I think it was a Korean movie from probably ten years ago or more. I think it was on Netflix at the time.

A guy wakes up in the woods not remembering anything and is attacked and hunted by a family. The whole movie takes place in the woods and cabins.

At the end of the movie it's revealed that the man had killed a member of their group in front of them to get them to attack him and had gone off into the woods and drugged himself.

The movie ends with a car with a family coming down the road and him smiling because he's about to do it again.

I saw it in some kind of compilation thing but cannot find that comp any more. I dont believe it was in the Shudder top 100 but maybe I missed it upon re-watch. It was likely on YouTube but Im having no luck there either. All I remember from the scene is there is a terrified woman like sitting with her back against a wall, she either screams or gasps and simply dies. It was a bit silly looking, as she sort of hunches over sideways and is just dead. I feel like it was a foreign film, maybe in Spanish but im not sure.

I know it's pretty vague, but if anyone thinks they know, it would be greatly appreciated.

The movie is soo good Im not gonna watch it ever again after watching that ending, wtf was that lmaooo

Ollie my boy you the MVP

David learned a lesson: Patience is a virtue 😭😭

Footage of her attached to wires/harness. This shot of her hanging off the staircase is one of the highlights of the scene, and knowing it's actually her hanging there high above the ground just makes it even better.

Milk & Serial / Surprise can't reveal threat / Medium to Gast Pacing /

A group of friends chilling and hanging out until slowly one by one they go missing. As they frantically try to figure out what is going on time is running out and they struggle to figure out who or what is responsible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbzGQ1lszv4

Grave Encounters / Paranormal / medium pacing /

A group of ghost hunters find out ghosts are actually real. They make fun of local legends about a haunted asylum only to find out the legends are real ? Or is it in thier heads ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVB2V4gNClA

A Cold Dark Knight / no label because its a surprise/medium pacing .

Friends hanging out until some strange things happen and they don't know why. They start to explore the surrounding areas but they start fo feel like something is hunting them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyyZDcijD1c

NightBound / Paranormal , Monsters / Fast Pacing /

A man is trapped inside a house that has multiple ghosts and demons after his soul. Shorter movie than the rest here but extremely fast paced.

https://youtu.be/6ICiE4Soz9g

There Are Monsters / Suprise theme cant reveal / medium for 30 , then fast pacing the rest of the way /

A group of friends notice people a ting strange around town . Slowly they start to realize whats going on and its more sinister than you can imagine.

This movie has a super creepy factor to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2bNmIaoKpA

Vengeance X / Paranormal, Monsters , Superhero / Medium Pacing for most part , last 20 minutes real fast pacing /

A vlogger named William Floss is investigating a haunted house where a lady disappeared. The movie starts off horror for the most of the film , 30 minutes adds a little Sci-Fi , then towards the end its like Superhero vs Horror .

https://youtu.be/CNiTJIDOVJA

MallBound / Suprise can't label to preserve secret / Medium Pacing /

Parker Shaw a vlogger goes on to investigate an abandoned mall near his hometown. What he doesn't know is that it hides a secret , one that could be dangerous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6jjDL3wbDA

Outbreak / Zombie / Medium to Fast Pacing /

At a medical school some student contract a virus that makes them develop a taste for flesh. Shorter than normal film but the intensity more than makes up for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeUQGzkXqK4

Real talk, what's actually scarier about Teke Teke?

The fact that she has no legs?

Or hearing that "tek tek" sound getting closer when nobody's there?

I swear the sound is worse. Change my mind.

I think this horror movie that came out is so underrated and so ahead of time as one of the first independent films to feature a female serial killer who has a tragic backstory but was always the villain from the beginning.

I'm new to horror and I started out with watching stuff like Insidious and The Conjuring which I wasn't exactly the biggest fan of so I thought I just didn't like horror that much.

But then I checked out James Wan's other horror movie Malignant which I loved and even became my top 10 movie in general. I loved the comedy all throughout the movie and how it wasn't taking itself too seriously and the stylish action scene at the end was amazing.

And I also checked out Resident Evil since I'm a fan of the games and I also enjoyed that movie a lot. The comedic timings of Bryan were perfect. I decided to see Zach Cregger's other movies and loved those aswell. Especially Barbarian.

