Halloween thread: What were the scariest movies?
posted at 8:10 pm on October 31, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Share on Facebook | regular view
While I’m sitting here handing out candy to all the little (and not so little) trick-or-treaters, one reader suggested an open thread on the scariest movies. I’m not a big fan of the horror genre, but I have my favorites, and I imagine you do as well. Here are the top frights I’ve gotten from Hollywood, aside from the industry’s politics:
- Poltergeist – Probably the most frightened I ever got from a movie, but that’s partly from how I saw it. I woke up in the middle of the night having fallen asleep in front of the TV, and this movie had just begun. I thought I’d drift back to sleep, but the creepy coincidence of the circumstances matching the movie had me wide-eyed and jumpy every time I heard snow on the tube for weeks.
- Alien – My girlfriend in high school dug her fingernails into my arm as she screamed every time something happened. Great use of suspense with actually a minimal amount of gore on screen. Aliens was almost as good, but completely different in pacing and structure.
- Silence of the Lambs – Not really horror, more crime/suspense, but the final sequence was as unnerving as anything I’d seen.
- Silent Hill – Normally I wouldn’t have even watched this, but I like Radha Mitchell, Kim Coates, and Alice Krige. It turned out to be a stylish and gripping movie, excellent for its kind, and inventive. The religious overtones were more or less out of Hollywood Cliché Central, though.
- Psycho – Well, you know … it’s Psycho.
- Army of Darkness – No, it didn’t scare me at all, but it was hilariously creepy and original, and it had Bruce Campbell. Gimme some sugar, baby.
Update: Some worthy mentions from the comments:
- The Exorcist – When I finally saw it, it had already become a cultural joke, so it lost some of its power for me — but still first class.
- Jaws – Yeah, this should have been on my original list. The great Roy Scheider, the great Robert Shaw, and the great-but-politically-nuts Richard Dreyfuss.
- Se7en – No one’s mentioned this yet, but it should be on the list. May not be quite in the horror genre, but it’s close enough.
What are your favorites? What were the worst?
Addendum: If you are in charge of handing out the candy, too, what were the best outfits you saw? So far:
- Toddler sisters in matching butterfly outfits
- A “grandma” in a hair net and cardigan
Update II: Dirty Harry has more.
Update III: I packed up the Halloween candy and called it a night. Nothing terribly original in terms of costumes outside of the grandma, but we did get one Zombie Cheerleader (homemade costume, too). When I turned on the TV, it was tuned to Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror. Pass!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2 3 4
Well… I guess I have time. Let me apologize in advance for this horribly long story. I left out as much as I could, and still convey the essence.
When Exorcist came out, I was stationed at Ft. Gordon, Georgia … Army Signal School. I had just finished a course, was waiting around there doing nothing, because I was waiting on a pretty high security clearance, and because my new assignment unit didn’t even have a leadership cadre yet.
The Signal School was basically a ghost town. Even though it is a pretty darn big training center, Everything there was in between cycles, and the MP school on the other side of the post didn’t have much going on either.
Most of the admin and trainers were on long leaves (or just not showing up for duty); just pretty much a ’skeleton crew’. I was just doing whatever kind of duty needed done. One day, I was the Brigade Command Sergeant Major (Acting)for some dignitary reception. The next I was handling sick call and supervising ‘lawn police’…..
well, shorten the story…
One of the barracks (by coincidence ? the WAC trainee barracks for the brigade)kept getting broken into by ‘townies’ and some of the less desirable elements amongst the troops on the skeleton crew that were having parties there. So they decided that I would be security for the building.
This happened just a few weeks or so after I saw The Exorcist. I enjoyed the movie so much that Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells was by far the most repeated tape on my little ‘boom box’.
So, I set up in one of the rooms in the basement of the barracks so as to better hear footsteps if anyone decided to wander around upstairs.
In a large brick barracks that had rooms for 300 people I have chained up all the doors from the inside. All the widows are securely locked, and most of them would have to have the frames removed and/or a 10+ foot long ladder to get in anyway….. Oh, yeah, and Power to the building was turned off at the control panel, locked with a big lock to which I have no key.
