalan's 'Signs'. It may be an odd choice but the use of lighting and the camera angles really create an un-easy feel the whole way through and a personal scene I hate is the scene with the news footage. That scene remains scary even 9 years on!
Flurbdurb 11 months ago
The Orphanage
Boxisfun 11 months ago
Dead of night was an old Dan Curtis anthology film from the mid 70's. The first two stories were not scary in the slightest. but he last Story.. Bobby was absolutely terrifying. I use to think the Entity scary, but that might have something to do with the fact that I brought in to the true story angle. Yes I was an idiot .but i stand by the Bobby episode of Dead of night.
ashleywetherall 11 months ago
Horror films are best viewed when you're a kid. Theres something (not sure what exactly) in the Shining which is just creepy. One film i remember scaring me was a low budget american horror from the 80s called Retribution. Ghostwatch by the bbc creeped me too.
firekind1980 11 months ago
The Room
Tomanistanumerouno 11 months ago
i was 10 or 11 and my grandma let me watch Misery with her, i can honestly say that was the last time i was properly scared by a film. i think it was because up until that point in my world there was only the idea that a man could catch you and kill you,kidnap you etc. Then kathy bates strolls into my life and freaks me the hell out!! she's strong, demanding, psychotic! obsessive! a murdering crazed woman!
and i'm thinking oh god! anyone can get me!!! haha
klaos9999 11 months ago
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.. The original by Tobe Hooper. That movie still gets under my skin, hell even thinking about it gives me the heebiejeebies. I can't really say why, cause I don't know exactly.. maybe that's what makes it so scary.
toajippon 11 months ago
As a picture, The Blair Witch (1999) chilled me to the bone. More recently, David Fincher's Zodiac (2007) contained several scenes of murder that left me deeply frightened and disturbed for several hours after viewing. There's something about seeing people being murdered in a film rooted in reality (not a torture porn film) that is absolutely terrifying to me.
ExleySC 11 months ago 2
@ExleySC I completely forgot about Zodiac. I remember watching it a few months back and the scene with the woman and her child chilled her bone. Also the scene where the killer speaks on live air.
Flurbdurb 11 months ago
signs when i was 12
kiandeheshti 11 months ago 3
A remember seeing The Children (on your advice) a few years back which made me feel pretty uneasy, even if it was a little silly. It all comes back to paedophobia
senorfatso 11 months ago
Kind of ashamed to admit it but hell, I vividly remember as a child being terrified especially night times by Ghostbusters 2 not during viewing but after feeling fear that a ghost would snatch me at night or pictures were watching me and it sort of stuck with me for years still not being able to have pictures of people in my bedroom.
Studio4474 11 months ago
My first viewing of Silence of the Lambs got under my skin. Something about Lecter really got to me. I could'nt eat after leaving the cinema and I remember that I didn't get to sleep until about 5am. No film had done that before, or done it since.
nailseagas 11 months ago
As I got older, I became desensitised to horror movies. In my teens, the Exorcist, The Shining, The Tenant, The Fly and Aliens were movies that really made me scared and played on mind. I remember after the watching the Fly and there was a fly in my room....couldn't go near it! But years on and I just don't get scared of movies no more!
jimmymckooel 11 months ago
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jimmymckooel 11 months ago
The original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" when it came out on video. I was in my early teens at the time and watched it at night before bedtime. Needless to say, I couldn't sleep that night.
GravesXIII 11 months ago
Saw. I remember seeing it when I was 17 and it scared the crap outta me. I had a hard time sleeping for a few nights, honestly. lol
KneeOfJustice2046 11 months ago
Event horizon scared the bejesus out of me when i was 16...looking back its a bit dated but there is still something freaky about it.....
r2d2idokya 11 months ago
I saw The Others when I was 13 (for it had a 12, not 12A certificate back then). That really freaked me out.
But the film that scared me the most recently was Juan Antonio Bayona's The Orphanage. I went back to see it again 3 times during it's limited release in Brighton, and although I knew the scary bits that were coming up it still scared me every time.
More films like those please!!!
Quinnmelodeon 11 months ago
Coming Soon (2008) a thai horror film, and Them (2006)
Tomisnever 11 months ago
Audition, Ring (1998) and Martyrs...
idfei 11 months ago
I always watched horror films to be thrilled but never to be scared. Ever since I was a kid I've understood they are not real and not one film ever made me scared. The term 'Horror' is a misnomer for me but it doesn't matter because I don't expect any different and I don't miss what I never knew.
