Halloween is officially here.
I'm not gonna lie I love the Halloween season! The costumes. The cartoon specials. Trick or Treating. My pastor tried to convince me to give up Beggar's Night but...umm...ain't happened yet. Trick or Treating and Santa Claus...he obviously considers me a work in progress...
Halloween and horror movies go hand-in-hand for me. Christmas and candy canes. Thanksgiving and turkey. Halloween and horror movies. The heart pounding and roller-coaster-dip-in-the-stomach feeling that comes from knowing heads are about to roll! Literally. Or when the camera pans to the killer's reflection in the bathroom mirror! Even when I know it's coming, it never lessens the thrill!
I started thinking about the best horror movies I've seen. There's been a ton of 'em but some have left an indelible impression...no matter how corny they may be by today's standards.
1. Dawn of the Dead. It was the first horror I ever saw. I sat in the front row at The Strand . The Strand was one of those old time theatres with the balcony and red velvet drapes that draw back from the movie screen . My cousins and I had the bejeezus scared out of us ! I remember the skin rotting and falling off those zombies and how they stumbled along, biting and infecting every person they came in contact with. Just one question, though. How the hell did they catch all those people when they never ran?
2. Salem's Lot. Even today I have nightmares from this one scene. This boy rises from his bed in the middle of the night because he hears noises at his window. Noises which turn out to be his friend calling his name in this creepy sing-song manner while scratching at the glass. Said friend who they had a funeral for the day before. That kid was terrifying! All pasty-faced and pointy-teethed! *shiver* Salem's Lot is a classic for a reason!
3. Nightmare on Elm Street. The original. They could've saved the sequels--especially the prequel--but the first one...whew! Freddie was a scary--Shut yo mouth! I didn't want to go to sleep and I knew for a fact my mother didn't lock him up to burn in his house! Freddie Krueger killed in the most inventive ways. Lawd! I'll never forget seeing Johnny Depp go splat on the ceiling after being sucked in his bed! No one can never accuse him of not being a creative psychopath!
4. Scream. Again, the first one. Hilarious, yes. Still scary enough to have me giving the phone the stink-eye when it rang for weeks afterward? Most definitely! It had everything! The glimpses of the killer that made your heart lodge in your throat. The corny slashing with the knife that is classic horror fare. Even the twist at the end when the killer--or killers--identities were revealed made this movie memorable. And come on. Drew Barrymore killed in the first five minutes of the movie. Hah! Loved it!
5. Scooby-Doo and the Headless Horseman. Do I really need to go into detail about this?
That's my selection. Do you agree? Disagree? Have a favorite of your own. Word to the wise. Leave number 5 alone...I'm real sensitive about Scooby...I'll fight over that Great Dane...
4 comments:
I can't watch that stuff, or read it, and sleep at night. We do Halloween up big here, tho - scary show for the kids. Hubby really gets into it with the monster thing. Had one kid a couple years ago ask me if I'd bought him at Spencers! We have fog machines, motion activated stuff, and I go nuts on the pumpkins.
Love that it's all setup and over in one night, too.
We do a big Halloween, too - fog machine, huge props, scary music - Hey Dalton - we must be kindred spirits;-)
Scarier than movies for me are books since my imagination ramps up the terror. John Saul and Dean Koonz are favorites. And some Stephen King. Of course, a group can't share that experience.
I like your movie choices. My top picks are more thriller than horror. Number one - Dressed to Kill. Blair Witch Project is up there as is Seven (although that one was deeply disturbing more than scary).
Hi, Dalton!
Kindred spirits! We do it up big too--of course we would go to your house and ooh and ahh. LOL! There's this neighborhood where we live that closes off all the streets so it's one big Halloween town where all the kids can dress up and go trick-or-treating! It's wonderful!! They have graveyards, smoke machines, dragons, spiders (AAAAHHHHH!!!) and witches on roofs. We have an awesome time!
Hey, Wynter!
When I was a kid I used to sneak my mother's John Saul's books and scare the hell outta myself!! LOL! I still to this day remember Comes the Blind Fury by him...that is one of the freakiest, scariest books ever!
And Seven...yes, deeply, DEEPLY disturbing!!
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