Horror Movies Worth Watching

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Okay, Asian horror films worth watching include...

It's not necessarily aged well (something that's inevitable, given the film's focus on technology), but Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2001 exploration of the way computers and information technology isolates humanity is one of my favourite films to come out of the J-Horror scene. It's a slow movie, as is often the case with Japan's horror films, but it's also one of the most overwhelmingly depressing pieces of cinema I ever done did saw. There's an American remake, too. You shouldn't watch it. It's fucking absymal.

I'll try not to mention Takashi Miike too much in this list, but that may be difficult; he is, hands down, my favourite horror director to come out of Japan. I went with Audition over some of his other horror flicks, as it was the first film of his I saw and a damn great introduction to Miike's style overall. Though it retains the brilliant and unflinching brutality he's known for, Audition isn't the most excessively graphic thing he's produced.

If you wanna see how far Miike's willing to go, check out the episode he directed for the Masters Of Horror series. It's pretty fucking grim, as a heads up.

Korea's home-grown horror scene has been starting to garner some much-deserved international attention of late, and it's films like this wee doozey that show why. The violence in this film isn't the overblown, numbing gore a lot of American horror goes for, so overdone it doesn't inspire much of a reaction; I Saw The Devil makes you feel it, keeps it gritty and grounded enough to seem real. Combine that with Choi Min-sik's brilliant performance and you've got a classic, right here.

Let me sell this movie to you in one sentence.

Korean director makes the best damn vampire movie you're gonna see in a long time.

Let me add another sentence just to sweeten the deal.

This film was made by Park Chan-wook, the same guy who made Oldboy and the other two phenomenal entries that make up the Vengeance trilogy.

Sold? Fucking right you are. Now go watch it.
 
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So, I decided to watch Pulse today. And I think I messed up because I watched the American version. It wasn't until just now that I realized that both versions were mentioned and ack.
 
Jerelin said:
So, I decided to watch Pulse today. And I think I messed up because I watched the American version. It wasn't until just now that I realized that both versions were mentioned and ack.
Click to expand...
Well there is the Japanese original version from 2001 and another called Pulse from 1988 (or something). The original Japanese version was pretty cool but the American remake felt a worthy Western remake in the way American culture is.
 
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I think I want to watch Psycho and American Mary when I have the time. That trailer for Psycho spooked me ; _ ;
 
Jerelin said:
So, I decided to watch Pulse today. And I think I messed up because I watched the American version. It wasn't until just now that I realized that both versions were mentioned and ack.
Click to expand...

The original Japanese version can be pretty difficult to track down, actually. You may need to grab it on DVD, like I did.
 
NOW THEN, LET'S DO SOME EUROPEAN HORROR WHILST I'M ON A ROLL HERE.

In advance, this one is grim. Really, really grim. It starts unpleasantly, and it only gets worse as shit goes on. Martyrs is probably the most well known of the New French Extremity film movement, a series of highly transgressive films reacting against the more wanky, soft-spoken trends of popular French cinema. If you've got the stomach for it, it's a fascinating film. Just, seriously. Don't say I didn't warn you. If you find SAW unpleasant, maybe steer clear of this one.

You might not normally associate Sweden with vampire horror, but that's exactly where this film takes place. And in a genre who's current biggest seller is fucking Twilight, Let The Right One In is a glorious wee breath of fresh air. This one is also extremely interesting because the author of the original book, John Ajvide Lindqvist, is also the one who wrote the film's screenplay. Like several of the other films I've mentioned, this one has an American remake. Unlike those, however, 'Let Me In' isn't a massive steamy pile of shit and is actually worth checking out if you don't like reading subtitles.

There's gonna be a fair few Spanish recommendations on this list, because goddamn if they don't do horror well. REC remains one of my favourite examples of the horrendously-overused 'found-footage' style of horror, and is a compelling, quite unique wee zombie horror in its own right. The sequels are a bit hit-and-miss (the second is worth a watch, 3 and 4 are pretty pish), and the American remake 'Quarantine' took everything interesting and unique from the setup and stripped it out, so when it comes to this series? Original and best, accept no substitutes.

