When I was at KMart the other day, I spent some time in the Halloween section. I paid special attention to decorations, because in my case my style of decorating is so unique, I tend to keep "Halloween" decorations up all year long. It fits my decor! Anyway, I also fished through a big bin of horror movies, and it got me thinking!
I remember several years ago in high school, my English class had just read the book "1984" and our teacher decided to show us the film afterwards. After setting up the TV and rewinding the video tape, he addressed the class quite seriously.
"Before I show the movie, I just want to warn you guys that some of the scenes are quite graphic," he told us. "Some may be kind of upsetting to sensitive people."
We all sat up in our seats a little straighter. Oooh! Gory? At school? Niiiiiice!
We were all kind of disappointed.
The "upsetting scene" our teacher had spoken of was, if memory serves, when the government is using the main character's fear of rats as a kind of torture technique. Which is pretty gruesome when you think about it! However, we all ended up laughing because the sad truth of the matter is that we are children of the "Saw Movies" generation. It takes a hell of a lot more than rats next to a mans face to shock and upset us!
And looking through the bin of horror flicks at KMart, it was easy to see why. Scary movies are very popular and very diverse. Some are supernatural and some are paranormal and some are realistic! Some are psychologically frightening and some are good ol' jump scare movies. You name it, they've made it!
I'm not a huuuuuuuge fan of horror movies myself. It is fair to call me "sensitive", perhaps even "wimpy" at times. But I have watched my fair share. What I'm sharing with you today is a list of "horror" movies I've watched that yielded unexpected emotions. I mean, you watch a scary movie and you get scared. But the following movies also made me experience feelings I was not anticipating!
*Warning!! SPOILERS AHEAD! Proceed with caution!*
"The Blair Witch Project"
Quick description: A group of filmmakers go into the woods searching for a legendary witch that supposedly lived (lives) in the area. They get horribly lost and are hunted by something that terrorizes them in the night. One of them gets picked off and the other two hear him screaming at night. Then the other two also die (thought not on camera.) In the beginning, it claims it's "Found Footage", meaning that someone just found all the film and they don't know what happened to the people who filmed it. Not very convincing, because in the credits they were obligated to include the "Entirely fictional, not based on any real people, living or dead" spiel. Anyway, I first watched it several years ago with my sister and her friend at night. It was sufficiently creepy! Then my sister's poor friend had to walk out to his car in the pitch black night, surrounded by woods. He made it, but admitted later he was pretty much scared shitless.
Unexpected emotion: ANNOYED. So! Semi-recently, I DVR'd the movie and rewatched it. There are very chilling parts, like when the witch leaves the poor guys teeth and blood as a present for the other two, but I was unable to feel very scared because there is so. Much. Pointless. ARGUING! Mostly about being lost, and who lost the map, and who should hold the compass, and who's fault everything is, and if they've seen that log before, and who's lying about being out of cigarettes, and why is she still filming? Etc., etc. After a while, it's like SHUT UP!
"The Sixth Sense"
Quick description: A renowned child psychologist helps a troubled little boy who is haunted by visions of ghosts. Absolutely infamous for the line, "I see dead people!", also for a huge twist at the end. Pretty creepy, but also just an awesome movie.
Unexpected emotion: TOUCHED. It's actually a pretty old movie, but I saw it for the first time fairly recently. Some of the scenes are downright freaky, but it's an excellent story. I was certainly not expecting to go, "Awww!" Because while learning about the little boy's problems, you get to know his mother, who loves him to pieces and is worried sick about him. Also, it's sweet at the end because the little boy isn't "cured" of his problems, but learns how to use them to become stronger, and to help other people.
This is the scene where the little boy finally tells his mom about what's been going on. It really gets me!
"Scream"
Quick description: A sleepy little town goes crazy when a string of murders happen by "Ghostface," an unknown person wearing a costume. A good ol' "Who dunnit?" because victim after victim is killed, and it's hard trying to figure out if there's a pattern.
Unexpected emotion: MYSTIFIED. Yeah, it's the definition of "slasher" movie, but I could NOT figure out the murderer(s) for the life of me! I was guessing and going back and forth til the end! Same with Scream 2 and Scream 3! Ghostface's identity just eludes me every time.
"Mirrors"
Quick description: I actually don't remember much about this movie, because I just saw it the one time, but basically a policeman battles evil forces that can slip in and out of the reflection in mirrors. I saw it with my friend and my dad because we wanted to go do something on a weekend. Bad decision on my part!
Unexpected emotion: ABSOLUTELY TERRORIZED. Yeah, I know, scary movies are scary. But something about this movie freaked the hell out of me. After we watched the movie, we went back home and my friend spent the night, but about 3:00 in the morning, I was so freaked out I had to go wake up my dad and talk to him. I couldn't sleep for a few days! Pretty embarrassing, really.
"The Exorcism of Emily Rose"
Quick description: Allegedly based on true events, a priest is pressed with criminal charges after a girl he was (religiously) helping dies. It follows the events that happened leading up to the trial, and also the trial itself. It's interesting hearing lawyers argue about speculative and theoretical ideas and beliefs, instead of laws and facts.
Unexpected emotion: CAPTIVATED. The majority of the movie is actually courtroom happenings, and a few people I know found this incredibly boring. I really enjoyed it! Which is also kind of odd when considering my religious beliefs (or lack thereof). It's just an interesting story!
*Bonus! Bonus! Bonus!*
"The Shining" (book)
Quick description: It is quite similar to the famous movie- snowbound family lives in a haunted hotel and the writer/father goes crazy and tries to murder them. But there are some subtle yet large differences that are kind of hard to point out. For example, in the book, the hotel is more like a character than just a place, with an independent mind, and instead of Jack Torrance just going crazy, in the book the hotel possesses him.
Unexpected emotion: SAD. There is one particular scene in the book that always makes me go "Aww." Jack Torrance is fighting a losing battle against the possession of the hotel, and he knows it. He also knows that when he is possessed, he will hurt his family, so with the last bit of strength he has, he tells his son, Danny, "I love you so much. You need to run away now! I'm not your daddy anymore," and then he hits his own face so he doesn't look like himself any more.
And then there are a million others that did just what they're supposed to... scare me!
What's life without a few scares?
;)
Sarah
No comments:
Post a Comment