It occurred to me that after The Andromeda Strain and The Satan Bug had already cropped up on the blog as examples of truly scary movies, it might be interesting to work out what the scariest might be. Anyone got any further suggestions? I'm sure The Exorcist will be in there somewhere, but Phase IV – the one with the ants – has got to be in there (I was minded of it by Marie's current problems).
Directed by Saul Bass and featuring some stunning micro-photography of real insects, it asks the question: "What if ants suddenly became intelligent, stopped fighting each other and decided to gang up on us for their own sinister purposes?" Non-stop scary and very weird.
Updates and related entries
July 8, 2008:
The first nine minutes of scary movie Phase IV
May 28, 2008 | Reply
This isn't sci/fi, so you may rule it out, but the movie I refuse to watch alone in the house and/or at night: the original 1963 version of The Haunting. No special effects aside from the sounds and the camera angles, yet you swear you saw something... I think I may have caught a whiff of a tribute to it in the "Tooth and Claw" episode of Doctor Who when they're trapped in the library, listening to the werewolf sniff his way around the walls outside. *Shudder*.
May 28, 2008 | Reply
As long as it's scary, you can nominate it.
I did like The Haunting, but the noises, etc, were done again in BBC1's Ghostwatch – which I saw first – so they weren't quite as impressive for me when I saw them in The Haunting.
Good suggestion, though. Do we have a seconder?
May 28, 2008 | Reply
The only thing I ever found scary in 'The Exorcist' was the arm of some medical device suddenly rearing up into the frame; came out of nowhere and wasn't expecting that.
Here are my three choices for scary movie:
'Alien'
'The Legend of Hell House'
'Trilogy of Terror' - the third story with the Zuni fetish doll.....
May 28, 2008 | Reply
Not sure about a whole movie, but the scene in Ringu and the TV exit (sorry, am trying to phrase it un-spoilery)... argh!
And its a bit old skool I know but The Shining still does it for me...
May 28, 2008 | Reply
Not the scariest film ever.. however the scenes where the cast meld into the sand are pretty scary. Most scary film? Well perhaps 8 legged freaks... or more likely the Spanish film, The Dark Hour! Freaky end of the world malarkey!