Sunday Bloody Sunday

Rest Stop 2: Don't Look Back



Frat House Massacre



Aftermath



BTK



Shallow Ground



Shutter Island

Bringing On The Fear: Part 1 -- Hoodies Are NOT Recommended..

When I named this blog back, oh... 3 and a half years ago, it took me awhile to come up with something as catchy as Fascination with Fear. (Just kidding... it took about five minutes, because I really didn't imagine anyone reading it anyway - thank goodness it doesn't sound too awful.) But lately, in this floundering world of crappy horror remakes and 3D extravaganzas I've been searching for something that actually does scare me.

So instead of picking films in particular that give me chills, I decided to broaden the spectrum a bit and kind of categorize my fear. Hence, the first installment of an ongoing feature that looks into what actually alarms, panics, chills, and downright terrifies me. Though it won't always be elements of horror movies, this go-around certainly is.

First up: A covered head.

Someone wandering around with their head covered in something freaks me out. Not necessarily a mask, as we might come to that later. But for example, Jason is by and far much scarier to me in Part 2 than he is in any of the other sequels in which he wears his signature hockey mask.

So here goes:



This guy from The Strangers just gives me a major case of the willies. Maybe it's the damn tie and jacket even more than the burlap mask, but this dude has it all going on.



Seriously one of the scariest things to come out of Norway is this freak from Cold Prey.
Nice 'stache!



I'm not a fan of kids. Not just in movies, mind you. But in this movie in particular (The Orphanage), I am freaked out to the 'nth degree by him just standing there!



Told ya. (Jason, Friday the 13th Part 2)




Weird little bastard from Trick 'r Treat wigs me out big time. More with the sack-head than his gruesome pumpkinhead. Much more so.



Ahhhhhh! Dark Night of the Scarecrow! This has the added fear luxury of standing alone out in the cornfield, scaring the bejesus out of me. More to come on that particular fright.



And yes, I know this is technically a mask, but damn! Probably has more to do with the grunting and the freaky backwoods inbred facial issues than anything else, but that facial covering.... Freaks. Me. Out. (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)



And that brings us to Hostel. This poor fellow with the sack over his noggin is heading (pun intended) for a bad deal. See, it's not always the bad guy that can get under my skin.

Yes there are probably some I've forgotten no doubt but this is enough creepiness for one evening.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Night of the Demons 2010



The Human Centipede



The Uninvited



Dead Mary



A History of Violence



The Gates of Hell (a.k.a. City of the Living Dead)

So...I love The Walking Dead...but zombies? Not so much.

First of all, I have to say that I am a huge fan of AMC's The Walking Dead. I think it's the best thing since sliced bread, I really do. I anxiously await Sunday evenings like I did this past summer when True Blood was on...

And I am certainly a big fan of a whole heaping handful of zombie movies. But....

True confession: I don't like zombies. At all. They are not my monster of choice. And I'm really trying to understand what compels people to love these foul creatures so much more than anything else. I also realize I'm in the minority here, but I feel like I have to speak my mind, so bear with me.

Zombies are gross.
They stink, they're ugly, they're basically brainless, they leak all kinds of bodily fluids, and they have poor fashion sense. So I don't get the weird obsession a lot of horror fans have with dressing up like disheveled, rotten zombies and hanging out at the mall, at any other time than Halloween, of course. You can get a pass in October in general I guess.

Maybe I'm just being a bitch about it, but sometimes I just want to say please stop making your face up into frightening visages and lumbering around mumbling "brains", okay?
You will never see me at a zombie walk. There, I've said it. Just isn't gonna happen, so don't ask. And I live near Pittsburgh, where zombies are sacred. I guess.

Everybody has their thing, I get that. But dead people who want to eat human flesh? Really? What is this obsession with eating flesh, body parts, brains, etc...? Are you people cannibals? Do you want to be?

Or is it just cool to imagine your guts being ripped out and eaten like spaghetti? Again I say: Really?

If you want to like zombies it's certainly your right, but it's my right to say I'm just tired of all the hoopla. I've read several articles and blog posts about people being sick of vampires and vampire movies, so I wanted to get in my two cents about my least favorite "monster".

When I'm watching a zombie flick, I do not feel akin to the zombie. I want the humans who are trying to obliterate them to succeed, and violently. I want the zombies' heads to be blown off so they shut their mouths and stop that damn moaning.
My favorite zombie moment is in the remake of Dawn of the Dead when Ana kills Steve. That was a woot woot moment if I've ever seen one. I want all the zombies to die. Again.

However, when I watch a movie about vampires or werewolves, heck - even serial killers for that matter, I can feel for them. They still seem human somehow. Probably because they still have thought process and I can relate to them.

But zombies? They're just chasing after you. They want to EAT you for heaven's sake!
In my mind, nothing could be more frightening than being eaten alive. I fear shark attacks, grizzly attacks, heck - I fear an attack from the pit bull down the street - so why would I not be scared shitless if I had some loathsome, brain-dead chap trying to bite off my damn arm?
Even if a vampire does his worst, biting your neck and sucking out all your blood - or even ripping your throat out - at least it's relatively quick. I don't want to witness my own death by watching someone rip out my liver.

