Blog From A Broad

throwing fun-sized chocolate bars







WoooooOOOOOooooooooooo! It's Halloween, which can only mean one thing - I'm gonna be stuffing myself with little tiny chocolate bars all weekend long (I may have inadvertently bought a few too many for any potential trick or treaters this evening). *cough*



I've thoroughly enjoyed all the comments from my previous post, and will eventually come up with a list of films I've enjoyed. In keeping with the Halloween theme...



Nine Horror Films* That Didn't Make Me Shout at the Main Characters and Actually Had a Good Storyline:

• Carrie - I first saw this film on television when a babysitter let me stay up late. I was so frightened by it that when I went to the bathroom afterwards, I was convinced that a bloody hand was going to reach up and grab me (for those of you who haven't seen this film, this relates to the final scene). You can spot a Brian dePalma film a mile away (he's a big fan of using split screens), but he has a knack for creating some of the spookiest images on screen. Look for the scene when Carrie's in the bath after she returns from the prom, and note her mother standing behind the door as she closes it. It's a very quick shot, but incredibly unsettling. Dressed to Kill is another great dePalma creation.
  
  
• The Exorcist - Okay, I admit that there are scenes in this film that make me giggle when I watch them now (particularly the scene where Linda Blair is prancing up and down on her bed chanting "Lick me! Lick me!", but maybe that's just my juvenile sense of humour), but I think this is one of the scariest films ever made. You'll see a theme with my list of scary films; most of them involve religion. I find films about demons or with religious images to be extremely disturbing, which is odd considering that I didn't come from a religious background. It's the "quieter" scenes that I find most frightening - particularly the scene where the priest is listening to Regan speaking in tongues on his tape recorder.
  
  
• The Shining - The parody of this film was on last night's rerun of the Simpsons, which is a must see if you enjoyed the original. It's not Jack going insane nor Shelly Duval's chain smoking terror that frightens me, it's Kubrik's talent for putting together vividly unsettling images. Those twin girls will give you the willies for days after seeing The Shining.
  
  
• Poltergeist - Again, there are scenes in this film that make me laugh out loud now, but when I was 11 and saw this film for the first time, I almost cacked myself when that clown doll came to life. I HATE films where inanimate objects come to life and start wreaking havoc. I like this film because it's got a creative plot (talk about your child getting lost in television - literally), some clever lines, and for its time, decent effects.
  
  
• Nightmare on Elm Street - The sequels were beyond inane, but the original was rather clever. It's a good story with a delightfully malevolent villain. Plus, it's got a very young Jonny Depp for comedic value.
  
  
• Jaws - Not really a horror film per se, but this film scared the life out of me when I was a kid. My Dad thought it would be really funny to joke that Jaws Jr. lived in our swimming pool, however that summer no one would come over to swim and I was terrified of the deep end for months afterwards. It's tense. It's bloody. It started a trend of really bad sequels (anyone go see the 3D sequel? I did.), but this still has the ability to keep you on the edge of your sofa.
  
  
• Amityville Horror - I mentioned that I am frightened by films with scary religious themes, inanimate objects coming to life, and this genre: hauntings. Especially films about hauntings that are supposedly based on a true story. I will never forget the glowing red eyes. Brrrrrrrrr.
  
  
• Sixth Sense - An excellent plot twist, a film in which Bruce Willis is actually bearable, and a fantastic script. I couldn't sleep after seeing this film; the thought of dead people popping up around the house kept me awake for hours. What a shame that Unbreakable and Signs paled in comparison.
  
  
• The Omen - Again with the scary demonic horror films. An absolute classic (and originator of many 666/Damien jokes) starring one creepy kid and one of the scariest soundtracks ever.
  
  

*keeping in mind that I haven't seen many horror films in the last 5 years or so.