Here we go, guys...SHOCKtober is here! Every day I'll be counting down a chunk of the movies you have deemed to be the scariest. This is totally democracy in cyber-action!
I had a lot of fun reading all of your emails, wherein many of you explained why you found certain movies oh-so-terribly frightening, whether it was 20 years or 20 minutes ago. Sure, folks are scared by the films you'd expect, but then there are movies that don't really qualify as "horror" under even the broadest of definitions. I love that! So surely there will be titles included that will have your head as to how they could spook anyone, but remember- and I hate to get all scientific here- brains work in weird ways.
Oh, and a note: I opted not to include TV shows, though some of you added them to your lists. Made-for-TV movies and short films are okay, but I didn't want to dive into the realm of television. In case you're wondering, folks included shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer ("Hush" in particular), Tales from the Crypt, Twin Peaks, and so on. Sorry if this harshes anyone's mellow (or marshes anyone's mallow), but my high school yearbook was right to name me Most Likely to Become a Despot. This is totally not democracy in cyber-action!
Anyway, I'll shut up now. On to today's chunk! Each of these movies received one vote each.
323. Funny Games -- 1997, Michael Haneke
322. Tales from the Darkside: The Movie -- 1990, John Harrison
321. Last Man on Earth -- 1964, Ubaldo Ragona & Sidney Salkow
320. Superstition -- 1982, James W. Roberson
319. Ghost -- 1990, Jerry Zucker
318. Wolf Creek -- 2005, Greg Mclean
317. Practical Magic -- 1998, Griffin Dunne
316. Peeping Tom -- 1960, Michael Powell
315. Papillon -- 1973, Franklin J. Schaffner
314. Al final del espectro -- 2006, Juan Felipe Orozco
313. Sleepaway Camp -- 1983, Robert Hiltzik
312. Blue Velvet -- 1986, David Lynch
311. Lost Highway -- 1997, David Lynch
310. Ju-on 2 -- 2003, Takashi Shimizu
Practical Magic, I know right? That was included in a list sent to me by a friend who is not into horror (although she's been watching more and more, so I ain't complainin'), and it was accompanied by "I thought it was a romantic comedy- it wasn't." Man oh man, I love SHOCKtober!
WOLF CREEK GOT ONE VOTE WHAT I CAN'T EVEN (I guess I can't bitch since I didn't get my list to you in time, but STILL)
ReplyDeleteYou won't BELIEVE some of the stuff that got one vote! Or no votes! Or only a couple of votes!
ReplyDeleteIt's actually interesting to compare it to the 2010 list, which was just "favorites"...more often than not, "favorite" and "scary" don't go hand-in-hand, it seems.
I second Ju-on 2 but only because those movies are the best ever
ReplyDeleteI was also shocked to see Wolf Creek only get one vote. Although I will admit, it didn't really SCARE me. When I think of scary, I think of movies that make me afraid of a dark house at night. Ya know, that feeling you get after watching a really scary movie where you turn off your bedroom light and then RUN to the bed before the monsters can get you. Wolf Creek didn't scare me in that way. It was more psychological, if that makes sense. Like Martyrs, or Inside.
ReplyDeletePapillon?? I'm trying to remember what would be scary in that, but I'm drawing a blank. It has been years since I've seen it..... I've always found David Lynch's movies to be more "disturbing" than "scary," but I guess that is really just splitting hairs..... Oh and, HaHaHa, Practical Magic and Ghost, HaHaHaHa
ReplyDeleteAlready some great choices (Funny Games, Wolf Creek, Peeping Tom) and some hi-larious ones Ghost, Practical Magic, Papillon). And one move I've never heard of.
ReplyDeleteAl final del espectro...I'mma 'bout to Google ya!
Funny Games only got my one vote?
ReplyDeleteGhost and Papillon I hadn't seen coming.
Otherwise several good entries already
Now that I think about it, Ghost actually was pretty damn scary when I was a kid. Those weird shadow-demon things and the noises they made were terrifying! And that angry homeless ghost in the subway…ugh! Man, I probably would have added this movie to my list, too, if I remembered it in time, lol.
ReplyDeleteAny blog that has a list that includes Last Man on Earth, Ghost, Blue Velvet and Peeping Together, all cuddled together like vampires in the basement of the Marsten House, is pretty much THE BEST BLOG EVER.
ReplyDeletePapillon has one of the most unsettling dream sequences I've ever seen in a movie. And a truly upsetting execution. It's very much THE GREAT ESCAPE reimagined by New Hollywood, mid-70s: spare, grim, and upsetting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for understanding my inclusion of Papillon, David. That dream sequence screwed me up as a little kid. It has obviously stayed with me through the years.
ReplyDelete