Good horror without showing/understanding the antagonist?

[Moldiworp2]

Looking for some decent horror/thriller films with good tension building scares, no jump shock shite (black cats exempt). Consistently disappointed watching films when 90% of the fear is dissipated as soon as the antagonist is fully depicted. Surely some of you savvy BTW bods can help a poor unafraid man sweat a bit!

[FlowerChild]

Some of my favorite old-man horror movies:

-The Shining (the 1980 Stanley Kubrick version)

-The Exorcist III (1st is ok, 2nd sucks, 3rd is art IMO)

-Hellraiser II (1 is ok, 3 and later are terrible)

-Rosemary's Baby

-Donny Darko (kinda horror?)

Will need to think on this more as I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Exorcist III in particular has what I think is probably the best tension building scare scene I've ever seen. Bloody thing had me looking behind myself for weeks when I first saw it.

[Sarudak]

BTW is tue ultimate horror that never really shows antagonist. Jump scares and building tension are everywhere and there are after all no mirrors.

EDIT: Sorry just noticed you said films.

[FlowerChild]

Just remembered that Hellraiser II does actually reveal the antagonist at some point, but given its nature isn't exactly within the scope of human comprehension, I'm not sure it qualifies :)

I'll throw "Cube" in there as well, just make sure to stick to the original and not bother with the sequels.

[jorgebonafe]

My favorite horror movie ever is Cabin in the Woods. Although some might argue it may not be exactly a horror movie.

[FlowerChild]

My favorite horror movie ever is Cabin in the Woods. Although some might argue it may not be exactly a horror movie.

Yeah, I almost mentioned that one as well, but it occupies a weird place in that it's almost a satirical take on horror movies. I guess whether or not the antagonist is fully revealed is also in question.

Awesome movie though, and well worth a watch, although I suspect much of its genius might be lost if you're not really into horror.

[Moldiworp2]

Damn I've seen all of those (and love em, especially have a soft spot for Hellraiser since being a kid) except Cabin in the Woods, thanks guys! Too bloody like minded when it comes to horror :P

[ElectroBot]

A bit of scifi thrown into horror/thriller:
- Pandorum (2009) movie, not tv show, antagonist is revealed
- Event Horizon (1997)
- Life (2017) antagonist is revealed
- Cube (1997)

[Daisjun]

More thriller than horror, Oldboy is pretty disturbing and builds up the tension nicely. I won't say too much.

Don't bother with the US version though :)

[jorgebonafe]

Oh yeah, I second Event Horizon. This is one of those movies you either love or you hate. I loved it. This movie scared the shit out of me when I was a kid...

Edit.

I'll add another one to the list. Silent Hill, the first movie. Although many people hated this movie, I really liked it. It was a fairly good, albeit simplified, adaptation of the game, the monsters were done with practical effects and they looked awesome... Overall a very enjoyable experience imo.

That said, stay fucking far away from the sequel. It's a complete pile of garbage.

[FlowerChild]

Oh yeah, I second Event Horizon. This is one of those movie you either love or you hate. I loved it. This movie scared the shit out of me when I was a kid...

I was in the "hate it" camp. Think I'll give it another watch though as 20 years is a lot of water under the bridge.

[Gilberreke]

Obligatory mention of The Mist! Most people in the community know by now that this is one of my favorite movies. It sorta qualifies? I mean, it's a creature movie, so there's lots of creature antagonists, but there's no real explanation of what's going on, just terror. There's something really fun about creature movies that still manage to pull off suspense, and most of them tend to be in the Siege genre (think Dawn of the Dead for the canonical example of Siege, though that one doesn't have suspense of course, except for a few carefully selected scenes. Also, zombie movie, so jump scares).

Also, can I throw in a vote for the original Saw movie? If you haven't seen it, it's a must-see. All of the sequels are worse than bad, absolutely terrible, but the original sounds like exactly what you're looking for.

Another favorite of mine is As Above So Below, but I'm not sure how to qualify it in terms of what you're asking for. I guess it's almost Blairwitch Project ish? But I never liked BP and I love this one, so I don't know. It has more of a supernatural bend, but it's not very in-your-face.

[jorgebonafe]

Obligatory mention of The Mist

Yep, I also loved it, as opposed to the series. I was enjoying the series in the beginning, until a particular scene about halfway through the season that utterly and completely destroyed my suspension of disbelief and I just couldn't go on after that...

And speaking of Stephen King, I would also recomment 1408. It's one of my favorites of his, more of a psychological horror type of film, it has some really cool scenes that leave you wondering all the way through the movie what is real and what is not.

[Moldiworp2]

I can heartily recommend Eraserhead if you're into body horror. I'd let David lynch me any day.

[FlowerChild]

I can heartily recommend Eraserhead if you're into body horror. I'd let David lynch me any day.

Holy shit. I just realized that despite being a huge Lynch fan, I never watched Eraserhead.

Huzah! Oh happy day!