You know what else? There are too many damn zombie movies. Just searching under the word 'zombie' on Netflix yields a vast array of choices: Zombieland, Zombie Strippers, Zombie Town, American Zombie, Zombie Holocaust, Zombie Lake, Tokyo Zombie, Zombie Campout, Zombie Honeymoon, Zombie Nation, I Zombie...and that's just under 'zombie' - don't even get me started on 'living dead'.
And yes, there are a ridiculous amount of vampire films as well, I'm not saying there aren't. Bad ones at that! Though I'm an avid vampire fan, I have no desire to see most of those crappy films about my fanged favorites, so I sure wouldn't check out the appalling conglomeration of zombie films either. The market is flooded with these damn things. Somebody needs to do something different, damn it! Stop making crappy zombie movies, I implore you.

So I guess I'm asking what everyone likes about zombies? Is it just a cool way to kill people in the movies, or is there something else there? Why the love for the unsightly undead? Do you actually love them? Want to have a relationship with them? I don't get it.

And why do you want to dress up like zombies (other than on Oct. 31st)? Because it is more socially acceptable to appear in public as a repulsive zombie than a hairy werewolf or fang-flashing vampire? And if that is the truth, I have to say, why??? Why on earth would that be any more acceptable?
And do you know how ridiculous you look? Yeah, I know - it's all in fun.
No difference to me, I still don't get it.

So... the reason I love The Walking Dead is because the story is just so compelling and people-oriented. You grow to care about the characters, not the zombies.
The depth of emotion portrayed in this television series is just staggering. It's no wonder the show was the biggest premiere in AMC's history, it was just phenomenal.
The special effects, especially the makeup, are stellar, and the acting is realistic and utterly first-rate.

But still... I'm not a fan of zombies. I love the show, but I want all the zombies to die. Most especially after they killed that horse in the premiere episode, I'm still reeling from that travesty!
Likewise, in Night of the Living Dead for example, I don't find myself hoping the zombie in the cemetery kills Barbra (though after her extended fit of hysteria, the thought does cross my mind), I'm hoping she gets away. Aren't we supposed to want that?

I won't say I HATE zombies, as that's a bit harsh. Because I enjoy (some) movies about zombies - and certainly The Walking Dead - but zombies are still disgusting, vile creatures that I dislike pretty much to my core.

There, now I feel better.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Scanners



A Nightmare on Elm Street



Rabid



Escape From New York



Insanitarium



Raw Meat

The Rest of My Best: Completing a Top 50 List of Favorites

The month long list of posts I did for October highlighting my favorite 31 horror films was quite a task - not the actual posts (though that was more time-consuming than I had originally figured) - but making the actual list of favorites. How exceedingly difficult!

Even after I had chosen the movies I kept going over and over it in my head. What did I miss? What should I have picked instead of something I ultimately decided on?

So what I've done is pick nineteen more to basically make a list of my top fifty favorite horror films.
It's not a definitive list or anything, and is subject to change upon mood or my omission of a film I realize later is something that should be on the list. As before, there is no specific order or ranking (though Psycho, Jaws, and Halloween are my top three, definitively).

And because it is a list of MY favorites, there are probably some glaring omissions as far as others may be concerned - like perhaps A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist, or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So I do feel compelled to mention that if I were doing a list of 100, those films would perhaps make the cut. But I don't watch The Exorcist just for fun like I do so many of those on my list, I can't take all the damn screaming of Tx. Chainsaw, and you can all sue me for not being a very big Freddy fan.

These are my "comfort food" movies. Everyone has them. And I'm not one to conform, so you won't see me picking movies just because everyone else likes them. As you can tell.

Over the next several months I will attempt to review all of these movies, simply because I am a completist and feel the need to do so. But for now, just the list...



Alien
Barely escaping my top 31, this movie is truly frightening.



Carnival of Souls
I've been watching this one for years - such a great sense of dread throughout.



Let the Right One In / Let Me In
I was surprisingly happy with the remake and consider the original one of the vest vampire films ever.



The Commune
A new favorite of mine that evokes The Wicker Man and makes me cringe, which is good.



Pumpkinhead
Seriously one of my ultimate favorite B-horror films.



The Thing
I'm still reeling from that scene with the sled dogs.




The Fog
Ahh, John Carpenter really does rule.



Moon
Another new fave of mine with an outstanding performance by Sam Rockwell.
Already reviewed HERE.



Gorjira
My Saturday afternoon staple as a kid. Much love.



April Fool's Day
Haters who dislike the ending are just...haters. Get over it.



The Serpent & The Rainbow
I love voodoo. Enough said.



Black Sunday
Two words: Barbara Steele



Misery
A tour de force performance by Kathy Bates. Terrifying.



Saw
No matter how much people may hate on the sequels, there's no denying the original was just that, original.



Phenomena
Yep, yet another Argento. I can't help myself.



The Devil's Backbone
Simply one of the scariest ghost stories I have ever seen.



The Resurrected
Dan O'Bannon, baby - Dan O'Bannon. From a Lovecraft tale. Whoa.



The Ninth Gate
There was NO way I'd leave Johnny Depp off this list, it was just a question of what to pick.
For the record, From Hell-Sleepy Hollow-Sweeney Todd- all tying for second.



Stir of Echoes
Millions dished out money for The Sixth Sense around the same time, but I prefer this tale - and not just because I'm a Kevin Bacon fan.

Reviews to follow....