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Michael Tharrington for The DEV Team

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What's your favorite scary movie? 😱

We're about midway through October now and Halloween is just around the corner! 🎃

If you're like me, then you've already indulged in several horror flicks and are having a damn good, spine-tingling time. Every bump in the night puts me on alert, and I wouldn't have it any other way... it's too much fun being freaked out. 👻

A cute cartoon ghost eating popcorn and looking freaked out while apparently watching a horror film

I like it all. From aliens to zombies, classics to modern-day, cult to mainstream, comedy horror hybrids to straight-up scary flicks... if it's horror, you can count me in.

That being said, I'm running through my list really quickly and need some good suggestions to keep me going... so what's your favorite scary movie?

Comment below before I come find you and eat your brains! 🧠🧟

Top comments (63)

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psypher1 profile image
James 'Dante' Midzi • Edited

Either Hellbound: Hellraiser II or Candyman - the original, the way the gods intended.

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Michael Tharrington

Haha, love "the way the gods intended"... I've seen Candyman (classic!) but haven't yet seen the second Hellraiser... that's definitely going on the list! I have seen the first Hellraiser (love it), plus I just recently watched the new one and it's one of my favorite newer scary movies (it's available on Hulu btw!). Hellraiser is so twisted and kinda has a dark humor to it too.

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psypher1 profile image
James 'Dante' Midzi • Edited

I was not impressed with the new Candyman. They threw away the lore established in the first movie.

Ah yes, Girlraiser, watched that as well. It wasn't as bad as I assumed - loved that they went more in depth on the Lament Configuration.

I watch more horror movies than I care to admit 🤣🤣🤣

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Michael Tharrington

Haha, maybe I'll skip the new Candyman... haven't gone there yet!

And agreed. I do think they did a job of expanding on the Lament Configuration lore in that latest Hellraiser. Plus, the visual effects were very trippy and bad ass!

And I very much feel ya on watching lots of horror flicks. I'll have to take a pic of my list from this October... I've definitely had my fair share this month. 😅 Truth be told, I watch'em year-round, but once October rolls around it provides me with a good excuse for me to overindulge and retread ground.

Horror all day, every day! 😱🍿

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psypher1 profile image
James 'Dante' Midzi • Edited

Yeah, it's not worth your time. I only watched it cause they said Tony Todd would reprise his role - what a lie that was.

Oo, oo, oo.... Shameless plug. I do a series on my other blog where I share 30 picks that I think people should watch. Started it in 2019....

Here's this year's primer:
mydialectics.wordpress.com/2023/09...

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Izaak Chater

Oh man, people forget how intense the first 2 Hellraiser movies are. For me, they both come so close to greatness but only just miss the mark for different reasons.

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Michael Tharrington

My all-time fave has gotta be The Shining.

Wendy Torrance shaking with fright, a knife is in her hand

I just saw the sequel Doctor Sleep this season too and really dug that, but it wasn't all that scary.

For other lovers of The Shining, I highly highly recommend watching the documentary Room 237... it gets into a lot of different interpretations about the movies. Most are pretty far-fetched, but it's still a really interesting, fun watch.

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erinao profile image
Erin A Olinick

💯

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Matt Eland

The Prestige. Not jumpscare scary but a scary concept. Great thriller.

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Sarthak Sharma

And the direction of the movie 🤯

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Michael Tharrington

Totally! I can't remember where I heard the breakdown, but I remember someone talking about it in regards to Christopher Nolan's filmmaking. He uses practical effects, diversions, and tricks similar to a magician.

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sarthology profile image
Sarthak Sharma

Magic happens when Passion meets dedication.

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Michael Tharrington

The Prestige is such a wonderful movie. Good mention!

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Pascal Thormeier • Edited

Event Horizon, 1998. Amazingly moody Sci-Fi horror with excellent acting by Sam Neil and Laurence Fishburne. It's about a spaceship humanity has built with an experimental wormhole drive that just disappears and reappears in earth's orbit several years later with the entire crew gone. An investigation team enters the empty ship and tries to find out what happened to the crew, or rather, the ship itself.

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syxaxis profile image
George Johnson

Superb! There's a great shot when they show the front of the ship then pan up and as it looks like a giant crucifix and then the lightning cracks behind it and it's like a "haunted house in space". So cool! Not one of Fishbourne's greatest roles but the cast do seem to be enjoying themselves.

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Pascal Thormeier • Edited

I agree, Fishburne has done better, but the role was crucial for his career and actually helped him getting the role of Morpheus in The Matrix. According to commentary, the ship's architecture was based on Notre Dame in Paris, which explains the cruxifix shape.

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Michael Tharrington

Oooo how I have not seen this one?! Great description. I'm adding it to the list. 😀

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erinao profile image
Erin A Olinick

One of my faves is Let the Right One In, a mesmerizing coming of age Swedish vampire film based on the book of the same name. It's gorgeous and moody, set against the backdrop of the desolate Nordic landscape; so much more than your typical vampire flick, it far surpasses the American adaption, Let Me In.

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Michael Tharrington

YES!!! Oh, I love that movie so much. And though I watched Let Me In too, I can hardly remember it... I definitely agree that the Swedish version did it best. Some of the scenes still stick with me. It's got a lot of heart for a horror film.

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Sebastien Castiel

If you allow me to answer with a mini-series, I’d say The Haunting of Hill House. Not only scary, but a beautiful story too. I love the next series by the same creator, The Haunting of Bly Manor, very much as well.

