Scariest Horror Movie Moments (1-10)

This is a link to the documentary entitled "100 Scariest Movie Moments," if you've been near a TV that subscribes to Bravo around halloween you'll have seen at least part of this doc (while flipping through the channels?). Here is a rundown of the filmmakers picks. Many of the filmmaker's picks (no news regarding how these were selected...a poll? via their own personal preference?) are from standard horror movies, but there are some selections taken from "related" genres (horror's incestuous cousins: Science Fiction and Thrillers). Here are the titles (in order 1-20) of movies containing their selections for scariest movie moments--with my added comments.

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Jaws --A damn scary movie, but the scariest? I don't know. Honestly, if you have not seen it for a while, or have ONLY seen it on television (with edits and commercial breaks) do yourself a favor and try watching it anew. It is truely a fear inspiring film. It kept people out of the ocean for years after its release, and it is the ONLY film to ever make me physically ill (I was like 10 years old, and had eaten a lot of junk food...so it's vomit inducing powers are probebly limited). Scary moments...yes, many. Scariest? Well, it does have some arguable moments and some long-lingering effects on the people who have seen it. Plus, it IS a great film, I'm always amazed by just how good it is (after all it is a movie starring a rubber shark).

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Alien --This is a movie that straddles the line between sci-fi and real horror. I will agree that the first time I saw this film I was terrified (and 11). My mother and I rented this from the local library and curled up on her bed to watch it one night while the younger kids slept. This is when I discovered that my mother screams and slaps when she gets scared. This is a truely scary film, but not just that--it is also a good film. The acting is wonderful, the tone, the music the mood: all spot on. And the scares...gasp! I'm going to agree that this is one of the scariest films ever, but again, because it is one of those scifi/horror fence films I might bump it down on my list.

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Exorcist--To begin with a quote from Beetlejuice, "I've seen the EXORCIST ABOUT A HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN TIMES, AND IT KEEPS GETTING FUNNIER EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE IT." I've got to agree, somehow it does...I don't want it to, but I still can't recapture the initial horror of the first viewing at 12 years old (is this a chronological journey through my childhood?). First, no twelve year old has any business watching this film...thanks, mom. (I know, I begged...I know.) This film IS scary, but I just can't figure out which "moment" they might be referring to. The film is scary as a whole, it must accumulate (or marinate?). There are no leaping killers, no lurking creatures, just a dread, a forboding and a big big evil v. innocence theme. I love biblical horror...love it. I can't get enough, and this movie may have begun my love relationship with the genre, a scary film for sure. And it would be in my top 10.

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Psycho--YIKES! Again, I add to the chronological journey through my childhood: One grey summer day when I was 15 years old, I was suffering from cramps. I begged my mother for some horror films, and she brought back Psycho. My little brother, who was once a sweet boy, watched Psycho with me, in the basement on a little 13 inch black and white T.V. (it didn't matter did it? I mean it's in black and white.) where we huddled together eating Doritos and drinking gallons of Diet Dr. Pepper. What's my point? Well, midday in the summer and this movie is still scary as hell. It's so misleading...everything is fine, calm, we've got a plot already then...WHAM! Moments the phrase WTF was invented for. Needless to say, this movie is horrifying, fabulous, riviting and NOT (decidedly not) remakable. A brief comment on the Psycho remake: dearest hollywood, don't ever do that again. There are some things that CANNOT be remade and remaking Psycho is like remaking the Wizard of Oz, unless you do something lovely and clever and completely different (thank you, The Wiz), you are just making a mess of things. Classics work because something magical has occurred, a great colliding of forces, and as much as I adore Vince Vaughn, he's just too Vince Vaughn-ish to fill Anthony Perkin's shoes. No matter how those shoes are choreographed. The original Psycho makes my top 10, the sequels and remakes do not. Now, dear Hollywood, stop it!

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Texas Chainsaw Massacre Ha, right after my plea to Hollywood regarding Psycho, I get to discuss THE Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Oh, Momma! YES! I will limit my discussion here, for Polyphobia will be inviting a guest to review/analyze ALL of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Series (remakes and offshoots included). Be ready.

