“Nicole Kidman walking around in a spooky dooky house lockin’ doors, opening doors and locking them again” is the most accurate description of The Others ever.
I saw Paranormal Activity during the process of moving house. All my roommates were already gone by that point and most of the furniture was already gone so there were all sorts of echoes all throughout the halls. I tried spending the night there. Emphasis on “tried”. Lol. At about 1 a.m. that night I ended up going to my mom’s house and sleeping on the couch and staying there till my new place was ready. So, my joking review of the movie was “so scary, I moved back in with my parents.” Imagine that on the dvd cover. Lol
I showed my friend this video and he was like "You've never seen Paranormal Activity?! We have to watch it." lol I did try once but I got distracted and never picked it back up. But this story makes me want to pick it back up again. 😂
Hereditary EMOTIONALLY exhausted me. The sounds effects and visuals ALONE effected me so deeply. I agree totally Hereditary is literally so exhausting and so terrifying. I love the fact that it surrounds family drama so much. It’s why some don’t like “elevated horror” because of the heavy involvement of drama
@@jordanaut OMG!!! I literally watched like 35 mins of that movie and had to leave and didn’t finish it but it was SOOO good for those 35 mins and I still think about it
I would be tempted to put it in the nightmare tier just out of that one still shot when you can see the grandmother standing immobile in the corner of the room.
I AGREE!!! Toni Collette was AMAZING in this she made it feel so REAL. This movie is haunting especially because it’s a just a good slow burner and I just LOVE those.
It was such a hard watch thr first time idk.. the low humming and atmosphere/ camera work was the main character. Such a slow burn I barely felt the flame
Requiem for a Dream is ABSOLUTELY nightmare fuel. One of my favourite films of all time, I think it’s stunning, but absolutely one of the scariest and to me, THE most disturbing I’ve seen. Also I require a sizeable gap between rewatches for obvious reasons haha
Yes! It is one of my favorite movies but at the same time a movie that I rarely ever want to watch, kinda like Hereditary because of how much they affect you.
Ellen Bernstyn (spelling is wrong), DESTROYED ME!! I have NEVER been so affected by a movie. I was SO DISTURBED. If I watch it again, I wouldn’t be able to see what becomes of her😱😱😱, which is lifelong torture. Man, I LOVE horror movies, THIS was DIFFERENT. 😢😳😭😱🫣😥😵💫
I watched this at the cinema in a back to back with Pi. During the interval after Pi finished I remember thinking that was a bit unsettling, hopefully the next film is less intense. Couldn't have been more wrong
Things I found scary many years ago I am pretty numb to now. Jump scares fall flat for me, but what really disturbs me and keeps me thinking for days are films like Hereditary or Host. Discomfort in your own home is scary. Oh, and The Strangers! Could never warch that while home alone!
The Ring scared the crap out of me. I was an adult when it came out, but would definitely be nightmare fuel. It stayed with me and I could just imagine her crawling to the top of my stairs with her hair hanging down...(cue shiver). The sequels didn't have the same effect for me. I appreciate when things aren't totally explained. Samara being evil and powerful without us knowing why made it more impactfull. And she was just super creepy!
Seconding this. I have a phobia of cold rotting corpse faces staring at the camera, and also analog horror, and The Ring had both, plus that Luis Buñuel-esque video and the whole doom and gloom atmosphere. Everything in it was created to make you feel uncomfortable and to stay with you for days.
I thought I was the only person who liked/loved The Fourth Kind! Yeah it’s not a great film if you pick it apart, and the critics hate it, but it works for me. I love Milla Jovovitch and Elias Koteas being cast and the setting in Alaska…perfect for an alien 👽 flick!
I liked "The Fourth Kind" and thought it was spooky as hell. Part of that, though, was because I thought it was real for a short time after it was over. That made it even scarier!
My problem with the Fourth Kind is that it is done as documentary. But it is set in Nome Alaska. I lived in Alaska at the time. They paint Nome Alaska like it has huge trees and forests. I immediately realized the film was a crock, since Nome is too far north to even have trees. That completely took me out of the film.
I really like the tier themes you have. There’s an almost equal playing field that puts merit on each film for different aspects the have, rather than a straight ranking. Great video and ranking!
The Descent is totally nightmare fuel for me, I was already claustrophobic about caves and narrow spaces where you can't turn around and it really upped my fear to a 10 to where when I went caving my freshman year of college I was so spooked that I would see creatures lurking in the dark 😂
You should see the original “The Vanishing” - I believe it’s a Dutch/French production, much more understated than the splashy American remake, and the ending is truly bleak.
The greatness of The Descent is that they do such a great job building up the tension of just the natural danger and isolation of the cave that when you add the horrifying creatures on top of that, it sends the scares into overdrive.
bruh i was in highschool when i first saw it and i watched it alone in my room and it is one of the unforgettable horror movie ever for me, the attic scene and when they're watching the tapes... o m g jaklasklasl
I randomly stumbled upon autopsy of Jane Doe and man I love finding great movies by chance. Another random one that isn’t necessarily scary but gave me so much dread was vivarium. I watched that hungover and I’m pretty sure it gave me 10x more anxiety and sadness hahah.
Autopsy of Jane Doe is so good, and I discovered it in a weird way. I've been a fan of the Scary Stories books since they were first released when I was a kid, so I was interested when a movie was announced. The director of TAOJD was set to direct SSTTITD, so I checked the former out to see if he had any promise.
With Blair Witch Project, we didn't have ubiquitous broadband at the time to fact-check news/stories. We went into the theater blind, thinking this was ACTUAL found footage, and it scared the hell out of us. My girlfriend thought it was a legitimate tragedy, and was bawling.... It was relieving when we saw the actors alive, and the movie was revealed for what it was. That was the power of TBWProject....
@@oc9357 I don't know about that. I absolutely loved House Of The Devil and I still can't finish Suspiria new and original in one sitting. Bores me to death.
I absolutely love House of the Devil, the music was so good and the building dread was just up my alley. The scene where you just get a peak into that locked door.......bone-chilling!
I watched that at the cinema when it came out. I've never watched it again since, despite owning it on DVD. Of all the Horror films I've watched over many decades, there's just something inherently 'wrong' about that movie that for whatever reason, completely rattled me. It also features an incredible performance by the criminally underrated, Jennifer Carpenter (mmmmmmm!).
I found Halloween scary when I first saw it, but I'm 50 so that was a long time ago. It certainly spooked me. I do love Hereditary. I saw that in the cinema knowing nothing about it and it freaked me out. I definitely recommend The Autopsy of Kane Doe and The Grudge also freaked me out when I first saw it. Martyrs I find hard to watch, but it's a deep, innovative terrifying nightmare. Midsommar is the best bad boyfriend film ever.
Your commentary on Paranormal Activity felt so relatable. I was born in 1992 and I was literally saying "you had to be there" in my head 😂 It captured the horror of that time so well
A couple of my nightmare fuels that aren't on the list are "The Thing" (the sounds effects of the creature transforming especially haunted me) and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (Freddy was scary and not really funny in the first film and the idea that sleeping was unsafe lingered with me). "Paranormal Activity" and "The Ring" also haunted me for days because of their mundane settings and props (a tv, a phone, a bedroom and that damn wrought iron staircase that was just like the one in my duplex).
Yes! The scene in the Thing where the creature hasn't fully transformed and screams out into a desolate landscape... That sound haunts me to this day, it's such a chilling (no pun intended) moment
The Thing is pure nightmare fuel. I didn't watch it until a few years ago, so in my 30s and it stuck with me. The practical effects, the isolation and the utter hopelessness freaked me out and I loved it.
