Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Filmophobophobia

What is the best/worst/scariest scary movie you've ever seen?

Once upon a time, I used to really like scary movies. Not horror movies with lots of gore, but scary movies that made you jump. I got a real kick out of them. Then came that fateful day in 2002(?) where I dragged my sisters with me to go see The Ring. And it ruined me for LIFE. The Ring COMPLETELY traumatized me. I was so freaked out, it seriously took me months to get over it. I have a problem and maybe it could also be a good thing, but I kind of have what you'd call a child's imagination. It's really easy for me to scare myself and recall scary things at the worst possible moments.

For example, take What Lies Beneath. I thought this was a fun movie except I really don't like creepy scary faces. They just stay in my brain forever. Well, one summmer it was a hot night at Lake Powell. So hot that, to cool myself down to sleep, I'd dive in the lake real quick. I love the water and am typically not scared of the dark but it is interesting to me how, in mid dive off the back, flashes of the moldy drowned dead girl came into my head as I hit the water. Yeeeaaaghh!! And my imagination takes off. So i'm imagining my little legs in deep dark water with dead moldy face girl floating up and reaching for them. I frantically splashed and swam to the boat.. "get out of the water! get out of the water! Aaaaaah!" so, that was fun. As i recall, i had a similar experience when I dove into the nighttime water just after reading in the Lord of the Rings where they are in the dead marshes and see dead faces below the surface. Why, brain? Why?

Anyway, so The Ring ruined scary movies for me for all eternity. I still like suspenseful movies but I can't even let myself think about scenes from the movie and i probably couldn't anyway because i worked so hard to block them from my memory. I think I'm ok now, but I can't tell you how many times I could have sworn that the towel hanging up in the bathroom was a dark-haired girl wearing a white nightgown, slowly walking toward me.

I think the best scary movies (for me) are movies that are scary merely by suggestion. Like, remember The Others? You barely actually saw anything but it was just the mere implication of something scary that did it and it was awesome. The suspense. Also, I thought When a Stranger Calls was pretty great. These may seem totally lame and mild to you, and yes, I was 22 when i saw The Ring, but again, imagination of a child! Imagination of a child!


Ok, so do you love scary movies? hate them? what are your thoughts?

7 comments:

Joel said...

When I was a kid I used to have nightmares about aliens (from the movie Aliens, that is). The first movie in that series, Alien, is great because of the suspense. It's a long time into the movie before you really see anything. I agree that the suggestion of scary things is much better than outright horror.

Rachel said...

Jen, I couldn't have said it better myself. A big AMEN! I used to walk down the hallway with my back to the wall in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom in order to feel safe from the thoughts in my head, then I seem to recall seeing something where a man was a chameleon who would blend in with the wallpaper. One phrase: Plastic sheets.

Sorry to make a long response, but I feel strongly about this one. When I was pregnant with Josie, no more than a year ago. I saw a piece of a preview, a piece mind you, because I was closing my eyes for most of it. (Music is bad enough). Anyway, there was something under a girls bed. Well, as many pregnant people do, I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. This could have been a week later, but I lay in bed for a half an hour before I got up the courage to put my foot on the floor, run to the bathroom and then, after doing my business, launch my pregnant body back in bed from the door of our bedroom. Pathetic.

Brooke said...

I'm really not a fan of the scary flicks. I don't watch them anymore. There are enough real things to be scared by--I don't need to be dreaming them up!

)en said...

Aliens.. that is on my netflix queue. I should bump it up because now i'm kind of in the mood.

Rach-- you are in good company. Whenever i walk in the dark in my house i picture some creature lurking RIGHT behind me with its arms out ready to strangle me or something. ha ha. Hope this image isn't added to your nighttime wanderings.

But yeah, i couldn't even watch previews.. i hated that they showed them on tv.

I have to say though, that i kind of do like thriller scary movies. Or stupid ones from the old days. Scream was on tv the other day and i kind of think it's fun. I don't like gore but it's kind of just a silly good time. I had a hard time with that mask for a while though.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I used to LOVE scary movies. But the whole movie business has gotten too real! Give the original King Kong and I'll be fine!

It really comes to fruition when you are always up at night when you are pregnant or feeding a baby. I have had to just block any freaky thoughts from my brain. But every once in awhile I will jump in bed!

The Gardner Gang said...

I tell myself that I like scary movies. Not gross scary faces, like most of you, but the ones that make you sit with your legs up on the couch or theater seat the whole time. When I saw "What Lies Beneath" I was going to school at BYU and went with some of my friend that had seen it before. When we were walking out to the car, one of them said, "I almost got someone to fill up your bathtub with hot water for when you got home so your bathroom would have steam coming out of it." I punched him in the arm as hard as I could just for him thinking about doing it.
I have to say, it's a lot better watching a scary movie somewhere other than where you're going to sleep that night. That way you don't connect the scary movie with your home.
Some older movies I enjoy watching for a mild scare are "Wait Until Dark" (Audrey Hepburn - my mom's favorite) and "Lady in White".

)en said...

I love Wait Until Dark. In fact, i've been meaning to add that to the queue. Another oldie scary is Midnight Lace, if you can get over Doris Day. She's a bit much for me, but it's still fun. "Hello, Mrs. Preston..."