Grisly Austrian witch flick delivers horrors at pace of glaciation.

Watch lots of horror?

Yeah, tends to be my genre of choice.  I'm looking for a sense of the metaphysical eerie and I'm usually disappointed.

It's a great genre, I tend to like it more when it's a bit schlocky, or even a lot.

I'm not averse to a bit of schlock either, especially if it has a soupcon of wit and self-knowledge about it. The Christmas horror Better Watch Out was fun.

David Lynch strikes the perfect balance of schlock, wit, and horrifying realism, IMO. Stephen King movies are more outre, in terms of the patently unbelievable scenarios he floats, but some of them are fantastically good in the hands of the right director. I suppose The Shining must be held up as his filmic apotheosis, but I treasure Pet Semetary, with its several dump truck loads of unapologetic schlock every bit as much. I'm finding his later books to be pretty weak (having read Mr. Mercedes, reading the Shining sequel Doctor Sleep ATM), unfortunately.

Hmm, I don't know about the Shining. I love the film and I've very happily watched it God knows how many times, but here's a thing: I don't think I've ever found a Stephen King film adaptation remotely scary. That said, I usually find them more engaging than the books. He's adored by writing tutors, has written a book about writing, but in spite of the sparkly ideas and (apparent) technical excellence, I find his voice dull. 

I think the Shining film is much better than the book, not especially scary, but with some extraordinary sections where I can't think of a better word than 'art'. In particular, the scenes around the bar and the ball. 

But the thing is, if a horror film isn't scary, is it successful?

Oh come on. The flood of blood? The dead lady in the bath? Heeeere's Johnny!

Exactly.

Great images, but...

You're just too tough and hard to scare!

My abiding memory of The Shining is now this time where we watched it while really rather stoned and Tina rolled off the sofa laughing at the bug-eyed expression Shelley Duvall pulls when she's got the bat.

Well, that and
https://youtu.be/KmkVWuP_sO0

Bah. The Shining is a cinematic work of art, and a genuinely scary movie.

What do you consider a scary movie?

She had a great roll in Nashville too, playing a ditzy hippie chick.

Well, I'd agree with the first part of your proposition, but I'd say that it invoked " a strong sense of worry" when I first saw it rather than any kind of fear.

Sorry I didn't feel scared. If it's any consolation many of the films that have scared me have been pretty crap and I had no desire to see them again.

Edit: incidentally, this thread has prompted me to buy a copy of the Shining.