Atmospheric horror movies

[rachMiel]

Hi everyone. :-)

I love horror movies that are dripping with atmospherica.

The works of Jacques Tourneur and Val Lewton are perfect examples.

But I'm not just looking for older movies, all eras are welcome. I think the Paranormal Activity series did some excellent and innovative stuff with atmosphere.

What are some of your favorite atmospheric horror movies? And what about the atmosphere got you: dread, foreboding, suspense, melancholy?

Thanks!

[DeadbeatAtDawn]

Suspiria, Beautiful to look at..the unnatural neon lighting, the never ending mixture of sound that doesn't let up. There’s nothing dispassionate about this film, nothing ordinary, it sneaks up on you and consumes your mind.

Argento's finest hour.


Lord of Tears, is a classic throwback to the British chiller... films like Hammer... movies such as 'The Innocents, The Haunting or The Wicker Man.' It's rich with story and bit of Gothic romance.

It's the kinda spooky film, that I'd sit watching in a comfy chair by a fireplace during a winter night... cozy in a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate. That's the experience it gives you... and if you have a fondness for memorable villains and surprises, this is a perfect example of a film drenched with atmospherica : )

[Sculpt]

Engulfing atmospheric horror films?

Alien
The Thing 82
Halloween 78
The Shining
Night of the Living Dead 68
Texas 74
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
The Fly 86
A Clockwork Orange

[horcrux2007]

The Ring
The Possession
Insidious
The Exorcist
The Conjuring

All of these have just a very dark and bleak tone to them. I recommend all five.

[rachMiel]

All good so far. :-)

The only one I haven't seen is Lord of Tears.

Keep 'em coming! I'll add mine soon.

[DeadbeatAtDawn]

Carnival of Souls, extremely low-budget movie, filmed in three weeks for a reported $17,000 but certainly earns a spot on the list.

Calvaire, the dance in the bar scene alone says....creeeeepy

[Baron Von Marlon]

What I usually find atmospheric, if filmed right:

-Trees/woods/forests.
Often in found footage movies like Trollhunter, Exists and Hangar 10.

-Movies located in small communties surrounded by nature.
Village Of The Damned, Needful Things, The Mothman Prophecies,...

Icy or Antarctic stuff like The Thing (both versions) and Rare Exports.

Unusual/weird stuff like El De La Bestia, In The Mouth Of Madness, American Psycho,...

Overal I'd say John Carpenter did a lot of good work. Even Ghosts Of Mars has a special kind of atmosphere to it.

[The Bloofer Lady]

These movies come to mind:

The Haunting 1963
The Orphanage 2007
Symptoms 1974

I would say melancholy,dread, and foreboding definitely sum these ones up. Not suspense so much, though.

Welcome, by the way! ::smile::

[rachMiel]

In alphabetical order:

1408
Alien (but NOT Aliens!)
Blair Witch 1 and 2 (many will disagree with 2)
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Candyman
Carnival of Souls
Dead of Night
Don't Look Now (so scary I won't see it again)
Hour of the Wolf
In the Mouth of Madness
Mothman Prophecies
Nosferatu
Paranormal Activity (original)
Pulse (Japanese)
Repulsion
Session 9 – it's hard to beat the darkness/dread in this one, great horror movie
Sleepy Hollow
Storm of the Century
The Babadook
The Fog (original)
The Haunting
The Legend of Hell House
The Old Dark House
The Orphanage
The Others
The Ring
The Shining
The Thing (versions 1 and 2)
The Tourneur/Lewton movies, especially: Cat People, Curse of the Demon, Isle of the Dead, Leopard Man, I Walked with a Zombie, The Ghost Ship
The Uninvited
Twin Peaks movie
Vampyr
What Lies Beneath

[horcrux2007]

Is Don't Look Now that scary?

[rachMiel]

Scary is in the eye of the beholder, right?

It definitely got under my skin.

[The Bloofer Lady]

Oh man! Of course...Repulsion and Session 9. Totally.

[neverending]

The ultimate atmospheric horror film is The Terror. It has boatloads of atmosphere- and little else. Precious little happens in this film, but it's still an engaging film.

[DeadbeatAtDawn]

Dark Waters {Mariano Baino 1994} not to be confused with Dark Water from 2002. Dark as fuck, lots of Nuns and weird kids, amazing remote island setting, Argento influenced, visuals mixed with Lovecraft and a brilliant soundtrack.

[roshiq]

A good number of notable 'Atmospheric Horror' films already mentioned. But this thread would be incomplete if we don't mention...Horror Films of Italian Maestro MARIO BAVA (i.e. Black Sunday, Black Sabbath, Planet of the Vampires, The Whip & the Body, The Girl who knew too much, & Kill, Baby...Kill!!! are mostly notable as major influential films)

and also here are few that I'd also like to mention...

House of Usher (1960)
The House that Screamed (1969)
The Woman in Black (1989 TV Movie)
BBC's annual TV film series A Ghost Story for Christmas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Ghost_Story_for_Christmas) (1971-1978) mostly based on M.R. James stories.