So I'm looking for more movies with stylish over the top horror, action and comedy.

I must have watched it 100 times in the course of my life (34M), most recently this week.

To be fair, I do feel that Kubrick improved the source material. King's novel, although original, is ultimately a mundane haunted house story that ends with some (failed) attempted murder. There is no ambiguity in King's work that the supernatural is at work; the suspense is purely in waiting to see who will survive.

Kubrick intentionally introduced some ambiguity as to what is going on. But, in my opinion, he did it quite carelessly (yes, I'm suggesting that Kubrick was careless).

According to Kubrick it's supposed to be unclear at first whether there are any genuinely supernatural forces at work, or if it's all in Jack's head. But actually, it's made explicit early in the film that genuine supernatural forces are present: on the first day of arrival, while Jack and Wendy are being shown around by the hotel manager and cook, little Danny sees the ghosts of the Grady twins in the games room. There is never any doubt as I watch that the ghosts are real.

Then there are the continuity errors: Charles Grady vs. Delbert Grady, chairs appearing and disappearing, the mismatch of exterior shots of the Timberline Lodge vs. the replica outdoor set. The maze is missing in establishing shots because it doesn't exist at the real Timberline Lodge. This isn't some deeper meaning; it's just a very poor continuity error.

Now on the Charles vs. Delbert issue: this gets to Kubrick's most significant change to King's novel. Kubrick introduced the idea that Jack was the reincarnation of a previous hotel employee who had worked there in the 1920s. This is why there are several shots showing both Jack himself and his reflection in a mirror, suggesting in the viewer's mind that there are two Jacks. This is why Jack seems to know Lloyd the bartender the first time he sees him - he actually remembers Lloyd from the 1920s. This is also why Grady's ghost says Jack has always been the caretaker: Grady thinks he is talking to the 1920s Jack, at least at first. There is also a line early in the movie where Jack tells Wendy that he has this uncanny feeling that is more than normal deja vu, like he has really been here before. Ultimately this is what the photo at the end is supposed to show - that Jack really had been there before. But the idea is severely underdeveloped, and leaves too many questions. Was the 1970s Grady also a reincarnated former employee? (Delbert = 1920s Grady, Charles = 1970s Grady). The idea is so poorly hinted at that many viewers instead settle on the "absorption theory": Jack is not a reincarnation, but after he dies in the maze the hotel claims his soul and absorbs into its timeless history: Jack joins the ghosts at the eternal 1920s party and the hotel places him anachronistically into the photograph. It's a sensible theory, but Kubrick himself said that reincarnation is what he intended, not absorption.

And then ultimately, it's a bit boring. For the first two acts of the film, relatively little happens. Jack is a bit pissed off all the time. There is hardly any dialogue in the whole film, and what there is sounds stilted, like actors delivering a line unnaturally. Probably because Kubrick had them on take 87 by that point. Finally, in the third act, what really happens that is so scary? Jack runs around with an axe but quickly gets outwitted by Wendy and Danny. The visions that Wendy sees are just plain corny jumpscares - the two guys performing oral, the man with his head cracked open (Great party, isn't it!), the super-cheesy skeletons and cobwebs. And every time it's done with the same cheesy sound effect and optical zoom in. It's actually almost laughable. And even the iconic shot of the blood coming of the elevator ... what's that supposed to represent and why would anyone find that scary?

So, my suggested improvements:

• Kubrick should have doubled down on the ambiguity. Make it completely impossible to figure out if the ghosts are real. Do not show anything that can only be explained by a ghost really being present (like the cellar door being unlocked).

• Either make the reincarnation idea explicitly clear or remove it altogether.

• Make the ending more bleak. Jack succeeds in killing Wendy and Danny, and the hotel wins.

• Perhaps even go for an angle more like Triangle (2009): the characters are actually all in hell or something, and doomed to repeat their past. This would tie in with the reincarnation idea quite well.

• Get rid of the jump scares in the final act.

If there are any DARKNESS FALLS fans here, I’d like to hear your thoughts about these. Mainly because, while I do personally like the film, I think that some of these deleted scenes would have improved the film.

