I hate horror movies. Yeah, yeah. I get the irony. I write violent vampire and wicked warlock novels. My characters are the types of creatures that filled horror movies for years, and yet I can't stand to watch them. I'm a chicken. A super mega chicken. And it's not necessarily the fault of the horror movie. I've got this insane overactive imagination. Need proof?
When The Blair Witch Movie came out, it was my brilliant idea to go see it. The guy I was dating at the time loved horror movies but I could never go see them with him. But I'd heard this one didn't actually show the monster. I thought, "I can handle that!" I spent the majority of the movie curled up in my chair with my eyes shut and my fingers in my ears chanting "I want it to be day. I want it to be day." The movie was horrible because my overactive imagination was happily filling in all the blanks, creating all the horrible things you couldn't see. It took me a couple weeks to get over that movie because at the time I was living in a house set back into the woods.
I've since learned to handle some horror movies, but I try not to push it. Thrillers are far more tolerable and I'm slowly easing my way into Stephen King horror movies.
What if you're in the same boat as me, but want to watch movies for Halloween? What movies will we be watching in the Drake household to celebrate Halloween? Here are some suggestions:
Sleepy HollowThis is probably my top choice. I love the original Disney cartoon, but the movie with Johnny Depp is so much fun. I'm also got a weakness for Tim Burton.
You need to have at least one of the classic movie monsters:
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein -- Why? Great story + Robert DeNiro
Bram Stoker's Dracula -- Why? Great story + Gary Oldman and Sir Anthony Hopkins
The Mummy -- Why? Fun story + Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz
The Crow
This one is a great tragic paranormal love story. It has an amazing soundtrack and pretty much helped to define those dark teen years. There is a small part of me that lives in constant terror that Hollywood will someday remake this movie like they've done with so many other movies. At that point, I may just move to a small island and sever all contact with the outside world. Would that be too extreme?
The Nightmare Before Christmas
This one is a strange twist. It's half Halloween and half Christmas. I guess you can use this as a nice transition movie to get your through the Halloween season and get you used to the idea that Christmas is getting closer. That and I just love Jack. I've even got a Jack Skellington mug I use as work.
Be sure to stop back later this evening to find out if you won my "I Finished Another Book" Contest. You still have time to enter. I will be picking the winner this evening.
5 comments:
Ah, The Crow. I recently introduced my teenage stepchildren to this movie. Huge hit! But, it had been years since I watched it myself. I forgot how much I was "in love" with this movie as a teen (or maybe it was just Brandon Lee...of course).
Another personal favorite, for young kids and adults, is Hocus Pocus, with Bette Midler
My must see for Halloween include Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus and Adams Family.
Oh I am the exact same way! I don't like horror movies myself either. The thrillers or suspenseful ones are tolerable though. But no horror movies, for precisely the same reason you said! An overactive imagination!
I never did see the Blair Witch Project but heard enough about it to know that I didn't want to see it! I did see the movie The Grudge, thinking I could handle that one, plus I love Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jason Behr. But that movie...scared the living daylights out of me! Especially the creepy ghost/spirit thing that haunts you and kills you! And at one point a guy was pulled up by said murderous ghost into the attic, we don't see it really, but we see him being yanked upwards into a hole in the ceiling that's the attic entrance. I can't recall if it was hidden inside a closet either, but I just so happen to have an entrance to the "crawlspace" in our house, so I was terrified of entering my closet for a week or so!
Never saw The Crow, but am definitely curious about it now! I love the old classics too! The classic Dracula with Legosi, The Creature from the Black Lagoon was my first favorite! So the very old black and white movies are always good for Halloween and the not-so-fan-of-horror-movies type.
I'd probably have to move to that same island with you should they ever remake The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Or Jaws, but that's not really a movie good for Halloween. Much better for the Fourth of July!!
Happy Halloween, Jocelynn!
Right?! I'm the same. And for the same reasons! I haven't watched a horror film in years, and I'm happy with that. I like your suggestions. Sleepy Hollow is my fave, especially with Johnny Depp's Sherlock-ish take on the character. But The Crow! Loved that movie and haven't seen it in years! I just might watch that tonight. Happy Halloween!
Thanks! I could kick myself for forgetting the Addams Family. Love Raul Julia and Angelica Huston. Perfect movie.
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