Classic Horror with great audio

[canyouhearmenow]

I'm looking to get a few new blu rays for the Halloween season. The exorcist is already in the mail, but list any of your favorites with some great sound quality and effects that really get your skin crawling.

 

[markw]

Maybe not exactly what you requested, but the original, rejuvinated Universal movies like "Franenstein", "Dracula", "The Mummy", etc, can be pretty incredible. The uncut, restored versions show that black & white was an art form in itself and the nuances in shading can be quite effective in creating a mood.

And, for a perfect double-feature, show Mel Brook's "Young Frankenstein" right after the original.

 

[skizzerflake]

You might try Bram Stoker's Dracula. When Coppola made the movie, he deliberately avoided any digital FX and did it entirely with stagecraft and lighting. The result is decadently over-the-top but in the spirit of the old flix like Frankenstein and Dracula. If you deleted the introductory story about Vlad the Impaler, the rest of the story is pretty close to the original book by Stoker. The sound is fairly good and it has Tom Waits as Renfield, a great choice. I picked up a blue ray of it in a close out recently and it looks and sounds great.

 

[jamie2112]

2nd the Dracula by Coppola it sounds pretty good actually.Also Rob Zombies Halloween 1 and 2 are pretty good as well......

 

[shadyJ]

A horror movie with a great soundtrack is Evil Dead 2. It is crude, but one of the best uses of surround sound I have heard is when the people trapped in the cabin begin hearing noises from all around them, and the image begins to squeeze and stretch. The sound mixing in the 5.1 blu ray was fantastic. It's too bad the image transfer was pretty subpar for that blu ray.

Another great soundtrack for a classic is Forbidden Planet, although it is not quite a horror movie. Still it would fit in well in a Halloween film fest. Fantastically wild, vintage electronic film score.

Some other clasic horror Blu Rays with great music soundtracks are The Thing (score by Ennio Marricone although it sounds a lot more like a John Carpenter score), the original Halloween, and the original Dawn of the Dead. Susparia is not too far away for blu ray release, that has an amazing score as well.

Oh yeah, a horror movie with a magnificent effects soundtrack is Drag Me To Hell. That is one of the liveliest surround soundtracks I have ever heard, one of the few movies that truly justifies having rear channels.

 

[armaraas]

One that I was impressed with on DVD was The Orphanage. I've been meaning to get it on blu-ray, but it's not readily available in stores, so I'll have to order it online. The only thing is the soundtrack is only available in Spanish, so that will depend on how you feel about subtitles/foreign films- but it was really well done.

 

[canyouhearmenow]

Thanks everyone, all great suggestions. Bram Stoker's was a favorite of mine back in the 90's. And some of those older classics were exactly what I was looking for, newer releases as well. I'm sure not everyone feels the same, but I just have no interest in these gore/torture fests like Hostel, and SAW I - XV or whatever they are up to at this point.

cheers

 

[jostenmeat]

If Orphanage can be grouped in with horror, then yes that has got to be the best looking of the bunch. Unfortunately, his other movies don't always look so good. Also unfortunately, and while I did enjoy the viewing, I don't have very good recollections of the PQ of Stoker's Dracula. Hopefully I have the wrong impressions . . .

It's much more comedy than horror, but Zombieland was a LOT of fun. I wish I owned that title.

Unfortunately, The Thing looks a lot better on HDDVD than BD. It's probably the single instance that I know of where the BD is the inferior version. It is absolutely incredible on HDDVD.

 

[s52e368]

Unfortunately, The Thing looks a lot better on HDDVD than BD. It's probably the single instance that I know of where the BD is the inferior version. It is absolutely incredible on HDDVD.

the import silent hill on HDDVD is stunning.

 

[ChrisFox]

Drag Me to Hell and Trick 'r Treat are two that I can think of that made an impression with me.

 

[j_garcia]

If Orphanage can be grouped in with horror, then yes that has got to be the best looking of the bunch. Unfortunately, his other movies don't always look so good. Also unfortunately, and while I did enjoy the viewing, I don't have very good recollections of the PQ of Stoker's Dracula. Hopefully I have the wrong impressions . . .

The reviews of Dracula said it was bad. I thought it looked great. Orphanage is a very good movie, but not exactly horror; more suspense. Note too that it is only available subtitled.

Unfortunately, The Thing looks a lot better on HDDVD than BD. It's probably the single instance that I know of where the BD is the inferior version. It is absolutely incredible on HDDVD.

The PQ is worse, but not to the point that I found it distracting. I get engrossed in the movie and forget about the PQ with that one anyway The audio is a bit subpar on that one on both high def versions.

Three of the BEST audio Halloween movies I enjoy: The Haunting DTS-ES (DVD), Darkness Falls (DVD), and Monster House. None are spectacular movies, but the sound is the thing that makes them great fun.

 

[shadyJ]

Monster House should have a great effects soundtrack, I missed that part of it because I had to watch the movie at a pretty low volume, but I did enjoy the movie. Trick Or Treat I watched with some friends, while it wasn't as bad as most modern horror movies, it was pretty disappointing given the hype around it. I don't remember the soundtrack standing out on that one either, but I don't think it was bad at all, regarding effects or music.

 

[lowc]

What about Sleepy Hollow..I think its a great movie for Halloween

 

[j_garcia]

Sleepy Hollow is great, but the BD's PQ is pretty average. The sound isn't lossless either, only 1509K DTS which sounds good, but probably not as good as it could have been if it were DTS-HD MA.

That reminded me of Sweeny Todd - that sounds great.

 

[lowc]

Your right, I have it on HDDVD and Sleepy Hallow is a very grainy film. The sound is in Dolby Digital-Plus. Still love to watch it in Oct. with the family.

 

[sawzalot]

I still didn't watch this one but it might be a good one:http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69113

 

[audit13]

It's too late for Halloween but check The Descent or Descent 2. Both were creepy.

 

[j_garcia]

I have Descent 2 in my netflix streaming queue. The first one did have very good sound. The movie is decent lol.

 

[audit13]

I have Descent 2 in my netflix streaming queue. The first one did have very good sound. The movie is decent lol.

I'd like to watch Descent 2 in Blu-ray but it's too expensive to order from Amazon UK and it's not available from Amazon.ca in BD.