As Halloween fast approaches and I am constantly flipping channels to find some kind of worthwhile scary movie to watch the selection generally disappoints me and here's why.
I like to be scared! I like to be overwhelmed with a sense of terror that makes my eyes well up with tears. This actually happens sometimes and it isn't caused by gore, zombies, or any other kind of strange monster. It happens when I fear that this could actually happen, so like a legit serial killer flick or a good ghost movie. Of course movies lie 13 Ghosts, with their disturbing gross scenes cause me to cover my eyes and peek through them. The Grudge and The Ring also terrified me (The Japanese know how to rock a scary movie) but not in a truly sophisticated kind of way. And perhaps sophisticated is the wrong word, because oftentimes it's the cheapest movies that are the scariest. I am thinking, of course, of Paranormal Activity. Now, I watched the first one with people and it didn't prove too scary, but the second one absolutely terrified me. They were not offering cheap thrills, but properly placed bangs, clattering pots, dog barks, and the like. I will be watching the third one this weekend and I'm already terrified. They don't use special effects to create an awful demon creature. They don't use gore to get a scream. It's about what you can't see. The things they don't want you to comprehend. The worst part of a horror movie, in my opinion, is the end where they figure out why the boogeyman exists and try to find the bones, rectify a wrong, confront the entity, or whatever. LAME! They always make it over the top and ridiculous, so I appreciate a sense of unfinished business at the end of a scary movie.
I also totally dig the Halloween movies. Michael Myers is the perfect serial killer. He doesn't talk. You can't see his face or any kind of shape about his body. Of course there are other serial killers who have masks, like Jason, but you know it's a mask. The Michael Myers mask is almost a face. There is something human about the face, but it lacks definition and individuality. There are no expressions, even though it's a human-esque face. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but in my mind it does. It's the fact that he's almost human, but not quite. You expect emotion or something more, but you don't get it. You can almost forget it's a mask. Also, the way it stand out against a black backdrop is just eerie. Oh, and the the music in the movies is the best.
That is not to say that other types of movies don't offer something to the viewer. I feel like there are a few distinct kinds of scary/horror movies. I don't mean different in subject, but different in their approach to being scary.
Shock and Awe
This kind of horror movie goes for the visuals. There are grotesque creatures, death scenes, and shocking sequences. Depending on the type of zombie movie, I would put it in this category. I feel like this is the most basic kind of scary movie. It's the cheap thrills that count here. I would put 13 Ghosts here, along with Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Nightmare on Elm Street, and most scary movies that come out these days that create some awful creatures and visual aids and think that will cut it.
Uncomfortable and Creepy
This kind of movie makes you shiver and just feel icky. The new series American Horror Story fits in perfectly here. There's scary, ghosts, creepy child photographs, a creepy handicapped person (and I'm not saying this to be politically incorrect but this is something that horror movies go for, because people can feel uncomfortable), and there's often some kind of icky combination of horror and sex. Rosemary's Baby does this (and there's something very Rosemary's Baby about this show as well). Oh and let's not forget medical experiments and strange things in jars. This kind of movie is all over that. Also I would place The Ring and The Grudge in this group, because you are left feeling unsettled. The film that makes you die in The Ring is bizarre and that dreadful girl with the hair over her face, crawling out of the well and through the television and you are left to sit there and watch, and wait, and...eeeww.
Scary/Suspense
This kind of scary movie is my favorite and it's the hardest to come across. It is scary because of the building of suspense and the subtle things that happen that terrify you. In this film it's often about what you don't see. I would place Paranormal Activity here, as well as the Halloween movies, oh and Poltergeist. The scene where the mom comes into the kitchen and all of the chairs are stacked on the table is scary. It often leaves you wondering what you would do had that just happened to you. The original Night of the Living Dead could go here too, because the suspense just builds throughout the movie. Also, this is why I like Ghost Hunters so much...well, good episodes of Ghost Hunters. When they caught a full body apparition or whenever they have a really good and clear EVP I get totally wigged out. It's knowing that something is there, but not exactly where it is or what it is that makes these movies the best.
I have always been a fan of scary stuff. As a child I consumed Goosebumps books and those anthologies of scary stories you would find at the book fairs. I often watched the Tales from the Crypt cartoon. Anything with a ghost, a witch, a vampire, or a werewolf, I was all over! I also had lots of nightmares a child too and I still do. This is probably attributable in part in how much of this stuff I watch and read, but I also like to think of it as a sign of a creative mind. Some of the best monster writers (Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley) have suffered from nightmares. I wrote a paper about it once in high school. Well, as I continue my quest for the perfect scary movie I hope you've enjoyed this special Halloween blog update!
