I will never forget the first time I saw Regan's head spin around in The Exorcist. Nor will I forget the first time Freddy Kruger was in one of my dreams.

What movies scared you and still scare you to this day?

(I'm still terrified in the Shining when Danny sees his dad trying to kill his mom and he's all screaming in his bed without any sound and he sees "Redrum")

Are you excited about the Blair Witch Project?

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Answers

to this day i cannot watch the exorcist.. saw it when i was younger and refuse to watch it again.. scared the crrraaappp out of me... friends always suggest renting it, and i still say no.. way... the shinning too!! that kid on his trike! yikes! the blair witch project looks good.. not like those other fake teen horror 'i know what you screamed last summer'.. this actually looks like it might make me not want to watch it more than once.... which would make it a good scary movie!

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

the haunting, the original black and white one with julie harris and claire bloom, scares the piss out of me every time. i KNOW what happens, it shouldn't, but it gets me no matter what. i think it's the black and white and the creepy camera angles and the bizarre and appropriate soundtrack. i watched it just last night - i'm preparing myself for going to see the blair witch project on saturday night with some friends by routinely and purposefully scaring myself beyond belief. unfortunately, i think i'm going to have to spend half the movie with a sweat shirt over my head.

i'm really excited about tbwp because i'm from maryland, and while the blair witch is entirely made up, there are many many real legends like that about various parts of the state - things that are as "true" as you can get, when you're talking ghosts and murders and supernatural sorts of stuff. i've had experiences that surpass weird and move into the realm of terrifyingly true, and so i'm looking forward to someone else's, false as they may be.

(i'm also looking forward to the remake of the haunting, though i can't imagine that it could be scarier than the original. nope, no way, no how.)

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Everything scares me. "Silence of the Lambs" scared the hell out of me, of course, but I still harboring a lingering fear that Jack Nicholson is going to come through my bathroom door with an axe. The scariest movie I've seen recently was "Kiss the Girls" -- the movie overall wasn't all that scary, but the scene at the beginning when the woman wakes up to someone in her house was really well done -- it scared the crap out of me AND Jeremy. (And Billy Blanks is in that movie, Pamie!)

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Cool, another chance to use the phrase "Scare-O-Rama!"

Ok, so my best frind and I, when we first heard of the Blair Witch project, actually called the Maryland State Police to find out if indeed there were missing students etc..

Ya know the funny thing is they (the police dept.) played along with it saying that their was still an ongoing investigation, and they were not at liberty to discuss such matters etc.. Keep in mind that this was before the film was at Sundance and before the Blair Witch website.

I was really creeped out, and still am because even though I know it REALLY didn't happen, I think it REALLY COULD happen. I have already purchased my tickets for the Friday July 16th premiere.

Ok, how about that scene in the original Nightmare on Elm Street, when Freddy's form and claws push out from inside the wall over the girls bed.

From the Shining, when Danny hits the corner on one of his windy- empty-infinitely-long-hallway rides on the big wheel, and the 2 little girls are standing there. "Come play with us Danny,.... forever." Kubrick rocks!

When it was still Siskel and Ebert, I used to watch their show a lot. I learned (and used to say) if the fat guy likes it, it's gonna kick ass. I read Roger Ebert's review of this movie, in which he states that he literally laughed, cried, and was truly scared.

All of the reviews I have seen on this movie have been phenomenal. I like the fact that they don't go for the blood and guts stuff too, something that we haven't seen a movie without in a long time.

You know, the thing that really interested me about this movie is that their was no script. All of the dialogue was improv. Their were scripted events, and the actors just reACTED.

See Pamie, the monks should do an improv comedy/horror type thing. Call it the Pamie Project. Where you travel to a comedy club and things go terribly awry.

" Mom, Dad, I'm so sorry I went Tom Green on your ass. I love you so much....

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

I'm peeing myself i want to see BWP so bad. I've been yammering to all my friends about it since i read the aint-it-cool article.

I think the scariest old-school movies i've seen were Hell House, which is from 1937 or something and is totally creepy, and Nightmare on Elm Street. Alien scared the hell out of me, and i didn't even see the movie, i just read the cheezy novelization when i was like 10 and had nightmares for weeks.

a good recent scary movie is Event Horizon. It got panned in the media but i thought it was genuinely freaky at points.

by the way, there was a really funny all-grrl rap group in the early ninetys called BWP, which stood for Bitches With Problems.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

One of the scariest parts of The Shining is when Wendy is walking up the stairs and turns to the left and looks down the hall and this bear gets up from the crotch of this guy in a Nixon mask and they both stare at her.

I read the book just to understand that part. Kubrick didn't even bother to explain. There was a costume party one night in the Overlook. How creepy is that?

I remember how much Poltergeist scared me as a kid. Talk about a horror movie that became a part of pop culture. I remember that I couldn't look at the guy ripping his face off. My little sister would always watch it while I covered my eyes until she said, "Okay." She would always do it while he had ripped off all of his skin. Last year I saw the film again and that part wasn't scary at all.

But "one one-thousand two one-thousand three-onethousand" and then the tree coming in with the quick flash of some devil face and then the kid gets swept up by the tree while Carol Ann is being sucked into the closet is still pretty damn scary.

"YOU ONLY MOVED THE HEAD STONES! WHY? WHY?!"

There's a horror documentary from the eighties called "Terror in the Ailes" that shows bits and pieces from tons of horror movies. Although I've never seen Scanners or some of the Friday the 13ths, I've seen the scary parts. Not knowing why those scenes were going on was even scarier to me than watching the whole film.

Alien made me jump in my seat many times.

Oooh, I'm getting all scared and jumpy here in my office.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Oh, and watching Faces of Death for the first time when you were thirteen and not supposed to be watching it... that was rather disturbing. Too many "real deaths."

I guess that goes into gore, which is different from a horror movie.

The worst horror movie I've ever seen? It's a tie: "Graveyard Shift," taken from a Stephen King short story, and "2000 Maniacs." Oh, man, is that ever bad. Terrible.

"Maximum Overdrive," "Silver Bullet..." man, they made some stinkers out of Stephen King stories, didn't they? Makes me long for "Creepshow," and "Cat's Eye" and "Misery."

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Does anyone know where in the DC area tbwp is showing on Friday? I've been reading about it too and am dying to see it. The Sci Fi channel's show was excellent and left me wanting much more.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Large Marge in the first Pee Wee movie. Oh man, I have only seen her pull that face once. Ever since that first time, I've left the room real quick. Not just her claymation face, the entire scene is absolutely terrifying, which is strange considering it's not because of Pee Wee himself.

I remember when I first saw Clue that it scared me, mainly the fact that even though Mr. Boddy had been shot, he was actually still alive and running around the mansion. That's one of the scariest things I can imagine, a stranger in my house waiting for the right moment to jump out at me, unless the french maid kills him first. While still my favourite film, it's actually pretty frightening to watch on your own.

The Blair Witch Project looks fantastic. I've been scared out of my brain just reading articles and visiting the website. I know I'll probably never sleep again after actually seeing it, but I'll punish myself if I don't go. It may sound deranged, but I actually hope that it puts Large Marge and Mr. Boddy to shame. I want to see it with friends and see their faces when it's finished. Something about other people's reactions to movies that's almost as good as the movie itself.

Ok, now _I'm_ freaking myself out.. I'm just gunna go hide under the covers now..

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

The original b/w version of The Haunting used to just scare the pee out of me, especially when the pounding is coming down the hall and stops and bends the door. I rented it last week to see it before the new one comes out, and my boyfriend just laughed and laughed and it didn't seem scary anymore. I really hope the new one terrifies me. Poltergeist still does, when the dead people are coming down the stairs wearing hats!! They're heeere!

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

large marge!

I first saw that movie when I was home sick with strep throat and my mom rented it for me. I laughed so much at Large Marge that I rewound it like five times and just kept watching that screen. Oh, man. I never thought anyone could find it funny.

But, you know, don't mind me. I'm the one who is still scared of Gary Sinise. In any film. He terrifies me. I'm convinced he kidnaps babies and makes Barbie films with them. I'm serious. He's terrifying. Don't trust him, not one bit. I couldn't even watch him in Forrest Gump. I knew it was just a matter of time before he started chewing on Forrest's arm.

