[_____V_____]

Deviating from the tournaments (which honestly have been done to death, and then some), I have been thinking of this for a few days now. It will require some active participation and the purpose - to determine how the films in the sub-genre of haunted houses, ghosts, paranormal and the supernatural stack up against each other when it comes to inducing pure and unadulterated terror in their viewing experiences. We will also be looking at several close-to-real-life horror films which have been successful at scaring audiences the world over for a good many years till now.

It will also help to address a complaint we have been reading from contemporary horror fans - how they have become jaded to films of our favorite genre. Do we still have films which can add to that terror experience? Let's find out.

The rating system for this will be quite simple. (you can call this the Scare-O-Meter)

1 = Not scary at all,
2 = Mildly scary except for some scenes,
3 = Moderately scary with some effective scenes,
4 = Solidly scary, and
5 = Downright terrifying!

I will post 3 films every day. All you have to do is rate them on the abovesaid scale of 1-5. A film needs at least 3 ratings to score on the Scare-O-Meter, otherwise it will end up as Insufficient Data.

We will add up all scores at the end and average it out, to see where the film(s) stack up in the Scare-O-Meter!

For example, The Shining receives a cumulative score of 45 from 10 members, so it's average score comes to 4.5. That lies between "Solidly Scary" and "Downright terrifying!", and that's a very high score!

And who knows, maybe we will end up adding a few more films to the Halloween must-watch lists of the fans reading this thread.

First set of films will be up later today.


SCARE - O - METER (out of 5)