The Cell with Vincent D’Onofrio, Jennifer Lopez, and Vince Vaughn. Peeking inside the mind of a serial killer has got to be the most scary thing. So completely unnerving.. especially the sunbathers on the beach. 😳
I saw Paranormal Activity at an advanced late night screening and knew absolutely nothing about it going in. It was in a small old school movie theatre and I overheard someone say that it was a real-time documentation of a haunting. I literally couldn't get up from my seat for a few minutes when it was over. I was a basket case on my drive home. At the same time, I had a blast watching it, so to me it's kind of a perfect "scary" movie.
I rented "Requiem For A Dream" shortly after it came out, and asked my cousin, who has very similar tastes, to watch it with me. We both have re-watched it many times since, and we both read the novel afterwards. There are scenes that have made people almost get physically ill. Many viewers have said it's a "one and done", because they cannot bear to put themselves through a rewatch. As for my cousin and I, the movie scared us away from drugs for life 👍.
Ellen Bernstyn absolutely nailed what a TRULY scary, awful, never ending nightmare looks n FEELS like. I love to be disturbed, really, I do…but, I can’t watch that poor woman go thru that again. 😱😵💫😭😲. What’s a disturbing movie u can’t rewatch?
This was a really fun video! 😄I totally agree on Hereditary, it´s pure nightmare fuel. When I watched it at the cinema I got so scared that I kind of missed the plot. When I read reviews of it afterwards I didn't recognize the actual story, I just remembered the vibe and the atmosphere. Now I´ve rewatched it several times and I´m trying to detect just what makes it so scary. But, like you say, it's not one thing. It's the atmosphere that lies over the film from scene one. I think it's an amazing film.
Absolutely love this tier list; if I can say so without being TOO creepy, I love finding out your favorite flavors of fear :D I think Jump Scares are at the bottom for me, then it ascends to Thrilling, then Scream Fest, then Chilling, and finally Nightmare Fuel.
This was a cracking video Emma, loved the categories and the wide range of titles too - always good to watch a movie that permeates deep seated dread and Autopsy of Jane Doe absolutely does this, it really got under my skin as did Eden Lake. I like The Endless and Banshee Chapter for the same reason
Sixth sense is probably the scariest movie for me. The housewife screaming with the cut wrists chills me to the bone and I think it’s cause I was so young when I saw it. I think because it’s all happening to this kid it makes ot scarier because youre viewing thr scares from his perspective. Also imagine having that power. Any disturbing shit being possible around every corner
I'm usually scared by sounds when you don't see anything. Once you see the ghost or monster the fear stars to fade with familiarity. Visuals can be gross or disturbing, but sound and atmosphere are the real sources of terror. The most terrifying sound for me is the sobbing of a woman you cannot see (I am a woman BTW). Like in this old TV movie The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre, or 1940s The Uninvited. The wind lashing the lamps in a crypt as the disembodied sobbing moves down the corridor. Atmosphere is so much more effective before you actually see anything. Older movies do this much better than new ones. The Descent is terrifying without the cannibal creatures. Just the idea of being trapped underground without a way out, in near total darkness, is horrifying enough. The creatures are conventional.
I love the 1940's The Uninvited and your description of what scares you . Never heard of The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre but I am off to find it now . Thanks for the unexpected recommendation .
There's a great scene in silent hill that's just this, you go into an abandoned bathroom, all run down and deserted and from one if the stalls you hear sobbing for a minute and that's it doesn't pay off. Familiarity breeds, comfort sort of? It's why I find Junji Ito so tough, I can beat a zombie or a vampire, I know the rules, but what the hell do I do with a geometrical pattern if a spiral cursing my town, or ribs woman or the like...I don't know how to box that up in my head so I feel.. helpless sort of to it
I completely agree with you about The Descent! I'm really claustrophobic and being trapped underground or in a small space is a huge fear so this movie is scary enough for me without the creatures. I feel similarly about the movie As Above So Below. You don't need to add supernatural elements to make the Paris catacombs terrifying! I agree with you about atmosphere and sound as well and the sound of a woman crying is the stuff of nightmares
I totally agree with this. I felt this whilst watching insidious for the first time. The first jump scare where the red face paint demon appears in a “You can relax and breathe for a minute because this is a safe space” type of scene, was terrifying. However the more we saw him (especially close up), lessened how much I found him scary as he was suddenly brought from the shadows, into the light. I actually found his image to be comedic by the end! (and I’m a horror newbie so am yet to be truly desensitised to scary imagery).
I believe the Exorcist belongs in every category except thrilling, but it could be the demographic I was born in. Satanic panic was alive and well and at the time it was in the theaters you would be dared to see it! After this review however, I'm going to watch a few I haven't seen yet and rewatch a few as well based on your discussion..thanks again for the content!
I'm surprised "The Babadook", "Host" and "Gonjiam Haunted Asylum" are not here, cause to me these are probably the most scarring along with Hereditary. Still loved the video though, you're always killing it Emma ;)
13 Ghosts was one of the scariest movies I saw as a kid (1991). I've since watched it multiple times and it transformed into a feel-good horror movie 😂 The kind I watch to fall asleep on I loved your categories and the only movie I'd change would be The Descent... Total nightmare fuel for me and the reason why I don't do such activities 😂😂 I'd love to know if you have "feel-good" and/or "cute (predictable, turn your brain off)" horror movies you like! One of my favorite "cute" horror movie is The Countdown, where an app tells you when you die. Amazing.
I saw it on the original release & the premise of THE EXORCIST had me full of dread days before my first viewing. Entering the packed cinema the lights went down, the Erie music began & my heart was in my throat during the entire experience. I returned to view it again many times in the bad old days of non advance tickets so ended up waiting in line for hours sometimes. My brother & I played music at the time & once while practicing a weird sound came through his amp 😱😳 & he RAN down the stairs! 🤣
Would definitely add Pulse/Kairo (original Japanese version obviously). That movie is one of the few movies I’ve seen in YEARS that has genuinely really really scared me. I’m on the hunt for genuinely terrifyingly scary films that stick with you (not disturbing, but scary) and Kairo definitely is that
The Exorcist is still my number one scary movie. When it came out and I am dating myself here, I was a year younger than Linda Blair. It was rated R and I was 12. I asked my parents to take to see it and obviously they said NO! So I told my dad if Linda Blair was my age and she was in the movie then I was old enough to see it. I won the argument with the caveat he didn't want to hear about nightmares or not sleeping in my own room. Watching the movie in the theater during the 70's an experience I won't forget. You could smoke at the movies it got to a point the air was so thick with cigarette smoke they had to stop the movie because it wasn't coming clear through the thick smoke and ask people to stop smoking. As for nightmares to this day Tubular Bells freak me out.
I am your age and my best friend lived across the street from a drive in .. We were not allowed to go see the movie but watched it from her bed room window!!🤣🤣 Did not hear Tubular Bells but was freaked out just the same!!! 😫🤣
Yeah, Tubular Bells has the same effect on my mother. She was in college when it came out, and her friends wanted to see it. She had absolutely no idea what it was about and has never been a scary movie person-I’m honestly not sure how many she’d even seen in her life at that point. Anyway, it completely terrified her, and then she had to WALK HOME when the movie ended. She said she didn’t sleep for a week. Oddly enough, as scary as I’ve always found The Exorcist to be, it also always makes me cry. Father Karras’ sacrifice and Regan’s gratitude (symbolized by kissing Father Dyer on the cheek), which is clearly immense but not understood since she doesn’t remember what she went through, just wreck me every time.
The back to back ranking of Halloween and Hereditary is interesting, because I am absolutely in the camp that still finds Halloween terrifying but hated Hereditary. I love that we have such a breadth of horror films and styles that something top-tier to one viewer can be bottom of the barrel for another. Horror is often very personal like that.
Hunt down the UK's ITV production of The Wan in Black, it's more terrifying than the Hammer film. It's a little old now, but it was originally shown on Xmas Eve in the UK on TV in 1989. It was released on DVD a few years ago.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe was amazing! Loved it! Hereditary remains one of my favourite scary movies. Finally, great job putting Requiem for a Dream in the list. That film doesn't just ruin you day, it ruins your week.