For those of you who don’t know about what happened to the film, I’ll try to keep this basic and to the point;

The movie was originally filmed between late 2001 and early 2002. It went through several different title changes during this initial production; TOOTH FAIRY, THE GHOST OF MATILDA DIXON, THE TOOTH FAIRY: THE GHOST OF MATILDA DIXON (yes, at one point they mixed both titles together), DON’T PEEK… Apparently another title was THE TOOTH FAIRY: EVERY LEGEND HAS ITS DARK SIDE, but I couldn’t find anything to confirm this.

The original cut was said to have had negative test screenings, both with the studio and the test audiences. Expert horror movie editor Patrick Lussier, who would usually come in to help and “rescue and fix” the horror films which had similar problems, was brought in to do the same with this one, several months after the original filming. According to Lussier, the original cut had a score of 25% with the test audiences, but the new (final) version, after re-shoots and re-editing, scored at 75% in new test screenings.

No deleted scenes were ever officially released, however there was an extended TV version which had quite a few of those put back in, reportedly because the already heavily cut final version would have been too short even for a TV. The novelization by Keith R.A. DeCandido also has a lot of the scenes and other parts that were cut from the film, including the entire original background for Matilda Dixon/Tooth Fairy.

NOTE – All the following info is available in other places, and I can confirm it is true, based on the interviews and commentaries with the director and others who worked on the film, and also since I did watch the extended TV version, and read DeCandido’s novelization.

Early Scripts Differences

In earlier drafts, Michael was actually Caitlin's son, but in later drafts he was changed to be her brother.

Originally, Larry was Kyle's cousin, but in the film he is his old friend.

The death scenes of Tooth Fairy's victims were originally going to be much more gruesome. For example, Ray's dead body was originally going to be found with his jaw ripped off and teeth pulled out, however this was also changed when it was decided that the film is going to be rated PG-13.

In the script, the sensory deprivation tank was in fact MRI, just like it is in the final film, although for some reason the characters still refer to it as the sensory deprivation tank.

The scene where Kyle and Larry are attacked by Tooth Fairy after crashing their car in the woods at night was longer, and it was also going to be the first scene where she would be shown, and which would confirm how Kyle was right, and was not actually the murderer. In this scene, after she kills Larry, Kyle gets back into the car, and Tooth Fairy starts trying to break in from above, and Kyle shoots at her from the same gun he stole earlier, and when that doesn't work, he grabs a flashlight and scares her away.

In the next scene, when Kyle shows up in hospital and tells everyone to get Michael out of the MRI machine, he would also point that same gun at the doctors.

Earlier drafts also had different versions of what would cause the blackout in the third act of the film. In one version, there was a scheduled blackout since it was a resort town, and in the second version Tooth Fairy throws something into the power plant and causes the blackout.

There was also at one point a different, more bittersweet ending, back when characters would have to look at Tooth Fairy so that she can kill them. After they finally destroy her at the lighthouse, Kyle tells Caitlin how it's over, and he knows this because he has gone blind from the bright light.

Deleted Scenes and Original Cut

The film was originally rated R, and even some early promotional materials still mention this, however it was later cut down to PG-13.

Matilda Dixon/The Tooth Fairy originally had a different background. She was a young widow whose husband was lost at sea, instead of being an older woman.

The Tooth Fairy’s design was completely changed. Originally she was “a winged and toothy creature,” designed by Steve Wang, and with Doug Jones playing the creature, which was only going to show up in the ending, while in rest of the film it would be off-screen. Patrick Lussier had a hand in changing the original background for the character, along with Stan Winston who Lussier helped bring in to design a new look for her, and in the final film (after the re-shoots) The Tooth Fairy shows up a lot more times.

The town where the film takes place was originally called Point Ferry. Once it was decided to change the name into Darkness Falls, some of the scenes where the original name was mentioned or shown had to be changed. That's why, in the first scenes of the film, Kyle's room has flags with Point Ferry written on them. Some other scenes were also dubbed for the same reasons, like for example in the later scene where Kyle and Larry are driving in a car at night, it is obvious how their dialogue was changed.