I just thought of another film that scared me: when I was a kid I saw this film called Sleepaway Camp. If you've seen it, you're probably laughing at me now, but it was really scary and at the end the girl is a guy who's like a wolf or something. We once made a horror movie at home based off that premise, where I was killing people but I didn't even know it until I saw their dead bodies piled in the bathtub. Then we made a sequel where my little sister was killing people but didn't know it until she saw all of the dead bodies piled in the bathtub. She still had the best scream. She was trying to scream, but the puppy had gotten into the bathroom and was licking the ketchup off the dead girl's forehead, so in the middle of this scream there's this peal of laughter. Chilling. Scream-laugh! Scream-laugh! Scream-laugh! Perfect.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

I hated the scene in Ghostbusters when Sigourney Weaver is sitting in her comfy chair and sees a paw from one of the demons start to push through the wall. That really got me the first time I saw it. There were these little bumps on the wall by my bed, probably from a bad paint job, but for months after that, every time I saw them out of the corner of my eye my heart would pound.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

No one is going to have heard of this movie but it's called "Sleepaway Camp" and I think it came out in the 70s or early 80s. Something about this little 8-year-old girl goes to camp and is all freaky and people are getting killed just for looking at her and at the end she is standing over a dead body with a knife in her hand and she has...a penis. "WHAT?!!"

Yes. I am serious. I haven't seen it since that first viewing at some spend-the-night party when I was a kid, but just thinking about it HORRIFIES me. How did we get our hands on that one?

BWP is going to scare the pants off me. A guy friend of mine saw it at Sundance and said it was the most terrifying thing ever made. And he is a macho film guy who does not get scared at anything. So, I leaped around the internet and read everything I could about it. I went to the blairwitch.com site and watched the clips and read the info...and they gave it the hell away! Very disappointing. However, I am going to see it and I am sure I will be plenty scared, considering the hold the knife-wielding penis girl still has on me.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

I love "Angel Heart", "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "Exorcist III" for all the relentlessly creepy stuff. I actively worship "The Haunting"; I'm planning on going to see the remake, but only so I can write a scathing review of it for my web page--Jan de Bont is going to absolutely screw it up, just you wait and see.

And I'm going nuts waiting for Blair Witch. I'm really, really hoping it lives up to the hype.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

that was the thing that really freaked me out was she had this penis, but i wasn't sure if she really had a penis because I was so young.

i can't believe there are two people around here who were scared of Sleepaway Camp. I haven't seen it since.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

It would have to be "Poltergeist" for me as well, and one bit in particular: where the boy is in his bed and he sees the CLOWN DOLL on the chair, and then he looks again, and it's GONE, and then he flops over to the edge of the bed and looks underneat the bed, and the CLOWN DOLL creeps up on him from behind and GRABS him and oh, it's so horrible.

And the scene in the kitchen where the fried chicken on the plate suddenly develops a horrible case of maggots. Oh, and the tennis balls they threw into the Other Side, and they came back covered in this fleshy slime that made me think there was liposuction on the Other Side, and they had doused the tennis balls in the sucked-out fat of all the screaming ghost souls in torment.

Oh god.

The Blair Witch Project is something I've been excited about for a couple months now. I CANNOT wait to see it. Pant pant pant.

I've downloaded the trailers, I have the desktop background, yeah! I can't wait.

Other than that, I really don't watch horror movies. Unless you count Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Those 'Faces of Death' have to be the worse. Especially in the previews when they show the cow being killed...you know, when the cow is (obviously) screaming while a blade is going upward through its neck and blood gooshing out and stuff. Gross, gross, groooooosss. I didn't want to know how they killed cows or how they make rabbits feet. Poor widdle wabbits.

'The Shining' freaked me out, as well as the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' movies. 'Course, I was too little to really know that those things weren't real, but the 80's were the best for horror flicks, in my opinion. I never really got bad dreams out of it, just spooked easy. I'd see ghosts and things at night that were actually chairs or hanging clothes in the daylight.

I do have to say, though, that I saw several movies with mannequins (forgive my spelling errors) that came to life and killed teenagers. Those really freaked me out. Eeesh.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

I can't believe someone else was actually scared by large marge! I was terrified of her!

I know this one really isn't a horror movie, but Sleeping with the Enemy still scares me. Especially the part near the end when she notices the towels are perfect in her bathroom. You just know that her psycho husband is lurking in that house somewhere! And of course, after she shoots him, and you think he's dead, but he reaches up and grabs her. That still makes me jump, even though I know its gonna happen.

Oh, and I also am terrified of haunted houses. I make every excuse not to go in. I once ran out of the emergency exit at the Haunted Pirate Ship in North Carolina. I'm embarrassed to say that it was only a few years ago.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Vertigo, definitely. I saw it about ten years ago, in a revival theatre in Greenwich Village. I freaked at the ending. I love Hitchcock, truly I do.

What else? Um... Movies that involve nuclear warfare. "Threads," "Failsafe," and there was even a scary moment in "The Day After," which was otherwise fairly poor compared to the other two.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

i was terrified of sleepaway camp in middle school! this friend of mine and i went through this phase where we rented lots of horror movies every weekend and stayed up late watching them. mostly, they were terrible, but sleepaway camp freaked us out completely. we didn't want to go to camp after that.

the sequels, however, blew goats. =)

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Oh, yeah, and how about this for dumb? I was also petrified of the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video. Especially when he turns into a werewolf. My mom tried to ease my fears by making me watch "The Making of Thriller" video. It didn't help.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Dude. Basket Case.

I had to frame-by-frame advance through the scene where The Basket Case (the deformed siamese twin who was removed from his normal brother's body when they were kids and then thrown in the hospital dumpster, where the normal brother found him, took him home, and kept him in a basket, which The Basket Case would escape from periodically to kill people) killed a woman merely by having sex with her. It was not only gross, and scary, but confusing: she was lying on a gurney or something, on her back, and he just sat on top of her and hopped up and down, apparently drilling her with a penis that grew out of his ass (???).

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

My brother lives in California and has a lot of friends in the film business (ie assistants of Assistants of Chief Assistants and gophers) and one of the guys he knows got a copy of the BWP and they saw it a couple weeks ago. I begged him not to tell me anything about it so he only told me that it was a "trippy mind-fuck" kind of movie. You don't actually "see" anything. Those are probably the worst type of horror movies.

The movie that scared me the most, so far, has to be the Shining. The scene where the little kid is riding his big wheel down the hall and turns the corner to find the two twin girls standing at the end of the hall made me wet my pants!

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Ooo...Sleepaway Camp! I'm not sure if it was one, two or three, but there was a scene where the Happy Camper girl stuffs the Blonde Popular girl into a poop-filled, fly-infested hole in an outhouse. When she attempts to climb out of the poop hole, the girl pokes her with something (a pitchfork, perhaps?). Not very scary, but very gross.

I think it was The Changeling, when they finally escape the evil and are zooming away in their car only every road leads back to the mansion they were fleeing from. Now that scared the crap out of me!

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Jenni: Here's a list of movie places and times from the Washington City Paper. It only runs up until Thursday so check back to see when/where BWP is playing in DC.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

OK - I totally missed pamie's first post about Sleepaway Camp and was shocked to go back and find out that she, too, had experienced the all-out terribleness of that movie. And THEN I see that two more of you have seen it! Thank God for you guys...I thought I had made it up and had dreamed the whole thing. I honestly remember nothing about the movie except that last scene and, after screaming in terror for more than an hour, my little friends and I had to rewind it several times just to understand the end. I didn't feel that the penis shot was clear enough - plus, we were like, 10 years old or younger and we wouldn't have recognized one if it were in close up.

Note to self: avoid seeing The Basket Case at all costs... What the HELL is that all about? I have never heard of that movie and if I ever run across it in my local Blockbuster I will whip out a match and burn it right there to save anyone from seeing the scene mentioned above by Evany.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Vertigo-- me too! I saw it for the first time last year and I'm pretty sure my heart stopped for a second or two. I wsn't expecting it either, because movies usually don't scare me very much. Generally I just get a really enjoyable rush.

I love going to see scary movies though, because my boyfriend gets TERRIFIED. Normally a sort of reserved guy in public, when in a scary movie he squeals, burrows his head into my armpit, practically hides under his seat. I get to hold him and feel all brave and tender and stuff.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

I have to second all the "Shining" stuff. (Pamie, what IS the scene with the guy in the Nixon mask and the bear guy about?) Also, Poltergeist scared the pants offa me as a kid, although my boyfriend and I finally rented that one recently and sadly it was really just not that frightening after all. Maybe it was the fact that the girl's name was Carol (like me) that bugged me.