My only lights were a flashlight and an army issue gas lantern.
The first night passed uneventfully. I’m enjoying the solitude. I don’t even have to report to anyone for a week unless I have to shoot someone or something else really serious happens.
So, here it is early spring in Augusta, Georgia; A place that rarely gets cold; Days in the 70’s and 80’s nights maybe down to 50 degrees.
The next day I just go to the PX for a while, buy a couple of books. Hit the Pizza Pub for an early dinner and then over to the NCO club to ‘hoist a few’ with a couple of my buddies that were waiting for the same reasons I was.
Head back to the barracks about 10PM. Unlock the regular lock and chain the door up behind me. Patrol every inch of the building. All clear. But boy, is it chilly in here.
Head down to my room, light up the lantern, crack a paperback (Louis L’Amour western, if I remember correctly), turn on the tape player and listen to Tubular Bells a few times. About the time I’m ready to go to sleep, I see some bright light reflecting down the stairwell outside my door. Not like flashlights, but like someone turned on the fluorescents for the whole floor above. But that couldn’t be, because the main power is off, right?
Well, I pump a round into the chamber and head out to investigate. The light goes off as soon as I hit the first step, and I hear a CrashThud on the other side of the barracks; sounded about like if someone dropped a heavy wooden desk from five feet. Rush to investigate. Can’t find a dang thing. Check every inch of the building, everything is as it should be.
Head back to my room. Tubular Bells is still playing on the tape player. …. But I turned it off as soon as I saw the light in the stairwell????? And even if I didn’t there was no auto reverse or replay on my cheap little player. Hmm.
And isn’t it getting colder? Oh well. Maybe I better quit alternating Tom Collins and Bloody Marys at the Club. Go to bed. Hear a few odd creaks and cracks that wake me up but nothing that sounds like something I need to deal with, and besides, it is too cold to get out from under the blanket anyway.
Morning comes and I spend the day sitting in the sun and reading.
The next night the Barracks is even colder, and my room is the coldest spot in the whole place. Around midnight, I see more lights in the barracks, but this time it is more like moving high pressure gas lanterns being carried around.
I chase lights all around the place for a few minutes… Never actually seeing the light source itself… or anybody, just the reflection off the wall around the next corner.
Now, at that time, I’m pretty good at ‘providing security’… A few of my buddies were maybe a little better at getting in and out of places that they were’t supposed to be, but not THAT much better. I guess that it COULD be them just playing a joke. To heck with it, I’m going to bed. The next morning when I wake up, the glass of water on the little table next to my cot is frozen solid, and there is frost on my little ceiling window that just barely looks out at ground level.
I track down my buds during the next day and evening, and they all convincingly deny that they are messing with me. (and years later, still continued to deny it).
The next night much the same as the night before, but this time with eerie sound effects. And in the morning, my water glass is frozen again, and not only is my little window frosted, but the one in the next room is too. And you can see your breath anywhere in the whole basement. During the next day, I track down a couple of buds and tell them that I’m shooting ANYONE in ‘MY’ barracks on sight. They know me well enough to believe it.
Yet that night is a replay of the one before. I don’t sleep at all. I chase invisible wild geese all night. Frozen morning. EVERY piece of glass i the basement is frosted.
The next night I con one of my buds into staying on guard with me. I figure between the two of us, we could catch even a ghost of even a Ninja. The night passes fairly calmly. A few strange noises, that’s all. But we can both see our breath anywhere in the barracks… Not just the basement.. and in the morning, once again, frozen water and frosted glass.
And later that day, I’m informed that my clearance came through and I’m shipping out tomorrow. “Pack your duffel and get over to the transfer facility, right now”.
Never did figure any of it out. Never told ‘the brass’ They would pull my clearance and put me in the psycho ward.
But I still like Mike Oldfield’s music.
LegendHasIt on October 31, 2008 at 11:14 PM
“Killer Klowns from Outer Space”
AubieJon on October 31, 2008 at 11:14 PM
The scariest movie? My God Man! This election is scary enough.