Original opening with Kyle and other kids in the school classroom, talking about Matilda Dixon as part of their school project. After some girl finishes talking about her, Kyle corrects her and others, and tells the full story. Then he gets into a fight with Ray, the school bully, and stabs him in the back with a compass. This was meant to show how Kyle is maybe already mentally disturbed, and therefore an actual murderer. The opening scene in the final film, showing pictures of Matilda and with voiceover explaining who she was, was added later during re-shoots and re-edits. The extended TV version of the film includes both the new opening, and the original classroom opening scene, but only the first half (the fight and stabbing was not included), and this does cause a strange continuity mistake since this version now has two different backgrounds for Matilda/Tooth Fairy. Trailers for the film also show parts of this original opening scene.

Original version of the scene where Kyle's mom is killed. In this version, it's not shown what happens to her, and instead her death is left ambiguous, and the film cuts to the next morning where Kyle is taken away. This was meant to be a fake implication that Kyle killed her, which is why later when he's an adult he even says how Tooth Fairy is not real. Also, the reason why young Kyle is crouching over during this scene when he talks to his mom, is because actor Joshua Anderson grew taller between nine months since the original filming and the re-shoots.

The studio asked the filmmakers to write and add a scene which would explain where Caitlin and Michael's parents are. But then, when the film was being re-edited during post production, the studio asked for that scene to be cut out because it was slowing the film down.

The scene where Larry is introduced was also cut, and in the film he just shows up out of nowhere.

In the bar scene where now adult Ray confronts Kyle, there was originally a dialogue where Ray mentioned how Kyle stabbed him in the back when they were kids, referencing the original deleted opening scene. Their fight in the woods was also cut down for PG-13 rating, originally Kyle punched Ray more times.

After Kyle is brought into the police station for interrogation, there was a scene where Ray's wife attacks and tries to fight him. This is the same woman who in the final film can be seen crying in another scene at the station. This short deleted scene was also added back in the extended TV version.

There was a short extended scene, after Michael gets attacked by Tooth Fairy and locks himself in the bathroom, where Caitlin is walking through the hospital hallways next morning and talking to a doctor, who says how Michael will be alright and that they just gave him some stitches, but because they think he has started to self-mutilate himself, doctor says how Michael will need some other help, which leads into the scene in the final film where she talks to another doctor who tells her about sensory deprivation tank. This scene was also included in the extended TV version of the film.

Larry comes to the police station and demands for them to release Kyle, or else he will go to the judge and file harassment charges. This scene was also included in the extended TV version of the film.

Michael is strapped in his room and being prepared for an MRI machine, while Caitlin is watching over him. This scene was also included in the extended TV version of the film.

Short scene where Kyle arrives at the hospital and stops the car in front of it, as Michael is going inside the MRI machine. This scene was also included in the extended TV version of the film.

The scene where Henry goes to the records room inside the police station during blackout was originally longer, and Henry actually reads the files about unsolved murders, and realizes Kyle was telling the truth. This scene was also included in the extended TV version.

All of the close ups and wide shots with Tooth Fairy, like in the scene where she attacks the police station, were all added later during re-shoots, after the original version of her was changed.

An additional character was completely cut out of the film, another nurse at the hospital who was taking care of all the street cats. It's one of those cats that also jump scares Caitlin in the scene which is still in the film. The later scene, during Tooth Fairy's attack on the hospital in the third act, where others find this nurse's body covered with her cats was also cut out.

Before the scene where Kyle and others have to carefully move through the dark hallway in the hospital, there was an extended part where the doctor doesn't believe what's happening at first, so he goes back to his office, but when he sees it is dark and how something might be inside, he decides to go back with others. This scene was also included in the extended TV version of the film.

The hallway scene was also longer, and a lot more tense, with all the lights behind Kyle and others slowly starting to turn off as they keep moving. When Kyle gets to the end and sees how it's too dark to continue, he throws his keys at one of the windows which breaks the glass and lets the light shine though the rest of the hallway, and they all start to move faster. After Tooth Fairy attacks and kills the first nurse, Kyle and Caitlin hug, and then the scene continues like in the film with them running. This scene was also included in the extended TV version of the film.

A kiss between Kyle and Caitlin was cut from the ending of the film, after they defeat the Tooth Fairy at the lighthouse. After they kiss, Kyle also says "first time shouldn't taste like blood", the same line which she told him in the opening of the film, when they first kissed.

In the final scene of the film, when another young boy loses his tooth and he and his dad put it under his pillow, Tooth Fairy's creepy moans were going to be heard, however it was decided not to include sequel bait ending, so the film ends with boy's mother putting the coin under the pillow.