But The Exorcist was the all time scariest. Why was I allowed to watch this? The worst was that my brothers made a big deal out of telling me that "I was the perfect age to be possessed." To this day I get really disturbed when people start talking in that croaky satan-voice.

(somewhat unrelated note...the reason I started thinking about Poltergeist and wanted to rent it: I spent last summer working in this incredibly thick, dense, evil thorn forest. Sometimes I would have to go off the trail, and then I'd get sort of lost and disoriented and wander around trying to figure out which direction the light--and hence, the trail--was. Anyway, at one point I was staggering through the thorns, getting freaked out, and my boyfriend started calling my name--"Carol! Carol! Where are you?" and I had a total flashback of Poltergeist. "Carol Ann! Carol Ann! Come into the light, Carol Ann!" Then I started thinking about the movie and having a compulsive need to see it again.)

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

have any of you guys seen that old b/w movie "the bad seed"....talk about being scared to death. Makes me NOT want to have any rugrats, thankyouVERYmuch.

but THE scariest movie i've EVER seen is this old movie and i'm pretty sure it's called "Trilogy of Terror"......it's 3 stories...well, duh...hence the name....anyway....i only remember one of them...it was with karen black....which is scary enough, but she has this little statue thingie (think the tiki from that hawaii episode of the brady bunch...but UGLIER) that attacks her. OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!! i haven't seen it since i was like 12....but I still can't even think about it without creeping out. she even tried to cook it in the oven, too.....YIKES!! it was SCARY!!

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

My scariest movie watching experience has got to be The Shining. I get pretty scared during any movie due to the fact that I was subjected- and thereby traumatized- by Freddie Krueger at an early age. I mean, I used to get wigged out by Outer Limits, Tales of the Crypt and Are You Afraid of the Dark? I had a nightlight through middle school. Usually, the storylines mesh together, but The Shining is definitely the most clear and scary.

I am currently residing in a dorm and every time, late at night, while walking through the lonely empty halls, I think of the scene when little Tony is on his trike and he sees those twins.

or "Tony. . . Tony. . . ", REDRUM, REDRUM! I am of course referring to the original Stanley Kubrick's Shining, not King's edited for TV special. The author's intent just wasn't that scary.

And who can forget the mysterious room 222?

Oy. The Shining has got to be the scariest movie. Though I did let out a good squeal when I saw the Exorcist- most particulary during the scene where the girl spins her head in a 360.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Ok, this is really embarrassing, but my mom loves this story. When I was 5, E. T. came out. My mom and I went to see it the first weekend. I didnt last five minutes in that movie. The scene when they first see E. T. in the closet, I was underneath the chair and bawling. I was so scared, we had to leave. The worst part was that I had a set of E. T. sheets, and I think an E. T. doll, too. None of that stuff scared me. But man, that movie!!! Trust me, its a big deal to a five year old. Sleepaway Camp scared me, too. I didnt remember what it was at first, but the prompts about the girl being stuffed into an outhose jogged my memory and I remember being scared as hell when I watched it. And the kids head in the TV at the end? Ohh, man, that got me. There is another movie that used to scare the crap out of me, too, but I cant remember what it's called. My friends would watch it all the time, but I always made sure I got to thier house after they watched it. Umm, there were two brothers who were retarted, and they did all this killing for thier crazy mother. But unfortunately, I cant remember what was called. It was one of those ones like Sleepaway Camp, really cheesy, but still scary as hell. I'm going to Blockbuster to see if I can find it, though.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

I can understand why Large Marge would be funny. My father rented it for me when I was 8, and it was like 9pm and I couldn't sleep. After I screamed during her clay face, he just rewound it over and over, laughing like a madman, and the more I screamed, the faster he'd repeat it. Lunatic.

But I can really relate to the Sinise, pamie. Ransom was terrifying! One of my main fears of having children is that Gary Sinise will steal them.

Speaking of Ransom, I'm actually looking forward to the new Haunting movie. Is it The Haunting or The House on Haunted Hill? Whichever Lili Taylor's in.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

Oh, I forgot to add this by the way, to be a teeny weeny bit off topic. Right after I read your entry about Weird Al stealing your American Pie Star Wars song, I bought a magazine with a small article about Weird Al's version. I think that's what scares me now. Weird Al.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

What movie scared the tar out of me?

Aliens.

When the Marines first arrive at the alien complex, they're dropping down into this HUGE pit of steaming pods. I remember being drawn in as everyone exhibited curiosity and proceeded with caution. Things were very eerie and one pod started to pulsate. And it pops open.

I remember saying "mither, please don't go near that pod! Noo!" Then I believe I jumped 3 or so inches in the air as the face hugger molded himself onto the marine's face.

*shudder*

It doesn't scare me much anymore, but then again, nearly all movies never scare me. Although I have to admit that the little boy repeating "Redrum" in the Shining (Kubrick Original, mind you) is one of the few spoken words that make my skin crawl.

About Blair Witch Project, I'd have to say it looks very intriguing. Fake or real life? I don't know. Just about everything on television is scripted, so that takes a little fun out of me hoping for the unexpected. I think I might wait and see what other people say about it after viewing it.

P.S. I've been a reader of Pamie's site for 2 months now. I have to say that I very much enjoy it! Thanks, Pamie, for brightening up my day everytime I read one of your funny entries. :o)

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

I have to agree with everyone who talked about Poltergeist. I was young when I first saw it, like 5, and it came on HBO at a hotel we were staying in at the beach (we didn't have cable at home). I was a very easily scared kid, but my brother promised me it wouldn't be scary--the evil bastard! That clown-doll scene was the worst. Horribly, an aunt of mine had a bunch of dolls in their guest room, and the one in the rocking chair was- a clown! I used to pick up all of the dolls and put them outside when I stayed over.

I was also scared of the Thriller video. And the Shining. And Salem's Lot. And Gremlins. Christ, everything scared me when I was a kid. Except the Exorcist, oddly enough. I saw it after seeing the Saturday Night Live sketch with Richard Pryor("The bed is on my foot!") so I guess it lost something for me.

Now, though, only books seem to scare me. My own imagination is alot better than most directors or special effects. I am excited about the Blair Witch, though. A co-worker saw it at Sundance and said she literally cried out of terror.

On a side note, my girlfriend and I were going to pick up free tickets for an advanced screening, publicized as being at the Red Eye Fly (local club) at 8 this past Sunday. We get there, at 10 till, and they had already given them away to "50 early-birds". What? Isn't that the point of setting up a time? So anyway, I'm pissed at the club for giving them to their friends and relatives and I just wanted to vent.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

Pamie,

You're probably going to find this silly, but the movie that scared me most as a kid was "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." I still get nightmares about that one. Those Oompa Loompa guys.

What do you get when you eat too much junk?

I can't stand it.

I'm a grown man, Pamie. Little painted midgets shouldn't scare me anymore.

But they do.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

I haven't watched a scary film for ages (remember, I'm married to a man who found the scene where Bubba gets his beans in Forrest Gump too scary to watch), but I remember being terrified by The Shining.

The scariest film I've ever watched was a black and white one, and it centred around an old house, and featured some creepy children who were, I think, ganging up on their aunt and trying to kill her. I'm buggered if I can remember what it was called - I watched it one evening with my two sisters when I was about ten. My parents were off out enjoying themselves somewhere and we were all alone, so it was double scary. We never saw the ending because we got too scared and turned the TV off and all the lights back on, and waited for Mum and Dad to come home. I come from a long line of wusses.

Actually, I can remember being really scared by a truly crap mini-series called 'Love, Lies and Murder' (I think) - one of those neverending mini-series produced in the early 90s, recounting some terrible murder that took place in (I think) Florida. At the end of the first part of the mini-series there's a scene where the murder victim's mother is in the murder victim's house (the scene of the crime), and it's night, and she doesn't realise that the police have used that special 'make any tiny trace of blood glow in the dark' chemical. She turns off the lights, and the entire house glows green - there are handprints on the walls, and marks where the bleeding corpse has been dragged along the carpet - it's truly gross.

It freaks me out just typing about it - I'll be a nervous wreck for the rest of the day now.

