Thursday 13 September 2007

Heeeeeeerre's Johnny!


OK, so I'm thinking about what to write today or if I'm going to write today. I was going to write about the scary moment last night when I thought Crazy Jill was back in my life making harassing and disturbing phone calls. But that's a very dark subject, one I'm not sure I want to write about yet.

So I was visiting some of my blogpals' sites, catching up, trying to find inspiration. And I got it -- from the Rotten Correspondent, who by the way is hilarious. She wrote about her top three scary books. I have read only one of them -- the Exorcist -- and decided I'm not a scary book person. I am, however, a scary movie person.

Sometimes when we are out somewhere and my kids start to get bored, I entertain them by telling them synopses (yay, I know how to spell the plural of synopsis) of scary movies I've seen. I did this in February while driving to the airport in Montreal from Tremblant after skiing with friends. I evidently scared the bejesus out of my friend's psychopath son. I now know how to keep the little shit in line.

Anyway, without further ado, here are a few of my choices for Scary Film Week:

1. The Shining. An absolute classic. My husband has never see it all the way through but I keep telling him he must, then he won't be so scared.

2. The Omen. I've never seen this one all the way through.

3. Rosemary's Baby. And didn't Mia Farrow look so innocent and young?

4. Cape Fear. The one with Robert DeNiro. My husband practically sh**t himself while watching this.

5. Open Water and Jaws: When I saw Jaws as a teen-ager, I never felt the same way again about swimming in the ocean. Open Water just confirmed it.

6. The Exorcist. Turned me off to pea soup forever. And peeing on the carpet.

7. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? If Bette Davis doesn't creep you out in this film, nothing will. Actually, my friend I went skiing with, the mother of the psychopath, is beginning to look like Bette Davis in this film.

8. The Silence of the Lambs. I went to see this on my own when I was between husbands. I tried to get two male friends to go, but I think they were afraid of me.

9. Mothman Prophecies. This came on late one night on TV. I knew nothing about it. Good thing.

10. Seven. I was pregnant when I went to see this. Not a good state to be in.

I didn't include Scream or Nightmare on Elm Street or some other classics because I can't watch them. What are your favourite scary films?

19 comments:

Annie said...

I am a total wimp when it comes to scary movies, I hate them. Harry Potter is as scary as I'll go these days - and they still disturb me when I have to walk around the house when it's dark!

Cape Fear with Robert Deniro? I watched that, and was suitably scared - until the man just wouldn't die, then it moved into the realms of pure farce for me I'm afraid.

Vi said...

The movies I can't watch all the way through are the friday the 13th ones. SCARY!

I used to go to the drive in with my mum as a kid all the time to watch horror movies. The manager (who my mum knew) used to always come over halfway through a movie with a cup of coffee for her, and one for himself and join us in the car.

One particular movie was 'Coma' or 'Patrick' I can't really remember the name of the film. anyways, right at a scary bit, when Patrick shoots up out of his bed from his coma, the manager had just opened the door of the backseat of our car to join us. Both mum and I screamed, and the manager got covered in hot coffee!

the rotten correspondent said...

I have serious issues with scary movies because...they really scare me. I mean really.

Rosemary's Baby and Seven were not fun. I can't ever hear Tom Petty's American Girl because it reminds me of the scene in Silence of the Lambs right before she gets taken. Jaws scared me at the time, but since I practically lived on the beach I got over it. But still...

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

Aw, you guys are such wimps.

Annie, I agree with you about De Niro not dying in Cape Fear. But I think the scary bit was how easily he could insinuate himself into the lawyer's life through his daughter. My daughter isn't far off that age. Scary.

Vi: Do they have drive-ins in Australia? Is that where you're from? We used to go to the drive-in all the time when I was a kid. Then the drive-ins started getting the sleazy films. Last time I went was in college to watch some hysterical porn flicks (actually ALL porn flicks are hysterical). My friend and I sneaked another (male) friend in the trunk (boot) of the car. My friend had just broken up with her boyfriend and got really drunk and threw up all over her own car. Now that was scary.

RC: I got over the American Girl thing because that girl singing it was rescued and she was so feisty too.

laurie said...

noooooooooooooooooo
i can't watch scary movies. i can't even watch violent movies. i don't even like movies where someone hits someone. or even gets mad. i don't like movies that have any tension at all. i fall apart. i am more a teletubbies type person, i think.

Kanga Jen said...

Oooh, good scary movies. I saw Silence of the Lambs when I was in New Jersey (alone) scoping out places to rent for when I moved there - I was in my mid-20s. I stayed at a hotel near a movie theater. Went to see Silence of the Lambs one night. There were only 2 other guys in there watching it. They were creepy. I don't know that I've ever been that scared in my whole life. Afterwards I had to walk back to the hotel (alone) in the dark. I am not brave. I am stupid.