The ending credits had to be extended during re-editing, because after all the other cuts the film went through, it would have been too short to release in theaters.

That’s all about Darkness Falls, but as a small bonus, here’s the link for another thread I posted couple weeks ago, about an unproduced World War 2 action horror THE WATCH, which director of Darkness Falls, Jonathan Liebesman, was going to direct as his follow up to this film;

https://www.reddit.com/r/horror/comments/1xjg517/the_watch_unproduced_world_war_2_action_horror_in/

ok so if you've seen VHS Halloween, you already KNOW how disturbing Kidprint is. the sheer terror in the childrens eyes really affected me and i love found footage, and i love how the twist wasnt really a twist its just seeing what happens and wandering if you really ever know someone. Anyways, what are some similar movies? Like full length movies with that same gritty, disturbing, and hopeless horrible vibe, found footage is best. Also ones like Home Haunt, which i loved how it went from wholesome dad trying to make a haunted house to oh these children are being murdered by the decorations, or Coochie Coochie Coo which was basically a life of luxury video.

Recently rewatched When Evil Lurks and it fit this bill to me. The protagonist chooses poorly every step of the way and caused the downfall of his entire family. What other films qualify?

Edit: PROtagonist

If you haven't watched it, turn back now, my question will spoil the entire movie.

Do we know how many times Justify and Cecile have swapped bodies with people prior to Luke and Caroline? As servants of the Thorpe family, were those supposed to be their original bodies, or were there body swaps before that? Were the bodies of Violet and Ben supposed to be the Thorpe children's bodies all grown up, or is it implied there was one body swap from the Thorpes to Ben and Violet?

Assuming their bodies as the servants were their original bodies, and Ben and Violet were the Thorpe kids, that's just one body swap before Caroline and Luke.

Surprise to see no thread. What did you guys think? Technically horror I believe, I'd rather campy and comedic. In my opinion it was sadly neither campy nor scary enough and didn't do a great job at walking the line but Maika Monroe is deliciously unhinged in it and the little gore we get was fun!

I've been rewatching them all as a big Wes Craven fan so I did head-to-head matchups with all 20 of Wes Craven's movies until I had a final ranking. This is based on those I think are the best with a little bias here and there for guilty pleasures :-)

Spoilers ahead...

**20. The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985)**

It's nice to see Michael Berryman back, but that's about it. The movie is weird, tonally off-putting, poorly written, and clearly a desperate cash grab from Craven during a slump. It leans on flashbacks to pad the runtime. It's unimaginative and has almost nothing to redeem it. At least Vampire in Brooklyn had some effort behind it.

**19. Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)**

I avoided this one for the longest time because I can't take Eddie Murphy seriously. Then a small online reassessment convinced me to give it a shot as camp. I did. It still wasn't great. Wes and Eddie were clearly at odds. From what I've read, Eddie wanted a true horror film and Wes knew the best bet was a horror comedy. It falls flat because Wes tries to squeeze a comedic tone out of a serious script, and everything comes off off-putting, unfunny, not scary, and kind of weird. Angela Bassett is the highlight, like she is in anything.

**18. Swamp Thing (1982)**

Swamp Thing has a better script and more effort behind it than some movies higher on this list, but the production value and budget have aged terribly. It's a good story, and it was well received back in the early 80s. Visually, though, it hasn't held up. It's hard to watch with a straight face when the suit is clearly falling apart on camera. I feel bad for not loving it more. It's a good movie for its time, just painfully dated.

**17. Music of the Heart (1999)**

Another good movie that just doesn't interest me. Wes wanted to break out of horror and did a good job, but he picked the most run-of-the-mill feel-good story he could find. He played it so safe it left no impression beyond a gold star for effort. It's one of those perfectly fine movies made to be a little feel-good hit and then die in anonymity, which is exactly what it did. Craven succeeded in a lot of ways here. He just played it way too safe and should have picked a more interesting story.

