Halloween is upon us and it seems like I should have something in my blog to do with the "holiday". I don't really like to call Halloween a "holiday" because I don't like how gruesome its become over the years. But, my boys and I do enjoy dressing up. They aren't allowed to wear anything thats scary or bloody. There is just something wrong with dressing your children up to look like a mutilated dead person. I don't want to see them look like that, not in costume, not in life, not ever. They understand and are happy to abide by the house rules.
Another house rule is no scary movies. As they grow older, I obviously will have less control on what they view, but given their current age, its not appropriate for us to watch those. However, I have had several adult years to watch some eye covering movies that have left me shaking in my fuzzy socks and checking the doors more than once.
As such, here is "The Top 10 Scariest Movies I've Seen".
10. The Blair Witch Project. 1999. This movie is about 3 student filmmakers who hike into the Black Hills and set up camp near Burkittsville, Maryland (previously known as Blair). They were there to film a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch. They vanished within a couple of days. The only thing found, besides their campsite that was next to a cemetery, was their film footage, approximately 1 year later. Most of the movie is shown through the "recovered footage" and was not embellished or added to. Its complete terror, from beginning to end, of the heard and unseen.
9. Scream. 1996. While this movie is on my 10 scariest movies list, I have to say that since I've watched it several times now, I really don't find it scary anymore. However, the first time I watched it, I made a mental note to stay away from the Jiffy-Pop, lock the doors and refrain from answering the phone. This movie is about a high school girl, Sydney, who is the target of a ghost-masked killer. The killings, ironically, start around the anniversary of her mother's death. Student, after principal, after girlfriend, after jock are stabbed and filleted as the psychopath gets closer and closer to Sydney. Will Sydney survive her own horror story? You tell me.
8. Pet Semetary. 1989. This movie is one I've never forgotten, probably because I had never seen a movie where the villain was a toddler who could take down a grown man. But, I guess that's a Stephen King thriller for you, right? The story is about a doctor and his family who move from the big city to a quaint little farm-like setting. Unfortunately, their home's front yard runs right next to a deadly highway which ultimately claims the life of their little boy. In an effort to bring his boy back to "life", the good doctor buries his son in a secret Indian burial ground. The magical burial ground was said to give "life" to those that were buried there - it just didn't specify what kind. The results are not only horrifying, but deadly and I can promise, you'll never look at a cat the same way again.
7. The Thing. 1982. I admit I didn't see this film until recently - like 4 months ago. I hadn't even heard of it. But, it caught my interest (as Kurt Russell usually does) and I watched in anticipation of who was "The Thing". A film filled to the brim with deception, survival and out and out paranoia against an alien who can take the form of anything it kills. Is your friend still your friend or is it "The Thing"? Light a fire and see what happens if you have any doubts. Odds are, you'll be next.
6. It. 1990. Another Stephen King thriller. While this wasn't made into a box office movie, it was made into a television mini-series, which is where I watched it. I didn't think it would be that "scary" because it had been adapted to regular television. I mean, you're talkin' a 7:00 show on a Tuesday. How bad can it be? Ummm, yeah. I am going to cheat here and give you the prologue, as written by "Wikipedia", because I think their description sets the tone to the movie just perfectly.
"In the opening scene, a little girl rides her bike down the street happily singing. Her mother tells her to come inside. Just as she is about to go inside, she hears a clown giggle. She turns and spots a clown standing in her backyard. The film then cuts to her mother looking for her, and then finding the girl (off camera) dead in the backyard. This prompts Mike Hanlon to call across the United States looking for his six friends, telling them that "It" has returned and their promise from years ago that if "It" ever comes back, they will fight it again. The film is then told in separate flashbacks among the seven friends."
Will I honk a clowns nose or smell his pretty flower? Not likely . . . at least not before checking his dentures from a very safe distance.
