Having been brought up on horror movies and watched them for
most of my life, it’s pretty hard to scare me.
Jump in the air shocks don’t do it;
you have to conjure up a thick atmosphere of dread, desperation and
terror to get my pulse going, the hairs on the back of my neck raised or give
me goosebumps. These are the ten films
that did it – and still do it.
Scary? Scary how? Lunatic asylums are scary.
Abandoned lunatic asylums are very
scary.
The Film The producers of this little-known horror hit paydirt when
they managed to secure the Danvers Mental Hospital as a location for their film
- the building is as impressive as it is oppressive. Ostensibly a tale of a man breaking down,
Session 9 has a slow-burn feel to it that builds to a violent climax.
Session 9 and me I caught this movie late one night a few years ago. I had no idea it was even a horror movie
until about 20 minutes in when weird shit started to happen and the creepy
music began. I don’t remember sleeping
much afterwards.
9.Duel
Scary? Scary how? Big trucks are scary.
Big trucks that try to ram you off the road are very scary.
The Film Famously Steven Spielberg’s first movie (albeit one made for
TV), Duel stars Dennis Weaver as a travelling salesman who appears in the
windscreen of a rather nasty truck driver.
Somehow this simple concept keeps the viewer glued to the screen for its
entire running time.
Duel and me I watched Duel with my parents and sister back when I was in
my early teens. I don’t think my folks
quite anticipated how intense the film was going to be and it certainly
perturbed me at the time. Why was the
truck driver chasing Dennis Weaver? Why
did we not see his face? The fact you
never found out made the whole movie even more disturbing. IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!
8.Creepshow
Scary? Scary how? Bugs. Monsters. Leslie Nielsen.
The Film I used to love these style of movies which contained several
shorter stories (Portmanteau I believe they’re called) and Creepshow was the
one that got me started. Containing five
stories, each one had a creepy element in which to hook the viewer, whether it
be a mysterious crate, a meterorite or an invasion of bugs most definitely not
for the squeamish.
Creepshow and me The crate used to be my favourite. I loved the way Hal Holbrook saw the monster
as a means of disposing of his loud-mouthed missus. Now I stray towards “Something to Tide you
Over” where Leslie Nielsen disposes of his wife and her lover by burying them
in the sand. I wonder if King was going through a divorce when he wrote these stories?
7.The Creeping Flesh
Scary? Scary how? Hammy acting. Lots of hammy acting.
The Film I was never into the Hammer Dracula movies, but this odd
monster movie from 1973 somehow squirmed under my skin and has been there ever
since. Set in the Victorian era,
scientist Peter Cushing returns from Papau New Guinea with a big bag of bones
and is slowly maddened by his bonkers theory that evil is a condition of the
blood that can be cured. Terrified
his daughter will inherit his wife’s madness (read: evil), Cushing proceeds to
try and immunise her by injecting her with the skeleton’s blood. Erm, ok…
The Creeping Flesh and me Taped off tv long ago, I watched this when I was too young
to watch the modern horror movies of the 80’s.
My parents obviously thought it was ok because it was made a decade
earlier…
6.Poltergeist
Scary? Scary how? Unseen and never seen.
The Film Despite the fact no-one ever actually dies in the film,
Poltergeist was a film that had me sleepless for many a night. An amazingly successful movie, its unseen
horrors and weird-shit goings on were quite something back in 1982.
Poltergeist and me I really don’t think I should have seen this one the age I
did. Despite a lack of gore, it’s still
quite harrowing in places as the malevolent ghosts strive to oust the occupiers
of their land. The bit where the guys
face falls off still gets me.
5.Death Ship
Scary? Scary how? Nazis are scary.
Undead Nazis are very scary.
The Film When I was in school, Death Ship was the film everyone
talked about (well, one of the films…).
So you had to see it. When a
liner crashes, the survivors escape to find a strange abandoned vessel which
was the cause of the collision. With the
captain (George Kennedy) ill, they take refuge on the black ship and it isn’t
long before all manner of odd stuff starts.
Death ship and me Death Ship is a haunted house movie, simple as. It’s got a bad rap over the years, but, I
dunno, maybe seeing it as a 14-year old has given me a nostalgic view. It’s low budget, for sure, but a deeply
unnerving experience, especially when you discover the fate of the crew. Fortunately after an extremely long wait, it
is now available on DVD.
4.Jaws
Scary? Scary how? A killer shark. What
more do you want?
The Film That bloody Spielberg again, more sleepless nights, thanks
mate. Like Duel, Jaws preyed on the
unknown, the unseen, and the helplessness of floating around in the sea. Surely I don’t need to tell you anymore about
this movie.
Jaws and me Most of the shark attacks stuck with me for a long
time; the boy on the lilo, the head
popping out, the dismembered limbs floating downwards. It didn’t put me off going into the water but
I didn’t go in that deep for a very long time.
3.Jacob’s Ladder
Scary? Scary how? Weird shit cranked up to 11.
The Film Movies where you never really quite know what’s going on can
be the most disturbing, and Jacob’s Ladder certainly falls into this
category. Tim Robbins plays Jacob
Singer, a man plagued by memories of his dead son and a traumatic tour of duty
in Vietnam where it seems he was experimented on by the government with drugs
designed to enhance combat effectiveness.
Jacob’s Ladder and me Unlike many of the other films on this list, I didn’t see
Jacob’s Ladder until I was well into my 20’s but that does not diminish its
effect on me one bit. The faceless
demons still get me.
2.The Shining
Scary? Scary how? A mental Jack Nicholson and a lonely, deserted, snow-bound
hotel. Eek.
The Film From the very start Jack Torrance looks and feels like a man
on the edge. Taking a janitor’s job in
the Overlook resort for winter, the thrill of The Shining is watching the man
slowly descent into full blown manic lunacy.
The Shining and me I’ve read the book and still love the movie. Key scenes will always stick in my mind: the
cosy chats with murderer Delbert Grady and barman Lloyd; the hundreds of pages
all with the same line typed out; and of course, those two little girls in red
dresses.
1.An American Werewolf in London
Scary? Scary how? Because it’s so funny
The Film Two American backpackers get lost on the moors of Yorkshire and
before you know it they’re attacked by a werewolf. Well, y’know, shit happens.
An American Werewolf in London is one of the funniest
horrors out there. And unlike many films
on this list, it’s actually quite gory as well.
An American Werewolf in London and me I remember reading a magazine back in the mid-eighties which
had stills from American Werewolf. From
that moment on I wanted to see it, and a couple of years later I duly did and
it has stayed with me ever since, my faithful, bloodied companion. The gleeful mix of horror (think the
transformation scene and the horrible nazi stormtroopers) and comedy (the zoo
scene or the slaughtered lamb) and you have pure cinematic gold. And it has a memorable scene in a London
Underground station.
And as we all know, Underground stations are fucking scary.
Happy Halloween!