Dr. Dog on October 31, 2008 at 11:15 PM
One I liked as a kid was The Devil’s Rain” starring Ernest Borgnine. Think of Andy Griffith, the small town sheriff by day yet the leader of a Satanic cult which terrorizes visitors by night. William Shatner, Ida Lupino, Eddie Albert etc. were in the cast and even John Revolta.
Dittos on Nosferatu making my list as does Night of the Living Dead which should teach anyone not to keep a trowel within child’s reach in the basement.
viking01 on October 31, 2008 at 11:20 PM
The Grudge.
jgapinoy on October 31, 2008 at 11:21 PM
I’m a weenie. I prefer Doris Day movies over horror movies. Poltergeist is the scariest movie I’ve ever been able to enjoy. Demonic movies are the worst. Whenever the Exorcist is scheduled to be on I have to keep the remote handy to switch channels lest I see even the trailer for the darned thing.
Y-not on October 31, 2008 at 11:22 PM
Love the part when the youths laugh at the clown’s bike and the clown socks the head off the kid. Creepy carnival music. I still think IT is one of the best clown horror films, although they got a little too weird at the end with that whole spider thing. Tim Curry is awesome, “They float. They all float”! Best scene is the clown in the sewer.
Over30 on October 31, 2008 at 11:23 PM
Osama bin Laden wearing a Vote For Obama sign.
jgapinoy on October 31, 2008 at 11:23 PM
:-) How am I scary?
Oldnuke on October 31, 2008 at 11:27 PM
If anyone is interested, Bravo is doing the 100 Scariest Movie Moments. They are on 41 now I think, The Hills Have Eyes (original)
Luthien on October 31, 2008 at 11:27 PM
Ooooooh, one I just remembered. Some would consider it horror, others not. Donnie Darko. That is an awesome movie.
Luthien on October 31, 2008 at 11:30 PM
I’ll bet my life savings on the shower scene from Psycho being #1.
CherokeeJack on October 31, 2008 at 11:30 PM
Killer Klowns indeed. Clowns themselves are scary enough especially the one(s) that / which used to lurk around the New Orleans French Quarter late at night back in the 1980s.
I’d also add Strangers on A Train as a tip of the hat to Alfred Hitchcock.
The horror feature which still keeps me awake some nights is Attack of the Killer Pelosis. The eyes. The eyes. Don’t look into THE EYES.
viking01 on October 31, 2008 at 11:31 PM
I had a 10 year kid in a Dick Cheney mask with a fake shotgun, (actually it was like a fake M-16) that “shot the bird behind me” when I opened the door.
If only his parents knew what I was packing in the other room (it is/was Halloween after all).
F15Mech on October 31, 2008 at 11:39 PM
Thank you. That is an awesome story and you write very well. I have often heard that ‘haunted’ places are cold because the spirits draw the energy from the atmosphere leaving it cold. Makes me curious about the history of the barracks there. Thanks again for a great Halloween story. I recommend that you embellish it and make it into a fantastic and chilling yarn for publishing.
carbon_footprint on October 31, 2008 at 11:44 PM
Weird. I mentioned very early in this thread that The Shuttered Room scared me as a child and it is on right now on TCM.
carbon_footprint on October 31, 2008 at 11:48 PM
In a good way.
Over30 on October 31, 2008 at 11:51 PM
I scare easy. Silence Of The Lambs even scared me. Today at Bank Of America all the tellers were Vampires! That really scared me!
sheebe on October 31, 2008 at 11:51 PM
It sure seemed scary at the time. :-)
csdeven on October 31, 2008 at 11:51 PM
Just watched “The Strangers” tonight with my friends and a few Fosters
Too bad I feel like the only college kid not out tonight!!!! :(
Anyway, “The Strangers” was so-so. Good idea; the whole concept of home invasion and such. What was freaky is that the murderers made nothing clear as to why they were slaughtering the couple. Unfortunately, not much context was provided, and you knew nothing about the killers. The movie kind of ended abruptly, which was slightly disappointing.
Creepy factor was high though. Great use of the camera and angles and stuff to creep everyone out. Not extremely gory or anything. More use of what is unseen. I’d suggest it, only as a rental. I’m glad I didn’t spend the money for the movie when it was in theatre, but it was worth a rental for a night.