5. Jaws. 1975. "You're gonna need a bigger boat." The most quoted line from the entire movie made us all smile for a moment. The movie as a whole made us look at water in a whole different light. To this day, when I get in any water (outside of a swimming pool), this movie comes to mind and I can't help but get a little freaked out by what lurks in the deep, dark blue just under my feet. I suppose I probably shouldn't have snuck out of my room, as a very small child, and watched part of this movie, hiding next to the couch. I suppose I should've gone to bed, like I was told, as my parents enjoyed a late night movie. But, I didn't and the memories of that man-killing shark will likely be with me no matter how big a boat we have.
4. Poltergeist. 1982. Another movie about being manipulated and terrified by things you cannot see. Spirits bending silverware, speaking through the static on your t.v., furniture moving and alas your youngest child disappearing. These are all things that would scare me right into another place to live. If this movie wasn't frightening enough when it came out, maybe how many of the actual actors in it died in freakish accidents after its release? Some say they were cursed. Others say its just coincidence. Either way, every time I hear the words, "They're here.", my mind rewinds to the night I put this VHS video in the VCR and pushed play. So much for Casper the friendly ghost.
3. Psycho. 1960. Probably one of the best psychological thrillers ever. I mean, it was directed by Alfred Hitchcock afterall and contains one of the most pivotal scenes in cinematic history - the shower scene. This movie has it all, embezzlement, investigation, murder, personality disorders, grave robbing and the lot. Two key points I took home, never go to dinner with strangers and take a shower in some desolate motel in the same night. The Bates Motel will forever be in the minds of those who spend their days and nights traveling, even if they aren't $40,000.00 heavy. My favorite line from the movie: "Uh-uh, Mother-m-mother, uh, what is the phrase? She isn't quite herself today." Well, thanks for clearing that up Norman. You usually aren't when you're dead . . .
2. The Shining. 1980. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. If your husband was supposed to be working on a novel, while your family is being caretakers for a hotel, and this is what you found him typing, over and over and over again, would you run to the bathroom and lock yourself in? I would, especially if I was stranded in the midst of a snow storm that took down all communication and travel. What would be even worse is if your husband then came after you with an axe, chopped through the bathroom door and crooned in his madman state, "Heeeere's Johnny." Not only do I love this movie for Jack Nicholson, its edge-of-your-seat thrills, twists and turns, but also because there's a little bit of Montana in it. That's right, the opening panorama shots and scenes of the beetle going up the road to the hotel were filmed from a helicopter in Glacier National Park, Montana, on the Going To The Sun Road.
1. The Exorcist. 1973. This film is, unfortunately, based on a true story. Because the actual victim's story lacks much detail, it is hard to say how closely this film follows his accounts. In any event, I found this film absolutely horrifying - not because anything that happened was really scary (so to speak), but because its my belief that this CAN happen and DID happen to a young boy. I have only watched this film one time and that one time was enough. However, I had to put it on my list because, it is indeed, the most terrifying movie I've seen and reminds me of how blessed I am to be under God's protection as a follower of Christ. If you want to see how destructive, deceiving and alarmingly paralyzing the presence of demons can be, this film is all yours. Watch at your own risk.
I'm sure you noticed that none of my Top 10 were made within the last 10 years. There's a good reason for that. With all the computer capabilities, special effects and so on, the horror movies that come out today are just plain gruesome to me. Blood and/or gore doesn't scare me. What's scary is when you are psychologically affected by a story to the point you don't get in water, you dont' touch a t.v. screen or go into your closet, you're a little weary of caretakers and clowns and you wash your face with your eyes open. My point is they didn't have special effects in the 1960 film, "Psycho" and they choose not to use them in the 1999 film, "The Blair Witch Project", both of which I found to be monumentally more frightening then, say, "Saw" or "Paranormal Activity".
So, if you want a good old fashioned scare this Halloween, watch any of my Top 10 movies. I can guarantee you'll have a scream of a time. Jiffy-Pop, anyone?
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