**16. Deadly Friend (1986)**

I only recently watched this one. It has such a reputation that I didn't want to be disappointed, and overall I wasn't! Wes made a fantasy drama and the studio demanded a horror movie late in the game, so it got heavily reshot. All the last-minute gore shows, but there's still stuff worth appreciating here, and I think it deserves a camp-value reassessment in the age of AI. I liked the lead's descent into madness as he gets desperate to save Samantha. There's a little Frankenstein in it too. It's very dated and the studio interference made it a mess, but there's a lot of charm in the ambition, the story, the themes, and the camp.

**15. Deadly Blessing (1981)**

I've always been into religious horror and fascinated by the Amish, so the Hittite community pulled me right in. The movie has a lot of ups and downs. The story is engaging but it's a slog at times, with some standout sequences mixed in. The ending is a hot mess and kind of laughable, but I read the studio forced it. Wes's career was plagued by studio interference. He rarely got to make the movie he set out to make, and it usually shows in the endings. Still, this movie has atmosphere and a vibe to it that gives it a little extra staying power despite so many flaws.

**14. My Soul to Take (2010)**

I know a lot of people will be bewildered this is so high. The script is an absolute mess. Still, this movie fascinates me. It has so many ideas that it would've worked better as a miniseries so Wes could flesh them all out. I love the concept of the harvester of souls. A serial killer everyone believed had multiple personalities really had multiple souls, and when he's killed, those souls reincarnate and he comes back to collect them.

I think it would've been better if Wes dropped the whodunit, made the Ripper a straight-up supernatural killer, and gave the Riverton Seven more room instead of killing them off so fast. But a lot works for me. I love the way it looks. Great shots and atmosphere with the river town setting. The opening kill on the bridge is creepy, and the Ripper looks terrifying there. I also like the relationship between Bug and Alex.

A lot of the dialogue is unrealistic, and the Fang subplot is just weird. Why is she still in school? Why is everyone her minion? How does she have all that power? It's a much older Wes Craven trying to write sharp teenagers, and it doesn't work. But I still find it charming, and I always find something new in it. I don't know why. I wish someone would remake it and retell Wes's core story in a compelling way.

**13. Cursed (2005)**

Another movie that was almost entirely reshot after it was 90% finished, all because of studio interference. It's not the narrative mess some people claim. It's a pretty simple, coherent story, and everything flows naturally into the next thing. The real problems are the CGI and the tone. I wonder if the well-known production trouble colors how people see it, because I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as its reputation. Yes, it's campy and the CGI is rough. It's also fucking fun. So much fun. The entire cast is fantastic. It comes down to whether you can get past the CGI and a downright campy tone. I can. I love this movie but I know it's not perfect. I would kill for the Craven cut, but it bombed, so we'll never see it.

**12. The Last House on the Left (1972)**

I love the story and respect its cult classic status. It's an exploitation film that even Roger Ebert loved. But I love it from a distance. It's a little too nihilistic for me. Rape and murder, two young girls going through that much horror, all in such a realistic, almost documentary style. It's hard to watch. Wes almost always had optimistic endings, which is probably a big reason I'm such a fan, so I appreciate that he produced the remake and that it ends a little more triumphantly. It's a great early 70s exploitation film and I can see why it launched his career. It's this high because I know how good it is, not because I love it that much.

**11. The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)**

A hidden gem. It was well received when it came out but wasn't a big commercial hit. There are a lot of terrifying scenes, and you can see him channeling some of what he pulled off in the first Nightmare. It drags at times in between the big moments, but Bill Pullman is great as the lead and the story is really interesting. I'd love to see it remade with modern effects, more budget, and a little more flair.

**10. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)**

Just an awesome story. Doug is the unlikely hero, half the family dies all at once in a bold, unexpected way, and the survivors have to step up. Doug is so underrated, and the lengths he goes to to save his baby and the rest of his in-laws feel so triumphant. I saw the Craven-produced remake first, which follows the original closely with some added lore. I'll never forget it. I hated Doug, then loved Doug, then was sure Doug was going to die, and was so relieved when he came out on top. The mutants were terrifying, and the camper attack was so horrifying I was scared watching it in broad daylight. I loved it so much I tracked down the original and found basically the same movie, just on a much smaller budget and more visually dated. I love both to this day, and I'd love to see more in this universe.

