Also, in case you haven't seen it, The Descent has a significantly different ending in the UK version... Darker.

I do not understand why both endings are not included on the DVD. I own the "original unrated cut" version of The Descent.

Really? Please enlighten me, I loved this movie.

SPOILER ALERT:
In the version I have, the main character is stuck in the cave at the end and you can hear all sorts of frightful noises all around her. I've heard various interpretations of this ending, but that's what you see on screen.

/SPOILERS

Also, I watched about half of Inside today before I had to go to work. Love it, so far. I got the subbed version, but just for the record, I don't watched the dubbed versions of anything, it's too distracting.

[SPOILERS]
From what you described, I believe you might have seen the UK ending, assuming there was a little girl with a birthday cake. I think the US ending simply cut that scene out. I'm not sure which I like better. Darker is usually better, but not always. They're both pretty good.

I didn't like the "darker" Director's Cut ending of Army of Darkness. It was kinda hoaky, and more importantly, cut out one of the best scenes in the movie -- the demon at S-Mart.

Thank you for writing the spoilers alert messages. I was able to avoid reading it. Still on my to-see list.

Ya, I was mildly entertained by The Cave, it was just painful to watch some scenes, as they were very hollywood cookie-cutter cliches, especially the end, which made it rather anticlimatic.

Scare-O-Meter scores (out of 5)

The Descent (based on 7 ratings) - 3.9
Martyrs (based on 4 ratings) - 4.0
Inside (based on 4 ratings) - 4.3

All 3 modern scarefests do wonderfully well in the rankings, and are added to the opening post with flying colors!

Unfortunately, I have not seen any of these, but I really want to see Onibaba and Kwaidan. I have not heard of Kuroneko.

Kwaidan: 3
Onibaba: 3

I haven't seen the other one.

EDIT: Just want to say that Inside should have been named Intense, because it was a non-stop cringe fest for me. I would rate it a 4, but a 5 for me would be considered "unwatchable".

Haven't seen any of them, so I'll have to pass on voting.

Say, Gigan, just curious, how would rank these films in most scariest?

REC
The Descent
Martyrs
Inside

(V, I haven't seen the FORTY-FIRST SET films in entirety.)

Onibaba - 3

Haven't seen the others. :(

I agree. I actually did something crazy and showed this movie to my parents. They seemed to handle it okay, but I felt kinda bad afterwards.

Just a head's up about Martyrs... You might find that one unwatchable, and there would be no shame whatsoever in feeling that way. I imagine at least half the horror-watching community would agree, and near 100% of the rest of the movie-watching community. It's an experiment in discomfort. An utterly brilliant film IMO, but many will find it hard to evaluate, either because it's too disturbing, or because the disturbing nature will affect the viewer's ability to evaluate it on its merits, or because it will be dismissed outright with some oversimplified categorization.


Wow, that's a tough one. "Scariest" depends on a lot of factors, and it changes day to day, and with each passing mood. If I were to try to define "scary," it would be some combination of 1) gives me that goosebumps feeling while watching it, and 2) makes me think twice when walking down a dark hallway afterwards. By that definition, I would rank them:

REC
The Descent
Inside
Martyrs

The reason being, REC and The Descent have those ghoulish, mysterious things hiding in the corners, which is creepy, and you're expecting something to jump out at you. Last night, I watched the Lucky McKee episode of Masters of Horror, "Sick Girl," where a woman basically starts turning into a bug, and tentacles and stuff start coming out of her mouth and ears. It made the hairs on my skin stand up.

However, one thing I often (but not always) look for in horror films these days (and exploitation, dark dramas, disturbing crime thrillers & documentaries) is not so much that creepy scary feeling, but the feeling of being generally "affected." So basically, 1) did the movie make me uncomfortable watching it, and 2) did it leave me unnerved for some time afterwards. By this definition, I would rank them:

Martyrs
Inside
The Descent
REC

This is not so much a measure of violence, but really anything that could screw me up in the head when watching it, which I consider a successful experience (within certain boundaries, of course).

Just a quick followup.. You mentioned you showed it to your folks. What'd they think of it?

I been reading some reviews of it, they seem pretty polarize, between saying, at the conclusion of the film, it's nihilistic or " one leaves the theatre more enamoured with humanity than ever". I don't take any pleasure watching 'torture' in any form, but as a horror fan, it's not the issue. I'd certainly consider it if it was meaningful, but not if it's ultimately nihilistic.