Happy Halloween
blatantblue on October 31, 2008 at 11:52 PM
LegendHasIt on October 31, 2008 at 11:14 PM
When Exorcist came out. I was ready to give birth to my son. We went to see it. When the people noticed how big I was. Some told me that I must not care about my baby! LOL seriously. Then some women told my 1st hubby that I could go in to labor. Well, now that movie didn’t scare me. I laughed like mad. When she turned her head around, I was hysterical. Went home. Had my son two days after.
sheebe on October 31, 2008 at 11:54 PM
And hardcore fans can even fly a Firefly if they want.
jmarcure on October 31, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Four pages and no one’s mentioned Event Horizon. Only time I’ve ever been a little sketched driving home.
token on October 31, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Thanks!
I can’t imagine there is much history to that barracks. It was only about five years old, and I don’t think that even Vietnam would have had much of a toll as far as WAC Commo specialists are concerned, that would want to come back and haunt it. If there were any, they would probably want to haunt their recruiters. Gordon was a pretty fun, (compared to most of the alternatives), laid back place to be in the early to mid-70s if you were wearing Kakhi or OD.
LegendHasIt on October 31, 2008 at 11:57 PM
My outfit ws the best: Obama mask with bomb strapped to me like a suicide bomber
bill30097 on November 1, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Saw it, so scary
blatantblue on November 1, 2008 at 12:05 AM
What? Nobody’s mentioned that made-for-TV thing from the early 70’s where the girl discovers the teenage boy living in the spaces between the walls of her family’s house?
What about The Frogs?
(Seriously now… anybody remember the one with the guy living between the walls?)
greggriffith on November 1, 2008 at 12:05 AM
What was there before the barracks was built?
Oldnuke on November 1, 2008 at 12:06 AM
WORST HORROR MOVIE EVER?
TROLL
blatantblue on November 1, 2008 at 12:08 AM
Too lazy to read upstream and see if anybody’s mentioned it, but the original Dutch version of The Vanishing was pretty twisted.
greggriffith on November 1, 2008 at 12:09 AM
Hmm, good point. I’d guess a wooden WWII era barracks. That makes the spooky explanation a little more possible.
LegendHasIt on November 1, 2008 at 12:32 AM
…the first “Alien”…in its time…may be tame now, but I saw it when it was first out, and walked out 2/3 of the way through, scared out of my gourd…saw it all the way through some months later…with a guy who’d been a combat engineer in Vietnam…who spent the second half of the movie curled up around my left arm, asking “what’s gonna happen now?” as I’d seen it before, he said…he cowered in a manly way, you understand…we didn’t bond….
…”Jaws”, again in it’s day…a ground-breaker…and I saw it in a theater the first three rows of which were filled with Girl Scouts (literally)…every time something sudden or scary happened, they let out a shreik in unison that amplified the fright about a gazillion-fold…I would’ve crapped my pants, but I was too scared…I crapped later…on the way home….
…”The Exorcist”…yeah, once again, scary then, maybe tacky now…I drove home from the theater with the dome light of my car on…my wife, who didn’t want to see it, right after I got in bed and after I’d turned out the side table light, jumped and said “Boo”…I had her by the throat and hand my arm cocked for a punch before I knew what I was doing…the only time I ever threatened her, and the only time she ever tried to scare me…I don’t know who was more scared then….
…and some goofy Brit scare movie, the openning scene of which was a pair of binoculars falling to the floor with bloody spikes sticking out of the eyepieces…accompanied by a woman’s shrill scream effect…I was maybe seven…saw it recently, over 45 years later…still scary….
Puritan1648 on November 1, 2008 at 12:42 AM
The Green Mile. Longish film, not scary at all… until the last 5 minutes, where Tom Hanks shows us the mouse – just imagine yourself in his shoes after that. Easily the creepiest moment of film I can remember.
Blacksmith on November 1, 2008 at 1:09 AM
When I was roughly 11 my older sister went on a pilgrimage to Fatima Portugal.
Things started out OK however there was a member of her tour group that was acting a little odd.
