It's Halloween! Yay yay yay!!

In honor of the holiday, I thought I would follow Libba Bray's example and blog about some of my all-time favorite scary movies. I'm in charge of candy tonight. I plan on pulling on some sweats, plopping down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, and having one serious horror fest. I have no idea what movies will be in the queue, but these are some of the possibilities.

Halloween: How can you do a scary movie list without this classic flick? I'll tell you what. My mom took my sister and me to see this movie when we were extremely young. I figure it was probably free to take us to the movies (yes, we were THAT young) and a lot cheaper than hiring a babysitter. At any rate, I don't remember that much about the experience other than when the friend bought it in the car, my sister and I started screaming and didn't stop screaming until our mom took us home. (g) It's been near and dear to my heart ever since. I love the use of music and camera work to create tension... man, it's a goodie. I enjoy the sequels, but nothing tops the first.

Friday the 13th: Once again, the original is best. I also saw this when I was quite young, and nothing freaked me out more than Mrs. Voorhies speaking in that little kid voice, begging for help at the end. *shivers* I guess you could say it was my first glimpse at madness, and it's stuck with me to this day. I've never been so glad to not have gone to summer camp.

The Blair Witch Project: If Friday the 13th didn't spoil the woods for me, this movie definitely ruined me for all things out of doors. I know a lot of people criticized this movie for the lack of showing, etc... but man, my imagination was more than capable of filling in the blanks. The laughter and noises in the woods -- the creepy house with the little handprints... the bundle of sticks and piles of rocks. Egads. *shiver* I remember going to bed that night and hearing a loud crunch in the dark. I freaked out, but lay there frozen...too scared to look. Turns out a throw blanket had fallen off the edge of my bed and landed on a shopping bag. LOL. We had great fun after this movie. On a trip out to a friend's farm, we all went four-wheeling in the middle of the night. My friend Shawn and I came across one of the four-wheelers just sitting in the open field... when our headlights hit it and we realized the drivers were missing, we made TAIL back to the house, screaming the whole way that the Blair Witch was coming to get us. I watched this movie the other day...and it STILL freaks me out.

The Exorcist: Oh man, where to begin. I don't care how good special effects are, how much gore there is in a movie...nothing tops the scare factor better than this movie. I don't know. There's just something really scary about the idea of demonic forces taking over an innocent girl's life and terrorizing her and her family. The idea of a supernatural force laughing in the face of a priest and using a cross to... eee, you've seen the movie. You know what I'm talking about. It's just all kinds of wrong and SUPER freaky. The music made this movie truly terrifying for me. And I swear, the image of the priest getting out of his taxi to stand before those glowing windows, the thick fog surrounding him...then cut away to the demon's glowing eyes, waiting. EEE. It's one of the most powerful images I've ever seen.

Nightmare on Elm Street: I'm not talking about the campy sequels here. I'm talking about the first one--when Freddy didn't spout off a one-liner every other minute. I'm talking about not being able to sleep. I'm talking about freaking out every time one of my friends started singing that silly nursery rhyme... One...two...Freddy's coming for you... Yeah, shivers. The scene where Tina is killed is still seriously frightening for me. The image of those cuts slashing across her stomach, their source invisible... her climbing up the wall to scoot across the ceiling, all the while begging her boyfriend for help. YIKES. The scratchy voice calling to her..."Tina!" Still a great movie.

The Omen: The music is SCARY, and the image of the nanny standing on that ledge, screaming, "Damian! Damian! This is all for you!" and then stepping off to hang herself. The scene in the car when the baboons attack... that freaky little boy just....well, heck, he didn't need to do anything. He was freaky just standing still. The beautiful mother falling from the second story, and the fear in her eyes at seeing HER little boy... oh man. Good stuff here.

Poltergeist: Dude, they're here. I've never been so scared of static in my life! It's a bit tame compared to these other movies, but it still has some of the best scary moments ever. Little things -- the time the mother is cleaning the kitchen and pushes all the chairs in (again), and then turns away for a split second only to find them stacked in that intricate design. EEE. Oh, and don't let me think about the clown doll attacking the son. I've always been afraid of (a) clowns (b) dolls (c) worst case scenario--a clown doll. *shiver* Heh, anyone remember what was on the jacket he kept using to cover that doll up? One hint...can we say wookie? Yeah, it was chewbacca on one of those lovely satin jackets.

The Entity: I've never been so taken aback as when Barbara Hershey is innocently readying herself for bed, looks up, and is slapped *wham*. Then the brutality of the attack that followed...all the while, with nothing there. This one is supposed to be based on a true story, which makes it doubly freaky in my book. Imagine being brutally attacked by a spirit/demonic being and never being able to get away from it. This is a huge influence on The Presence, though TP will be MUCH tamer and won't include sexual attacks.

Okay, that's a good start for now. I have to quit because class is about to begin. I may be back if more come to mind. What movie/s scare you?