Okay, I'm cheating a bit here; this one is technically a Spanish-Canadian collaboration, but deal with it because Mama is well worth it. A really interesting exploration into the themes of motherhood and the raising of children, with a damn good cast (WOO JAIME LANNISTER) and some of the freakiest special effects I've seen in a while. Seriously, 10/10 for the monster design here; the film-makers don't need to rely on fleeting images and just-out-of-frame teasers, they know their ghost will terrify you.

Back in 2001, Guillermo del Toro wasn't quite the household name he is today; he'd released a few short films and the fascinating Cronos, but it was The Devil's Backbone that put him on the map. Set in civil war-era Spain, this is a trye blue Gothic horror complete with tragic heroes, creepy little ghost kids and an exploration of one of the most tragic periods of Spanish history.

I'll be honest, I half put this one in just to break up the Spanish onslaught. I'm a big fan of this one, but Frontier(s) is another of the New French Extremity films, less well-known than Martyrs and infinitely more brutal. It's also a highly politically-charged movie, as you might expect from the French, but again this one comes with a warning label. It's violent as fuck. Not gore-y: violent. You will not enjoy a lot of the scenes.

Del Toro's popping up a lot on this list in one way or another, isn't he? Ah well, fuck it. Man makes good movies. The Orphanage is the brain child of del Toro's mate J. A. Bayona and his directorial debut. I mention this because, for his first film, Bayona knocks it out the fucking park. A real gothic horror mystery, though its setting may seem overused you'll not see it done this well anywhere else. The Spanish do gothic horror real good, it seems.
 
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You're a sick, sick man.

Movie night my place?
 
Mama was a pleasant surprise when I watched it way back when.
The Orphanage and Devil's Backbone were brilliant. We watched them both in my highschool Spanish class. :3


You really are on a roll, @Grumpy. You should hold a movie night. :P
 
I am indeed. And since I am...

...LET'S TALK BRITISH HORROR MOVIES.

Well, this is a bit of an odd one.

A black comedy on one hand and a rather disturbing thriller/horror on the other, Sightseers follows a writer and his girlfriend on a caravan trip across England, also following their rather murderous descent as things progress. Steve Oram and Alice Lowe are both fan-fucking-tastic in the lead roles: there's something hilarious yet faintly disturbing about these two people with their thick English accents pulling the shit they do.

Neill Marhall is gonna pop up again on this list, but this was the first of his films I saw and it remains my favourite. The Descent manages to truly capture the cramped, claustrophobic tension that its cast find themselves trapped in, to the point that I found it quite uncomfortable to watch at several key moments.

Let's just pretend that the sequel was a thing that never happened though, okay?

No, not the one with Nicholas Cage screaming about bees. I'm talking the 1973 classic here, with Edward Woodward as the devout police sergeant deployed to Summerisle in order to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The slow onset of revelations as to what's really occurring on the island is where this film shines. Plus, y'know, Christopher Lee. Doing what he does best.

Told you Neill Marshall would be back. Ignore the rather shitty trailer; Dog Soldiers is a cracker of a werewolf movie, complete with great tension and a hell of a dark sense of humour. Analogies to Night Of The Living Dead have been made (and with good reason, given the remote setting), but that doesn't quite express the anarchic British sense of humour running throughout.

The London Underground is a pretty fucking scary place it turns out, and Creep demonstrates this quite ably. It's a pretty straight-up slasher horror, but brings a great British spin to the genre with its style, acting, and pretty heavy brutality.

Paddy Considine is one of my favourite actors to come out of that awesome upsurge of British indie movies we saw back in the mid-2000s, and Dead Man's Shoes is a beautiful example of why. The film really captures the grim reality of what many parts of this country have become, and throws into the mix an awesome story of revenge and brotherly love. Top stuff.

And finally, since no list on British horror is really complete without it...

It's a classic. A bona-fide cult classic. One of the films that brought back the zombie genre, and the film that put messers Pegg, Frost and Wright on the map. I'd hope that you've already seen it, but if you haven't please hit yourself with the nearest heavy object and go rectify this massive, gaping flaw with your life.
 
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Yep, the descent is pretty freaking good. Though I have no idea what sequel you're speaking of Grumpy. There has never been a sequel for that movie, and anyone who says otherwise shall be killed!
 
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