FredSpade 11 months ago
The Ring (Japanese version) for me, I had to put a towel over my TV before I could sleep after watching that, not that that would help at all.
tubbstarful 11 months ago
I like the fact he didnt want us to count jumps. Jumps can appear in any type of flick really. Last time i was scared was as a kid i watched Candyman, that messed me up somewhat. Not being able to look in a mirror is a bit mental. More recently, the ending of The Mist left me unsettled but also jealous of such a brilliant ending. Love that film
jamcam80s 11 months ago
The last film to invoke such a feeling of nervousness in my was 'The Girl Next Door' (the 2007 film), which I consider to be the best horror movie I've ever seen. The Spoonyone said it best, this idea of jump scaring people so they go "OMG that was scary!" is like someone coming in your house and kicking you in the crotch: scary, but not entertaining. The Girl Next Door was truly HORRIFIC. I feel a true horrror film is one that plays on real fears, disturbs you and leaves you a little upset.
ProdigsProductions 11 months ago
Anyone seen 'Session Nine'? That properly scared me. No c.g., very little gore, just pure psychological terror.
DoubleIvan 11 months ago 2
@DoubleIvan
Yes.....that was creepy, but one that did catch me by surprise was May.....I thought it was a chick flick that my ex partner wanted to see, but I was so so so wrong.....
dopplereffeckt675 10 months ago
@DoubleIvan
"I live in the weak and the wounded"
woodbell67 10 months ago
@woodbell67 Dude, you just gave me a shiver! Many thanks.
DoubleIvan 10 months ago
Getting scared by a film greatly depend on the circumstances in which you are watching the film and on the mindset with which your watching the film. It's not hard to not get scared by a modern horror film with the prejudgement of thinking that you want be scared - this could be trying at all time predict the film or being unfocused to the suspense (which I is common for you considering your job). Try watch a ''unscary'' film when you are home alone and see if you get scare without prejudgement
sam91004 11 months ago
28 days later.
Scared e then, scares me now. Even the DVD cover fucks me up.
Filmzie 11 months ago
The only film to ever really scare me was the original Halloween. I used to look out my window at night thinking I'd see that white mask glistening in the moonlight. Thank God I never did.
Pettingill 11 months ago
Embarrasing as it is Signs was the last movie which scared the shit out of me. I couldnt sleep properly for weeks after seeing that in the cinema.
provenelk 11 months ago 9
@provenelk I always know it's coming but when it walks past the window on the home video I ALWAYS jump
mbagely 10 months ago
@mbagely Same! i remember not being able to look out my window at night in case it was standing on the roof of the house next to me.
provenelk 10 months ago
Martyrs freaked me out, even though it was more nasty than scary.
Robkinggozer 11 months ago
THE LAST FILM WHICH REALY SCARED ME AND MADE ME LEVE THE CINEMA, WAS EL ORFANATO, IT TERRIFYED ME.
BLACKPUMPS2010 11 months ago
Rec
zeratul1987 11 months ago
Lost Highway, Muholland Drive, Inland Empire...
the soundtrack eventually gets to you and you just have no sense of security of what will happen next and you're unnerved the whole time.
martialbro5 11 months ago
The last film to properly SCARE me was The Strangers, with Liv Tyler, purely because it wasn't paranormal, or had monsters in it, it was a plain and simple home invasion horror, which is scarier to me than any monsters Hollywood can throw at me. Home invasion is actually real and you hear it in the news regularly, when it was put on film in the manner that it did (the 3 invaders wearing bags on their heads - freaked the hell out of me) was absolutely terrifying.
RuhBuhJuh1 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@RuhBuhJuh1 Hide your kids hide your wife
HamGreenandEggs 11 months ago
Good question Mr. Kermode, for me the original 1968 Night of The Living Dead always gets me. There's just something I can't put my finger on, maybe the fact that I live Pennsylvania where the movie was filmed (Butler County), so it's literally in my backyard. Or it's the ever present sense of dread and confusion that fills the film, maybe both. That said, the ending always weirds me out and leaves me paranoid, I always watch it on Halloween night with the lights on :) Cheers!
EcologicalFighter 11 months ago
I watched the Thai film Shutter recently and it scared the crap out of me.
Areashiftybun 11 months ago 2
@Areashiftybun Incredible film, scared the living daylights out of me.
AdventChild93 11 months ago
Ly terror producing. Very..... Very creepy.
atassac66 11 months ago
Zodiac. The scene in the basement with Jake gylenhal. If you didn't know te movie was based on real people, those moments would be absolute
atassac66 11 months ago
Not sure about 'scared' but the last film that creeped me out (about 2 years ago, maybe a bit more) was called 'The Orphanage'. It was a Spanish film.