A few days into the tour the “odd acting person” tried to strangle a Nun…
After that my sister heard the sounds of a real exorcism taking place
While I have no scientific evidence as far as I am sure that stuff like this is real based on my sisters experience.
F15Mech on November 1, 2008 at 1:12 AM
Scariest movie of all time? Glitter. I accidentally saw the Trailer for it and had nightmares for weeks…
apacalyps on November 1, 2008 at 1:14 AM
OK, not the scariest BUT….”Them!”
I still remember walking through a dirt/construction area, WAITING for those giant ants to come out and get me as I walked so innocently.
The little girl at the beginning of the movie..doesn’t say a word at all.
HarryStar on November 1, 2008 at 1:21 AM
four pages and only 2 mentions of george c scotts the changeling. great flick. no blood guts zombies etc but still intense. When the ball comes down the stairs or when you find out what the banging is. Every halloween the old paramount movie theater in my college town plays it and when the wheelchair turns around in the attic someone pushes a wheel chair out onto the stage. Its kind of funny
and only one mention of Audition. Alot of people dont know about that but it is freaky check it out….
and last but not least Im so surprised nobody has mentioned this
CaptainObvious on November 1, 2008 at 1:49 AM
Here’s a couple of my favorites.
1) The first Night Stalker movie starring Darren McGavin. Why do people always hunt the vampire right before the sun sets? If it were me, I would get an early start – say, 7am. I would have the whole day to find the vampire’s grave and finish him off.
2) The Birds. Showed that movie to my kids. They were mocking me at first with statements like: “what’s up with this movie Dad. Ooooh BIRDS, I’m SOOOO scared!!!” By the end of the movie they were jumping at the sound of fluttering wings, and when the female lead investigates the attic and the end of the movie they were yelling, “don’t go up there you idiot! there’s a bird up there.”
Hitchcock was a friggin’ genius.
PackerBronco on November 1, 2008 at 1:54 AM
As a kid I woke up one night and walked in the den where my dad was watching Race with the the Devil. He let me lay on the couch to go back to sleep while I peeked out from under the blanket. Didn’t have a good nights sleep for weeks.
yakwill83 on November 1, 2008 at 2:04 AM
Channel 2! Bob Wilkins!!!
Best horror movie host of all time.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Them.
Psycho.
Night of the Living Dead.
The Haunting of Hill House.
The Birds.
The Thing.
Phantoms.
Sixth Sense.
Halloween.
Haunted. (Bonus for a naked Kate Winslet)
Curse of the Demon.
Nosferatu.
The Keep.
Dracula. (Original)
The Puppetmasters.
I’d like to say ‘Christine’ or ‘It’ to include some Stephen King, But both movies pretty much suck. Read the books, though. ‘It’ rocks.
trigon on November 1, 2008 at 3:11 AM
Hellraiser (1987). Clive Barker’s B+ classic introduced Pinhead and his demon crew summoned by opening a puzzle box. I saw only three of the sequels before losing interest, but the best was Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996). This entry was a well-told story of the feckless toy maker who created the box at the behest of an evil French aristocrat. The story traced the “bloodline” of the toy maker into the future and the descendants’ obsession with undoing the evil.
Event Horizon (1997). Horrendously fear-inspiring for nominal science-fiction. A scientist designed a space ship with an artificial black hole that was supposed to let the ship jump quickly to the next solar system. The gateway opened a door to hell, and the ship and crew disappeared. The scientist and the military rescue crew suffered the consequences after they reached the ship, which had reappeared minus crew, in our solar system.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971). Fun stuff from the seventies with Vincent Price as a mad genius driven over the edge by the death of his wife. Mutilated and enraged, he blamed the surgical team for failing to save her after a terrible accident. He proceeded to kill them with biblical plagues. Dry humor in this British production makes it hilarious. Sequel: Dr. Phibes Rises Again
TV Series: Millennium (Seasons 1 & 2). Still relevant today, this was Chris Carter’s attempt at a more mature show compared to the teen-age appeal of the X-Files. Lance Henriksen was excellent as Frank Black, an FBI profiler with paranormal insight into the unsettling events and crimes of our time. The use of beautiful music and sound added a lot to this show. Sadly, season 3 was a train-wreck. Behind-the-scenes bickering and post-modern errors in story-telling made the series a victim of the very things it described.