**9. The People Under the Stairs (1991)**

The title is so ominous that sometimes I wish I could watch a more serious, grounded version. But I still love it for being thrilling, campy, funny, scary, and endearing all at once. Fool is a great lead. It was bold of Wes to write and direct a movie centered on Black characters with this much racial and social commentary, and he pulled it off. So much of it is over the top, but that works because the horrors in that house are larger than life, and Fool has to make it out alive and free everyone held captive along the way. It's rare for a movie with this many elements to work this well. The horror, the humor, the camp, the commentary... somehow it all just works. A few years back I read that Monkeypaw (Jordan Peele's company) was going after a remake. I'd love to see it.

**8. Red Eye (2005)**

To me, Red Eye shows Wes's greatest strength. He's so character-focused and gets the best out of his actors. He was a director for hire here, and he elevates the material through the performances he gets. It's almost entirely isolated to a plane, and the tension keeps building. It never slows down or drags, and he doesn't pad the runtime. It's a great psychological survival thriller, and the third act puts his slasher energy on display with the chase through the airport and the house. Some people knock it for going slasher at the end, but I love it, because Wes was always great at nail-biting, high-octane third acts.

**7. Shocker (1989)**

Another one Wes wrote and directed, and he was clearly trying to outdo Freddy. He doesn't, and like a lot of the movies he wrote himself, he crams in way too many ideas instead of committing to one or two and fleshing them out. Still, Shocker is a downright fun mess. I love Jonathan as the lead and I love the zany camp. My favorite parts are the travel through electricity and TVs and the wild third act. It's such a vibe despite the obvious flaws. If I could tighten it up, I'd cut the ghost girlfriend subplot, spend less time on body hopping, and focus more on using electricity to stop him. Imagine a remake with clearer rules, where Pinker can only travel through electricity and they get creative with cutting power to trap him or going off grid to escape. So many missed opportunities, but I still love this wild mess. I always have a damn good time.

**6. Scream 4 (2011)**

I know, I'm piling all the Scream and Nightmare movies at the top. I just love them. Scream 4 was so refreshing when it came out. Wes was coming off the huge failure of My Soul to Take, and even though 4 has some tonal whiplash like 3, it just feels like Thanksgiving. The family's back together and everybody brought their favorite dish. Wes goes off the wall in the third act, which is the movie's biggest strength. Gale, Dewey, and Sidney all bring their best, and Jill is an awesome reveal. It's like a greatest hits album with a few new tracks we might not love as much, but it all still feels great.

**5. Scream 3 (2000)**

Scream 3 has worked its way up my list. I don't see the futuristic voice changer as a silly gimmick anymore. Watching in 2026, it feels relevant and aging well. And sadly, the movie's take on rape culture in Hollywood has aged so well that in hindsight it plays like a direct shot at Harvey Weinstein. It's a tonal detour, to say the least. It really embraces the humor, but the humor works, and it still gets serious when it counts, especially with its themes and anything involving Sidney. The third act isn't exactly earned, but it's still really satisfying. It's the first time it's just Sidney vs. the killer, a fight to the finish with no one saving her, though Dewey gets the final shot and is very useful in this one. Parker Posey is so much fun, and even with the full-on camp, I buy that that's just who Jennifer is. Messy elements, a weak script, major tonal issues, and there's still so much to love and so much rewatchability.

**4. Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)**

One of the coolest, cleverest, most inventive scripts ever. I love all the meta stuff. A demon is breaking into the real world through the character of Freddy, and you see it in his torn skin and in the earthquakes. The only way to stop him is for Heather to play Nancy one last time. And it's not just a clever meta story about actors and characters. It also shows how Freddy became an icon and how the actors, especially Heather, are haunted by it and living in its shadow. Heather gives her best performance here.

It's a character-first slow burn, which is my thing, so that's a huge compliment. It takes its time worldbuilding, and once we hit the hospital it ramps up and never lets go. Julie's death. The highway scene and its imagery (some people laugh at the effects, but I think they look amazing for their time and have a haunting quality). John becoming her father again. Freddy rising from the bed as Heather turns around, sees the Elm Street house, and accepts her role as Nancy. ICONIC to me.

I love Freddy's lair, but I wish it had been a little more inventive, like running through rooms that look like sets from the earlier films. Love the Hansel and Gretel setup too. The final effects aren't great, but neither are the final effects in Dream Warriors or the original, so I'm not knocking it for that. And I love that it ends with them reading the script lines that close out the movie. Heather stopped a real demon from entering our world by putting on her pajamas and playing Nancy Thompson one last time. Such a great movie.