Thanks Emma, you've made me think about what films have actually scared me. Roman Polanski's The Tenant has the eeriest VIBE ever, with some of the unpredictably weirdest scenes ever. The wall scene and the tooth scenes are uncanny and I can't scrub them from my mind. He made this immediately after fleeing America and is a testament to his darkest most f'ed up personal fears. And the end stays in my nightmares forever. The Woman in Black... NOT the Daniel Radcliffe film or its sequel! But the original low budget British television film. It has haunted VIBE to spare. But then there is a jump scare, that gets me every time. And if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about. I've analyzed why this is so scary. It's essentially a masterclass in camera shot misdirection. They get you looking in one place then BAM! Aggh! And I am usually never effected by jump scares. But even now I am due to watch the new British Blu-Ray of it and I am a bit on edge. (And I am not a film weenie.) And The Strangers. There is something about the way the killers appear in a scene that is just unnerving.
I absolutely LOVE Lake Mungo, this movie stuck with my for days and even now when I think about it is giving me chills, the post credits scene is so sad.
The Exorcist is 100% nightmare fuel!!! I did watch it when I was way too young (11 or 12) and the number of nights I stayed up too scared to sleep the next month was many! It still scares me though I've seen it many times now. It's one of my all time favourite movies, not just horror.
Lake Mungo was incredible. That scene, the phone camera, dark beach - if you know you know. Terror. That is my favorite kind of horror. Strange but relatable enough to hit your primal emotions. Primal Fear might be a good category, though that may be redundant.
I love the tier system, great video and congratulations on your wedding! Blair Witch scared me so badly. We watched it in theaters when I was 17 and the next day went to the family cottage in the woods. Not super remote, but no phone service and I'm in Northern Ontario, Canada so it's very foresty. Also, when Fire in the Sky came out, I begged my dad to take me since my mom hates horror movies. I was 11, and it was PG-14. I don't even know if we totally knew what it was about. I just thought the commercial looked neat. He'd tell me to cover my eyes, but I kept looking again at the wrong times. The part with the eye. Yikes! Again, went straight to the cottage, so in the woods, you can see all of the stars. Thus began my lifelong fear and intrigue of aliens. Also, my friends and I somehow were allowed to rent Silence of the Lambs when we were 10. We didn't understand a lot of it, but it freaked me out so much that I cannot watch it to this day. My mom had words for the place that rented it out to us 😂. Thankfully I still love the cottage, lol. My wife only watches select horror movies since she gets super scared easily. She loves listening to your videos when I watch them though!
I enjoyed this video. I liked that there isn't a true hierarchy among the various categories. Every category has one film that I like, but it's actually the chilling category that's the winner for my. Three out of four films in that category are among my favorites. Thank you for the video
As an avid horror movie buff, I find nothing really scares me too much anymore. Jump scares aren’t scary you just get startled but it’s not scary. Scary happens after the movie, when it effects you emotionally and you can’t sleep or every sound peeks your mind to think of scenes from the movie. Horror Movies that spark thoughts and genuinely disturb you!! These are the best.
It's really hard for me to get scared with movies that I'm not really scared of any, but my favorite genre would have to be phycological horror and maybe getting chased or tormented. I think one of my disturbing movies would be the movie Inside, Hostel and Eden Lake.
Climax was my first "disturbing" watch actually, thanks to you Emma! there are a couple weird/disturbing bits to it, but I consider it more "chilling", only because I didn't scream at all throughout it. However, the music that pulses through it and the odd and colorful visuals give it that trippy, drugged vibe really rubbed me in a weird way, but I still enjoyed it! 😳💊🥴
For me, Pet Sematary is one of my favorites, and by far the scariest book I've ever read. But Zelda never really scared me too much. I mean, she is scary, but the grief and desperation of losing a child is what is more upsetting to me. (I don't have kids, or even want kids, but I've come to understand that the way to get me invested in a horror story is to have a child die. Hereditary is my favorite movie of all time, and it's because losing loved ones is the scariest and realest trope you can employ in a story for me.) But last night, I dreamed that I was in Rachel's position. I had a Zelda who just wailed and wailed upstairs and I wanted her to die, but I was so paranoid that I was hearing her voice get louder. I was picturing her crawling down the stairs to get to me, but in my dream, I was too afraid to look in case I was right and I'd have to contend with the sight of her. It was awful. So, now I guess I'm a convert.
Excellent job on the video, Emma. Always fun and informative to hear your thoughts on many different films. For the most part, I agree with where you categorized most of the films. It was nice to learn that "The Fourth Kind" made it onto the list. It's not a great film, but I've always felt that it is under-rated as well. For me, here is why I would classify "The Blair Witch Project" as nightmare fuel. When I first saw the film in 1999, it was in a packed theater and I saw it with two friends. Maybe we all picked up on the audience's vibe, but I remember leaving the theater quite shaken. That night, not only did I have a nightmare, but so did both of my friends and we were all in separate homes. If that isn't the definition of "nightmare fuel", I don't know what is. Finally, I've never been a fan of jump scares (as you probably know well), so when I look at the films in that category (which includes my choice of Sinister), I think of those films as being very good, despite the jump scares (Insidious, Annabelle Creation, Sinister).
The film that has scared me most was the original two part Tobe Hooper TV movie of Salem's Lot with the boy vampire at the window. This was late 80s/early 90s so maybe kids today won't find it scary, but dead children was also something of a taboo and scary in itself.
OMG I was just going to post my comment and say that too! That is my scariest movie also! The dead boy at the window, the vampire appearing in the kitchen, and the scene where they have to go down into the basement and drive a stake thru the vampires heart. It's been how many years now and if I think of those scenes I literally can not sleep!
I haven't seen The Others, Lake, Jane Doe, Climax & Martyrs. I'm too scared to watch Martyrs I saw clips and heard about it and I was like NAW, something about it felt like I should skip this one. Great categorizing for the rest. :) I love 13 ghost, I re-watch every year for nostalgia. When I was a kid that gave me nightmares and the Jackal was definitely the scariest at the time.
As old as it is, not long ago I rewatched The Exorcist with my son, and for me it still fits in the nightmare section. In fact, having seen all on your list, I might argue that it remains the pinnacle of horror.
Hereditary messed me up man! Absolutely loved it. I’m also happy to know The Jackal in 13 Ghosts scared you as well. I was terrified of that thing as a child. The creature was ruthless and fast! Could easily see a spin-off about the character involving a group going into an abandoned asylum where this ghost lurks in the shadows.
This is the video I always wanted from you, and it already existed and I somehow missed it hahaha! I was thinking we could do some community tierlists sometime vis the discord.
Sinister, The Ring, and [REC] are the only three horror films that have ever terrified me - it's fascinating how different individuals perceive what is scary and what isn't.
Hereditary is Nightmare Fuel… The first time I watched Hereditary in the cinema the last third act was absolutely chilling to the bone… Frightening, unpredictable and downright terrifying… A masterclass in tension building…
Watching Pet Semetary as a young teen I completely agree about Zelda, she’s the ultimate jump scare… that gave me nightmares! As a parent, Pet Semetary is nightmare fuel… the death of your child and then being faced with the choice to bring them back gives me nightmares…
Why did you mute part of the word "scenes" at 7:19? Did the TH-cam system pick it up as you saying s*x? Just curious, loved the list and it gave me a lot of new stuff to watch!
@@spookyastronauts ohhhh hahaha thanks 😊 I know how weird TH-cam can be so I was curious! Love you and your content so much, thanks for being my horror sanctuary!
I didn’t get to see Heredity in the theaters, but it still got me the first time I watched it. *Spoilers* When possessed Annie is lurking in the corner of the ceiling, I didn’t even notice her. When I saw her, I immediately left the room. lol
@@jaymierae9890 The worst part for me was when the 'guests' started painting the walls, I couldn't take it lol. I think I smoked an entire pack of cigarettes during that movie. Have you seen The Killing of a Sacred Deer?
The Exorcist is still nightmare fuel for me 26 years after watching it, which is why I turned away from the screen while you talked about it! I can’t even chance seeing a clip of it, because although I do have religious ties, the imagery is what brings the nightmares for me. I hate it SO much.
I find your choice for Midsommar the most interesting; personally I would have put it in the 'chilling' tier. For me it reflects situations people face every day; relationship break downs, the loss of a loved one, abusive relationships, feelings of isolation and ultimately how such events can lead people to joining cults. The cycle of co-dependance Dani goes through is very harrowing to me, in the end she hasn't really escaped.
Wait, I love that you put the rings in Nightmare Fuel because even not having watched it, when my dad went to go see the movie he got a phone call later about the 7 days that went on the voicemail (probably a prank call or promotion something)!! I remember being so afraid 😂 my dad was in the military too, but the idea of the trailer and the practical scare of an entity living in a phone or tv squicked me out and gave me nightmares!! I didn’t even watch the ring until I was much older but the idea stayed with me!
Very interesting list, and props to you, Emma, because horror is absolutely subjective and it would not be easy to rate films like that. I was surprised that The Babadook wasn't on there, but maybe that's me. The atmosphere and anticipation was so intense that my teenage son (nearly an adult) who is also a horror fan could not watch past the scene where they read the book the first time!
"Some films just stick with you, and you don't know why until you go to therapy." 😂 I subscribed halfway through this video, but if I hadn't, that line of yours at the end would have clinched it.
Hey Emma, I may have missed this because I hasd volume low in parts while at work...but where did you pull this list of movies to choose from? Thanks for the content!
Aunt Zelda is a jumpscare if it were a character. Her movement, her voice, her look. Everything about her is scary and uncomfortable. She's like a proto-Silent Hill monster!
The exorcist is still the scariest movie ever for me because I saw it when I was 10 and afraid of evil. It scarred me for life. I still have trouble sleeping over it if I get an image in my head.
I think maybe you needed some other categories, like “psychologically disturbing” or something. I love almost all the films on your list, but I wouldn’t know how to categorize many of them. And the Tier format might not have been suited to types of scares…unless you are clear that the tiers are really categories, not “tiers” per se. Still love the video. And I loved The Autopsy of Jane Doe! Very scary and chilling. Lake Mungo was great, Requiem For a Dream was depressing as hell (like Trainspotting), Sinister affected me and stayed with me (the films, the attic). I could talk about all these films but you’ve already done it so well!
The Grudge is the only movie I can’t rewatch as a grown up. Still scared of it. It still comes to my mind whenever I go up or downstairs in the dark. I remember watching it as a kid with my family and I would cover my eyes… there was a part they told me it was safe to look and then that woman caught me by surprise. How she looked, how she moved and the sound she made… That was traumatizing. The blanket scene as well, I can’t get over it.
I believe every film hits everyone different ways theres so many variables thats what makes cinema great.I mean the mood you're in while viewing also the age..Nostalgia is a helluva drug!!I was born in 77 so The Exorcist,TCM and the Shining hit way different for me..Love your content its definitely topnotch great picks btw!!
It is really interesting what other people find scary. For me Medical Horror is nightmare fuel. The Human Centipede movies took me days to get thru. I had to pause several times as I have a physical reaction to it. The operation scenes make me sweat , tremble and feel like I am going to pass out. The medical scenes from The Craft and The Exorcist also stand out for me. Also some of the gore from Martyrs. Slasher Films I find so fun to watch no matter how gory they are. Midsommar I find relaxing. I will put that on as a comfort movie. We are weird. People are weird 🙂✌️
I agree on paranormal activity. For me it taps into that primal fear of the dark I had as a kid. After watching it, I was taken right back to that feeling of fear that there is something in the dark of my house that I can't see.
“Nicole Kidman walking around in a spooky dooky house lockin’ doors, opening doors and locking them again” is the most accurate description of The Others ever.
Haha 🚪
ha
🤭
@@ajrivliny f
with midsummer, technically the cliff scene is a "jump" scare..
boom, tish
alright, i fell for that one
Well played
That's hilarious.
😏😏
I saw Paranormal Activity during the process of moving house. All my roommates were already gone by that point and most of the furniture was already gone so there were all sorts of echoes all throughout the halls. I tried spending the night there. Emphasis on “tried”. Lol. At about 1 a.m. that night I ended up going to my mom’s house and sleeping on the couch and staying there till my new place was ready. So, my joking review of the movie was “so scary, I moved back in with my parents.” Imagine that on the dvd cover. Lol
Haha I honestly don’t blame you!!!
I showed my friend this video and he was like "You've never seen Paranormal Activity?! We have to watch it." lol I did try once but I got distracted and never picked it back up. But this story makes me want to pick it back up again. 😂
Hereditary EMOTIONALLY exhausted me. The sounds effects and visuals ALONE effected me so deeply. I agree totally Hereditary is literally so exhausting and so terrifying. I love the fact that it surrounds family drama so much. It’s why some don’t like “elevated horror” because of the heavy involvement of drama
I recommend Mother! too, that movie is INTENSE
@@jordanaut OMG!!! I literally watched like 35 mins of that movie and had to leave and didn’t finish it but it was SOOO good for those 35 mins and I still think about it
@@jordanaut i definitely gotta finish it
I would be tempted to put it in the nightmare tier just out of that one still shot when you can see the grandmother standing immobile in the corner of the room.
Hereditary is a movie that rewards multiple viewings. Personally, it deserves every bit of hype it has received
I AGREE!!! Toni Collette was AMAZING in this she made it feel so REAL. This movie is haunting especially because it’s a just a good slow burner and I just LOVE those.
Is the film in wich that weird looking little girl is beheaded?
Totally agree, it’s the benchmark for me against which everything is measured
It was such a hard watch thr first time idk.. the low humming and atmosphere/ camera work was the main character. Such a slow burn I barely felt the flame
I didn’t think it was scary per say but holy crap it was good. Toni Collette was robbed
The scene with the piano wire at the end of Hereditary is the only time I have actually screamed while watching a movie, absolutely terrifying
And some do not consider Hereditary horror.. what other genre does that scene fit into?😅
Requiem for a Dream is ABSOLUTELY nightmare fuel. One of my favourite films of all time, I think it’s stunning, but absolutely one of the scariest and to me, THE most disturbing I’ve seen. Also I require a sizeable gap between rewatches for obvious reasons haha
Yes! It is one of my favorite movies but at the same time a movie that I rarely ever want to watch, kinda like Hereditary because of how much they affect you.
Yes!!
Ellen Bernstyn (spelling is wrong), DESTROYED ME!! I have NEVER been so affected by a movie. I was SO DISTURBED. If I watch it again, I wouldn’t be able to see what becomes of her😱😱😱, which is lifelong torture. Man, I LOVE horror movies, THIS was DIFFERENT. 😢😳😭😱🫣😥😵💫
I watched this at the cinema in a back to back with Pi. During the interval after Pi finished I remember thinking that was a bit unsettling, hopefully the next film is less intense. Couldn't have been more wrong
This is probably the first time I’ve seen someone praise The Fourth Kind and I’m so happy. We need more alien horror.
Things I found scary many years ago I am pretty numb to now. Jump scares fall flat for me, but what really disturbs me and keeps me thinking for days are films like Hereditary or Host. Discomfort in your own home is scary. Oh, and The Strangers! Could never warch that while home alone!
@MasterOnion North I still have to watch that one, as I've heard many good things!
