What has really scared you?

[Killer Meteor]

This can be films or tv!

Ghostwatch - fake "live" haunting hosted by Michael Parkinson
Threads - The nuclear apocolypse as seen from Sheffield
A Short Vision - that freaky 50s cartoon showing the nuclear apocalypse (notice a pattern here?)
When The Wind Blows - more sad than scary, but the firestorm sequence makes me feel like I've punched in the stomach.
The Roswell Alien Autopsy - fake or not, its terrifying!
Apaches - Public Information Film showing a bunch of kids dying grusomely on a farm. "Bought the farm", you might say!
Night Of The Living Dead - speaks for itself really!
Shutter - ghost in the photo shocker from Thailand
The Orphanage - Spanish ghost story
"Baby" - creepy episode of the 1970s Nigel Kneale series
"The Unreal Ghostbusters" - episode of The Sooty Show. I was 4 years old!

[saltysam]

The scene in Exorcist 3..anyone whose seen it knows what i mean. Remember seeing Jaws in the cinema on boxing day either 75/76, i was 11/12, when the head rolled out the boat i nearly shit myself

[Killer Meteor]

That Exorcist 3 scene does scare me, but i couldn't actually tell what was happening. Too scared probably!

[gasteropod]

This is my kind of thread, I'm always interested in what people find scary.

Halloween (1978) was my main childhood fear after watching it one night when I was about 6 when my nana was babysitting me and she didn't know what it was - for years I'd have nightmares and be scared of seeing Michael Myers appearing at my bedroom door when I was in bed.

Another thing that gave me nightmares as a child was Fire in the Sky (1993), and watching the alien experimentation scene on YouTube recently I'm not surprised, it's very disturbing.

The scariest thing since that has definitely been Ringu (1998), thankfully when I saw this on TV I had no idea what was going to happen and hadn't seen the massive spoiler that is the UK DVD cover, so I was on the edge of my seat throughout the film, and got the shock of a lifetime at the end, what a terrifying film! I still consider this the best horror film ever, I can't fault it.

Since then I've been unable to experience such fear from a film, apart from a couple of times in Inland Empire (2006) - when I saw this at the cinema a couple of parts scared the life out of me - When Laura Dern is approaching the camera in slow motion for a while and when she reaches us her face is in a horrible expression combined with really loud audio, and when she shoots the guy near the end and his face turns into her distorted clown face. I love the creepiness David Lynch does so well, like in Lost Highway with the Mystery Man, and Mulholland Drive when they go to the alleyway behind the diner.

I'm a big fan of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's horror too, but I don't think anything in his films has really terrified me.

[gasteropod]

The scene in Exorcist 3..anyone whose seen it knows what i mean.

I watched The Exorcist III recently because I'd seen it mentioned in other 'scariest films' threads, but I honestly don't know what scene you're referring to, the film didn't scare me at all.

[gasteropod]

Shutter - ghost in the photo shocker from Thailand

The photo bits in Ringu are so much better! The way their faces are distorted and the accompanying 'music', ughhhh, so freaky. I didn't get any such feeling from Shutter unfortunately.

[Killer Meteor]

The sort of weird images of people on the ground (or something) on the tape really freaked me out in Ringu - more so than the ghost.

Has anyone seen the original TV version? I'm told its more of a softcore nudie flick.

[gasteropod]

The sort of weird images of people on the ground (or something) on the tape really freaked me out in Ringu - more so than the ghost.

Has anyone seen the original TV version? I'm told its more of a softcore nudie flick.

When they're crawling and appear to be in pain? Yeah very freaky, the whole tape is.

I haven't seen the TV version but checked out its cursed tape and it's very close to the one in the book.

[Killer Meteor]

An old National Geographic documentary on sharks scared me so much as a toddler I was petrified of any film or picture of the damn things for years...took Jaws The Revenge to cure me!

[Killer Meteor]

Oh, and I know it's at least the third example I've given, but the Hiroshima "ghosts" in Barefoot Gen are truly upsetting!

[bradavon]

Ironically I answered from a film perspective earlier:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/ ... hills.html

"No.1 - Absolutely has to be the ending of Hideo Nakata's Ringu, when Sadako (Samara, please!) comes out of the TV. I've never been so unnerved during a film.