I promise you, ask any New Zealander aged around 25 about that mini-series and they'll remember that scene - it's deeply carved on all our psyches.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

I agree with lots of the movies mentioned above. There are a few great horrors that stay with us for life. For me, the scariest by far is "IT" by Stephen King. That clown just gives me the honest to goodness creeps. Since watching that film I can no longer set eyes on a clown of any kind again. I get almost physically ill every time I come across one. One time a clown came into my job for a party and I had the hardest time staying calm. I was shaking and finally had someone else escort the clown because I couldn't do it. I was so busy watching my back I couldn't explain procedures to him or even speak coherently. It was truly terrifying. Thanks Mr. King.....I don't think my children will ever have a clown at their Birthday parties. Oooooo, speaking of which, remember Pet Sematary--when the little boy gets hit by the big truck. Ouch! Or when he slices the back of the old man's ankles???? Ick!

Hell yeah I can't wait to see TBWP!!! I am still afraid of the dark when I'm alone because I know there are spirits out there and I just wait for them to come attack me one day. I know that TBWP will scare the sh*t outta me because it deals with spirits, darkness, woods, and the unknown. What the hell could be scarier???? (well other than a clown)

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

I think the hotel room in The Shining was 237.

Anyway, I just remembered last night how much Twilight Zone the Movie scared the piss out of me. Remember when that kid punished his sister by taking away her mouth? Remember John Lithgow's reaction when he looked out the airplane window, saw the gremlin and turned around repeating, "There's something on the plane! There's something on the plane!" Ooh, I was in a plane at night when it was raining not too long ago and I'm always seated right over the damn wing. I thought I was gonna pull a Lithgow. I pointed out to Eric that when you sit in that seat you can't see right below you, and that you can only see in front, so something could just pop right up like in the movie.

Eric said, "No, I can see right under us, just fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah, here, maybe you're too short. Get your head as tall as mine and lean in."

When I smacked my head on the plane window he just leaned back and giggled. "The gremlins made you hit your head."

Ha, ha. Let's all laugh at my irrational fear.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

I saw the Blair Witch Project last night -- I knew that it was all fake, but no more than that, and I'm glad. I think the less you know about it, the better. I didn't even read squishy yesterday because I didn't want to read any spoilers. But either way, it will still scare the crap out of anyone -- but you also laugh a lot too, although much of it is nervous laughter at the end from being so scared. It was unnerving in so many ways -- I've been thinking about it all morning, while frantically reading through all the articles I didn't want to read before I saw the movie. See it as soon as it comes out -- before people start talking about it.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

I don't remember the name of itm but there was this movie about a family that lived in this huge spooky house and the dad was really whacked out - like there was this scene where he takes the kid swimming in the in-ground pool or something and tries to kill him, and then there's this grandma character who lives in an upper room or something, but the SCARIEST part of all was this damned chauffer - he was dressed all in black and wore a black hat with a visor or something, and when he would look at the camera, he'd never say a word, but would be smiling this huge evil grin - i still pee my pants when i remember that chauffer and his grin.....

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

Did anyone else ever see "Watcher in the Woods"? It's scary as hell, which is weird, considering it's a Disney movie. It involves this woman who's being haunted by a girl who disappeared thirty years ago. At one point, she's fixing herself up in front of a mirror and bends over to get something, and when she straightens up, her reflection's gone. Then the bottom of the mirror cracks, and the face of a young girl appears in the cracks, mouthing, "Help me." (The face is also blindfolded, for various reasons, which adds a really freaky touch.) My eighth grade English teacher showed this to us on Halloween, and it freaked out one girl so badly she couldn't look into a mirror for months. Her mother was spitting mad about it, and wanted the school to reprimand the teacher. I keep meaning to see it again; it's a pretty good movie.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

nobody else here developed insomnia from "invasion of the body snatchers?" the truly chilling original, not either of the garish remakes. in which pods grow in front of your house and if you fail to cut them down before you go to bed you are replaced by a heartless alien duplicate.

at least, in the "nightmare on elm street"- induced insomnia, you have a fighting chance to battle evil in your dream. face to grotesque face. you might even make evil feel bad, using psychological tricks. but "invasion of the body snatchers"--you're battling sleep itself. once you submit, it's over, your loved ones have to contend with your soulless, lobotomized double, if they haven't been invaded themselves.

those the secret rats of nimh, they gave me the creeps, scheming and leaning over their chemicals as they were. that was a more momentary horror, though.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

You know, pamie, if you haven't seen the original Twilight Zone episode where none other than WILLIAM SHATNER looks out his window to see the gremlin on the wing - you haven't been really scared! Especially since it's, you know, Captain Kirk and he looks out and there's this little guy in a monkey suit hopping around on the plane and sort of pulling on things and trying to break the plane or something. Shatner gives the ultimate Shatner performance in glorious black-and-white melodrama.

He is leering around trying to convince everyone about the monkey on the wing and no one believes him and he is the only one that sees it. When I first saw this, as a kid, I remember thinking: "What does the monkey have against that guy?" you know, because I couldn't figure out why he would appear only to the one guy and try to bother him. I can honestly remember asking my dad, "Why would a monkey be on a plane anyway?" I was trying to deflect attention from my growing anxiety, because it was scaring me, even though I found it confusing. This is something I do whenever I get scared - I over analyze the situation in order to convince others that I am not losing my cool.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

Man, just reading about and remembering all these scary movies has me way creeped out. My hands are actually trembling a little as I type this!

Why do we love to scare the pee out of ourselves? I totally dig creepy movies, especially the ones that are more psychological, that don't show you everything but let you use your imagination. I love to feel my heart race in that great scary-movie fight-or-flight way!

I can't believe no one has mentioned any vampire movies. Really good ones (not like "Bram Stoker's Dracula" -- although the first time I saw it I enjoyed it -- until I read the book and watched it again) always scare to death for some reason. A great, terrifying one is the original "Nosferatu," the old silent (?) film from the '30s (?) with the vampire with the bald head and long arms, and those scary fangs in the front of his mouth... Oh, man, that guy still gives me major nightmares! Almost anything good/creepy with vampires I love, although there are a lot of BAD vampire movies. "Salem's Lot" was a pitiful movie, but the book was scary as hell! I was reading that in the middle of a bright, sunny afternoon in college, and just by knocking on my door my neighbor scared me so bad I thought I was literally going to have a heart attack.

Speaking of Stephen King, I think they ruin his books when they turn them into movies (with a few notable exceptions such as "Shawshank Redemption" and "Stand by Me). "The Shining" did not scare me even 1/10 of how much the book did. It was good, and all my friends loved it and were terrified by it, but it didn't do too much for me for some reason. "Carrie," however, was one of those rare King movie exceptions -- especially the ending!!! You know something has to happen, because they're playing that sweet music, but you don't know what's coming, and when it does -- YEOW! I jumped straight out of my chair the first time I saw it, and it still makes me jump today, even though the rest of it's not as scary to me now.

"Poltergeist" probably got my adrenaline going more than any other movie before or since. I literally was in my boyfriend's lap in the movie theatre! The first two "Alien" movies were pretty good scare- wise too. "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" (the first of the series only!) also scared me but good.

But I think one of the scariest films ever has to be "The Exorcist." Damn, that movie got to me. Friedkin did such a good job creating the atmosphere; there was an incredible balance between the silence and then the pounding piano of the soundtrack; and there was just something about it having to do with God and The Devil, and having priests in it and stuff, that made it seem... I don't know, more real? And somehow scarier than any monster ever created. I watched it at a Halloween party last year, and all of us were totally freaked by the end of it -- hearts pounding, scaring the crap out of each other in the dark, and jumping a mile everytime someone knocked on the door!

I never saw "Trilogy of Terror" until recently; my hubby kept telling me how much that part with Karen Black and the little voodoo-doll- creepy-statue thing scared the crap out of him when he was a kid. Of course I had to make fun of him when I finally saw it, but I had to admit it was pretty scary.

But Hitchcock is The Master. I remember watching "The Birds" on TV at a friend's house when I was about 12 or 13, then riding my bike home in the dark afterwards. A giant moth flew in my face on my way home and I nearly wrecked! Then I scared the crap out of my little brother when I got home, because he'd been watching it too; he didn't hear me come in the back door, so when I walked in the room and made a noise he jumped out of his skin. "Vertigo" is a masterpiece. "Psycho" is the original creep-out. All of his movies succeeed at messing with my mind and scaring the pee out of me!

