What is the single scariest film you've ever seen?

[ParisDean]

Originally Posted by ukshaun

really?

The Blair Witch Project did zero for me.
I watched it, it was ok. It felt like one long stint in the woods followed by a quick rush of action in some building..
I'm still not quite sure what was in the building?

Reading your summary of the movie, you clearly weren't engaged at all while watching it. Asking what was in the building is a little like watching Jaws and asking what was in the water.

As others have said, the films that are more realistic leave a more lasting impression and that was the case with this movie for me. It felt like I was walking around my parents' property in upstate NY (one of ten cell phone dead zones in the U.S. https://matadornetwork.com/trips/10-...-worth-a-trip/). That final scene gets me every time.

[ukshaun]

Originally Posted by ParisDean

Reading your summary of the movie, you clearly weren't engaged at all while watching it. Asking what was in the building is a little like watching Jaws and asking what was in the water.

As others have said, the films that are more realistic leave a more lasting impression and that was the case with this movie for me. It felt like I was walking around my parents' property in upstate NY (one of ten cell phone dead zones in the U.S. https://matadornetwork.com/trips/10-...-worth-a-trip/). That final scene gets me every time.

I guess you hit the nail on the head - the movie failed to engage me.
I passed on watching Blair Witch when the hype machine was in full swing. I watched Blair Witch 5+ years down the line. That shouldn't matter, if it was any good. It wasn't all bad, at the same time, it failed to hold my attention like a good film should. It's not a budget thing either, as i like both high and low budget movies.

[adee]

The scariest movie I ever saw wasn't even a horror movie.

The Elephant Man gave me sleepless nights as a kid. I still have trouble with it to this day.

[ParisDean]

Originally Posted by ukshaun

I guess you hit the nail on the head - the movie failed to engage me.
I passed on watching Blair Witch when the hype machine was in full swing. I watched Blair Witch 5+ years down the line. That shouldn't matter, if it was any good. It wasn't all bad, at the same time, it failed to hold my attention like a good film should. It's not a budget thing either, as i like both high and low budget movies.

It was indeed a good film. The general consensus of movie reviews confirms that. It's just one you didn't like.

[mmk123]

I think the thing with the Blair Witch Project was that it was so positively reviewed and it was, at the time it came out, was the hot movie to see and people constantly claiming it was the scariest movie they ever saw. I think that if you do not see a movie like that at the time expectations are going to be higher for some people. (Others people maybe not so much)

I saw the movie well over a year or two after it came out and I do see where people had the reaction that they thought the movie was incredible scary but it did not with me.

[ParisDean]

Originally Posted by mmk123

I think the thing with the Blair Witch Project was that it was so positively reviewed and it was, at the time it came out, was the hot movie to see and people constantly claiming it was the scariest movie they ever saw. I think that if you do not see a movie like that at the time expectations are going to be higher for some people. (Others people maybe not so much)

I saw the movie well over a year or two after it came out and I do see where people had the reaction that they thought the movie was incredible scary but it did not with me.

This is how I feel about The Exorcist. I saw it for the first time at a screening some 30 years later and thought it was a very good film, but knowing its legacy, was expecting it to be scarier.

[nearmint]

Originally Posted by mmk123

I think the thing with the Blair Witch Project was that it was so positively reviewed and it was, at the time it came out, was the hot movie to see and people constantly claiming it was the scariest movie they ever saw. I think that if you do not see a movie like that at the time expectations are going to be higher for some people. (Others people maybe not so much)

I saw the movie well over a year or two after it came out and I do see where people had the reaction that they thought the movie was incredible scary but it did not with me.

It was the first “found video” film, wasn’t it? It was something fresh and new in a medium in which fresh and new doesn’t happen very often.

[mmk123]

Nearmint, I do believe you are correct about it being the first "found Video" film. There have been others but I never really enjoyed the "found video" film. I think that is why I did not like the 6th season of American Horror Story that much because that is how it was done.

[Vracula]

Originally Posted by ParisDean

This is how I feel about The Exorcist. I saw it for the first time at a screening some 30 years later and thought it was a very good film, but knowing its legacy, was expecting it to be scarier.

I found the book more terrifying than the movie.

[Shoo]

Originally Posted by nearmint

It was the first “found video” film, wasn’t it?

Originally Posted by mmk123

Nearmint, I do believe you are correct about it being the first "found Video" film.

I'd say Cannibal Holocaust (1980) was the first one.