The Vault of Horror (1973).
Tales From the Crypt (1972).
Enjoyable horror anthologies based on the comic books. Some nice scares and wry humor.
Feedie on November 1, 2008 at 4:54 AM
Dawn of the Dead (1978) Zombie movies are the best!
House of 1,000 Corpses (I didn’t like it, but it was terrifying)
Halloween (the original from the 70’s)
Black Adam on November 1, 2008 at 6:45 AM
I prefered the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead to the 1968 original.
Black Adam on November 1, 2008 at 6:45 AM
None of the movies you all are listing are that scary. The other day I was at an adult movie establishment and rented Hill Billy Nights. I thought it was going to be a little on the redneck side, but it turned out to be the Clintons sex tape!
CFL on November 1, 2008 at 9:35 AM
I wish I had noticed this thread earlier…there’s too many for me to read right now.
For me, the scariest movie I ever saw was “The Shining.”
“The Exorcist” came out when I was young, and I saw some film clips of it, and tried to watch a few scenes when it was on HBO. To this day, I’m still too afraid to try to watch it.
Another film that I finally saw a few years ago was “Rosemary’s Baby.” I made the mistake of seeing that late one evening, and had lots of trouble going to sleep.
asc85 on November 1, 2008 at 10:49 AM
Hey, tried being eight and watch it late at night. I saw it recently and now it looks campy and funny. Ditto with Strangelove.
El Coqui on November 1, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Best horror movie in the last ten years, “Slither” It has Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks and it is just fun all the way thru.
I did like the first two Saw movies, but the franchise went downhill real fast.
The first one was pure brilliance and actually played out like more a thriller than an actual horror movie.
Pcoop on November 1, 2008 at 11:10 AM
There are many good choices on the list. But Se7en? Yet another in a long line of Hollywood “could have beens” that should have become an all time favorite ruined by casting choice. Memories of Morgan Freeman’s wonderful performance and the marvelous cinematography evaporate in the ending minutes of the movie as Brad Pitt’s unconvincing and annoying “What’s in the booooxxx?” abuses the sense. His over eager performance furthermore made the ending predictable (much to my then girlfriend’s irritation when 20 minutes into the movie I leaned over and whispered my accurate prediction of the ending) when a fellow actor of Freeman’s caliber in Pitt’s role could have played the role with more subtlety making the climax anything but the anti-climatic scene it became. Actually, my disappointment in that movie has led me, since seeing it the day after it’s release, to forever more call a certain actor Brad “What’s in the box” Pitt.
deepdiver on November 1, 2008 at 12:15 PM
I made the unfortunate mistake of buying the dvd.
Darth Executor on November 1, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Candyman. You’ll never look at a mirror the same way for as long as you live.
RushBaby on November 1, 2008 at 1:28 PM
Night of the hunter. With Robert Mitchum.Even better than
Cape Fear.Do not miss it!
seneca73 on November 1, 2008 at 4:54 PM
I know I’m a day late and a dollar short on this post but I can’t beleive no one mentioned the movies Burnt Offerings or The Changeling!
Of course the Exorcist tops my list but if you want a good scare the two movies mentioned above will scare you, so check them out!
Liberty or Death on November 1, 2008 at 4:56 PM
Vincent Price in “The Tingler.” Saw it as a kid and for years I couldn’t walk by a bed or couch. I knew that thing was under there and going to grab me. Also, the wedding video of my ex-wife and I. The horror, the horror.
rakofgor on November 1, 2008 at 5:08 PM
LegendHasIt on October 31, 2008 at 11:14 PM
If you come back to the thread, I just wanted to let you know I read your story in its entirety. It was a great read.
Thanks for sharing it. And thanks for serving.
