During this month of October, I've seen more than my share of pumpkins, hay rides, and scarecrows. I put together the Adrenaline Junkies contest to keep everyone's heart pumping. But I haven't really delved into the heart of Halloween: spooky, scary, and screaming!
Now, I have to admit, I was raised a little too puritanical to get into the ghosts and goblins. My children will go to the church "Trunk or Treat" as Ariel and Pablo (from the Backyardigans). But there is one thing scary that I absolutely love: SCARY MOVIES!!! This time of the year, I'm reminded of all my faves when they start playing the 100 Scariest Movies on Bravo. Love that show! I could watch it over and over again (as long as the kids aren't up).
I know, I know. What is an Angel like me doing watching scary movies? I mean, really, I'm honestly scared of just about everything else! It is a true paradox. What amazes me is that none of the other Playfriends seem to like them. Where is their sense of adventure? The thrill ride of a roller coaster while still safe on the ground? Scaredy cats!!!
But love them I do. Scary Movies, that is. (Oh, and I love the Playfriends too.) My hubby knows that he can bring any horror movie home from the video store, no matter how cheesy, and I'll watch it. Pack the kids off to bed, turn off the lights, put on the headphones, and check frequently over my shoulder in case the boogey man shows up.
Here are some of my faves:
Favorite slasher film: As a whole, straight slasher flicks aren't my first choice of watching material. I only like a select few and they have to be really well done for me to watch them again. Of course, the original HALLOWEEN must get a nod. Scary stuff. But my favorite is SCREAM, Wes Craven's clever spoof on slasher films. Intelligent and funny, this one gets my vote.
Favorite zombie movie: RESIDENT EVIL!!! Evil corporations, underground cities, zombie attack dogs, and walking dead people.... What's not to love? Milla Jovovich kicks serious butt! She has to, or she couldn't go on to make two sequels. The second was even better than the first, especially since it featured one of my favorite hotties, Oded Fehr. *fans self* I suggest you wait to rent the third if you must see it. I was disappointed.
Favorite horror comedy: Want a little laugh with your horror? Try SHAUN OF THE DEAD. This movie cracked me up with its off-the-wall jokes, dumb zombies, romance, and great acting, all pulled off with cool English accents.
Favorite ghosts: ROSE RED, a made-for-tv movie about a house haunted by Ellen Rimbauer and her servant Sukeena. A team of paranormal investigators spend the weekend trapped in the house, where they are killed off one by one. I have this one on VHS, where I taped it off tv, and watch it over and over. One day I'll find it on DVD.
Favorite Stephen King: ROSE RED, since it won in two different categories, see description above. Another one of King's I love is IT. I first watched this extremely long movie as a teenager in my future husband's basement bedroom, no lights, with seven other teens. Every little noise had us screaming bloody murder!
But my favorite part of the Stephen King movies is to watch and see if King will make an appearance. He usually does, except in 1408, I believe. But I've only seen that once, so I may have missed it.
Favorite Old School: Anything Vincent Price, but the one I always have time for is PIT AND THE PENDULUM. We have a movie collection of his on DVD.
Favorite psychological thriller: IDENTITY with John Cusack. I love him!!! This movie features a group of people trapped at a run down motel, and they have to figure out how they are connected. This one had me guessing until the end.
Favorite television series: GHOST HUNTERS. Plumbers by day, ghost hunters by night. Very odd combination, but it works.
Show that scared me the most: Dark Castle's remake of HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. It took me a really long time to rewatch this movie about people invited to an abandoned insane asylum, where they must survive the night to win a million dollars. Geoffrey Rush revises Vincent Price's role (and looks a lot like him, too). There are lots of flashbacks to the time when the asylum was open and experiments conducted on its patients. Just too freaky for me.
Well, I hope I've inspired you to go rent a scary movie for Halloween night and pile up on the couch with the hubby and some popcorn to watch it. In the dark. Even if it is only Scooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster...
Tell us your favorite spooky movie or scary movie story! I'll give a prize to the most entertaining...
Angel
PS: Coming up on Wednesday, Eve Silver/Eve Kenin will visit the blog. Don't miss it!
PPS: A special squee goes out to Stacy S for the new job she landed last week! A big congratulations from all of us here at the Playground.
