Thought I'd make a thread dedicated to that marvellous genre that is horror films.

What are examples of people's favourite hroor film... and by horror I mean scary films, not slasher or gore films, I mean films that make the hairs on the back of your neck etc. stand on end, give you goosepimples in fear... that sort of horror, so films like Scream don't count!

Why is it a lot of people really like horror films, and to be scared? Does the feeling of fear release some form of endorphin in your brain that people get addicted to or something?

Anyway, given that I am a big Asian cinema fan, the films I'm going to focus on will be Asian ones... I thought I'd highlight them so that people who also like good, scary, suspense filled, horror films can possibly learn of other films which they should check out, which they might otherwise never hear about.

So films I recommend are:

A Tale Of Two Sisters
This is a South Korean film which will not only scare you at quite a number of places, but will also have you pretty confused first time round. At the basic level the film is about two sisters and their bad relationship with their step-mother. Everything about it is brilliant, in my opinion. The acting is of a stellar standard, and the sound-effects add greatly to the atmosphere. It may be a bit of a mind-f***, but it is one of those films that you'll want to see again so you can understand it more!
- click here for my review of this film -

Ring
The original Japanese film which the Hollywood film The Ring was a remake of. This is the film that started the long black hair covering the face look for scary people. It has been copied countless times since then, as it is a tried and tested method. The film is very slow, with only a few reasonable scares in it, but this is so that the tension and the suspense slowly builds up all the way till the end of the film for the classic climax, which had me crapping myself the first time I saw it!!

Dark Water
Another Japanese suspense film from the same guy that did Ring, Hideo Nakata. Not quite as scary by comparison, as it has lots of smaller scares rather than a big one, but it oozes suspense once it gets going. The little kid in the film acts well beyond her years. This film is about a mother and daugher who live in an appartment that appears to have some sort of pipe problem. After seeing this film, damp patches on the ceiling will probably scare the hell out of you!
- My page for this film -

Inner Senses
A Hong Kong film starring the late Leslie Cheung. This is another film which oozes suspense, and has lots of little scares rather than one big one. This film is about a woman who can see ghosts, and is driven close to suicide as a result. The only person that seems able to help her is her psychologist.
- My review of this film -

The Eye
This is a Hong Kong/Thai film about a woman who has a retina transplant as she is blind. Once her sight comes round she sees that she can see ghosts... Again, there are lots of small scares, one particularly effective one about half way through, and a very good story.


Ju-On: The Grudge
This is the film which I've just watched, and is what inspired me to start this thread. The film is comprised of 6 inter-linked short stories, about a house where strange goings on seem to keep happening. Basically anyone who goes in the house somehow dies. As there are 6 short stories, there is an ending to each fo the shorts, and each one of those is a scary ending. This made the film scarier than if it was simply a linear narrative... there are plenty of smaller scares in the body of the shorts, and each has a bigger scare at the end. It gets a little confusing following the time-line at times, which hinders the film a little, but if you are after a scare, this is a good one to go for!
- review of this one coming soon! -


Anyway, post your thoughts on horror films, and give a little discription of ones which you like and recommend!