I don't watch that many scary movies. DOn't know why. I remember "Play Misty for Me" and "Children of the Corn"

Kim said...

One I love that you didn't mention is another based on a Stephen King novel - The Dead Zone. It's an older movie, I think I was a teenager when it came out. I loved it. Give me a big bowl of buttery popcorn, a scary movie and hubby to hold on to, and I'm happy.

Laurie, Teletubbies? Really? That is just not the picture of you that I had in my mind. So different in fact, I laughed out loud and woke poor Jack.

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

Laurie: the Teletubbies are scary in their own special way. They used to creep me out when my kids watched them. So Big Brother-ish. And that landscape with the ball reminded me of The Prisoner (Secret Agent Man).

PM: I had to walk back to my car on my own in the dark after watching Silence of the Lambs. I almost ran.

Kaycie: How about Carrie, another vintage Stephen King. And It, which was on TV and was very scary until the end, which I thought was a disappointment.

Anonymous said...

Actually I was just thinking as I read your (fabulous) list that I don't really have any scary movie moments and then I got to the end of your blog and you mentioned Nightmare on Elm Street. And that's the one, or four, however many they made. There's also Friday the 13th movies and Halloween movies too. Anything with axe murderers I'm not keen on. Give me ghost movies anytime! There's one with Nicole Kidman in where she is a ghost along with her two children who she murdered but I can't think what it's called - that has actually inspired my book and then there's The Sixth Sense with Bruce Willis, another great. Another inspiration for my book.

Crystal xx

DJ Kirkby said...

The Shinning and Silence of the Lambs, can't watch any others, just thinking aboutt hem makes me scared!

Keeping It Real said...

Hey, thanks for the award. I think I accidentally went and gave credit to Pixie. You guys just saw each other, right, so guess I got mixed up. Anyway, I'm honored.

Keeping It Real said...

OK. I just went back and read this post. MAH-velous. My favorite all-time scary flicks are The Exorcist and Silence of the Lambs. I can watch Lambs over and over, but can't bring myself to look at Exorcist again.

And I also had a Crazy Jill, cept her name wasn't Jill. I took a job offer in another state to get away from her.

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

CJ: The Nicole Kidman film is The Others, and I love both it and Sixth Sense. Should have put them on the list really.

DJ: I've tried watching Candy Man about three times and have to turn it off each time. And I've never even attempted the Nightmare on Elm Street series.

Queeny: Yeah, I only ever saw The Exorcist the one time. I'll write about my Crazy Jill one day because I need to exorcise her from my life, and you can tell me about your crazy one too.

Fire Byrd said...

No scary movies, no scary boooks, no things that make me jump in the night... just an all time whuss!
pxx

Kim said...

I did like "Carrie", but I've never seen "It". There was a television miniseries of "The Stand" starring Gary Sinise, and I thought that was great, and really creepy.

darth sardonic said...

the movies that scare me the absolute most are legally blonde one and two. my wife loves em! fucking reese witherspoon (shivers!) whoooo. i love the shining and omen and the excorcist. i think friday the 13th, and the nightmare movies were intended to be comedies, i can't help but make fun of them and laugh my dippy ass off the entire time i watch them.

elle said...

I am a major scary movie wimp. I am the person sitting with my hand over my eyes watching through a crack in my fingers the whole time. I scream too. I even do that at home.

Jaws freaked me out so bad as a kid that I was even afraid of the deep end in the pool for awhile. The most recent one that sticks in my mind is The Ring. We rented it and I was so freaked out I couldn't shut my eyes to go to sleep that night. I kept seeing that creepy dead girl crawling toward me over and over in my head.

The horror movies of the late 70's/early 80's are also memorable for me. I was totally traumatized by Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, especially the ending part on the lake. And I don't think I've ever seen the Amityville Horror all the way through. Yikes! Gave myself the chills just thinking about it!

lady macleod said...

I'm going to take your word for it, I've too many scarey real life moments so I don't really need scarey movies. but I like your attitude.

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

Pixie: I know what you mean. If I've watched something scary, I freak out over every creak in the house.

Kaycie: Yes, Carrie was great. I never saw The Stand. I used to love Gary Sinise but now think that he's starting to resemble an insect.

Darth: Taking time out from the wife? Hah, seen Legally Blonde 1 and 2. My daughter wants to go to Harvard on the back of them. Yeah, Halloween and its ilk are pretty funny. They are to scary films what porn movies are to real sex.

Elle: Oh yes, I forgot about The Ring. Totally freaked me out.

Lady M: Yes, your real life is much too exciting.