'Tis All Hallow's Eve so it's only right I reveal the moments in film that have scared me the most. Now I'm not a big horror film watcher and I've never seen any of the current crop of gross-outs like Saw or Hostel. So I've chosen only movies I've seen and that I rate as good films:
- Jan Svaankmeyer's Alice - deeply disturbing version of the Lewis Carroll tale from this Czechoslovakian animator (those last two words conjure up scary films anyway!). see video - Scariest Moment: all of it
- Ringu - made more scary by the way the Japanese construct their movies, the original version of Ring has a true air of dread and creepiness that it almost seems real - SM: the crawling-out-of-the-television bit
- Jaws - superior film making, still brilliant today. It doesn't even matter about the rubber shark, Bruce. SM: the whole in the boat
- The Shining - growing dread and descent into madness and Shelley Duvall's fright is matched by our own, brilliant - SM: "Red Rum" or "Here's Johnnie"
- The Excorist - dated but works on your head rather than your eyes. Scary for it's setting within the real world - SM: thinking about what you've jut seen in the cinema car park
- the Omen - parts one and two. I was far too young when I first aw these. The best film about the existence of the devil (along with Rosemary's Baby). All the theory and discovery and the fact the audience know the truth really adds to the suspense - SM: the music and under the ice.
- Se7en - mainly scary for getting into John Doe's mind and the ending. The gothic way it's shot heightens the tension. - SM: sloth
- Alien - the haunted house... in space. Suspense, body horror, the bogeyman, picking off the characters, jumps, it's got it all - SM: Dallas in the air-ducts
- 28 Days Later - the whole idea is brilliant, if stolen from I Am Legend. Zombies with justification of their existence. The whole blood in eye thing makes me squirm. SM: the monkey in the lab
- Rosemary's Baby - innocence corrupted by the next door neighbours. The subtle hints and the build to that revelation is a slow build spookiness. - SM: Rosemary realising what's happened
Honorable mention to the TV programmes I really shouldn't have watched as a kid but scared me rotten (and look terrible today): Hammer House of Horror, Tales of the Unexpected, Day of the Triffids, Threads. Also Twin Peaks, Marathon Man, Carrie, Blair Witch Project, Manhunter, Pinocchio.
3 comments:
I think you might like creep shot like 28 days later with a Ringu style creepiness
Great list of movies, that video you posted was really freaky. I have to say though, that the saw movies do mess with your head too though.
You should check out both Saw and Hostel. The original Saw is one of the best thrillers I've seen and the ending is fantastic. Don't bother with any of the sequels.
Hostel is pretty good, but a bit gross.
Thanks for the comment on my blog, I clearly don't read many books.
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