13 comments:
i do love all the scream movies and freddy adn jason. gl all
kim h
I'm going to see Saw 4 on Mon. afternoon. Had friends over last night and we watched our fovorite episodes of Supernatural, since I have seasons 1 and 2.
Nope. Nothing will inspire me to watch a scary movie. Nothing. I'm going to leave that up to you, Angel. As a kid I saw Hitchcock's The Birds and had nightmares for about six months afterwards and just sort of intuitively knew those were not the movies for me.
I used to love scary movies as a teen, but can't watch them at all now. THE RING gave me the willies for weeks.
Would you have guessed PC was the big ol' scaredy cat?
But roller coasters? I am so there!!
I don't really care for the traditional horror flick. I have no interest in crazies with chainsaws, killer puppets or the like. I'd rather be scared by a good ol fashioned psychological thriller - like Silence of the Lambs or What Lies Beneath.
I'll read a scary book, but not that interested in movies. I've read almost all of Stephen King's old stuff, Dean Koontz, etc. They scarred me badly enough without actually seeing them on the screen.
I just don't do scary movies anymore. I saw The Birds as a kid. It's a wonder I put out all the bird feeders that I do. I read the early Stephen King books and saw the movie "Carrie" and was still spooked at the end even though I knew what was going to happen. Probably the scariest I saw was "The Exorcist." The DH and I both slept with the lights on for a week.
One of my favorite suspense movies is "Wait Until Dark" with Audrey Hepburn. No matter how many times I watch it I jump.
Freddy, Jason, Saw? Uh... nope!
PM - trying to kill time and keep her mind off the hospital
I do not, under ANY circumstances, watch horror movies. When I was 10, I spent the night at a friend's house. Her mother let us watch The Exorcist. I think I had nightmares for a year. I did not sleep well at all for a very very long time. If my mommy would have let me in the bed with her, I'd have probably stayed there until I was fifteen!!! :)
And color me shocked that Angel watches them! Angel, of all people. Will wonders never cease?
Hugs, PM. Hope you feel better soon. :)
Yeah, I am so not a scary movie person. When you live out in the country with almost no streetlights and are a chicken anyway it's just better not to even go there. As it is DH is going out of town in a couple weekends and I'll probably end up at my parents with the girls. I hate to stay out there by myself. I need protection from the rabid bunnies and man-eating armadillos :-)
Instigator
I love scary movies!! Don't get to watch them that often though. My dh doesn't like them very much.
Thanks for the congrats!
Suspense, yes. Blood and gore, NO. I do like some of the movies and shows you listed. I watch GhostHunters often, and I loved Rose Red. Slasher flicks, no way. Saw? My idea of torture. Silence of the Lambs, great movie. So, scare me, but don't show me too much detail. :-)
LJ
I was scarred as a child with horror movies, so now I like "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" but have really enjoyed "Shaun of the Dead."
I remember when the Scream movies first came out. I decided to wait and rent them together and watch them in one sitting. I watched them alone and I was so freaked out afterward that I was running from room to room flipping on lights. I laugh now when I think of how silly I was then.
I'm there with you, Angel! I love scary movies as long as I can make some sense out of them. For instance, the SAW movies just don't make sense to me at all. Or HOSTEL?
I watched Psycho when I was 10 and didn't shower for 2 years afterward (let it be known that I did bathe :-) THE SHINING is one of my all time favorites. Key finger...redrum. VACANCY is a really good thriller with horrific elements. And I absolutely loved SHAUN OF THE DEAD. That movie was sooo good. The RESIDENT EVIL series is really, really good. SPECIES, ALIEN, THE BIRDS, THE FLY, THE BRIDE, FRANKENSTEIN, THE MUMMY series, VAN HELSING, ANY DRACULA MOVIES especially BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, UNDERWORLD and any Vincent Price movies (my parents actually met him before he died) and THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER was recently shown on T.V. Let's go back to the B movies, CREATURE OF THE BLACK LAGOON, THE FIFTY FOOT TALL WOMAN, and more. I still remember this crazy scary movie where these astronauts landed on this planet and their deepest fears came to life. This one lady feared worms and being raped. I'll let you guess what happened.
I remember going to the movie theatre and watching THE EXORCIST at about 14 or 15. Yikes! Oh yeah, 13 GHOSTS was pretty scary.
Anyway, as you can see I've seen quite a few and love October when they show all the horror movies on T.V. We should have a horror fest of our own!
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