The scariest movies aren't horror movies. Watch some David Lynch movies instead, and you will:

• get more scared and disturbed than with horror movies
• see something nice
• and have something to think about at the same time.

It's interesting that his movies can scare you the most without using any explicit physical violence.

Examples: Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, Inland Empire (though not as your first David Lynch movie), and if you like TV series, watch Twin Peaks. Twin Peaks makes more sense than any of his movies, it's a coherent story. The last episode of the second season is, to me, the most terrifying thing ever put on screen.

If you do watch some of his work, I'd be interested in hearing back your reaction ;)

@Soriku: Yes, you can definitely put it that way! He does use physical violence at some points, but nothing you wouldn't see in the average crime/drama movie.

Silence of the Lambs
Misery
The Shining
Pet Cemetary

I'm a fan of more "classic" horror movies and I am really disapointed with most of what has been produced for the past 5 to 10 years. I personally believe Hostel was the biggest disapointment because it had an absolutely terrifying idea (if you have the money you can pay to do absolutely anything) but an awful execution which focused on gore rather than what was actually frightening.

It is difficult to suggest anything because the "cheese" factor in many of the older movies takes away the fear; it is the unfortunate side effect of putting gore into movies because the effects will constantly get better and what was once "gross" becomes "cheesy". Candyman and Pumpkin Head were both fairly good; The Shining, Jaws, Alien, Aliens, The Thing and (the original) The Fog are classics.

I hate horror movies, detest them, loathe them. I wish they would all go impale themselves on a wall of AIDS-infested spikes (At leas they'd have an ending that lived up to themselves). Seriously, I can't really detach myself from movies too well and I'm essentially scared as much as the person in the story would be. For me, that's not entertainment; that's asking for a stress-related heart attack. I get lots of crap for it, but I really can't help it

The golden age of the horror film was 1978-1983.

That's just a fact.

(It was also the golden age of the kung fu movie)

A Tale of Two Sisters"A classic film, watch it in the dark with surround sound.

If your looking for something icky rather than scary the the Guinea Pig DVDs are pretty gross.

wait for "Meet The spartans" should be a real winner

An Inconvienent Truth is terrifying...