Based on Turn of the Screw, the only piece of writing by Henry James that is readable. Another one of around that era is Night of the Demon. Scary until you actually see it.
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken Don't Look Now Saving Private Ryan Minority Report The soon-to-be filmed "What Happened" from the book of the same name.
I like psychological thrillers best. I just don't believe in "monsters from the deep" or supernatural so they won't scare me. That's why I liked Psycho. Rear Window was really more mystery than horror. I also liked Hands of Orloc. And The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane, especially because the end was ambiguous - what, exactly, was said in the phone call she received? Who did she kill? It's left unsaid....
Best black and white horror: Night of the Living Dead (obvs) Cat People (that swimming pool scene) Eyes Without a Face (VERY creepy French horror movie) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (so good they've remade it at least twice, but original is awesome) Diabolique (not really horror, but the one movie Hitchcock said he wished he'd made) Oh, and The Thing from Another World (you knew The Thing was a remake, right?) is surprisingly good
The Thing (Kurt Russell) Aliens The Day the Earth Stood Still (both versions) The Fly (Goldblum version) War of the Worlds (Cruise) An alien landscape for your viewing pleasure....
The cabinet of dr. Caligari Nosferatu Freaks House of wax Halloween If they are horror movies Jaws Silence of the Lambs And for cool people only Dr. Tongue's 3d house of stewardesses. In fact any of the dr. Tongue series
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is great, I also am not sure if I'd call Silence of the Lambs a horror flick, but it's a good movie.
D'oh! How could I forget Carnival of Souls? Not to mention Island of Lost Souls. Freaks is also essential but I don't think of it as a horror film.
Nosferatu Alien Exorcist Hannibal Rising Dracula Bride of Frankenstein Original King Kong (1933) Wolf Creek..(Australian based on a true story...so frightening I could not watch some scenes) Seven The Invisible Man The Birds Misery Predator Jurassic Park The Pit and the Pendulum The Fly Original Jason and the Argonauts (1963 version) 5 choices is just too few
Thought of some more recent/obscure ones I would suggest you check out: Slither. I assume most people have heard of this one because it was directed by James Gunn and has Elizabeth Banks in it. But if you haven't, it's awesome! Some people suggest it's a remake of Night of the Creeps, because both of them feature the plot that alien slugs turn people into zombies, but Gunn denies it. However, watch them as a double feature! More obscure: Splinter. Another alien body-horror. Great creature feature, with an awesome arm-removal scene, and the best "possessed hand" scene since Evil Dead II. Most obscure: Pontypool. Even more than Splinter, it's a micro-budget movie that manages to be gripping because of a great plot. Zombiesque, although with a very original cause of the zombie plague.
I'd add Cape Fear with DeNiro Frankenstein with Karloff Eraserhead Tales of Terror....Peter Lorre..Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff.....great film
I want to see this - just been restored after long being thought lost. James Whale's middle movie between Frankenstein and Bride:
