mah willies

Over at The Horror Digest, friend to both Final Girl and cats André put out a call for everyone's Top 10 Willies-Inducing Moments. Because I like to feel as if I belong, I've done gone and made up mah list! I've talked about plenty of these moments before in one capacity or another, but what can I say? If they gimme the willies, they gimme the willies. Besides, all the world loves a list, right? RIGHT?

The Shining - in the hallways

You know, I could simply write "the whole damn movie" when talking about Shining-induced willies. Every time I watch it, I have a new favorite scene or moment. I'll notice something I've never noticed before, or some little noise will get under my skin. Danny's hallway racetrack never fails to get me, though- and it's not simply because of those damn Grady sisters. It's Stanley Kubrick's use of sound that contributes immensely to the sense of unease at play; the wheels on wood and carpet...wood and carpet... It's the claustrophobic symmetrical framing of the scene. It's the disarming soundtrack. And yes, it's those damn Grady girls.

Black Christmas - the eye behind the door

Jess walks into a bedroom, finds her friends brutally slaughtered...and the killer is hiding behind the door, watching her and whispering to her. The tagline for Black Christmas is absolutely right: if this picture doesn't make your skin crawl, it's on too tight! Also, you're probably a jerk.

Session 9 - Hank returns to the asylum

Hank's greedy nature gets the best of him and he returns to the abandoned insane asylum after work, late at night, to abscond with the jewelry and gold teeth of dead patients. As he wanders the tunnels with only a flashlight to guide his way, he discovers he's not alone.

The Haunting - noises outside the door

Hill House is haunted. Whatever's haunting it stalks the hallways. It's very loud and it's right outside your door, pounding on the walls...

Salem's Lot - Mrs. Glick stirs

My inclination was to choose a Mr. Barlow-centric moment from Salem's Lot- man, that vampire's ugly mug gives me the serious willies every time it pops up. But this scene, in which the dead Mrs. Glick returns to (sort of) life as a vampire, is so full of dread that my goosebumps get goosebumps.

The Fog - Mrs. Kobritz answers the door

Old ladies are not supposed to get killed in horror movies. It's against some sort of law or something! John Carpenter is not afraid to go there, however, so he sends poor Mrs. Kobritz to answer the tap-tap-tapping at her door. Unfortunately for her, it's not an Amway salesman lurking in the fog. It's a bunch of mean leprous ghosts.

Yes, "Amway salesman". Apparently it's always 1979 in my world!

The Blair Witch Project - hands on the tent

I love Blair Witch. There, I said it and I don't care who knows it! It's got some unbelievably frightening sequences- not the least of it is the middle-of-the-night, middle-of-the-woods sound of children laughing...which is immediately followed by hands pounding on the outside of our unlucky filmmakers' tent. So not cool. SO NOT COOL. I like to camp. I have to very consciously not think of this scene whilst doing said camping- otherwise, I will undoubtedly puke my pants.

[REC] - that GD thing in the attic

I think [REC] is terrific. The first time I saw it, I could not cope with the end sequence in the attic. I held my breath. It gave me nightmares. It's still just about too much. It's perfect.

Event Horizon - someone's in the medical tent

Sometimes, all it takes is that all-familiar no one is supposed to be here trope to induce major willies. I'm not sure if it qualifies as the uncanny or cognitive dissonance or what, but that awful feeling that accompanies the thought I'm supposed to be alone here, but I'm not is largely what horror movies are made of for me.

I don't even know if that makes sense- I kind of feel like I simply typed a bunch of words that may or may not go together- but if you know what I mean, then I can tell you that this scene from Event Horizon is a prime example of it.

The Exorcist - that GD face

Is it Pazuzu? I don't know. I don't care. That face that subliminally flashes a few times throughout The Exorcist has frightened me since forever. I hate looking at it. I hate having it on my screen, on my blog. I can't rationally rationalize it away- that it's just Eileen Dietz in makeup. IT'S TOO TERRIFYING TO ME, and now I have to go because of it.