The last 'sleep with the light on' film for me was Ring (original Japanese version) about 5 or 6 years ago.
edobriensgrin 11 months ago
Hollywood has lost it. Korean and Japanese are mega scary! Last 5 mins of rec were bit scary too mind. Spanish version that is.
singh60 11 months ago
Sorry Mark, i think you have just desensitized yourself to horror films :(
ec123456789able 11 months ago 4
A very good question and point raised here by the good Dr. The last film to leave something close to a full on scared imprint on me was most probably Ringu. Although the film is not scary in a conventional manner and doesn't really contain any jump out moments aprt from the main set piece at the end the film is eerily atmospheric and filled with a real sense of foreboding dread that it leaves one feeling uneasy both during and after viewing.
petertyson2 11 months ago
The last film to really scare me was The Descent but have more recently been shit-scared reading a Stephen King short story called .N
IceCreamSuit 11 months ago
Paranormal activity for me, the worst bit was going to work the next day, turning into a dark corridor and bumping into a woman who looks just like the one from paranormal activity
samroslyn 11 months ago
hmm? I'd have to say the orginal Salems Lot tv film.
kalsolarUK 11 months ago
REC was probably the last film that made me look under the bed before I went to sleep. Last film i got up and left was Battle Los Angeles. It wasnt scary, it was just rubbish
BoutrasBoutrasGhali 11 months ago
Dead Space is not a great example, it's exactly what Kermode describes when he says "things that go Boo!". It has no subtlety and just plays scare chords everytime a monster pops up (completely loses any effect after the 3rd time). Silent Hill (esp. Silent Hill 2) is a much better example although it might be kinda hard as someone's first game.
TehgiggleKing 11 months ago
@TehgiggleKing Amnesia the Dark Descent is the last piece of media that truly scared me. Still there aren't many good horror titles in either the Video game or film market
HamGreenandEggs 11 months ago
@HamGreenandEggs Christ, Amnesia was unbelievable. I was shaking playing that.
AdventChild93 11 months ago
I agree with many of the game suggestions people are putting out. Dead Space, Amnesia, Silent Hill 2 are all genuinely terrifying.
LogicSword 11 months ago
oh i wanna see that. rose byrne is a nice atractress.
BRm2008 11 months ago
Play Amnesia, THAT is scary.
bordarboy 11 months ago 2
@bordarboy Yes, Amnesia is terrifying!!
drplbiftin 11 months ago
The last film that freaked me out was Spider Forest, which is a very strange Korean film. After watching it, an old childhood fear I had of mirrors and things that made a refection, returned to me in a huge way. I could barely muster up the courage, to walk from my front room to my bedroom upstairs. I love horror films, but I'm not usually scared by them. This however freaked me out.
Jdrizzz 11 months ago
Martyrs was the last horror film I saw to truly creep me out. But it's not really a horror movie. It's psychologically very testing and draining, and it's not a thrilling creep out like the Exorcist or The Shining is. Martyrs is probably the most disturbing, powerful and well made horror film I've seen in a decade, but it's also deeply unpleasant, it's not fun. I'd have to say the last film I saw to honestly scare, the way the old films do, is Ring or Tale of Two Sisters (original versions)
SethHesio 11 months ago
kermode should stop watching films and play dead space if he wants to be scared
nameless12345 11 months ago
@nameless12345 im terrible when it comes to horror but even i completed dead space. its just an action game with good atmosphere, its not horror, and certainly not scarier than the scares provided by films
revolutiongeorge 11 months ago
toolbox murders lol
nameless12345 11 months ago
seeing the scene where the guy gets his guts torn out in shaun of the dead, loved the rest of the moveie that just scared the hell out of me after all I was a bout 10 at the time
lucklessluke 11 months ago
Tideland crepped me out if that counts. I wasn't exactly having trouble sleeping that night, but it creeped more out far more than any other modern horror film I've seen recently.
Ashloomis 11 months ago
Silence of the Lambs
Final Destination (first one)
annacoffee 11 months ago
If you really want scares and to be terrified, then watchs these moives...
1. Candyman
2. The Evil Dead
3. Night of the living Dead (1968/black & white)
4. Children of the Corn (1984)
... I think these are some of the best.
ghost187don 11 months ago
Silent hill some real creepy bits in that!
Cure9269 11 months ago
The Texas Chainsaw Masscare...2003 REMAKE. Come on. Bring on the hate. [REC] also.
lukevalmurray 11 months ago
When I was a kid, Arachnophobia.. Freaked the hell out of me.
SpeedFreakNO 11 months ago
Has Mark Kermode never seen the Human Centipede?? I couldn't sleep after watching that.
1985snowball 11 months ago
Stupid really, but Jurassic Park really scared me as a kid, i was only about 12 when i saw it, but it terrified me, that first scene with the velicorapter and the man in the cage really caught my attention and scared the hell out of me!
Animationgatecom 11 months ago