if the intention of the movie is to cause fear/dread/whatever, it's a horror movie

Dammit, Vod, Ed Gein is an icon and national treasure ! Show some respect LOL Murderers ? Of course. Cannibals ? Why not ? Necros ? ugh, probably. Grave robbers ? all things are possible. All of them rolled into one ? Priceless ! :D
CK

I don't know ... The intention of Reefer Madness was to cause fear. Fear of marijuana. But that's not a horror movie.

Also, Jacob's Ladder is a horror movie, to me. Although, it doesn't really center on a killer/killers of any kind. Neither did The Eye.

And someone dying in a non-comedic way happens all the time in dramas. We wouldn't call Titanic a horror movie, nor Schindler's List.

So, I suppose the only thing that all movies have in common that I consider to be horror films is: unusual, frightening occurrences happen to the protagonist in a way that is meant to cause tension and fear in the audience.

horror movie= gore, monsters (human, weird things)...scary moments...suspense

what do you think makes a horror movie GREAT?

michael myers without bust rhymes

Well, this isn't necessarily true. The Ring, The Eye, The Blair Witch Project, and Poltergeist were all horror films (to name a few) that did not have gore.

I actually thought for a while on this one and I realized that I have no idea. Apparently some people on the board think Se7en & A Clockwork Orange are horror but I think they are thriller/dramas. Its different for everyone

Horrification, or an attempt thereof.

what about the face scene from pltergeist?

Agreed. Anyone that tries to call A clockwork Orange a horror movie needs a good slap. Se7en is slightly closer, but like you said, it's more of a suspense-thriller. I'll probably take some crap for this, but I don't even consider The Silence of the Lambs a horror movie. It's an excellent movie, and a brilliant psychological thriller, but I just never considered it horror. In all actuality, Hannibal is way more of a horror movie that SotL. Another one that always bugs me is 6th Sense, but I already mentioned that in this thread so I won't go off on it again.