I watched
The Descent again last night, and it's still great. This is a movie which is both scary and frightening. Scary because it plays on our most basic fears - fear of the dark, fear of small spaces, fear of the unknown. Frightening because the frights are.... well, frightening. The period between going into the cave and the monsters appearing is, for my money, the scariest part of the movie. Very well shot and utterly claustrophobic! After that it is a full-on onslaught of monsters, gore, and frights. The second half, comprising of these three elements, does diminish a bit with repeat viewings, but it's terribly effective still. One of the best recent horror movies. 4/5
Another one by Neil Marshall I've seen is
Dog Soldiers. I know it's highly regarded by some circles, but I found it to be complete dog poo. It isnt cheap B-horror gold. It's cheap B-horror shit.
[REC] is one which is truly omg-I-need-to-cover-my-eyes scary, especially the last 15 minutes. It isnt as good the second time, but the first experience is just... whoa.
I'm not sure if
Carrie is a scary horror movie, but what it definitely is is a brilliant movie. And there is one almighty fright at the end.
John Carpenter's The Thing is one friggin suspenseful ride. It's basically a whodunit with a gory twist, and it's executed perfectly. Some of the best practical effects ever. A favourite of mine.
Alien is, of course, a landmark film.
Both
Repulsion and
Eraserhead, which I saw not long ago, to an extent are pretty scary movies. Both have a great sense of unease.
Poltergeist is a pretty entertaining movie, but I dont find it scary at all. Except that one scene where a man literally tears his face off.
Nightmare on Elm Street. I've only seen the first, but the only good things I can say about it are its premise and some of the gore effects, which are still pretty stellar today. Freddie Krueger sounds good on paper, and he is good when we dont see him, but actually seeing him in the flesh he's just laughable.