I saw a video on Facebook that was so funny and adorable (and true!) that I shared it again to my FB page. It was of a kitten watching a scary scene in a movie. You could see on it's little face exactly how he felt about this horror film and it made me laugh a little bit because I felt like a kindred soul. That little kitty watched scary movies precisely the way that I do. I don't know where you stand on the "scary movie" vote, but being the notorious 'scaredy cat' that I am, it will come as no surprise to you that, in general, I am not a fan of scary movies.
I used to be. Well, I used to sometimes be. I loved the old classics. Vincent Price. Bella Lugosi. The old black and white horror films were awesome. And maybe it was the dramatically wonderful over acting or perhaps it's because they were filmed in grainy black and white while we live in a world filled with bright colour, that made it ok for me. The fantasy/reality line never got crossed. And if a horror film managed to also be a good psychological thriller, not just a blood and guts fest, yeah, I could do that. Like with the first Poltergeist or The Omen. Those films just chilled my bones to the very marrow. But they was also a great twisted stories that kept me perched on the very edge of my seat throughout without making me want to gag.. I confess that if you manage to be humorous while being scary, yeah I'll watch that one too. "Amercian Werewolf in London" is a great example of that. Just the fact that they have the supersmooth 1961 version of "Blue Moon" playing in the background during one of the scary scenes was enough for me chuckle while watching it multiple times and enjoy it every single time. There was a enough dry wit throughout that film to balance out the scary bits. But that's about it as far as scary movies go for me. I am not a fan of the gross out flicks at all. I would prefer the gruesome details be hinted at rather than shoved in my face. It's a delicate line, I understand, but it's one I'm very firm about. I'm not an easily queasy person so it's not the blood and guts of it all. In fact, I'm not certain why it bothers me. I just know that it does and that is sufficient. I've seen horror films that affected me so strongly that I still get the creeps if I even read the titles of them. "Last House on the Left" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" top that list. Ewwww. Those are two films left me with ultra heavy impact residual. I can honestly say that I wish I had not seen both of those movies. On the other hand, I can read anything. I mean literally anything. Huge Stephen King fan. Huge. And he doesn't pull any punches. But his work doesn't make me flinch a bit. It does make me keep reading and re-reading and re-re-reading (you get the idea). Maybe it's because when I'm reading it's my own imagination creating the images from his creativity. In other words, I have a little bit of control over the movie in my head that plays while I read. (isn't that what happens when you read? Or is it just me?) Maybe that's what makes it okay. The TV show, The X-Files had some scary episodes. Mostly it had interesting ones, but every once in awhile, I could feel it reach down into the scardey cat part of me and I would think, "yup...gonna be a tough sleepin' night tonight!". I just loved that show. (and yes I am watching the latest incarnation of it now - of course I am!) A long time ago it was The Twilight Zone that I watched with delicious terror. Gosh that was a great show. Did you watch the TV show, "The Dead Zone"? Even though it was only "inspired" by Stephen's King's book, I thought the television show did a far better job of interpreting Stephen King than most of his movies did. I always wondered what Stephen King thought about them. I watched The Shining of course, That Jack Nicholson was one scary sonuvagun! But, in the book, it was a gradual transformation from regular guy to scary guy. That was part of what made it scary. But Jack Nicholson was a scary dude right outta the box. So basically he went from scary guy to terrifying guy. Still, I watched it. I don't need to see it again though for lots of reasons. Perhaps I don't need to watch horror movies anymore because I read so many real life horror stories in the newspaper and hear about it on TV news. Nowadays I am finding real life to be far more scary than any movie or TV show or book ever could be. I no longer need movies to be scared. How 'bout you?
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AuthorYup, this is me. Some people said, "Sam, you should write a Blog". "Well, there's a thought", I thought to myself. And so here it is. Archives
November 2024
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