The Ring scared the crap out of me. I was an adult when it came out, but would definitely be nightmare fuel. It stayed with me and I could just imagine her crawling to the top of my stairs with her hair hanging down...(cue shiver). The sequels didn't have the same effect for me. I appreciate when things aren't totally explained. Samara being evil and powerful without us knowing why made it more impactfull. And she was just super creepy!
Seconding this. I have a phobia of cold rotting corpse faces staring at the camera, and also analog horror, and The Ring had both, plus that Luis Buñuel-esque video and the whole doom and gloom atmosphere. Everything in it was created to make you feel uncomfortable and to stay with you for days.
I thought I was the only person who liked/loved The Fourth Kind! Yeah it’s not a great film if you pick it apart, and the critics hate it, but it works for me. I love Milla Jovovitch and Elias Koteas being cast and the setting in Alaska…perfect for an alien 👽 flick!
I thought it was good.
I liked "The Fourth Kind" and thought it was spooky as hell. Part of that, though, was because I thought it was real for a short time after it was over. That made it even scarier!
My problem with the Fourth Kind is that it is done as documentary. But it is set in Nome Alaska. I lived in Alaska at the time. They paint Nome Alaska like it has huge trees and forests. I immediately realized the film was a crock, since Nome is too far north to even have trees. That completely took me out of the film.
I love the one scene of the black and white footage that she showed
I really like the tier themes you have. There’s an almost equal playing field that puts merit on each film for different aspects the have, rather than a straight ranking. Great video and ranking!
Thank you so much! I was so nervous releasing this one!
@@spookyastronauts I love the tiers! Really gives an overall open look at a bit of everything. No "one size fits all".
The Descent is totally nightmare fuel for me, I was already claustrophobic about caves and narrow spaces where you can't turn around and it really upped my fear to a 10 to where when I went caving my freshman year of college I was so spooked that I would see creatures lurking in the dark 😂
You should see the original “The Vanishing” - I believe it’s a Dutch/French production, much more understated than the splashy American remake, and the ending is truly bleak.
@@geslinam9703Absolutely fantastic movie.
The greatness of The Descent is that they do such a great job building up the tension of just the natural danger and isolation of the cave that when you add the horrifying creatures on top of that, it sends the scares into overdrive.
I remember I saw Sinister in the theatres when it came out, and it was absolutely horrifying.
The realistic feel to those horrific murder reels was pure nightmare fuel
yes, everytime one of those reels played. so frikkin scary. I get nightmares from this movie for sure.
🤢
@@ShittyShittyGameGang Sadly, it was my first ever horror movie and I was 16 😂
bruh i was in highschool when i first saw it and i watched it alone in my room and it is one of the unforgettable horror movie ever for me, the attic scene and when they're watching the tapes... o m g jaklasklasl
I randomly stumbled upon autopsy of Jane Doe and man I love finding great movies by chance. Another random one that isn’t necessarily scary but gave me so much dread was vivarium. I watched that hungover and I’m pretty sure it gave me 10x more anxiety and sadness hahah.
@MasterOnion North haha dude whenever it’s a still cloudy day I get freaked out looking at the sky thinking it’s fake.
Autopsy of Jane Doe is so good, and I discovered it in a weird way. I've been a fan of the Scary Stories books since they were first released when I was a kid, so I was interested when a movie was announced. The director of TAOJD was set to direct SSTTITD, so I checked the former out to see if he had any promise.
I like the tier lists. I feel they better open up a discussion.
What a delight for you to be back!
The Shining still scares me to this day
That film and the horror classic carrie from 1976😊
I’m back next week! I’ve been still releasing videos each week!
The Ring still holds up as terrifying. That closet scene with her face! It’s also the feeling of dread with the gloomy Washington weather.
Too many camera tricks and plot details contribute to it's scare factor. I'd watch the exorcist before I watch the Ring again.
With Blair Witch Project, we didn't have ubiquitous broadband at the time to fact-check news/stories. We went into the theater blind, thinking this was ACTUAL found footage, and it scared the hell out of us. My girlfriend thought it was a legitimate tragedy, and was bawling....
It was relieving when we saw the actors alive, and the movie was revealed for what it was. That was the power of TBWProject....
The House of the Devil really creeped me out. Watch that thing in a dark room by yourself at night and you will have trouble falling asleep for sure
Watch: " The devils candy"( no trailer)
Or suspiria 2018 its a better slow burn like The house of the devil
@@oc9357 I don't know about that. I absolutely loved House Of The Devil and I still can't finish Suspiria new and original in one sitting. Bores me to death.
@@ejaculine idk do a line of coffee beans at night and get in the mood😆
I absolutely love House of the Devil, the music was so good and the building dread was just up my alley. The scene where you just get a peak into that locked door.......bone-chilling!
Great video! A great way to think about the different kinds of scares in movies.
Thank you!
The Exorcism of Emily Rose still haunts me. Definitely nightmare fuel, I’m scared to get out of bed between 3-3:15 am because of it haha
I was really surprised that wasn't on the list!
It was alright
💯💯
I watched that at the cinema when it came out. I've never watched it again since, despite owning it on DVD. Of all the Horror films I've watched over many decades, there's just something inherently 'wrong' about that movie that for whatever reason, completely rattled me. It also features an incredible performance by the criminally underrated, Jennifer Carpenter (mmmmmmm!).
I found Halloween scary when I first saw it, but I'm 50 so that was a long time ago. It certainly spooked me. I do love Hereditary. I saw that in the cinema knowing nothing about it and it freaked me out. I definitely recommend The Autopsy of Kane Doe and The Grudge also freaked me out when I first saw it. Martyrs I find hard to watch, but it's a deep, innovative terrifying nightmare. Midsommar is the best bad boyfriend film ever.
Your commentary on Paranormal Activity felt so relatable. I was born in 1992 and I was literally saying "you had to be there" in my head 😂 It captured the horror of that time so well
A couple of my nightmare fuels that aren't on the list are "The Thing" (the sounds effects of the creature transforming especially haunted me) and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (Freddy was scary and not really funny in the first film and the idea that sleeping was unsafe lingered with me). "Paranormal Activity" and "The Ring" also haunted me for days because of their mundane settings and props (a tv, a phone, a bedroom and that damn wrought iron staircase that was just like the one in my duplex).
Yes! The scene in the Thing where the creature hasn't fully transformed and screams out into a desolate landscape... That sound haunts me to this day, it's such a chilling (no pun intended) moment
The Thing is pure nightmare fuel. I didn't watch it until a few years ago, so in my 30s and it stuck with me. The practical effects, the isolation and the utter hopelessness freaked me out and I loved it.
The first ANOES still scares the crap out of me!😱
The Cell with Vincent D’Onofrio, Jennifer Lopez, and Vince Vaughn. Peeking inside the mind of a serial killer has got to be the most scary thing. So completely unnerving.. especially the sunbathers on the beach. 😳
For me it was the horse scene! Haven't seen that movie since I was a kid but I think about that scene on the regular haha
@@s11j02 omfg same 😂😂😂 it’s been 22 years, why am I still randomly thinking about that horse asjfjsjdf 😭
Yeah, any horror that incorporates strong surrealism is what gets in my nightmares.
I saw Paranormal Activity at an advanced late night screening and knew absolutely nothing about it going in. It was in a small old school movie theatre and I overheard someone say that it was a real-time documentation of a haunting. I literally couldn't get up from my seat for a few minutes when it was over. I was a basket case on my drive home. At the same time, I had a blast watching it, so to me it's kind of a perfect "scary" movie.
What a special experience!
Being one of the first to watch a movie like this in theaters was an experience and unforgettable.
I rented "Requiem For A Dream" shortly after it came out, and asked my cousin, who has very similar tastes, to watch it with me. We both have re-watched it many times since, and we both read the novel afterwards. There are scenes that have made people almost get physically ill. Many viewers have said it's a "one and done", because they cannot bear to put themselves through a rewatch. As for my cousin and I, the movie scared us away from drugs for life 👍.
