Friday, August 26, 2011

What Scares You?

 Nearly every day, it's the same thing. "Baby, find a new movie to watch." My boyfriend and I don't have cable, so we Google and RedBox are our best friends. Or they would be, if it weren't for the fact that we both love horror movies, and we've both seen 'em all. Trying to find a new movie to watch that will terrify you, or chill you to your bones? Don't search for "Best Horror Movies" or "New Horror Movies". Why not? The first search will get you a list of movies that you've seen, and probably weren't scared by. The #1 on the list will almost ALWAYS be the excorcist. Am I the only one that is not afraid of that movie? I first saw it when I was around 5 or so, and even then, when I was afraid of my own shadow (okay, I'm still afraid of my own shadow, but that comes with immersing yourself in everything horror as often as possible), it barely made a mark on my mind.


 The second search will harvest lists of remakes, ghost movies, or no-story gore fests. There's only so many times you can watch a movie about some person who likes to carve other people up for no reason other than carving people up. It's just plain boring. Ghost movies are the same, they're ghosts. The most they can do is levitate a bed or two. Remakes can be entertaining, but it's still something we've seen before. Half the new movies I start watching get shut off within the first 10 minutes. It's depressing.

 Well then, Ms. Fancy-Pants Know It All Horror Blog Writer, what movies DO scare you?

The last time I actually saw a new horror movie and didn't sleep for a year was Signs. First of all, aliens terrify me. Not just any aliens though. The scary-monster looking ones such as those in the 'Alien' movies? No way. Aliens that look vaguely human and creep up on you? Oh lord. Those guys are scary. Which brings us to number two, you didn't even see the aliens until a good way into the film. It was just a rustle here, a shadow there. Excellent suspense. It took numerous rewatching for me to get to the point where I don't have to cover my eyes when they show the aliens. For me, that's really something.

 Other movies that scare me are well done zombie movies. I love the original Day of the Dead. It has this claustrophobic stuck underground feeling, that I normally hate, but it's not over bearing because the facility does have plenty of room for the victims to stretch their legs, and also plenty of story. The Dawn of the Dead remake was great for kind of restarting the zombie craze. A classic with a nice modern twist. And of course Diary of the Dead, bringing zombies into the digital age. What happens when the zombies attack and everyone and their brother has a video camera? Love it.

 When it comes to more recent things, it's not the movies that scare me. It's stories, and short, independent youtube videos. Slenderman? Now he is scary. I would love to see a big budget movie about Slendy. It's night, you're alone, and you think you see something outside your window. As you go to look, you see this other wordly caricature of a man staring back at you. I made curtains for even the windows that aren't supposed to be covered because of him.

 So now that I've rambled on and on about my fears, tell me what scares you!


2 comments:

  1. The Hell Racer movies. I refuse to watch them,but my father and my boyfriend loóóve them. It gives me sleepless nights.

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  2. Ooh, nice choice. I've only seen teh first Hellraiser, but it was pretty good.

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