**3. Scream 2 (1997)**

Scream 2 knew it was an inferior sequel, and that's exactly what made it a top-tier one. It absolutely nails the commentary on sequels and why they're inferior. The opening is iconic, and the whole cast is as great as the first. Chase scenes and set-piece galore, all contenders for the best of the 90s. Derek is a great character, and Mickey brought a unique manipulative quality to Ghostface. He's in Sidney's ear the whole movie making her doubt Derek, and that leads directly to Derek dying in front of her when she fails to untie him. I love the reverse Friday the 13th reference of making the mother the killer in the sequel, and Laurie Metcalf is top tier as a deranged, desperate, maniacal Ghostface. Gale gets her best arc in the franchise, Dewey becomes more central, and the events of this movie send Sidney into isolation and darkness. She also becomes a true fighter here, and the way her theater role plays into that works great. Scream felt smaller and more intimate, small-town vibes. Scream 2 feels bigger, almost operatic.

**2. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)**

The most imaginative slasher ever made up to that point. Wes always had wild ideas, and here they work to absolute perfection. Not only did he give us a terrifying, well-told story about a supernatural killer who kills teenagers in their dreams, he gave us Nancy Thompson, the first final girl of her kind. She's not blindsided by a surprise killer in the third act and stuck in a 15-minute chase until a passerby on a dirt road picks her up or a doctor shows up just in time to shoot the killer. Nancy is aware and proactive, and she fights her demon alone. She systematically figures out how he operates and how to use what she learns to beat him. She begs for help, nobody helps, and she wins anyway, defeating him by no longer being afraid. Nancy, Freddy, and this movie are all GOATED.

**1. Scream (1996)**

There's bias here. Scream was my first horror movie, and it's what made me go back and fall in love with all the classics. It's one of the few horror movies up to that point where every character has something to say. They're not wasting time talking about cute boys. They're talking about what's happening around them, reacting to it, commenting on it, being self-aware and self-referential. Such a smart, timely script. Gale is one of the best characters ever written in a horror franchise. She's a smart antihero who's right about literally everything, saves Sidney, wins in the end, and eventually transforms.

Beyond all the meta fun, people forget there's a really eerie story going on. Sidney is holding back socially, sexually, and emotionally because of her mother's rape and murder. She has to come to terms with her mother being someone she didn't recognize and her boyfriend manipulating her and trying to kill her, and she loses almost all her friends, including the two who betrayed her. It has the greatest opening scene of any slasher and one of the wildest endings. Smart script, great characters, perfectly performed, directed, and executed. 1 and 2 are interchangeable for me. Scream gets the edge for making me a lifelong horror fan.

I remember going to see Jurassic Park 3 when I was 7. I still remember seeing the trailer for The Others. The last shot with Nicole Kidman asking the old woman where is her daughter, only for her to say “I am your daughter” to this day is seared into my head.

So I’m looking for podcasts framed around haunting but it’s like they’re real. Like the ghost hunters have actually found something and now it’s hunting them.

Zombies are ok as well.

I’m in the mood for a very specific subgenre of horror and would love some recommendations from the community. I’m looking for movies that revolve around urban legends, local folklore, or modern creepypasta-style myths—specifically where the legend itself is central to the plot and spreads through word of mouth or investigation.

​Two of my absolute favorites in this lane are:

​Candyman (1992) – Loved the academic/research angle of Helen investigating the myth, and how the legend feeds off belief and fear in the community.

​The Empty Man (2020) – Started off feeling like a standard teen urban legend movie ("blow into the bottle on the bridge") before evolving into something way more cosmic and cult-adjacent.

​I’ve already seen the obvious staples like Urban Legend (1998), The Ring, It Follows, and Bloody Mary adaptations.

​What are some lesser-known, underrated, or international horror movies that capture that same "investigating a sinister local myth" vibe? Found footage, slow burns, or folk-adjacent modern legends are all fair game.

​Thanks in advance!

chilling rn and was wondering if anybody had any movie recs that have made you just feel completely horrible.

I loved movies like Hereditary and The Coffee Table because of how much hopelessness and dread I felt throughout almost the entire film/s