But does anybody remember a really stupid horror movie that was set at a carnival or county fair or something? These kids bet each other that they can't spend the night in the fun house (?), and some deformed guy goes around killing them? I know it's the stupidest movie ever made, but it scared me to death! Nice & gruesome too, which is usually unnecessary for me, but the way the bad guy gets it is totally gross and somehow sickly satisfying.

I can't WAIT for "TBWP." (I'm about to go nuts right now, waiting for my friends to call me back and tell me which show they can go to so I can go get our tickets.) I know good and well it's fake, but I think I'm going to wear a Depends, just in case!

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

Definitely the Exorcist! I can't watch it to this day (like Pamie)... i remmber when i saw it I had the same nightmare 4 days in a row and they were all about that chic on there... oh god it scared the crap out of me.

I want to see TWBP sooo bad! I have a friend who actually has the movie on tape (he knows people). I havent seen it and i refuse to watch the tape cuzi wanna see it on the big screen. Anyway he's a real macho kinda guy and he said he couldnt sleep that night after watching it so I definitely have to see it.

Also the Twilight Zone monky plane thing scares the crap out of me.. you know how the SIMPSONS did a related story to that for the halloween special? Well that one doesnt really scare me but it does give me the creeps a little. (the one where bart sees a gremlin on the side of a schoolbus)... shiver shiver... But one thing i have to say is I LOVE haunted houses.. well the ones they make up at halloween anyway. When I was in college in Bloomington, Indiana there was this one at some frat place or something and me and 3 other girls went and I swear I came out of that place screaming and yes.. even almost peed in my pants....

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

Dang, y'all, I didn't realize I'd written such a long post. Guess you asked a good question, pamie! Sorry! ;)

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

Absolutely the scariest movie EVER is The Shining. I go ape if I even think about those 2 little creepy freaky girls. *shiver*

Close seconds would be Silence of the Lambs and The Haunting.

I have totally avoided watching the Exorcist cuz I know I would be peeing my pants with fear.

Ok, prolly just embarassed myself BIG TIME for admitting that, but oh well.

AND this Blair Witch Project thing? The *commercials* scare me, for pete's sake!

Think I will have to rent this one and spend the entire time in my hubby's lap - I might have a panic attack in the theater!!!

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

Chickengrrl, that movie in the funhouse is called "The Funhouse" -- it's by Tobe Hooper, and it is kinda creepy.

I've been dying to see Blair Witch for months! I'm afraid to read any more about it because I know it will lose its impact. It opens this weekend in L.A. -- I can't wait!

I love to get really scared, but not many movies will do it. I rented Repulsion on a Friday night when I was going to be alone in the apartment all weekend, and it left me freaked out for two days. That was bad. Every time I lay down in bed, the scene where the man appears out of nowhere and assaults Catherine Deneuve ... in bed ... while she's alone in the apartment ... kept popping into my head.

Nightmare on Elm Street really scared the first time I saw it. It was so convincingly dreamlike, and some of those images -- like when his arms extend waaaay out so he can drag his claws across the fence and make them screech -- were way too hard to get out of my head.

Does anyone remember a really stupid movie called "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark"? It scared me into fits as a kid -- it had the exact opposite effect of its title.

Why do we like to be scared so much? Does it give us a chance to learn to control those emotions in a safe environment? If so, it hasn't really worked for me ... I can still scare the piss out of myself.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

The "Night of the Living Dead" scared the piss out of me when I was 10. Afterward my friend and I went to her house, we asked her mom what was for dinner and it was LEG OF LAMB. Needless to say, we didn't eat that night.

Alien also scared the hell out me. We went to the matinee and it was totally pitch dark in the theater. My friend grabbed my shoulder in the dark, I swear I jumped up about 2 feet.

Can't wait to see this new BWP flick. Should be fun.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

....okay, so i'm a cliche: the shinning

...the first and last film my father was ever allowed to rent from the video store for "family night with the masons"...to this day i remember my mother going, "you got WHAT?!! glenn, this scared the shit out us when we were in our twenties!" and my father saying, "i know -- the kids are going to love it!".......for months afterwards my brother would tormenet me by crooking his finger and saying "REDRUM"...to this day the lipstick mirror scene still makes me want to piss myself....

...second cliche: nightmare on elm street

...why?...because when you have a nightmare about freddy you can't rationalize that nothing will happen...to this day i remember i had a nightmare while at a sleepover...i had fallen asleep looking at a picture of my friend and her sister in their confirmation [read: white] dresses that was hanging on the wall...next thing i remember i was dreaming and there they were skipping rope and singing, "one, two, freddy's coming for you...."...*shiver*...

...by the way, i noticed that the blair witch project is opening at one of my fav. theaters in san francisco....hopefully i'll manage to get a seat...

cheers, pamie-o

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

...umm...duh, make that the SHINING....the shinning would be a whole different set of scary, no?....

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

But "The Shinning" if you remember was the Simpsons' take on the film.

GROUNDSKEEPER WILLY
Bart! You've got the Shinning.

BART
Dude, don't you mean the Shining?

GROUNDSKEEPER WILLY
Shutup, boy! You want to get us sued?

Another gem line: "That's funny, the blood usually gets off on the third floor"

Oh, the Simpsons. Gotta love 'em.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

...the only moment i remember in that episode is when the twin girls call after little bart "come play with us, bart...play with us, forever"...someone mentioned that "shining" scene above -- that scene still scares the shit out of me too...and makes me distrust young twin girls who dress alike...

...i don't like clowns much either...

...but that is really a product of stephen king's IT....that book kept me awake many, MANY nights...OH, and they did a shitty made-for- TV version in the eighties with john ritter (sp?) from three's company...that however, made me laugh my ass off...even so, everytime pennywise the clown came on screen, i'd apparently wimper...

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

OMG Cassie!!! That movie was called "Burnt Offerings"!!! geeee....thanks for bringing that scary ass movie up.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

heheh, way back there someone mentioned "the trilogy of terror"-- i saw that awhile ago at a party. everyone still makes jokes about that zuni (or was it zulu?) fetish doll you mentioned. he had the most frickin' hilariously frightening teeth! ayiyiyiyiyiyi! *tiny knife searches for female feet under the bathroom door* the rest of the 'trilogy' was pretty forgettable, but it was that damned fetish doll, christ, that was beautiful. oh, there is another trology, i'm told. i would've stayed to watch it, but i had to go home and sleep so as to be coherent while taking my sat's.

i don't usually watch horror flicks - i always forget what i ought to be renting when i get to a video store - but i'm thinking the shining, the exorcist, etc. are gonna be next. heh. i always planned to watch them, really, i swear..

and as for blair witch.. i'll admit i was taken in, except for wondering why the hell a show about a 'documentary' would be on the science FICTION channel. oh well. looks fascinating.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

oh dude.. pamie.. the twilight zone... family without mouths... almost forgot that one.. creepy... how would they eat???? what if they got a cold? how would they breath?? that cruel, cruel boy.... twilight zone allways freaked me out when i was younger... remember the one about the box? i think it had a button on it, and if you pressed it someone else in the world that you didnt know would die, and you would get a bunch of money?? then at the end on the episode (after much deliberating they pushed the button).. the guy comes and picks up the box to take it to someone else in the world that THEY dont know?? (insert creepy twilight zone music here)

-- Anonymous, July 15, 1999

Paul, I can't believe you said that about the Bitches With Problems BWP! I thought I was the only one who remembered that -- and the first post I saw about "BWP" had me thinking "What does a chick rap band have to do with scary movies?" I still think of them whenever I see a license plate with those letters.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 1999

OK. At 18, I'm fascinated by really creepy films. We're not talking about gore or sensationaistic films like the Freddy series, Halloween or even some silly science fiction series of weird aliens.

The thing tha really bothers me most about these postings is that people seem to be confusing "creepy" films with "horor" films. The difference being emotionally probing psychological examination versus blood and gore and psuedo scary theme music. I'm not very impressed with people who think Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer are examples of either good movie making, or of a really creepy movie. Sure, they're fun and I liked thm, but for anyone to be scared by those silly mocking films is absurd. If you really want to be scared out of your wits, then watch the movies on my list...alone...in a secluded cabin in the middle of a woods, far from anyone else...at three in the morning. Tell me your skin won't crawl!

For the older crowd, I remember my parents and older sibs telling me about Creature Feature...the old midnight series that would scare the shit out of teen aged girls home alone, or babysitting while watching Frankenstein meest theWolf Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon or Dracula.

