Five of my favorites, proffered in no particular order:
Definitely “The Exorcist,” frightening not so much for Linda Blaire’s makeup but because the film takes the idea of demonic possession of a young girl very, very seriously.
“The Haunting” (1963), based on the novel by Shirley Jackson, starring Julie Harris and Claire Bloom. The ultima…
Five of my favorites, proffered in no particular order:
Definitely “The Exorcist,” frightening not so much for Linda Blaire’s makeup but because the film takes the idea of demonic possession of a young girl very, very seriously.
“The Haunting” (1963), based on the novel by Shirley Jackson, starring Julie Harris and Claire Bloom. The ultimate Bad Place movie.
“Horror of Dracula” (1958), the Hammer Films take on Bram Stoker ‘s novel, starring the late, great Christopher Lee as the sanguinary Count and the late, equally great Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing. This old-school screamer holds up surprisingly well.
“Pet Sematary” (1989), very frightening indeed. When Stephen King finished the first draft of the novel, he filed it away, telling himself that he’d finally gone too far. But his wife convinced him to resurrect and publish it. A recent movie remake is more gruesome but somehow far less frightening than the 1989 version.
“Stir of Echoes” (1999), starring the ubiquitous Kevin Bacon, based on the 1958 novel by Richard Matheson. If you’ve ever thought that it might be cool to have psychic powers, this movie will change your mind.
Re Pet Sematary - interesting that Stephen King himself thought he had gone too far. I read every Stephen King book before Pet Sematary. After I read that one, I swore never to read another. Way too far, and I didn't even have kids yet.
That's generally recognized as his all-time best, and I have to agree. Profoundly and effectively disturbing. The film was far inferior.
I think "going too far" is what horror is supposed to be. But I discovered my own too-far, and it was in The Witch, the baby-sacrifice scene. No, just no. Some things just need to take place off-camera. Ruined an otherwise decent movie.
Oh don't get me wrong, I haven't read probably even half of his books, so I'm hardly qualified to name "the best" of all, only the best of what I've read. I never got into the more science-fiction-y stuff. I'd also recommend his short-story collections (The Mist, Langoliers) as well as books he wrote under the Richard Bachman pseudonym like Thinner and Dark Half.
I think King is way past his prime, but the best of his more recent stuff is the anthology Full Dark, No Stars. I think it's about ten years old. One of the stories is modeled on the BTK killer. Read it if you dare, hee hee hee.
It does not matter how many times I watch “The Haunting” or “The Exorcist “ I am still completely creeped out with chills running up my arm. These are the only two movies to do this to me on repeat watching
Five of my favorites, proffered in no particular order:
Definitely “The Exorcist,” frightening not so much for Linda Blaire’s makeup but because the film takes the idea of demonic possession of a young girl very, very seriously.
“The Haunting” (1963), based on the novel by Shirley Jackson, starring Julie Harris and Claire Bloom. The ultimate Bad Place movie.
“Horror of Dracula” (1958), the Hammer Films take on Bram Stoker ‘s novel, starring the late, great Christopher Lee as the sanguinary Count and the late, equally great Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing. This old-school screamer holds up surprisingly well.
“Pet Sematary” (1989), very frightening indeed. When Stephen King finished the first draft of the novel, he filed it away, telling himself that he’d finally gone too far. But his wife convinced him to resurrect and publish it. A recent movie remake is more gruesome but somehow far less frightening than the 1989 version.
“Stir of Echoes” (1999), starring the ubiquitous Kevin Bacon, based on the 1958 novel by Richard Matheson. If you’ve ever thought that it might be cool to have psychic powers, this movie will change your mind.
Re Pet Sematary - interesting that Stephen King himself thought he had gone too far. I read every Stephen King book before Pet Sematary. After I read that one, I swore never to read another. Way too far, and I didn't even have kids yet.
I gave up reading King or anything like him after reading Pet Sematary. Just too disturbing.
That's generally recognized as his all-time best, and I have to agree. Profoundly and effectively disturbing. The film was far inferior.
I think "going too far" is what horror is supposed to be. But I discovered my own too-far, and it was in The Witch, the baby-sacrifice scene. No, just no. Some things just need to take place off-camera. Ruined an otherwise decent movie.
I thought The Stand was by far his best, but then it was the only one I read in the 40 years since Pet Sematary. To each his own!
Oh don't get me wrong, I haven't read probably even half of his books, so I'm hardly qualified to name "the best" of all, only the best of what I've read. I never got into the more science-fiction-y stuff. I'd also recommend his short-story collections (The Mist, Langoliers) as well as books he wrote under the Richard Bachman pseudonym like Thinner and Dark Half.
I think King is way past his prime, but the best of his more recent stuff is the anthology Full Dark, No Stars. I think it's about ten years old. One of the stories is modeled on the BTK killer. Read it if you dare, hee hee hee.
It does not matter how many times I watch “The Haunting” or “The Exorcist “ I am still completely creeped out with chills running up my arm. These are the only two movies to do this to me on repeat watching
Stir of echoes is so good