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Shining--of course they mean the original Kubrick version (the King directed remake is horrifying in a different way). Another childhood story: at age 14 my family decided to make a griswald-esque trip across the country to Oregon, down the coast to L.A. and back to Ohio. We took a few side trips, one to Mt. Hood. Although most of the film was shot in Estes Park, Colorado, several scenes were filmed at the Lodge on Mt. Hood...the long long long hallways in the big wheel scene are located there. My mother and I, both fans of horror ran at top speed up the hallways, mimicing little Tommy's path...scary! Okay, that story wasn't very interesting, but The Shining IS! This movie is creepy, kooky and spooky. And there are quite a few scary scenes (my favorite scenes are of the creepy new year's eve party...surreal and Kubrick-y). It would be a contender for a top 10 position...but could be easily bumped by something less cerebral and more "holy crap!"

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Silence of the Lambs --this is another film that is technically not horror, it is a thriller (more on the distinction/correction/confusion of these two genres in a later post), but it does not make this film any less horrifying. There are moments that definately blurr the boundary between crime drama and straight forward horror. I personally find the scene with the night vision goggles absolutely terror-filled. Scary movie, yes...scariest moments, maybe...horror movie, no. This movie, and others like it (serial killer films) can be catagorized as a type, a type made popular post-cold war and pre-digital era: human-threat based horror films. It is easy to track the fears of a society through it's horror films; post-cold war and pre-digital America no longer feared the threat of nuclear attacks or radiation (bye bye giant monsters and mutants), it no longer feared the supernatural (it was a time virtually devoid of techno-fears) because science and technology explained everything...what it feared was itself in the form of other humans. Most of these human threat films are not psychological, but psychotic...the good ones recognize the fear of others (xenophobia) inherient in American culture, the bad ones are just wholesale slaughterfests by killers bent on personal vendettas. The motivations always varied, but the thematic trend was solid.

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Carrie--for god's sake, I mean the original. The remake of this film was interesting in it's attempt to do something different (it was not choreographed like Psycho) with the story, and it adhered more readily to Stephen King's novel (not that that's a boon...see "The Shining"), but it lost all the focus and, well I don't want to say it but, charm of the original. The character of Carrie is fascinating: we not only understand and pity the killer, but root for her in the end. It has powerful moments for analysis as well: look at the themes of sexuality and religion that underscore every moment of this movie. I might place this film in the top 20 horror movies of all time, it is brilliant...however as far as moments go: the scares in this film are collective not individual, so, there are no real "moments." It does, in the mother role (played by Piper Laurie), have one of the scariest characters in a horror film...so scary!

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Night of the Living Dead --One of the, if not THE, best horror movies ever. Originally done for 3,000 bucks...3,000 bucks!! More money was spent on the filming of Coven (That's pronounced: CO-ven). This is a fascinating film, one which can be analyzed virtually ad infinitum. It is sheer brilliance, and scarier than nearly all of the films on this list. As far as moments go, my favorite (if one could say that...it is not a pleasant response) "scary" moment of the film occurs during the closing credits. I shall spoil nothing, but say...the heartbreak and terror and disgust one feels during the closing credits of this movie is very powerful both emotionally and as a commentary on American society. I have seen this movie more times than I care to admit, and I still almost tear up when the credits roll. Nothing, however, will equal that first viewing: I spent most of the film, from "They're coming to get you, Barbara" until the last scrolling name, with my hand clasped firmly over my mouth in awe and fear and finally sorrow. Nothing holds up to the sheer force of this film. Terrible. You must see it. The one horror movie to make it's viewers weep...that, in itself, is terribly impressive.

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Wait Until Dark--Whoa. If you have not seen this film, you are missing out on something phenomenal. Although, again, this is technically not horror, but a thriller or even a drama at points...this movie is truely frightening. The acting is supurb and it does contain one of the scariest movie moments I can think of, when we the audience are struck blind...the scariest minute of black screen in the history of cinema.

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I know, I know...that's 10. The top 10. I have listed the next 10 on the list without commentary...knowing that most of these films will (hopefully) be discussed in time. I already have plans for a review/analysis of Audition--a film I believe is one of the scariest ever made. And how could I not comment on such genre staples as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Hellraiser. I count 21 movies in these franchises alone...wait until I add all the TCSMs and Friday the 13ths? It makes me wonder if this project is too ambitious. Be patient friends, I will try to speed up my posts. If you are interested in a particular review, or want to suggest a post, please contact me. I'm all yours.

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Numbers 11-20 on Scariest Movie Moments:

Audition
Misery
Scream
Halloween
Freaks
The Omen
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Haunting (obviously the original, with Vincent Price)
Hellraiser
The Ring