One and done for me!😅
Ellen Bernstyn absolutely nailed what a TRULY scary, awful, never ending nightmare looks n FEELS like. I love to be disturbed, really, I do…but, I can’t watch that poor woman go thru that again. 😱😵💫😭😲. What’s a disturbing movie u can’t rewatch?
This was a really fun video! 😄I totally agree on Hereditary, it´s pure nightmare fuel. When I watched it at the cinema I got so scared that I kind of missed the plot. When I read reviews of it afterwards I didn't recognize the actual story, I just remembered the vibe and the atmosphere. Now I´ve rewatched it several times and I´m trying to detect just what makes it so scary. But, like you say, it's not one thing. It's the atmosphere that lies over the film from scene one. I think it's an amazing film.
Absolutely love this tier list; if I can say so without being TOO creepy, I love finding out your favorite flavors of fear :D
I think Jump Scares are at the bottom for me, then it ascends to Thrilling, then Scream Fest, then Chilling, and finally Nightmare Fuel.
Original evil dead is the scariest in my opinion 😊
This was a cracking video Emma, loved the categories and the wide range of titles too - always good to watch a movie that permeates deep seated dread and Autopsy of Jane Doe absolutely does this, it really got under my skin as did Eden Lake. I like The Endless and Banshee Chapter for the same reason
The films that scarred me most as a child was interview with a vampire and sixth sense. Neither are actually scary but as a kid, I was tramautized.
Same for Sixth Sense! I think it holds up as pretty scary but definitely as a kid I was terrified
Sixth sense is probably the scariest movie for me. The housewife screaming with the cut wrists chills me to the bone and I think it’s cause I was so young when I saw it. I think because it’s all happening to this kid it makes ot scarier because youre viewing thr scares from his perspective. Also imagine having that power. Any disturbing shit being possible around every corner
I'm usually scared by sounds when you don't see anything. Once you see the ghost or monster the fear stars to fade with familiarity. Visuals can be gross or disturbing, but sound and atmosphere are the real sources of terror. The most terrifying sound for me is the sobbing of a woman you cannot see (I am a woman BTW). Like in this old TV movie The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre, or 1940s The Uninvited. The wind lashing the lamps in a crypt as the disembodied sobbing moves down the corridor. Atmosphere is so much more effective before you actually see anything. Older movies do this much better than new ones.
The Descent is terrifying without the cannibal creatures. Just the idea of being trapped underground without a way out, in near total darkness, is horrifying enough. The creatures are conventional.
I love the 1940's The Uninvited and your description of what scares you . Never heard of The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre but I am off to find it now . Thanks for the unexpected recommendation .
There's a great scene in silent hill that's just this, you go into an abandoned bathroom, all run down and deserted and from one if the stalls you hear sobbing for a minute and that's it doesn't pay off. Familiarity breeds, comfort sort of? It's why I find Junji Ito so tough, I can beat a zombie or a vampire, I know the rules, but what the hell do I do with a geometrical pattern if a spiral cursing my town, or ribs woman or the like...I don't know how to box that up in my head so I feel.. helpless sort of to it
I completely agree with you about The Descent! I'm really claustrophobic and being trapped underground or in a small space is a huge fear so this movie is scary enough for me without the creatures. I feel similarly about the movie As Above So Below. You don't need to add supernatural elements to make the Paris catacombs terrifying! I agree with you about atmosphere and sound as well and the sound of a woman crying is the stuff of nightmares
I totally agree with this. I felt this whilst watching insidious for the first time. The first jump scare where the red face paint demon appears in a “You can relax and breathe for a minute because this is a safe space” type of scene, was terrifying. However the more we saw him (especially close up), lessened how much I found him scary as he was suddenly brought from the shadows, into the light. I actually found his image to be comedic by the end! (and I’m a horror newbie so am yet to be truly desensitised to scary imagery).
I believe the Exorcist belongs in every category except thrilling, but it could be the demographic I was born in. Satanic panic was alive and well and at the time it was in the theaters you would be dared to see it! After this review however, I'm going to watch a few I haven't seen yet and rewatch a few as well based on your discussion..thanks again for the content!
Love this idea for a vid! Also your camera quality/set up is looking especially good here ☺️
Thanks Court
I'm surprised "The Babadook", "Host" and "Gonjiam Haunted Asylum" are not here, cause to me these are probably the most scarring along with Hereditary. Still loved the video though, you're always killing it Emma ;)
I took these from all your suggestions! But of course I can’t add every film. 😇
Woo hoo, new spookyastronauts! Always a delight 🍿🥤🤓
Great list, scary is of course subjective, but I always find it interesting to see what scares/doesn't scare other people. Thanks!!
13 Ghosts was one of the scariest movies I saw as a kid (1991). I've since watched it multiple times and it transformed into a feel-good horror movie 😂 The kind I watch to fall asleep on
I loved your categories and the only movie I'd change would be The Descent... Total nightmare fuel for me and the reason why I don't do such activities 😂😂
I'd love to know if you have "feel-good" and/or "cute (predictable, turn your brain off)" horror movies you like! One of my favorite "cute" horror movie is The Countdown, where an app tells you when you die. Amazing.
Great tier list! The Exorcist is the GOAT imo. The vibe consistently alters your mood throughout. It’ll always be a favorite.
I saw it on the original release & the premise of THE EXORCIST had me full of dread days before my first viewing. Entering the packed cinema the lights went down, the Erie music began & my heart was in my throat during the entire experience. I returned to view it again many times in the bad old days of non advance tickets so ended up waiting in line for hours sometimes.
My brother & I played music at the time & once while practicing a weird sound came through his amp 😱😳 & he RAN down the stairs! 🤣
@@danielsweet858 omg what a great story!! 😱🤣
Would definitely add Pulse/Kairo (original Japanese version obviously). That movie is one of the few movies I’ve seen in YEARS that has genuinely really really scared me. I’m on the hunt for genuinely terrifyingly scary films that stick with you (not disturbing, but scary) and Kairo definitely is that
Check out Gonjiam Haunted Asylum
i will be watching the nightmare fuel w my 10 year old cousin when he visits for the summer LMAO
Lol 😂
The Exorcist is still my number one scary movie. When it came out and I am dating myself here, I was a year younger than Linda Blair. It was rated R and I was 12. I asked my parents to take to see it and obviously they said NO! So I told my dad if Linda Blair was my age and she was in the movie then I was old enough to see it. I won the argument with the caveat he didn't want to hear about nightmares or not sleeping in my own room. Watching the movie in the theater during the 70's an experience I won't forget. You could smoke at the movies it got to a point the air was so thick with cigarette smoke they had to stop the movie because it wasn't coming clear through the thick smoke and ask people to stop smoking. As for nightmares to this day Tubular Bells freak me out.
Agreed 💛
I am your age and my best friend lived across the street from a drive in .. We were not allowed to go see the movie but watched it from her bed room window!!🤣🤣
Did not hear Tubular Bells but was freaked out just the same!!! 😫🤣
Yeah, Tubular Bells has the same effect on my mother. She was in college when it came out, and her friends wanted to see it. She had absolutely no idea what it was about and has never been a scary movie person-I’m honestly not sure how many she’d even seen in her life at that point. Anyway, it completely terrified her, and then she had to WALK HOME when the movie ended. She said she didn’t sleep for a week.
Oddly enough, as scary as I’ve always found The Exorcist to be, it also always makes me cry. Father Karras’ sacrifice and Regan’s gratitude (symbolized by kissing Father Dyer on the cheek), which is clearly immense but not understood since she doesn’t remember what she went through, just wreck me every time.
With 13 ghosts, i think the dvd extras explaining the backstory of each ghost was scarier than the film itself.