No. 2 - The Shining: When Shelley Duvall opens the manuscript for the book her husband Jack is writing in The Shining and realises he's gone completely mad, all that's written is again and again "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". It worked so well and totally creeped me out."

[Killer Meteor]

Damn, how could I forget the "lady in the tub" scene in The Shining! Terrified me!

Also, those flashing white faces in The Exorcist.

[Killer Meteor]

Oh, and the lady behind the radiator in Eraserhead!

[HungFist]

Basic Instinct: this was the only film that scared me as a kid. Saw it on TV when I was 9 or 10, and the ending... damn. Some kids checked under the bed for boogey man before they went to sleep, I checked for Sharon Stone...

Guinea Pig: Flowers of Flesh and Blood: This would've been the other film that scared me as a kid, but it doesn't count because I never saw it (until last year). And that's why it was so scary...

Those are probably the one ones that really scared me... Ring(u) and Grotesque gave some good chills, though, and Higurashi no naku koro ni (live action) too... cuteness never been some scary!!!

edit: forgot Hellraiser and Hellraiser II. I wasn't even that young when I saw them, probably 14 or 15, but they were really scary, Hellraiser II especially.

[Yi-Long]

I can't really think of anything that stands out TBH. I've never been that impressed with horror and I don't think I've been 'scared' of stuff in other genres either...

I don't know. Real life seems a lot more scarier to me.

[luckystars]

Brads photo!!

[grim_tales]

I hop thats not a Ring spoiler - I havent seen it

[gasteropod]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/ ... hills.html

I just read through those and agree with the mention of A Tale of Two Sisters with the girl under the sink.

[Killer Meteor]

That weird aquatic monster in Duran Duran's "Wild Boys" video

The Sandman - a animated short, at first slightly charming, ending in pure terror

Haxan - the devil popping up from behind the pulpit

Asylum (1972) - the gallery of a Regency era man going insane, rendered in etching and backed by disturbing Mussorsky music

[saltysam]

The Signalman (denholm elliott)-an old bbc ghost story for xmas was creepy.in fact a few of those 70's xmas ghost stories were creepy

[Killer Meteor]

Yes, The Ash Tree was very frightening!

[Keung]

Predator (1987)

Clicking noises the Predator would make when stalking Arnold and his crew. The heat vision was spooky as well. Predator repeating phrases and such, all scared the crap out of me. The chase scene just before Arnold slips and falls from the cliff is fucking terrifying.

Condemned (Xbox 360 Game)

Playing as a detective, obviously you need to collect evidence and stuff. At one point, you come across a body in a locker. Completely skinned, lips ripped off, etc. You're ordered to take a picture of the body. You do this and send it off to someone in the office but then you're asked to take another as it's not very clear. So, you zoom in and....motherfucker grabs your hand is all like "heeeelp me" like Emil from Robocop after the toxic waste incident. I screamed like a girl and threw my pad on the floor. 2006, 19 years old.

[bradavon]

Basic Instinct: this was the only film that scared me as a kid. Saw it on TV when I was 9 or 10, and the ending... damn. Some kids checked under the bed for boogey man before they went to sleep, I checked for Sharon Stone...

What's scary about Basic Instinct?

Personally I never found Exorcist scary.

Brads photo!!

Huh?

I hop thats not a Ring spoiler - I havent seen it

It's on the front cover (like Planet of the Apes is). "Possibly" technically though.

You've never seen Ringu?

I just read through those and agree with the mention of A Tale of Two Sisters with the girl under the sink.

I've still got my DVD of that. I wish I hadn't got rid of Ju-On: The Grudge or Dark Water now but all these Asian films are fairly similar and I've seen several.

I gather A Tale of Two Sisters is better than Ju-On: The Grudge or Dark Water too.

[Killer Meteor]

The Grudge did scare me but yes, it does feel awfully like The Ring without the tape. Ditto One Missed Call.

[gasteropod]

One Missed Call is weak, Ju-on is so-so, A Tale of Two Sisters and Dark Water are both very good.