For an awesome list of creepy movies, go here: http://www.abulsme.com/creepy/ccvidae.html

The best creepy films involve an element that makes one lose control of their rational ability to decern that they are just watching a movie; loss of breathe, wrapping arms around knees, biting lips while your eyes grow wide open. What makes my skin get goose bumps and raise the hair on my arms? What literally makes me so freaked out that I have to turn off the movie in the middle because I'm so disturbed...only to be consumed thinking about the images in the film?

Well, here's a small list of REALLY creepy films:

1. The Omen (Richard Donner, dir.) 2. Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, dir.) 3. Se7en (David Fincher, dir) 4. Cloest Land (Radha Bharadwaj dir.) 5. Fritz Lang's M (Fritz Lang, dir.) 6. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, dir.) 7. The Stranger (Orson Wells, dir.) 8. The Haunting (Robert Wise, dir.) 9. Rope (Alfred Hitchcock, dir.) 10. Pit & The Pendulum (Roger Corman, dir.) 11. The Shinning (Stanely Kubrick, dir.) 13. The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick, dir)

-- Anonymous, July 16, 1999

The best creepy films involve an element that makes one lose control of their rational ability to decern that they are just watching a movie; loss of breathe, wrapping arms around knees, biting lips while your eyes grow wide open. What makes my skin get goose bumps and raise the hair on my arms? What literally makes me so freaked out that I have to turn off the movie in the middle because I'm so disturbed...only to be consumed thinking about the images in the film?

Well, here's a small list of REALLY creepy films:

1. The Omen (Richard Donner, dir.) 2. Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, dir.) 3. Se7en (David Fincher, dir) 4.Closet Land (Radha Bharadwaj dir.) 5. M (Fritz Lang, dir.) 6. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, dir.) 7. The Stranger (Orson Wells, dir.) 8. The Haunting (Robert Wise, dir.) 9. Rope (Alfred Hitchcock, dir.) 10. Pit & The Pendulum (Roger Corman, dir.) 11. The Shinning (Stanely Kubrick, dir.) 13. The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick, dir.)

-- Anonymous, July 16, 1999

Even before when I was too young to supposedly be able to pick up on its sinister aspects, "Peter Pan" always gave me the creeps. Not a 'jump out of your seat' scare, but the sort of thing that just makes you distrust the world.

I don't know why, but 'Vertigo' never did much to me. On the other hand, I remember actually being freaked out by 'Something Wicked This Way Comes,' which in retrospect was probably a little stupid but boy did it keep me up nights.

-- Anonymous, July 16, 1999

AAAHHHH!! Saw "Blair Witch" yesterday. Dreamt about it all night. Great creepy movie. Spooked me but good! (But try not to read TOO much about it before you see it.) Wish I'd had my Depends...

-- Anonymous, July 18, 1999

Do you know - I'd entirely forgotten about Seven, despite the fact that it must have been the last scary film I've seen.

I was terrified by that film. I woke up at 3 am the morning after seeing it, and had to turn my light on. The guy who'd been tied to his bed scared me - I couldn't get the image of him coming to life out of my head.

The scariest bit was the thought that some writer, who is no doubt considered sane and balanced by all who know him, could come up with such horrid ideas. Disturbing stuff.

Hey - I must have been blanking it out! Cool mental control stuff!

-- Anonymous, July 19, 1999

I saw Blair Witch Project last night... ohmygod... I haven't been that freaked out in a long time. I got a little nauseous with all the camera movement, but I know that wasn't what was causing my heart to beat so fast. The worst part isn't the movie itself -- it's freaking yourself out about it afterward. Woo my...

There were about 400 people at the Dobie standing in line to get tickets yesterday. It's the only theater in Austin showing it and it's on three screens. It's sold out every show since Friday and according to the wires, it's been averging like $57,000 a screen, FIVE TIMES what Eyes Wide Shut is making, at only 27 theaters. It opens wide at the end of the month. Catch it before you hear anything else about it. Oh and the Sci Fi channel special is pretty damned good too.

o.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 1999

Have I mentioned at any point that if I didn't have Internet access I wouldn't even know The Blair Witch Project existed?

It is entirely unheard of in England and has not been in the least bit promoted.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 1999

does anyone out there remember that made-for-tv movie, trilogy of terror? each installment starred karen black and was pretty weak except for the third segment, which was about this creepy little tiki-doll with big teeth that somehow comes to life. i can't describe it to someone who hasn't seen the movie, but it was the most terrifying thing i have ever seen on film/video.

i got really high and watched that movie on usa's night flight back when i was in high school. i freaked out hardcore, wrapped myself in a blanket, locked myself in my bedroom and called my water-polo coach because i was terrified. i admitted that i had smoked some pot and he said, "hey, you know, i know how you feel. when i was a little kid, i smoked one of my dad's pall-malls and i got really sick."

...um...i don't want to talk about this anymore.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 1999

blair witch, indeed, lived up to its hype ... it scared me into not wanting to ever go camping again. and an out of town friend, who was in baltimore for the weekend and saw it with me, admitted that he spent the night not looking to the right or left of him as he slept in my basement, terrified of seeing someone in the room with him. just thinking about that makes me get goosebumps again.

how i know it was a good, damn scary movie: when the credits rolled, i realized that i had been holding my breath and hadn't even noticed.

(the camera motion did make me a bit sea sick, however.)

-- Anonymous, July 19, 1999

Man, you guys are evil.

Since my best friend is away on vacation and I've been playing catch up in reading, I was in the mood this weekend to rent some movies. "Oh, I'll just get a couple of comedies for a good time", I thought.

But noooooooooooooo. I remembered this topic and everyone discussing the movies that scared the shinola out of them and I began to wander into the horror section. Thanks a pantsload, guys!

I ended up looking for "The Shining" because I wanted to see it again. It was out, but I spotted "Poltergiest" and "The Exorcist". "Hey! I haven't seen those in a decade." So to refresh my memory, I rented those two.

I got home and invited my roommate to sit down and watch it with me. I thought if I wasn't scared, maybe she'd make me laugh.

"Poltergiest" was not scary. I'm sorry, folks, but I was laughing at half of the movie. It's kind of funny. Except for the clown scenes. I'll agree with everyone. I believe I hate clowns, now. Especially toy ones. Anyone remember seeing the Michael Douglas movie "The Game"? There was a retarded clown in that one, too.

Now, "The Exorcist". It was sort of creepy... I agree with what someone else said earlier... the mixture of the silence and the piano pounding made for a very good atmosphere. But... I gotta say... the movie wasn't near as scary as I thought it was.

Oh yeah. I screwed myself up big time. I kept thinking, "where's George C. Scott??" Ever do that to yourself? You remember an old movie and you forget that the actor/actress is in the sequel instead. ARGH. I kept thinking at the end, "uh, okay, Merrin (Max Von Sydow) is dead. So where's old George?" D'oh!!

Oh well. Another movie I thought of recently that I felt was more scary, was Amityville II.

Anyone ever play the computer game 7th Guest? I'm wondering if Pamie and Eric have... the voice freaked me out at times... yeeeeow! I bought The Eleventh Hour (the sequel) but haven't bothered to complete it yet.

P.S. In my previous post, I made a mistake in naming the movie I was describing a scene. It was supposed to be "Alien", not "Aliens". How easy to confuse the titles, bleah.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 1999

Yeah, Blair Witch Project is definitely up there as far as scary films go. And Omar's right, you freak yourself out a lot more after it's over. The great thing is that it's your imagination of what they're seeing that is so scary. I told this to my girlfriend, who wasn't that scared (she thinks reality-type stuff is scarier than ghosties, like serial killers or waking up one day in a mental asylum). She replied, "I guess your head is scarier than mine." Evidently, because doing Tae-Bo today I thought I saw a face in the window and literally got goosebumps. That's pretty hard to do when Billy's got you doing doubletime swivel kicks.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 1999

Oh, yeah, I've played the 7th Guest and beaten it... I mostly found that man's Vincent Price wannabe voice annoying. This was back when it was amazing if it looked like talkin' pictures on your computer box.

Now I'm all spoiled with my Playstation, and if Silent Hill shows me one really cool David Lynch-y film and then follows it with crap animation and people talking without their bodies moving, I get really disappointed.

This really belongs on that video game thread...