Yes! I would love to see it re-done as maybe a miniseries
The back to back ranking of Halloween and Hereditary is interesting, because I am absolutely in the camp that still finds Halloween terrifying but hated Hereditary. I love that we have such a breadth of horror films and styles that something top-tier to one viewer can be bottom of the barrel for another. Horror is often very personal like that.
Hunt down the UK's ITV production of The Wan in Black, it's more terrifying than the Hammer film. It's a little old now, but it was originally shown on Xmas Eve in the UK on TV in 1989. It was released on DVD a few years ago.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe was amazing! Loved it!
Hereditary remains one of my favourite scary movies. Finally, great job putting Requiem for a Dream in the list. That film doesn't just ruin you day, it ruins your week.
Hahaha
Thanks Emma, you've made me think about what films have actually scared me.
Roman Polanski's The Tenant has the eeriest VIBE ever, with some of the unpredictably weirdest scenes ever. The wall scene and the tooth scenes are uncanny and I can't scrub them from my mind. He made this immediately after fleeing America and is a testament to his darkest most f'ed up personal fears. And the end stays in my nightmares forever.
The Woman in Black... NOT the Daniel Radcliffe film or its sequel! But the original low budget British television film. It has haunted VIBE to spare. But then there is a jump scare, that gets me every time. And if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about. I've analyzed why this is so scary. It's essentially a masterclass in camera shot misdirection. They get you looking in one place then BAM! Aggh! And I am usually never effected by jump scares. But even now I am due to watch the new British Blu-Ray of it and I am a bit on edge. (And I am not a film weenie.)
And The Strangers. There is something about the way the killers appear in a scene that is just unnerving.
I absolutely LOVE Lake Mungo, this movie stuck with my for days and even now when I think about it is giving me chills, the post credits scene is so sad.
The Exorcist is 100% nightmare fuel!!! I did watch it when I was way too young (11 or 12) and the number of nights I stayed up too scared to sleep the next month was many! It still scares me though I've seen it many times now. It's one of my all time favourite movies, not just horror.
Lake Mungo was incredible. That scene, the phone camera, dark beach - if you know you know. Terror. That is my favorite kind of horror. Strange but relatable enough to hit your primal emotions. Primal Fear might be a good category, though that may be redundant.
Devils backbone , orphanage , the ritual , goodnight mommy . So many great movies that are never mentioned
I love the tier system, great video and congratulations on your wedding!
Blair Witch scared me so badly. We watched it in theaters when I was 17 and the next day went to the family cottage in the woods. Not super remote, but no phone service and I'm in Northern Ontario, Canada so it's very foresty.
Also, when Fire in the Sky came out, I begged my dad to take me since my mom hates horror movies. I was 11, and it was PG-14. I don't even know if we totally knew what it was about. I just thought the commercial looked neat.
He'd tell me to cover my eyes, but I kept looking again at the wrong times. The part with the eye. Yikes! Again, went straight to the cottage, so in the woods, you can see all of the stars. Thus began my lifelong fear and intrigue of aliens.
Also, my friends and I somehow were allowed to rent Silence of the Lambs when we were 10. We didn't understand a lot of it, but it freaked me out so much that I cannot watch it to this day. My mom had words for the place that rented it out to us 😂.
Thankfully I still love the cottage, lol. My wife only watches select horror movies since she gets super scared easily. She loves listening to your videos when I watch them though!
PG-14 huh...
I enjoyed this video. I liked that there isn't a true hierarchy among the various categories. Every category has one film that I like, but it's actually the chilling category that's the winner for my. Three out of four films in that category are among my favorites. Thank you for the video
Thanks so much for watching, I’m glad my point came across. No scare is superior!
As an avid horror movie buff, I find nothing really scares me too much anymore. Jump scares aren’t scary you just get startled but it’s not scary. Scary happens after the movie, when it effects you emotionally and you can’t sleep or every sound peeks your mind to think of scenes from the movie. Horror Movies that spark thoughts and genuinely disturb you!! These are the best.
It's really hard for me to get scared with movies that I'm not really scared of any, but my favorite genre would have to be phycological horror and maybe getting chased or tormented. I think one of my disturbing movies would be the movie Inside, Hostel and Eden Lake.
Climax was my first "disturbing" watch actually, thanks to you Emma! there are a couple weird/disturbing bits to it, but I consider it more "chilling", only because I didn't scream at all throughout it. However, the music that pulses through it and the odd and colorful visuals give it that trippy, drugged vibe really rubbed me in a weird way, but I still enjoyed it! 😳💊🥴
This makes me wonder, "did I not understand Lake Mungo"?
For me, Pet Sematary is one of my favorites, and by far the scariest book I've ever read. But Zelda never really scared me too much. I mean, she is scary, but the grief and desperation of losing a child is what is more upsetting to me. (I don't have kids, or even want kids, but I've come to understand that the way to get me invested in a horror story is to have a child die. Hereditary is my favorite movie of all time, and it's because losing loved ones is the scariest and realest trope you can employ in a story for me.) But last night, I dreamed that I was in Rachel's position. I had a Zelda who just wailed and wailed upstairs and I wanted her to die, but I was so paranoid that I was hearing her voice get louder. I was picturing her crawling down the stairs to get to me, but in my dream, I was too afraid to look in case I was right and I'd have to contend with the sight of her. It was awful. So, now I guess I'm a convert.
Excellent job on the video, Emma. Always fun and informative to hear your thoughts on many different films. For the most part, I agree with where you categorized most of the films. It was nice to learn that "The Fourth Kind" made it onto the list. It's not a great film, but I've always felt that it is under-rated as well.
For me, here is why I would classify "The Blair Witch Project" as nightmare fuel. When I first saw the film in 1999, it was in a packed theater and I saw it with two friends. Maybe we all picked up on the audience's vibe, but I remember leaving the theater quite shaken. That night, not only did I have a nightmare, but so did both of my friends and we were all in separate homes. If that isn't the definition of "nightmare fuel", I don't know what is.
Finally, I've never been a fan of jump scares (as you probably know well), so when I look at the films in that category (which includes my choice of Sinister), I think of those films as being very good, despite the jump scares (Insidious, Annabelle Creation, Sinister).
The film that has scared me most was the original two part Tobe Hooper TV movie of Salem's Lot with the boy vampire at the window. This was late 80s/early 90s so maybe kids today won't find it scary, but dead children was also something of a taboo and scary in itself.
OMG I was just going to post my comment and say that too! That is my scariest movie also! The dead boy at the window, the vampire appearing in the kitchen, and the scene where they have to go down into the basement and drive a stake thru the vampires heart. It's been how many years now and if I think of those scenes I literally can not sleep!
I just bought that movie on vhs. Such nostalgia!
I haven't seen The Others, Lake, Jane Doe, Climax & Martyrs. I'm too scared to watch Martyrs I saw clips and heard about it and I was like NAW, something about it felt like I should skip this one.
Great categorizing for the rest. :)
I love 13 ghost, I re-watch every year for nostalgia. When I was a kid that gave me nightmares and the Jackal was definitely the scariest at the time.
As old as it is, not long ago I rewatched The Exorcist with my son, and for me it still fits in the nightmare section. In fact, having seen all on your list, I might argue that it remains the pinnacle of horror.
Hereditary messed me up man! Absolutely loved it.
I’m also happy to know The Jackal in 13 Ghosts scared you as well. I was terrified of that thing as a child. The creature was ruthless and fast!
Could easily see a spin-off about the character involving a group going into an abandoned asylum where this ghost lurks in the shadows.
The opening got me for a sec, making me think I was watching a Rotted Reviews video. :-P Good list - glad to see Fourth Kind on it.
This is the video I always wanted from you, and it already existed and I somehow missed it hahaha! I was thinking we could do some community tierlists sometime vis the discord.
