Friday, October 28, 2011

Five Things on Friday - Horror Movie Edition

Well, it's Halloween weekend and that can only mean one thing (or actually many, but pretend with me) - horror movies!!

I thought I would give a rundown of five of my all-time favorites, one from each of my own made-up horror movie categories. I hope you find something to enjoy!

Five Horror Movies I Love

Even the house is creepy.
1. The Scary 'Cause It Could Happen - Psycho - Norman Bates kills people in his hotel at the behest of his dead, stuffed mother. What makes this so possible? It kinda happened. Ed Gein was a murderer in the 1950's and while not quite as sensational as Norman, he did have mommy issues, keep pieces and parts of his victims and tried to build a "woman suit" out of parts of corpses. (He is actually the inspiration for Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs). Psycho is well-made and creepy, but also, sort of feasible. It's that possibility that gets under your skin. More Could Happens: See above Ed Gein films, The Strangers, American Psycho, Rear Window and it's decent re-telling Disturbia.


What I would give for a picture
of her demon breasts
2. The Ridiculous - Mausoleum - This is quite possibly the worst horror movie ever made. A woman (played by a playboy bunny - there's your first clue) is possessed by a demon and starts killing men while having sex with them. Also, her breasts become demons and grow teeth. I will watch it any time there's a possibility. So bad it's good is how I usually describe it. If you want to celebrate with a horror movie, but hate to be scared, this is the movie for you. Also on this list of ridiculousness - Grandmother's House, The Evil Dead, Hellraiser, or Leprechaun. Most slasher flicks fit into this category.

Looks all happy until
you see the rope.
3. The Creepy -The Omen - So, technically a series, you should really just avoid all of them except the first one. And maybe the remake, I haven't gotten around to that one. In my opinion, the best horror movies are those that get quietly under your skin and creep you out without the jumps and screams and blood flying everywhere. Although, there's a fair amount of blood in this one - and a decapitation! Anyway, an ambassador takes a baby whose mother died in childbirth after his child is stillborn. He fails to tell the mother and then finds out years later that the child is the devil. Or the devil's spawn. Or the Antichrist. Complete with a 666 birthmark and a penchant for suicidal nannies, Damon is creepy to the extreme. Others in this category: Children of the Corn, Rosemary's Baby, Event Horizon and Let the Right One In.


Clows always creep me out.
4. The Series - Halloween - For my money, there is no horror series like Halloween and no psycho killer from hell like Michael Myers. Michael is just a little boy when he brutally murders his older sister. He is put away for fifteen years and breaks out to finish the job - presumably by killing any slutty teenager in the county. What makes this series worth the marathon (skip number three, just trust me) is that unlike most psycho killers, Michael Myers is genuinely scary. Plus the music. Plus Jamie Lee Curtis. Plus Donald Pleasance as the creepy "hero" Dr. Loomis. Other series of note: Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Child's Play (please note, this could also be filed under Number 2).

Seriously, check out the greenscreening. Can anything
that looks this terrible not be entertaining?
5. The Creature Feature - I hate to admit it, but my all-time favorite creature feature is Lake Placid 2. This is not rocket surgery, people. A plot synopsis would be sort of an insult to your intelligence. There's giant mutant alligators. That's the upshot. Other Creature Features of note: Jaws, Aliens, Rein of Fire, Predator, almost anything made for SyFy.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't believe I've actually seen four of those! I feel so cultured.

I watched the demon breast movie at E. T.'s house. It was one of my first horror movies, along with Child's Play.

I don't watch scary movies anymore, because I get nightmares if I do, and because I still get scared sometimes when I hear dish soap go down the drain (well, that was more from reading a scary book, but still.)

ann

Strangeite said...

You have no idea how much thought I put behind these kind of lists.

My wife, who does not care for horror films at all, will only watch horror movies once a year. On Halloween. So I spend an absurd amount of time picking out the perfect film for us to watch on my favorite holiday.

I order to pick out the perfect Halloween film for us to watch, I have to balance two conflicting desires. 1) I want to convince her that it is a valid genre and we should watch them more often (a Sisyphean task) and 2) she really doesn't like gore for the sack of gore (which I agree with).

This year I am still undecided (with less than 24 hours to go) on either Alien, Poltergeist, Scream or Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. All fine films in all completely different ways.

Jessi, how would you vote?

Strangeite said...

sic: IN order to pick out the perfect Halloween film

Strangeite said...

I should also give a sampling of films from previous years.

Night of the Living Dead (the civil rights aspects were an added bonus)

The Omen.

Halloween (I define it as the "perfect" slasher flick)

Psycho.

This isn't all of them (I am old) but the ones I can remember. Interestingly, she enjoyed everyone but talked the most about Night of the Living Dead and Halloween.

I am leaning towards Behind the Mask.

The Birds.

Tara said...

If I even had to watch 20 minutes of one of these films, I would die. I'm sure of it.

Tara@DoTheseKids?

Jessi said...

@Ann - I am soo proud! Also, I was pretty sure that no one on here would have seen Mausoleum. Interestingly, when I was researching, I read a lot of the online reviews to remind myself of the "finer" plot points. Only one person mentioned the demon breasts, which is the pinacle of the movie to me.

@Strageite - I would vote Poltergeist, because it is one of my all-time favorites. Although, I'll confess to never seeing Behind the Mask. So go wherever your heart takes you, I guess.

@Tara - I bet Mausoleum wouldn't scare you. I honestly don't see how it could scare anyone. :)

ann said...

Mosoleum scared me, but it was one of my first, and I was in middle school.

Strangeite, I would recommend Alien, if she can handle an action/scifi movie, because it is so beautifully artistic. If not, may I recommend another option? My favorite horror movie was The Exorcism of Emily Rose, because of the religious themes, and b/c it's a true story. I like both of those things in a movie. And, it's got some girly themes. Also, I've read some of her blog, and it looks like she is interested in religious themes lately.

catsmum said...

Not big on the horror film genre - have seen some of the older ones on your list: The Omen, Psycho, Alien - but really not fond of them. I have an intensely vivid visual memory so that stuff just stays with me forever.
I prefer to read about my Horror.
[and having said that, one of the most disturbing things I have ever read, and which I seriously wish my mind would let me 'unread', was from a non-horror, totally 'pastoral' tale set in rural England, that I read about 20 years ago and involved a graphic description of animal cruelty.
In future I'll stick to my Jim Butchers, Terry Pratchetts and Niel Gaimans ... and J.K.R of course ]

Jessi said...

I love all those authors! The Dresden books are one of my missions in life: I am constantly trying to talk people into reading them.

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