-- Anonymous, July 20, 1999

More Blair Witch: my girlfriend was supposed to come over last night to hang out. At the last minute, she called:

Rebecca: I don't really want to drive right now.
Me: Why not?
Rebecca: Well, it's dark out. It's kinda late.
Me: You've driven in the dark before. What's the problem?
Rebecca: ...
Me: Is it because of the movie?
Rebecca: ...
Me: Do you think the Blair Witch is gonna getcha?
Rebecca: STOP IT! That's not funny!
Me: I'm sorry. Are you afraid of driving in the dark now? You know, the really weren't driving in the movie.
Rebecca: Yes, they were! At the beginning.
Me: Oh yeah.

The legacy of the Blair Witch: keeping couples apart. Thought of something the other day -- people are talking about Blair Witch he way our parents talked about Exorcist when that came out. Exorcist never really scared me all that badly, but this one is still giving me the heebie-geebies...

-- Anonymous, July 20, 1999

Well... I know I already made a posting about having seen TBWP, but....

I have to add something to my feelings about it. It didn't exactly SCARE the tar out of me, but it did CREEP the tar out of me. We went to Chuy's (the restaurant, not the guy!) afterwards, and I was still trembling a bit when I ordered my beer. (Maybe it was just low blood sugar? I don't think so!) I was feeling a little spooky that night, wouldn't pee without turning the light on (I don't always, because we have a nightlight), but not too bad. I dreamt about it, as I said before, but not really nightmares, just sort of re-playing it over and over in my head, remembering, taking the pieces apart (so to speak) and putting them back together. Then Sunday we watched "Curse of the Blair Witch" on Sci-Fi (pretty good!)... and Sunday night I had to go into our garage to get something out of my car, and I got all scared of the dark! I was really spooked for some reason. I actually made my hubby watch me walk into the garage from the back door. Then when I came back inside I saw a spider dangling at eye level (I can stand all kinds of creepy-crawlies, just NOT spiders! I'm terrified of them!), and thought I was either going to have a myocardial infarction or wet myself. Fortunately I did neither. But that is definitely the first (creepy) movie in a VERY long time to have such lingering effects.

I swear, since I saw the movie, I've been like a 6-year-old again, afraid of the dark!

-- Anonymous, July 21, 1999

okay - i didn't read every single posting, but am i the only one who has seen "Critters"? these little black fuzzyballs from space with HUGE mouths and nasty sharp teeth who land on earth and they start with cow mutilations and move one to eating this entire farm family? there's this one scene, where the eldest daughter and her boyfriend are making out in the barn (yes, in the hay) and they don't see (but you do) this little lack furry thing roll across the hay towards them and then it just launches itself at them and starts EATING THE GUYS STOMACH! and i remember, i was with my step-dad and step-brother and like 11 years old, and i just got up and ran out of the theatre! ever since then the memory of that scene just gives me this uncomfortable feeling in my stomach.

as for poltergeist - i can't remember which one - but the scene where i think it's the dad PUKES the evil guy up! and he grows into this half skeleton half tadpole thing all white with this slimey tail and scurries under the bed OH_MY_GOD i was gagging through the entire scene! and the one with the tree - the tree banging against the window during the storm; it was sooooooo creepy.

evil dead just made me laugh till i cried - and i was 9. all those play-doh effects!

-- Anonymous, July 21, 1999

Pardon me, Pamie.

I know 7th Guest is considered a video game, but I felt it was partially a movie and that it fell under the "what scares the tar out of you" part of the topic.

My bad.

-- Anonymous, July 21, 1999

Critters rocked! it had the faceless alien bounty hunter guys who could make themselves look like whoever they wanted and one of them chooses a British rocker who looks a lot like Tim Curry and the other one can't decide and so he just keeps changing into people from the town and they have these really cool guns that blow the critters up and then the critters are all stampeding the farm house and the mom shoots one of them with a shotgun and his little critter friend goes "%#$%^$#@%^!!," which they thoughtfully translate into subtitles as "Fuck!" Yeah, I vaguely remember that.

Oh, and it was Poltergeist 2 with Coach puking up the tequila worm that had grown into the creepy ghost preacher. My brother and I used to always mimick him "You're gonna die in there!" How do you know? "Because I'm smart." Ew, that still creeps me out a little bit.

-- Anonymous, July 22, 1999

I was also terrified of Willy Wonka when I was a kid. I had horrible horrible nightmares about the oopa loompas. They just gave me shivers down my spine. I can't believe that it's considered a classic movie for children!!!! I have a 7 year old, and I won't let him watch it. It's a terrible movie for kids. A lot of the aspects of the movie (not just the oompa loompas) are too frightening for children.

-- Anonymous, July 22, 1999

Uh, isn't this the question they ask you in Screan before they kill you? (I just saw Scream 2 on Showtime the other night).

In that case, Pee Wee Big Adventure was the scariest movie I've seen.

Yessiree, no neck-slashing of my neck going on here, thank you very much.

-- Anonymous, July 22, 1999

Oooooooooooo....what about the first "Children of the Corn?" I can't remember too many of the details, probably my mind protecting me, but I was scared to death of the creepy leader and the name "Malachai." Just the thought of those corn fields freaks me out now and makes me claustrophobic.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 1999

"The Hitcher" with Rutger Hauer and C Thomas Howell. It's the scariest movie ever. It was the first R movie I ever saw and I couldn't tell my parents I saw it, but I couldn't go to the bathroom because there was a window in it and The Hitcher was going to cut my fingers off. I never want to see that movie again.

-- Anonymous, July 31, 1999

The Hitcher! God that movie scared the doodoo out of me. I didn't think anybody had seen it. It kept me away from french fries for about a week.(what can i say? I love french fries) But i think the scariest movie I've ever seen is The Changling, which is actually a ghost story with George C. Scott. Watch it with the lights off, an open window and a big blanket to squirm under or to mop up the pee. Also those two Mongoloid twins in The Shining. Huuuhhuhh. They just creep m

-- Anonymous, August 01, 1999

I just got back from seeing The Blair Witch Project. Was anyone besides me sorely disappointed in it? I am scared of everything, even the new The Haunting scared me, but all TBWP did was make me sick to my stomach at the constant camera motion. I knew nothing about the movie itself, having diligently kept myself from all spoilers, but maybe I expected too much from all the hype. *sigh* And I wanted so badly to be scared out of my wits.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 1999

yeah, my friend was disappointed too, basically becasue she expected a whole lot. i was scared out of my mind. i've never been so terrified of seeing a blank screen in my life. it was great though, because my friends egged my gullibility on by saying it was based on a true story and stuff, plus i had been out of the country for 30 days so i had no idea what i was in for. i think it's a revolutionary film though.. and whoever was behind trying to make it believable (sci-fi/a&e programs.. i forget what channel) is a genius. i'm happy for the filmmakers too. its so much fun when you believe it. i went to see it again yesterday and there was a thunderstorm outside and the power went out TWO minutes before it ended!!!! i felt so sorry for those people!! though if there weren't any emergency lights i think i would have "shit my pants" as mike would say...

-- Anonymous, August 02, 1999

OK GODDAMMIT I have to speak up! Get over the motion sickness thing with The Blair Witch Project, you freaks! This is a device that conveys the fact that we are watching RAW footage that was buried under a 100 year old house. If you want a "smooth" movie experience, watch every other damn movie ever made. The twitchiness of the shots is part of what makes this movie unique! In fact, I daresay that the "shitty" cinematography should put this film into consideration for Best Cinematography this year at the Oscars. You see, if you don't like the camera work in this movie, YOU ARE MISSING THE FRIGGING POINT, DUNCES! That CAN'T be a bad point to this movie because it is part of what makes the plot work. It's called REALISM, folks, like you've never seen it before. The acting PLUS the format make this movie into one of the best ever made. And if you expecting the traditional scare out of this movie, get over that, too. This is a "buildup" sort of movie that relies on ALL its parts, not just on the disjointed scare power of each of its constituent parts. What are you people, San Antonians????

-- Anonymous, August 09, 1999

Let it never be said that Chito isn't passionate.

-- Anonymous, August 09, 1999

Sorry, but I guess that last post was mostly for Glitterbeam.... But if we supporters don't stop talking about the camera movement, all the dunces will use that as an excuse to not like this movie. If you liked this movie, the camera work shouldn't have mattered to you.