Sinister, The Ring, and [REC] are the only three horror films that have ever terrified me - it's fascinating how different individuals perceive what is scary and what isn't.
Sinister was not scary at all for me but the music was. I can relate with REC and The Ring. I can watch REC over and over though.
Hereditary is Nightmare Fuel…
The first time I watched Hereditary in the cinema the last third act was absolutely chilling to the bone…
Frightening, unpredictable and downright terrifying…
A masterclass in tension building…
Speaking on Lake Mungo. Have you ever seen The Orphanage? This is another movie that made me cry my eyes out.
I agree the Orphanage is fantastic and the end gets me every time. Also love Del Torro's The Devil's Backbone.
Out of all these movies only the ring made me scarred for life and i had nightmares for whole year when i saw it
I had to sleep with the tv facing the wall for two weeks the year it launched in theatres.
I love this video style!! Also your Jean shirt looks great on you
Watching Pet Semetary as a young teen I completely agree about Zelda, she’s the ultimate jump scare… that gave me nightmares!
As a parent, Pet Semetary is nightmare fuel… the death of your child and then being faced with the choice to bring them back gives me nightmares…
Interesting the book had a different message about mortality, both equally terrifying
Great video as always, but that intro... wowsers! 😂
Thanks for helping out!!!
First time I saw "the grudge" was at a cinema, I couldn't walk without looking behind my back after watching it, that's how scary it was.
The home movies in Sinister, Fire in the Sky, Jacob's Ladder, Wait Until Dark, Zelda in Pet Semetary, Absentia, Exorcism of Emily Rose.
Scariest 80s movies from my childhood 1 night of the demons 2 the evil dead from 1981 3 Nightmare on elm street 1985👍
Why did you mute part of the word "scenes" at 7:19? Did the TH-cam system pick it up as you saying s*x? Just curious, loved the list and it gave me a lot of new stuff to watch!
I had to adr some of the words because my microphone cut out
@@spookyastronauts ohhhh hahaha thanks 😊 I know how weird TH-cam can be so I was curious! Love you and your content so much, thanks for being my horror sanctuary!
The Exorcist definitely my all time scariest maybe because I watched it when I was 12 or 13. Terrified but fascinated at the same time
The first half of Ghostland scared me, maybe because i watched home alone during a storm. It got a bit silly in the second half tho and i was fine lol
Great tier list. Lots of the same nightmare fuel. Taking of Debra Logan and Gonjiam Asylum are nightmare fuel for me as well
Gonjiam is the goat
Mad God, The Empty Man, The Outwaters, and Skinamarink are all nightmare fuel to me, for different reasons.
Love this video awesome spookyastronauts
I didn’t get to see Heredity in the theaters, but it still got me the first time I watched it. *Spoilers* When possessed Annie is lurking in the corner of the ceiling, I didn’t even notice her. When I saw her, I immediately left the room. lol
No doubt. I hate people lurking in ceiling corners
@@danger-hu9bz right?!? Like the audacity.
@@jaymierae9890 The worst part for me was when the 'guests' started painting the walls, I couldn't take it lol. I think I smoked an entire pack of cigarettes during that movie. Have you seen The Killing of a Sacred Deer?
@@jaymierae9890 oh ****. I thought we were talking about Mother. Wrong thread, my bad
@@danger-hu9bz lol I’ve seen Mother too, and the guests were disturbing the entire time. lol
The Killing of a Sacred Deer was really good too.
The ring would be nightmare fuel for me. It’s the only film that has ever given me nightmares.
⏫️ the music, the coloring, the sounds, the imagery, the overall dreariness
The Exorcist is still nightmare fuel for me 26 years after watching it, which is why I turned away from the screen while you talked about it! I can’t even chance seeing a clip of it, because although I do have religious ties, the imagery is what brings the nightmares for me. I hate it SO much.
And hands down Hereditary is the scariest film on the list IMO. True nightmare fuel.
I find your choice for Midsommar the most interesting; personally I would have put it in the 'chilling' tier. For me it reflects situations people face every day; relationship break downs, the loss of a loved one, abusive relationships, feelings of isolation and ultimately how such events can lead people to joining cults. The cycle of co-dependance Dani goes through is very harrowing to me, in the end she hasn't really escaped.
How do I find this picture to save it, so that I can keep on going back to it for recommendations?
Wait, I love that you put the rings in Nightmare Fuel because even not having watched it, when my dad went to go see the movie he got a phone call later about the 7 days that went on the voicemail (probably a prank call or promotion something)!! I remember being so afraid 😂 my dad was in the military too, but the idea of the trailer and the practical scare of an entity living in a phone or tv squicked me out and gave me nightmares!! I didn’t even watch the ring until I was much older but the idea stayed with me!
Very interesting list, and props to you, Emma, because horror is absolutely subjective and it would not be easy to rate films like that. I was surprised that The Babadook wasn't on there, but maybe that's me. The atmosphere and anticipation was so intense that my teenage son (nearly an adult) who is also a horror fan could not watch past the scene where they read the book the first time!
"Some films just stick with you, and you don't know why until you go to therapy." 😂 I subscribed halfway through this video, but if I hadn't, that line of yours at the end would have clinched it.
Hey Emma, I may have missed this because I hasd volume low in parts while at work...but where did you pull this list of movies to choose from? Thanks for the content!
I asked on my community tab and got the most popular answers
Aunt Zelda is a jumpscare if it were a character. Her movement, her voice, her look. Everything about her is scary and uncomfortable. She's like a proto-Silent Hill monster!
Gonjiam Haunted Asylum is terrifying. You can watch it free on TH-cam now :)
I thought it was ok
The exorcist is still the scariest movie ever for me because I saw it when I was 10 and afraid of evil. It scarred me for life. I still have trouble sleeping over it if I get an image in my head.
I think maybe you needed some other categories, like “psychologically disturbing” or something. I love almost all the films on your list, but I wouldn’t know how to categorize many of them. And the Tier format might not have been suited to types of scares…unless you are clear that the tiers are really categories, not “tiers” per se. Still love the video. And I loved The Autopsy of Jane Doe! Very scary and chilling. Lake Mungo was great, Requiem For a Dream was depressing as hell (like Trainspotting), Sinister affected me and stayed with me (the films, the attic). I could talk about all these films but you’ve already done it so well!
The Grudge is the only movie I can’t rewatch as a grown up. Still scared of it. It still comes to my mind whenever I go up or downstairs in the dark. I remember watching it as a kid with my family and I would cover my eyes… there was a part they told me it was safe to look and then that woman caught me by surprise. How she looked, how she moved and the sound she made… That was traumatizing. The blanket scene as well, I can’t get over it.
I believe every film hits everyone different ways theres so many variables thats what makes cinema great.I mean the mood you're in while viewing also the age..Nostalgia is a helluva drug!!I was born in 77 so The Exorcist,TCM and the Shining hit way different for me..Love your content its definitely topnotch great picks btw!!
It is really interesting what other people find scary. For me Medical Horror is nightmare fuel. The Human Centipede movies took me days to get thru. I had to pause several times as I have a physical reaction to it. The operation scenes make me sweat , tremble and feel like I am going to pass out. The medical scenes from The Craft and The Exorcist also stand out for me. Also some of the gore from Martyrs.
Slasher Films I find so fun to watch no matter how gory they are.
Midsommar I find relaxing. I will put that on as a comfort movie.
We are weird. People are weird
🙂✌️
The white face with red eyes that is in the thumbnail of the video of what movie is it? Did I miss it on the video?
Pazuzu! Exorcist
@@spookyastronauts Omg you are right, it's been a long time since i saw that movie i completely forgot😭
I agree on paranormal activity. For me it taps into that primal fear of the dark I had as a kid. After watching it, I was taken right back to that feeling of fear that there is something in the dark of my house that I can't see.