Kwaidan: 3
Onibaba: 4
Kuroneko: 3

Three of the finest horror films Japan has ever produced, which is really saying something.

I assume you're asking about Inside because that's the one I showed my parents. However, it sounds like you're describing Martyrs.

So... Inside...

My parents didn't have a lot of words to say afterwards. My dad tried to make a joke, but neither parent was particularly chatty, which leads me to believe they just wanted to move on and forget about it.

Based on your comment about torture, I'm not sure that you'd like this film. It doesn't actually really have any torture in it, but let's just say that the level of physical and psychological stress that the main character endures is way up there. The movie most certainly has meaning, but that depends on the individual's interpretation. One conclusion that can be drawn is somewhere near the the opposite of nihilism, as long as you can either empathize with the antagonist, or draw broader conclusions from her actions. Her value of life is so overwhelming that she is willing to destroy anyone in her path. I don't want to say any more than that though.

If... you're asking about Martyrs...

Martyrs, I imagine would be even more polarizing. Inside, is essentially a slasher, but one that bastardizes the formula (as the French are currently doing). Martyrs, on the other hand, takes elements from a variety of horror subgenres, but the end result is a whole new beast. IMO there's not another movie like it. This one does include torture, and a lazy analysis would be to dismiss it because of that. Also, unlike, say, Saw, where perhaps some of the fun is watching the various ways people get trapped and killed, there's no pleasure whatsoever to be had in the torturous scenes in Martyrs. Instead, it's an exhausting experience for the viewer. The theme explored is whether or not one can experience a level of pain beyond what you could possibly imagine, to the point where the only means of existence is to embrace the pain and rise to a new level of existence. Forcing the viewer to endure this is essentially a parallel experiment on the viewer. I won't spoil the ending, but it's intentionally vague, and a variety of conclusions could be drawn from it. This, and the difficult subject matter and imagery are sure to result in some pretty polarizing opinions. Based on your comment about torture though, I would not recommend watching it.

Got ya. Ya, I was talking about Maryrs. Sorry, I misread the post. I see your folks saw Inside. But I was curious about both, so I'm glad you elaborated. I certainly find purpose in trials, and definitely in suffering, so I must check out Martyrs. Thanks!

Fortunato comes through! I've only saw some of one, heard of Kwaidan, but not Kuroneko. You think Kwaidan and Kuroneko are good films?

Anyone else?

Haven't seen any of them.

Kwaidan: 4
Onibaba: 4
Kuroneko: 3

What a great round and what a shame so many of you have missed out on these classics.

Scare-O-Meter scores (out of 5)

Kwaidan (based on 3 ratings) - 3.3
Onibaba (based on 4 ratings) - 3.5
Kuroneko - Insufficient Data

More horror fans need to see these extremely underrated Japanese classics of the genre. They helped change and evolve the modern horror film to a very large extent, IMO.

All 3 duly merged into the opening post.

Silence of the Lambs - 4.56

Misery- 3.81

Seven - 1.02

Silence of the Lambs - 1

Misery - 3

Seven - 1

Silence Of The Lambs - 4

Misery - 3

Seven - 2

Silence of the Lambs - 2

Misery - 2

Seven - 2

Silence of the Lambs - 2

Misery - 3

Seven - 2

Silence of the Lambs - 4
Misery - 3 (scenes were more uncomfortable than scary)
Seven - 3 (same as above)

Yeah... I almost felt the pain myself in a certain famous scene... ouch!!

Yeah, Misery was more uncomfortable & frustrating than scary. It's like watching Deliverance.

Silence Of The Lambs - 3
Misery - 3
Seven - 3

Silence of the Lambs: 3
Misery: 2
Seven: 2

Scare-O-Meter scores (out of 5)

The Silence of the Lambs (based on 8 ratings) - 2.9
Misery (based on 8 ratings) - 2.8
Seven (based on 8 ratings) - 2.0

Silence of the Lambs tops the 90s trio in the scare factor department. Misery does well too but Se7en disappoints, despite it's extremely nerve-jangling ending.

All 3 films are added to opening post.

Carrie - 2

Haven't seen the others

Same answer for me.

Same here.

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things: 2 (Much better than you might imagine.)

The Devils: 3 (Tough viewing, but you guys should give it a watch, amazing movie).

Carrie: 3

Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things: 2
The Devils: 2 (most every Ken Russell film is worth seeing)
Carrie: 3

Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things: Haven't seen, but that's an awesome title.

The Devils: 4
Carrie: 3