Jacob’s Ladder, one of the most disturbing I’ve ever watched. Actually kind of based on real life events. As for reading can’t go wrong with Steven King.
To stare infinity in the face without flinching, one must know evil and not fear it. The depths of human imagination can be incredibly dark.
That being said these days I mostly focus on the evil happening around us, the dark heart dawning. Paying attention to reality left and right. OSIT.
ooohh, I'd forgotten that gem! Instant goosebumps when I read the comment. Stephen King is good, yes, but I think Clive Barker is better- much more imaginative than Steve-O. I think King's best is "IT", but Barker's best is "Imajica", not a horror at all. (Also has a nod to Gurdjieff in "The Great and Secret Show"). But for out-and-out mind-numbing horror, almost anything by James Herbert. The first time I read 'The Dark" I slept with the light on for three nights- I was 20-21 at the time! Also he has some really interesting ideas, maybe even unique. "Nobody True" is a story where a man is murdered while having an OOBE... first sentence- "I wasn't there when I died." And "Others" is truly horrific, as parts are based on reality.* The hero is a hunchback. First sentence- "My redemption began in hell."
I used to quite like the gory movies, up until about ten years back, when I began to discover that the monsters are real, usually human or human-shaped, and much, much worse than the movie/book variety. Now I find less is more, so to speak.
Anyway, great horror movies that make you think as well as scaring the shite out of you:
In the Mouth of Madness
Event Horizon
Exorcist
Exorcist III (Actually the sequel to the first)
Silent Hill
The Thing (1982, Kurt Russell)
The Thing (2011, NOT a remake but the prequel showing the Norwegians discovering the alien, ending with its arrival at McMurdo base)
Devil
The Devil's Advocate
Frankenstein (1994, Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro)
Legend (I know, I know, not really "horror" but Tim Curry as the Prince of Darkness? Tell me you wouldn't drop a log if you woke up with THAT standing over you...)
Pan's Labyrinth (Likewise, not really horror, but the pale man is truly horrible, and Pan is pretty intimidating)
Jacob's Ladder
Dark Shadows
Lord of Illusions
Demon Knight (Tales from the crypt feature-length)
Pumpkinhead
Phantom of the Opera (Gerard Butler... wow. Who knew Leonidas could sing Phantom?)
Hellraiser 1 through 8 (NOT rubbish endless slasher sequels like Friday the 13th or Halloween (
), Hellraiser 1 & 2 are basically two halves, 3 actually is a semi-crappy sequel, 4 tells the back story of how/why the box was created, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are all standalone stories with only the box and pinhead to connect them, and are actually very good)
None of these are splattershows, but most are best not watched with a full bladder
Not really horror, but still:
They Live
Bad Boy Bubby
Shutter Island
13 Sins
The Puppet Masters
Primer (warning- "Ow, my brain broke" level time travel)
The Final Girls (very funny movie about a group of teens who get sucked into a slasher movie like Friday the 13th)
The Scribbler
The Jacket
12 Monkeys
Good, straight-up horror movies that aren't thought-provoking:
Snow White (Sam Neill, Sigourney Weaver)
Alien
Red Riding Hood
Wer
The Wolfman (remake with Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins)
Sleepy Hollow
From Hell
Lifeforce
13 Ghosts (remake)
Ginger Snaps
The Howling (just ignore how stupid the last werewolf looks- you're supposed to feel sorry for it)
Leviathan
Deepstar 6
The Fly (remake, Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis)
The Fly 2 (absolutely the BEST karmic-retribution ending)
House on Haunted Hill (remake)
Reel Evil
The Conjuring
Also, I have once read a short story in a "Best Of" anthology (title escapes me presently) which tells the story of "The Thing" (1982) from the perspective of the alien- now THAT was chilling...
Happy viewing!
*Author's end note from "Others": "This story is based on a true incident that occurred in a certain London children's hospital and was related to me by the now elderly person involved. At least two of the main protagonists are known to me personally (one, alas, now deceased) and, lest I be accused of having an inordinately warped imagination, I should point out that most of the "others" described herein are taken from actual medical case histories. I sincerely hope you have been disturbed."
I wasn't, until I read that. As Gandalf commented earlier, our reality is the real horror story.