Reversing the Numbness

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Oh, the Horror!

I was definitely not the horror buff that the Dalai Mama was when she was a kid; the freak was infatuated with The Shining when she was like 5 years old, which was about the same time I was petrified of my brother's KISS posters. (This will come as no surprise to those who were around for my KISS rant a while back.) But when I got a bit older I came around and fell in love with some great horror flicks. Here are the ones that I remember the most from the '80s.












Happy Halloween!

14 comments:

Susan Chipley said...

When I was probably about 9, I found a really old photograph of a couple of my great, great-aunts. I framed it and put it in my room because it reminded me of the twins in The Shining. It scared the hell out of me on a nightly basis, but I loved it nonetheless. 

Clash said...

DM: The Shining is a great flick and it still freaks me out which speaks well to its longevity.

SP: I have seen all those but can’t believe you left off Friday the 13th. Jason is the king of the unstoppable, immortal teen slayers with an impressive sequel record. I dug Freddy Kruger too and the horror world came full circle when he and Jason jumped any believable gap into the ultimate showdown in Freddy vs. Jason.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPd5XLtzEVA

josh williams said...

John Carpenters "The Thing" I was a big fan of...I was not a fan of the Freddy and Jason movies, they were to random. Silver Bullet is close to my heart, so to speak, it was filmed in and around Wilmington NC, The covered bridge scene was a bridge that was just up the road from my grandmother, on a dirt road, they added the covered bridge for the movie, I sit next to a B&W Infra Red Photo I took around 25 years ago that I processed when I had a darkroom. I remember my grandmother telling my mom via the ameche that there were all sorts of people in front of her house, woman with big blond hair filming the movie. My mom told me she recognized so much of the area (Pender County, NC Burgaw) a great movie and it was filmed where my grandfather grew up. My Grandfather was born July 4 1900 so there is some history with this movie.
I watched every trailer and all but one or two I have seen and have to agree with your review. Strong work as we say in Northern Indianapolis. JW

Unknown said...

Ho-ho! Thanks. This was funny; all the narration sounds the same! Back in the day the deep movie guy voice was creepy, now it's just camp. I loved the Elm Street movies - so ridiculously random. The ultimate movies for a tension-filled night for me would be Alien and The Silence of the Lambs, *shudder*. Not very Halloween-ey, though, but still so creepy!

Rob Zero said...

The Thing was the first horror movie I saw in a theatre. I was in 2nd grade.

My father... probably unwisely... took me to a sneak preview of the film because his fraternity brother was in it. I don't remember much, other than the fact that dad was screaming louder than anyone, and at one point he was shielding my eyes while screaming "WINDOWS GOT IT, WINDOWS GOT IT." The guy behind us was telling him to "shut the fuck up."

Since then, it's become one of my favorite 5 horror movies.

Susan Chipley said...

rob zero: That's freakin' hilarious.

Rob Zero said...

Incidentally, Dad's friend was the late Charles Hallohan. He was the one whose head came off and became a spider. I have an action figure of him.

HopSkipJump said...

After reading these comments, I suddenly realized how much of a pansy I was as a kid (which, I suppose, should come as no surprise considering my most prized possession was an Easy-Bake Oven).

The first movie I ever saw in the theater was E.T.. I started weeping uncontrollably when the alien made his entrance and had to be taken out.

Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video was released when I was 6 years old. I had nightmares for months.

I learned early on that anything scary meant me rocking myself to sleep in the fetal position. Just wasn't for me.

Melissavina said...

My first scary movie was Scream. No joke. I still have never seen a Halloween, a Freddy Kruger, a Friday the 13th or anything, but I TiVoed them this year so I could get caught up with the rest of the world. Now I'm even more inspired.

I saw The Shining once and was disturbed for months. However, I feel that I'm prepared for the horror because I grew up watching The Twilight Zone with my dad and that's some seriously twisted crap.

Can't wait!

SleekPelt said...

dm: And our kids are clearly taking after you on this.

clash: You know what's even crazier about me leaving Friday the 13th off the list? The DM and I were watching it as I posted! Geesh. I'm afraid I've never seen the Freddy vs. Jason blockbuster. Kinda cool when he comes out of the water in that trailer, though.

josh: You know, I don't think I've ever seen The Thing. Silver Bullet is probably my favorite movie from this list, though. Your connection to it is cool.

teoh: Both of those are great movies, for sure. Not so much horror movies, as you mentioned, but scary as hell anyway.

rob: Great story, I'd love it too.

IF: Did you get into scary stuff when you got older, or is still not your thing?

melissavina: Try The Exorcist. It's really scary without all the Hollywood scare tactics. Kinda like The Shining was. I don't think it's as good as Kubrick's movie, but it's good.

Melissavina said...

I will take your advice. I'm a horror movie baby, so I'll start small.

BirdMadGirl said...

Sorry I'm late... but Happy Halloween!!

I haven't seen "The Thing" either but my man has insisted that I watch that one soon. I've also always wanted to see "The Last House On The Left" because of a documentary I watched once. All of the BIG names in directors of horror movies were part of the documentary and they all agreed that the movie scared the piss out of them. To hear that coming from the Gods of horror - like Romero, Hooper, Craven and Carpenter... how can I not want to see that one?? They said the same thing about "The Audition" which I did get a chance to see. That is one of the most disturbing and freaky movies I've ever seen. I don't recommend that one to Melissavina... but damn! It was good.

*wish I could see the videos you posted... I need to come back later..

SleekPelt said...

valyna: You know, I don't think I've seen Last House on the Left. I'll have to ask the DM about that, as she acts as my memory most of the time.

Susan Chipley said...

We haven't seen "The Last House on the Left". I watched it with my horror-film buddy, Nikki Hendrickson, in grade school. I can't seem to remember it, though. I saw something about it on a documentary as well, Valyna. Recently. I really, really want to see it.