-- Anonymous, August 09, 1999

I can't believe nobody has mentioned "carrie", one of the best scary flicks. what a cast (sissy spacek, piper laurie, john travolta)! and it's so damn well-made, maybe the best thing Brian DePalma's done.. also i have to agree that Children of the Corn is scary as hell. When I went away to college in Ohio, i ended up wandering oput among the cornfields at night. never do this. I think cornfields at night are scary anyway, but thinking of "he who walks between the sheaves" sent me running for the road with my heart in my throat. eek.

-- Anonymous, August 09, 1999

Yeah, but Chito, I take better home videos than that. And it was bad from the get-go, not just when they were supposed to be scared. Sorry for not "getting it" (although I did assume they made it that bad on purpose -- no film student could possibly hold a camera that badly, could she?) but the film had me ready to puke within ten minutes.

-- Anonymous, August 13, 1999

***Sigh***

-- Anonymous, August 13, 1999

Chito, quit yelling at people who got motion-sick in BWP. It doesn't help anything. Last night I had to keep my eyes closed (or look up at the ceiling to catch the action in peripheral vision) for most of the movie so I wouldn't lose my dinner. I spent $15 so my husband and I could be scared, and instead we were sickened (I more than he). I feel really ripped off, so don't tell me to 'get over it.'

Once we got home and had some tea to settle our tummies, my husband and I talked about the movie. We figure that the problem was the cameras. First off, I don't know if video cameras had motion- stabilization in 1994, but even if they didn't, I sincerely doubt that anyone would have called it an anachronism if the actors hadn't turned off the motion-stabilization feature (which cameras would have had by the time the movie was filmed). Second off, the actors took 2 cameras into the woods--one VHS, and one 16mm. Most of the footage used was filmed on Heather's VHS camera (the color footage as opposed to the black & white), and that was the footage that made me feel so rotten. Since VHS is 15 frames/second, interlaced, jerky footage is even more disorienting than it would have been on the 16mm camera, which I think is 24 frames/second. So if the filmmakers had been smart, they would have sent the trio into the woods with two 16mm cameras instead.

I'm not asking for steadicams or anything similarly unrealistic. I just think, if you're going to make a movie that's primarily hyped by word-of-mouth, there's no point in sickening most of your audience. After last night, I'm sure not going to recommend it to *my* friends.

(But enough about nausea and cameras--what about the movie, you say? It was a nice showcase for three method-actors (and the acting was fairly believable. We really liked Heather), but sort of an overhyped shaggy-dog story. )

-- Anonymous, August 16, 1999

my dad used to rent scary movies on the sundays we were visiting... "the other" was the ONE movie we HAD to turn off, it was so frightening. it's a hard movie to find, and it's really sick. something about a dead evil twin boy making the live good twin do evil things. and a baby in a jar.

-- Anonymous, December 30, 1999

I've been a fan of horror movies (the 'gore' movies too) since I was a little kid. My first scary movie was "The Blob." The original in b&w. I could only have been 2 or 3 at the time, but I remember that I saw it, and it gave me nightmares for over a decade afterwards. I'd dream that the Blob was coming after me, and I'd try to chop it up, but then I'd just have lots of little blobs chasing me.

When I was 8 or 10, I saw "Phantasm" at a friend's house (though I din't know what it was called until many years later). All I remembered was the killer spheres, a giant spider-like thing attacking the boy, and the scene where the undertaker's fingers get slammed in a door, cut off, and formaldehyde spurts out of his hand. Being a little kid, I had no idea what that stuff was and thought it was watery mustard. I watched the movie later in my teens, and laughed at what had scared me before.

Classic scary moments (most have already been mentioned by others): Freddy Krueger, the chest bursting scene in "Alien," most of "The Shining," the clown from "It," most of "Se7en," and "Sixth Sense."

There's another movie I love, and I've blanked on the title. It's about this girl who falls asleep and has a series of dreams about wolves. It's got this whole Little Red Riding Hood theme to it. At the end she wakes up, and a pack of wolves burst through a window.

I saw BWP, and I was disappointed. Though the jittery didn't make me motion sick, I just didn't find it scary.

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2000

Poltergeist scared the bejeezus out of me when I was about 11 or so. The second one was so bad it was funny, and I didn't see the third. Um... recently, Event Horizon freaked me out. The chick with no eyes, mostly. And a couple of scenes from Stir of Echoes still give me the shiv

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2000

Comrades! I am so excited to see that all my favorite scary movies have been listed. I was practically dying to get to the end of the postings so I could list "Watcher in the Woods." That was a perennial sleepover fave. Bette Davis was in that, remember??? After we saw that movie, we did seances on the playground at recess. The saddest thing was that we went to Catholic school. Oh! The sacriledge!

Another party winner was Sleepaway Camp. The ending penis shot was one of those things where you'd look at your friends to judge their reactions to subtly find out if what you thought you saw was what you really did see.

But the scariest movies of all time are 1)Night of the Living Dead, 2)Invasion of the Body Snatchers (orig.) and 3) Salem's Lot. No doubt. Any movie about some demonic force sweeping the town and getting everyone but you is a winner. I STILL have nightmares about that stuff.

Apparently, Night of the Living Dead was tres Blair Witch when it came out. It was filmed outside Pittsburgh for practically no money by a couple of brothers. It became the toast of the Horror world. How do I know that? ...

In college I took an elective literature course called "The History of Horror." (Yeah-- for CREDIT!) The prof was this totally scary dude who is the world's leading researcher on Dracula. He's the guy that came up with and proved the thesis that Drac was a real guy, the Romanian prince, Vlad the Impaler, who killed lots of people and once or twice dipped his bread in their blood. You may have seen this guy on TV-- around Halloween the talk shows like to book him.

Anyway, the class was great; we read classic horror texts like Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Then we moved on to more good stuff, and we watched scary movies like The Shining and Nightmare on Elm Street. In Class! We talked about why they were so good and why people like scary movies so much. Our prof said it's because they remind us of our own mortality, and they make us appreciate life more. Whatever. All I know is I got an A and got to watch a good movie every Tuesday for a semester.

-- Anonymous, February 03, 2000

Another addition to a long-dead topic which no one will see, but whatever. :)

Poltergeist was the first horror movie I ever saw, and I was in high school and had been told it was no big deal. Which is true, it's not-- unless it is the FIRST horror film you've ever seen. I was creeped out beyond belief and embarrassed about it to boot. Whee.

I'm sure if I saw it now, I'd mock myself.

E.T. freaked me out, too, and I was far too old for that to happen, but hey, aliens of any sort freak me out, even if they are friendly botanists. I have a love-hate relationship with the X-Files as a result, and am not kept awake anymore, but it's a definite hot button phobia.

"The Shining" sacred me more as a book, and I read it in broad daylight with my family in the house with me. The movie was creepy, but the book was scarier. The topiary chasing the kid down to the porch, then he BARELY gets inside and when he nervously looks out the window of the door, expecting to see the bush monsters (gad that sounds lame, I know) looking in on him, there's nothing there and so he convinces himself he was freaking out and that nothing happened because the topiary doesn't look like it's moved...then he sees the gashes in his coat from the 'claws' of the topiary lion. *shriek!*

M

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

Poltergeist sure scared the bejeezus outta me when I was eight; that remains one of the biggest cinematic frights I've ever experienced. Halloween is certainly a classic, but I was far too old for it to really scare me, which is unfortunate because I was actually alive when it came out.

The last time I was actually scared in a movie was--that's right-- The Blair Witch Project. Real or no, it was spooky as hell. Anyone who missed that at the theater definitely missed out.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

I haven't really been scared of any movie since I was a kid (except one, I'll point it out at the end). There were a bunch of movies that scared me when I was young, but I can't remember all of them right now. Three movies that come to mind: Superman III, the part where Vera gets trapped by the giant computer and turns into a robot. I had many nightmares about that scene. Also, Return to Oz scared me, especially the part where the lady with removable heads finds out that Dorothy had escaped and her head just freaked me out when it started calling out her name. "The Day After" also gave me nightmares (as most kids or anyone else would have after seeing it), but I've seen the movie several times subsequently and it just isn't scary anymore.

Okay, here's the one movie that still scares me: "Threads". It's a BBC production about a fictional nuclear war, but for some reason it's scarier than "The Day After" and still scary now. I saw most of it on TV way back when I was about eight, but I didn't know the title of the movie then. I happened to see it again earlier this year and suddenly remembered that it was the same movie that I had seen such a long time ago. It's just very disturbing, plus it really could happen unlike all of those fictional horror movies.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001