I had two comments to my post about my quest for the scariest movie I’ve ever seen that I wanted to talk about with you, today.
The first is from Jen, who is a friend I graduated from high school with. Jen says:
Amy, you and I are in the saaaaaaaaaame boat! I am looking for a scary movie, not a gory movie. I was so excited to go see Paranormal Activity, I actually almost chickened out! I left there saying to my cousin, “I have seen scarier spiders on Ghost Hunters!”
As for going to Salem, something I have been wanting to do for a long time. As for haunted houses………come visit me sometime. I have stories of things constantly happening here……..just two days ago in fact was my last encounter. Now I am not scared of whatever is in my house, but after this last “episode” I have been sleeping with the TV on all night….no joke. JCP&L is going to make me it’s #1 customer for the month of October.
Now Ghost Hunters is my favorite show, I never miss an episode, I even DVR them so my kids can watch. I go on Ghost Walks or visit haunted restaurants, etc. I even subscribe to Weird NJ and love reading all the freaky stuff that happens around our wonderful, weird state.
You find that movie, you let me know!!!
First of all, I hope Jen realizes that now I must go spend some nighttime hours at her house. The lure of a real haunted house is almost too great for me to ignore.
Secondly, I’d encourage Jen to stay away from those scary movies for a few weeks, as she is basically nine months pregnant and ready to drop that baby any time. A good scare might push her right over the edge. A good laugh might, also, as I recall that Family Guy put me in labor with Baby Monkey, but that’s a story for another time. Unless, of course, she’s feeling ready to meet that little guy, and if that’s the case, then you people need to recommend some more scary movies to help her out!
The second comment I’d like to share with you was written by my Dad. My Dad said:
I am casting my vote for the Eliza Dushku movie, the name of which escapes me now. Amy, please help me with the title and help me explain why this movie was so freakin scary. I never have watched the end of it, and probably never will, at least alone!
The movie to which he refers is Wrong Turn.
Wrong Turn is a formulaic horror flick. You know who will be the first friend to die, and who will survive the moment anyone on screen opens their mouth. The plot is that Eliza Dushku and her buddies take a “wrong turn” in West Virginia and wind up being hunted by these inbred scary crazy people.
The second thing I need to comment on is that my Dad used the word “freakin” in his response. Tee-hee. My Daddy said “Freakin.” That makes me giggle.
This movie scared the bejesus out of my Dad, and I’ll admit, it was not the most comfortable flick I’ve ever seen either. Your first clue to how scary it is lies in the fact that it is quite possible that my Dad is the world’s biggest Eliza Dushku fan alive. That he turned off a Dushku movie is big news.
He’s asked me to explain why this movie was so “freakin” 🙂 scary to him, so I will.
My Dad grew up in a small town, in rural Ohio, just about on the banks of Lake Erie. There was this park, Lake Shore Park, where you could swim in the lake, play on the equipment, go for walks, etc. My Dad worked at the snack bar in the park in the summers.
Well, apparently there were frequent visitors to Lake Shore Park from West Virginia. Now, let me take a moment and say that I cast no aspersions on people from West Viriginia. Kim C-S, if you are reading this, I’m so not talking about you. These are just my father’s experiences and I’m reporting them as they were reported to me.
Anyway, these visitors would always seem to come when my Dad was manning the snack bar alone. They were, as he described them, off. They didn’t look quite as bad as the inbred crazies who were killing people in Wrong Turn, but there was definitely something up and they scared him to pieces. Poor teenager, all alone at the snack bar, and in would roll the beat up trucks, and out would pour the cast of Wrong Turn.
Apparently, watching the film reminded him of this discomfort so much that he actually couldn’t watch the film any longer.
I think that’s what makes a film so scary to one and not so scary to another. Our views on what is and is not possible. In my mind, there’s no way Wrong Turn would ever really happen, so while it was icky, it wasn’t terrifying. My Dad had already experienced a piece of it, so it was horrifying.
Not to say that I’ve ever seen a girl climb out of a well and through a tv and that’s why I was so scared of The Ring, but I have watched a video tape. Okay, that’s weak. That one was just plain scary whether you’ve experienced it or not.
I’m still questing for a good scare, friends, so if anyone has any further suggestions, I’m open!