001) [°REC] (2007) - 4.8,
002) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - 4.4,
003) The Haunting (1963) - 4.3,
004) A Tale of Two Sisters (aka) Janghwa, Hongryeon (2003) - 4.3,
005) Inside (2007) - 4.3,
006) Nosferatu (1922) - 4.1,
007) The Exorcist (1973) - 4.1,
008) The Omen (1976) - 4.1,
009) Ju-On (2002) - 4.1,
010) Eyes Without A Face (1960) - 4.0,
011) Night of the Living Dead (1968) - 4.0,
012) Halloween (1978) - 4.0,
013) Poltergeist (1982) - 4.0,
014) Martyrs (2008) - 4.0,
015) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) - 3.9,
016) The Descent (2005) - 3.9,
017) Psycho (1960) - 3.8,
018) The Amityville Horror (1979) - 3.8,
019) The Shining (1980) - 3.8,
020) The Evil Dead (1981) - 3.8,
021) Rosemary's Baby (1968) - 3.7,
022) Alien (1979) - 3.7,
023) Alice, Sweet Alice (1976) - 3.6,
024) Salem's Lot (1979) - 3.6,
025) The Changeling (1980) - 3.6,
026) Onibaba (1964) - 3.5
027) The Beyond (1981) - 3.5,
028) Fire In The Sky (1993) - 3.5,
029) The Devil's Backbone (2001) - 3.5,
030) Sinister (2012) - 3.5,
031) Dawn of the Dead (1978) - 3.4,
032) The Fog (1980) - 3.4,
033) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - 3.4,
034) Hellraiser (1987) - 3.4,
035) The Body Snatcher (1945) - 3.3,
036) House of Usher (1960) - 3.3,
037) Black Sunday (1960) - 3.3,
038) Kwaidan (1964) - 3.3
039) Friday the 13th (1980) - 3.3,
040) The House by the Cemetery (1981) - 3.3,
041) Prince of Darkness (1987) - 3.3,
042) Pet Sematary (1989) - 3.3,
043) Jacob's Ladder (1990) - 3.3,
044) Ringu (1998) - 3.3,
045) Paranormal Activity (2007) - 3.3,
046) The Innocents (1961) - 3.2,
047) Suspiria (1977) - 3.2,
048) Videodrome (1983) - 3.2
049) Session 9 (2001) - 3.2,
050) One Missed Call (2003) - 3.2,
051) Jaws (1975) - 3.1,
052) Phantasm (1979) - 3.1,
053) Halloween II (1981) - 3.1,
054) Creepshow (1982) - 3.1,
055) The Wolf Man (1941) - 3.0,
056) Cat People (1942) - 3.0,
057) Black Sabbath (aka) I tre volti della paura (1963) - 3.0,
058) The Devils (1971) - 3.0,
059) Zombie (aka) Zombi 2 (1979) - 3.0,
060) Demons (1985) - 3.0,
061) Event Horizon (1997) - 3.0,
062) Pulse (aka) Kairo (2001) - 3.0,
063) The Ring (2002) - 3.0,
064) Signs (2002) - 3.0,
065) Insidious (2010) - 3.0,
066) The Legend of Hell House (1973) - 2.9,
067) Black Christmas (1974) - 2.9,
068) Altered States (1980) - 2.9,
069) The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - 2.9,
070) Curse/Night of the Demon (1957) - 2.8,
071) Pit and the Pendulum (1961) - 2.8,
072) Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) - 2.8,
073) Burnt Offerings (1976) - 2.8,
074) The Sentinel (1977) - 2.8,
075) Audrey Rose (1977) - 2.8,
076) Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) - 2.8,
077) From Beyond (1986) - 2.8,
078) Opera (1987) - 2.8,
079) Misery (1990) - 2.8,
080) The Blair Witch Project (1999) - 2.8
081) House of Wax (1953) - 2.7,
082) Horror of Dracula (1958) - 2.7,
083) The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) - 2.7,
084) The Wicker Man (1973) - 2.7,
085) Stagefright (1987) - 2.7,
086) Communion (1989) - 2.7,
087) Candyman (1992) - 2.7,
088) Shutter (2004) - 2.7,
089) The Grudge (2004) - 2.7,
090) Frankenstein (1931) - 2.6,
091) The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) - 2.6,
092) Carnival of Souls (1962) - 2.6,
093) The Masque of the Red Death (1964) - 2.6,
094) Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) - 2.6,
095) Carrie (1976) - 2.6,
096) Stir of Echoes (1999) - 2.6,
097) Horror Hotel (1960) - 2.5,
098) Eraserhead (1977) - 2.5
099) When A Stranger Calls (1979) - 2.5,
100) The Funhouse (1981) - 2.5,
101) High Tension (2003) - 2.5,
102) Drag Me To Hell (2009) - 2.5,
103) Island of Lost Souls (1932) - 2.4,
104) Ghost Story (1981) - 2.4,
105) The Others (2001) - 2.4,
106) Wolf Creek (2005) - 2.4,
107) Body Snatchers (1993) - 2.3,
108) In The Mouth of Madness (1994) - 2.3,
109) Cat's Eye (1985) - 2.2,
110) House of 1000 Corpses (2003) - 2.2,
111) Silent Hill (2006) - 2.2
112) Curse of Frankenstein (1957) - 2.1,
113) Silver Bullet (1985) - 2.1,
114) The Old Dark House (1932) - 2.0,
115) Dementia 13 (1963) - 2.0,
116) The Fly (1986) - 2.0,
117) Monkey Shines (1988) - 2.0,
118) Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) - 2.0,
119) Se7en (1995) - 2.0
120) 28 Days Later (2002) - 2.0,
121) Dracula (1931) - 1.9,
122) Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) - 1.9,
123) Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) - 1.8,
124) The Blob (1958) - 1.8,
125) The Watcher in the Woods (1980) - 1.8,
126) What Lies Beneath (2000) - 1.8,
127) Dark Water (2005) - 1.8,
128) 13 Ghosts (1960) - 1.7,
129) Fright Night (1985) - 1.7,
130) House on Haunted Hill (1959) - 1.6,
131) Child's Play (1988) - 1.6,
132) Wrong Turn (2003) - 1.4,
133) Christine (1983) - 1.3,
134) House on Haunted Hill (1999) - 1.3,
135) Phantoms (1998) - 1.0,
136) The Devil Rides Out/The Devil's Bride (1968) - Insufficient Data,
137) Spirits of the Dead (1968) - Insufficient Data,
138) Kuroneko (1968) - Insufficient Data,
139) Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971) - Insufficient Data,
140) Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (1973) - Insufficient Data,
141) XTRO (1983) - Insufficient Data,
142) Creepers/Phenomena (1986) - Insufficient Data,
143) Lady in White (1988) - Insufficient Data,
144) Reincarnation (aka) Rinne (2005) - Insufficient Data.