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erinao profile image
Erin A Olinick

Shout out to Henry James's 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw, on which this series is based. Worth a read, even if you (think you know) the ending!

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Sebastien Castiel

That is very good to know, thanks!

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Michael Tharrington

Oh absolutely cool to respond with a series... especially ones as good as those!

By the way, the same creator (Mike Flanagan) worked on Midnight Mass and Midnight Club... you seen either of those yet?

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Sebastien Castiel

I haven’t seen Midnight Club, but Midnight Mass was cool! (I liked it less than the two first)

He also just released The Fall of the House of Usher a week ago, which I also liked less than the other ones, but still a good (very) scary series.

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Michael Tharrington • Edited

OOoo I haven't seen that one yet, but someone else mentioned it in the comments. Def gonna look that up! I'm a Flannigan fan... pretty sure we call ourselves fannigans.

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ganonbit profile image
Andrew Reese

Evil Dead 2 or Return of the Living Dead

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mitchiemt11 profile image
Mitchell Mutandah

The Grudge was love at first fright.

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michaeltharrington profile image
Michael Tharrington • Edited

Haha, I can totally hear that sound in my head now. You know the one I'm talking about!

I also love that one! Such a creepy atmosphere.

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mitchiemt11 profile image
Mitchell Mutandah

Yeah, that eerie sound is unforgettable!

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Ayu Adiati

I love scary/horror movies! 😍
Although I hide a lot under a cushion 🤣

My all-time favorite is Shutter.

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michaeltharrington profile image
Michael Tharrington

Ooooo never seen this one!! It's going on the list. Thanks for the suggestion, Ayu! 🙌

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syxaxis profile image
George Johnson

Kind of like "Event Horizon" sort of haunted-house-in-space, if you like that then another good one is "Pandorum". Guy suddenly wakes up in stasis, supposed to relieve the next shift on a 300 year flight out of Earth. The ship's reactor is down, so he has make his way through the ship to kickstart it again but finds that he's not alone! Whooo! LOL!

"White Noise" is fun one, the sounds they constructed for the movie do tend to play on your mind after you've gone to bed and lying there awake! Ha ha!

"Final Destination", they downplay the gore in favour and racheting up the ludicrous amounts of pure supposed bad luck to give some nice little twists and turns.

"The Thing" I love both Kurt Russel/John Carpenter version as well as the daft B-movie 1953 black and white "Thing from Another World" which is just so stupid and funny!

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Michael Tharrington

Great suggestions! Thankya George.

I actually rewatched "Final Destination" the other day (ludicrous amounts of bad luck is a great descriptor, haha) and have def seen "The Thing" (such a classic, though I've not seen "Thing from Another World" — kinda wanna now!) ... really enjoyed both movies!

I'll totally have to check out "Pandorum" and "White Noise" ... I've def seen the preview for "Pandorum" and it's on my list. It looks like it has some really interesting visuals. I know nothing about "White Noise" but kinda like going into these movies preview-less... it's going on muh list!

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George Henrique

Hellraiser was love at first fright!

read the books, see the movies (some are garbage, i admit), but the character itself is amazing, profound lore and some pretty catch phrases.

my favorite quote: "Don't cry, It's such a waste of good suffering."

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Michael Tharrington

Aww yeah, George, Hellraiser is such a classic. Somebody gave it a shout further up the thread too. There are several of us in here raising a glass to Hellraiser. 🍷

I haven't gone as deep and don't know the lore as well as you... might have to check out the books! Lovin' that quote you shouted out... I really dig the dark humor in the series.

You seen the latest Hellraiser on Hulu? It was released last year.

Also, not sure if you're a Rick and Morty fan, but I love the episode with the cenobites! Their reaction to Jerry is just so perfect. 😆 Here's a little clip for ya:

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George Henrique

Hey Michael!

I watched and enjoyed the new Pinhead in Hulu, hope they make a sequel (don't know if they already confirmed, I'll search here).

About the books, start on the Scarlet Gospels, It's amazing!

And last but not least, I know a little about Rick and Morty, but It's on my to-watch list!

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José Pablo Ramírez Vargas

Scary Movie, of course. 😄

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Michael Tharrington

Haha! When I was selecting a cover image for this post, I was searching for Ghostface 😱 and the Scary Movie version just kept coming up... was very tempted to go that route.

I owned Scary Movie 2 back in the day... it's absolutely ridiculous and I love it, haha.

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Jordan-Tyler Burchett

3 was my favorite from the set

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Jordan-Tyler Burchett

Gotta love the classics like Friday 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween. Maybe they take me back to being a kid or something. Yeah they're a bit cheesy nowadays but still feels like Halloween.

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michaeltharrington profile image
Michael Tharrington

Oh totally... good old slasher flicks. 🔪

I watched Nightmare on Elm Street earlier this season... never gets old!

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Ben Sinclair • Edited

Probably Carnival of Souls which is (handily) public domain:

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Michael Tharrington • Edited

Wow! This looks dope... I need to up my classic horror film game. I love watching movies like this and paying attention to how they build suspense and dread through cinematography. Gonna pop this on later!

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wraith profile image
Jake Lundberg

Gonna have to go with The Nun

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Michael Tharrington

Watched that just the other day and I love it! I love the whole Conjuring universe. James Wan rocks!

Also, apparently there is a Nun 2... gonna have to watch that one!

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Jake Lundberg

Agreed!

There is a second one! It follows the first one. Not as good as the first one (in my opinion) but still worth checking out 😃

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Mitchell Mutandah

Yeah, The Nun is the best. Didn't know there is Nun 2. I will add it to my watchlist