Canadian Infidel
Canadian Infidel on November 1, 2008 at 6:18 PM
I’m embarrassed to say that the scariest movie I ever saw was watched when I was 35. Let me set the scene for you;
The Ring came out on DVD and I had wanted to see it but because my wife had recently given birth to our youngest, it wasn’t feasible. I had thought that it was going to be somewhat like Scream so I wasn’t expecting much other than teen-oriented histrionics. The night that I watched the movie, the baby had difficulty getting to sleep so I laid her down on a mat in the living room and patted and stroked her back to comfort her. I put the DVD on, turned the lights out and put on some headphones so that I wouldn’t disturb the family. Our DVD player had been having issues (a cheap Sanyo I think it was) and would sometimes sputter and give a static filled picture, so I didn’t notice the beginning of the movie when the film maker did it deliberately and the TV made the hissing noise. I was sitting on the floor at in the living room and the main part of the house, including the kitchen was open behind me. All during the movie, I kept hearing static, cracking/popping and hissing from behind me. Each time, I would rip the headphones off my head to confirm that it was the movie and not actually occurring in my house. Several times, I’d take the headphones off and the hissing was still there…
This environment was literally sending chills up my back the entire time and the hair on the back of my neck was up. By the time the couple had gotten the girl’s body out of the well, I was thoroughly suffering the “heebie-jeebies” and that hissing noise kept coming from behind me and the TV kept getting static (from the movie or the DVD player, I don’t know which). Then, the best non-ending really put me over the edge and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen something as creepy as that girl crawling out of the TV in the boyfriend’s apartment. Something about evil kids/children is the worst for me. I eventually had to turn on the lights and put my back to a wall I was so creeped out.
The next morning I found the source of the hissing and popping sounds. Someone had left the lid on a 2-liter Diet Coke bottle slightly loose and the pressure changes were the culprit.
When I was a kid;
Hell House with Roddy McDowell
The Shining
The Body Snatchers w/ Donald Sutherland
The Thing w/ Kurt Russell
or Steven King’s made for TV, It
Geministorm on November 1, 2008 at 6:24 PM
Without a doubt! An American Werewolf in London
sonnyspats1 on November 1, 2008 at 6:32 PM
Dr.Phibes ranks as one of VP’s contempory works.
sonnyspats1 on November 1, 2008 at 6:34 PM
Best Costume?
Mine.
I got a workman’s shirt that says Bates Motel on one side and the name side says Norman. I got a skeleton from the costume shop, put a granny wig on it and a dress that looks like Aunt Bea should have worn it, some black clod hopper shoes, put her in a high back wooden rocking chair with the back to the front doors (our front doors are mostly glass) with just one of the skeletal hands showing. Then, I downloaded a sound file from the movie of Anthony Perkins saying, “Norman!” and some other assorted noises with wind and creaking and the famous Psycho sound clip from the shower scene and played it over the house speakers. The wife & kids headed to grandma’s for trick-or-treating, so I was left alone at home to answer the door.
Sadly, not a single kid got it, and only one adult and they were in their 60s. Once they figured it out, they were going all goofy on me about where I got the shirt and the skeleton and stuff. At least I got a little appreciation…
Geministorm on November 1, 2008 at 6:38 PM
+1
My sister and I were truly frightened watching that movie. And, the music was just too damn creepy. The ending when Roddy McDowell is yelling about the ghost being this short dude pretending to be a giant was classic. I probably had nightmares from it…
I definitely had nightmares from Body Snatchers, the ending when Sutherland screeches like a stuck pig still makes me cringe.
Geministorm on November 1, 2008 at 6:43 PM
Thank you!
LegendHasIt on November 1, 2008 at 6:53 PM
Best Costume; A five year old cutie dressed as a pink cupcake…I could be biased though, as she and her parents go to my church…
Scariest movie; “The one’s” infomercial!!111!eleventy!!!
RocketmanBob on November 1, 2008 at 7:49 PM
Killer Klowns from Outer Space – watch it every Halloween. OK, not too scary, unless you think clowns are evil…
Vashta.Nerada on November 1, 2008 at 11:41 PM
“THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK”
I saw that when I was about 9 and I had nightmares for months. They didn’t stop until I finally stopped remembering my dreams. To this day, I don’t remember my dreams after I wake up.
TheCulturalist on November 2, 2008 at 1:56 PM
Ditto
TheCulturalist on November 2, 2008 at 1:57 PM
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2 3 4