By Alicia Cruz
Editor-in-Chief
Theblackurbantimes
I'm a die-hard scary movie buff. Every Halloween I rent a bunch of my favorite scary flicks and hunker down after I hand out goodies to the neighborhood kiddies. Below, I compiled a list of the Top Seven of my scariest flicks. Agree with some or disagree, some of these were some scary, weird flicks:
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
No scary movie list would be complete without "Elm Street" now would it? I saw this in the theatre with my first boyfriend (later became my husband). This flick had me scared to fall asleep for a few nights after I saw it. Freddie Krueger slices and dices teens from left to right. He has everyone thinking poor Nancy is a sleep-deprived nut that's seeing things. All the blood, guts and screeching of those dang hand knives kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the movie.
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Not only was this a seat-edger, but I had to watch it twice to really get it. Tim Robbins is Jacob Singer a Vietnam vet turned postal worker who's haunted by his days in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Weird run-ins and dreams have Jacob thinking that he's losing his mind after smoking some bad dope in the bush, but after running into a "buddy" Jacob soon realizes that the Army used him and members of his old platoon in a drug experiment called "The Ladder." But as you'll see when you rent this flick, nothing is what it seems. Jacob isn't actually alive...or is he? And all of his adventures are actually a between life-and-death dream...or are they? You'll have to find out for yourself.
The Thing (1982)
A not-so-scary fact about this flick is that it was shot on locations on a glacier in Juneau, Alaska and a location in Stewart, British Columbia. Amazing footage!
OK, It all takes place in the Antarctica in the winter miles away from the "world." Gunfire and an explosion set the movie in motion...oh, and a dog. The Norwegians (more scientists) appear and accidentally blow up their own helicopter and are shot dead.
Macready played by Kurt Russell and Dr. Cooper played by Richard A. Dysart, decided to head out and check on the camp. They find the Norwegian camp devastated by fire and everyone dead.
Something encased in ice for 100,000 years begins infecting the camp of the living and it all seems to be connected to this dog.
Somehow this "Thing" gets into the living and replicates itself and takes over the body. Between the eerie music and bodies coming apart at the seams, this movie will have you jumping every minute as Macready tests each member of his expedition to see who is human and who is the "Thing."
Don't Be Afraid of The Dark (1973)
Obviously, I didn’t see this one when it hit the theatres since I was only four when it came out, but I got to see it one night years later when I spent the weekend at my Aunt Valerie’s house. Talk about scared? I slept with a nightlight on after watching this, vowed never to have a house with a basement and developed this quiet fear of "little people." This movie scared the cowboy daylights out of my stay-up-late behind. I thought little ugly monsters no bigger than midgets who resembled dried up white raisins clad in black were hiding under my bed, in the incinerator, hamper and closets after I saw this.
A young, newly married housewife, Sally and her husband move into a house belonging to Sally's family. It's an ancient two-story Victorian style mansion that turns out to be haunted.
During her interior decoration jaunt, Sally comes across a locked room. Her family handyman insists that Sally leave the room locked, but Sally finds the key and unlocks the door anyway. The room turns out to be her deceased Father's old study. Sally notices that the fireplace has been bricked and decides to have them removed.
This sets in motion a bunch of strange happenings. Suddenly, voices start whispering, "Free, free...she set us free. Sally set us free."
Sally begins thinking she’s losing her mind when she begins seeing "little people" everywhere. They're ghoulish and weird looking too. Nobody believes Sally.
She should have listened to the family handyman. He's known the monsters for years. After he quits and returns to the house to retrieve his tools, the busybody demons try to stab him with a screwdriver because they think he's blabbed their secret. Hold on, it gets even weirder.
The demons set a rope trap that was meant for Sally but end up killing her decorator instead. Mr. Harris, the handyman, finally reveals the whole sordid story to Alex: Sally's grandfather unbolted the fireplace, which had been locked up since the 1800s. This unleashed an evil presence in the house (the little demons) that carried away Sally's Grandpa somewhere down into this bottomless pit of evil inside the fireplace. Guess Sally should have left that dang thing closed after all. In the end...well, I don't want to spoil it for you. Rent it!
Psycho
"Hello, Mother?"
See what happens to some Mommas boys? The Psycho trilogy got scarier and scarier with each movie. Who didn't buy clear plastic curtains after watching the first movie? Till this day, I peek out from behind my shower curtain anytime I hear some odd noise. No scary character was ever as dorky, creepy or sneaky as old Norman Bates. His sick devotion to his mummified momma, the creepy music and death scenes kept me cringing and flinching every five minutes. Seeing these movies turned me against staying in those off-the-beaten-path Bates looking motels in small dusty towns, but hey, I'm definitely a Norman Bates fan.
Leviathan (1989)
A group of underwater sea-miners stumble upon a sunken Russian sub named "Leviathan" that may have been hit by a torpedo. Two members of the team find a flask of Russian Vodka. Turns out that the sunken sub contains a monster that's the product of a genetic experiment and that flask is "Pandora's Box."
After two of the crew members drink from the flask they fall ill and die. Their bodies begin to mutate into a gory blob of something that seems to want to eat it's way through the crew in order to stay "alive."
Doc (Richard Crenna) figures out that the crew of Leviathan was experimenting with mutagens. The mutagen was mixed with the vodka that both the Russian crew and American crew drunk. The ship (Leviathan) was sunk when the experiment went bad. The crew (or what’s left of them) finally makes a break for the surface with the mutant creature on their heels. As they reach the surface (with the only brother in the film still alive) the mutant creature attacks them, but Jones (the brother) distracts it and (finally) gets killed (hey, at least he made it to the end of the flick). Beck (Peter Weller) throws a demolition charge into the monsters mouth causing it to explode. By that time you could see all the bodies of the crew that the mutant monster consumed. Yuck! This flick was scary, unpredictable and very gory. But I loved it! You gotta see it for yourself.
And last but not least...Halloween...all of them.
Michael Myers was a die-hard nut that just never gave up. There was a lot of blood, but this series was just scary, period. Every Halloween, my Blockbuster basket is always filled with the Halloween trilogy.
Happy tricking and treating to all you ghosts and goblins!
No comments:
Post a Comment
We appreciates all comments and fosters free speech, however, keep in mind that we have young readers who peruse our site. Having said that, please refrain from using profane language, and know that flaming will not be tolerated. Spam will not be tolerated.