Day 91: Getting ready for Halloween: Scary Movies

And I’m not talking about this farcical title, but the movies that have really made me jump out of my skin.

I do acknowledge the fact that most people will consider my selection childish, even naïve, mostly because the vast majority of grown-ups have been able to conquer their imaginations thus perfectly separating fantasy and make-believe from pedestrian reality. I do know the difference as well, but I cannot help letting myself go whenever I am watching any appealing story. Therefore, the impression made on my psyche by horror movies is by far more intense than others may perceive

The most frightening movies I’ve ever watched are:

1. The ring – 2002, Gore Verbinski (is that name for real?).
Although it was a remake from the Japanese “Ringu”, the visual effects and the unusual treatment of the ghost threat gave me the creeps for weeks. Even my husband, hardened as he is, couldn’t sleep well for three days. Imagine how I was affected. In fact, it was so scary that, to this day, I cannot gather enough courage to watch it again.

2. The Blair Witch Project – 1999, Daniel Myrick.
Honestly, I don’t care if most people regard this movie as a piece of crap. First time I saw it, I had a week’s worth of terrifying nightmares revolving around finding Josh.

3. Más Negro que la Noche (Blackest than Night) – 1975, Carlos Enrique Taboada.
In this movie, 4 friends move into the inherited house of a maiden aunt, with the condition of taking care of her cat. Unfortunately, one of them kills the cat, with the connivance of the other two, and the Aunt returns from the other world to take revenge on all of them, except her own niece, who manages to escape the haunted house by jumping over the fence. The scariest element was that the ghost was not bound to a single place, but managed to hunt the 3 friends one by one even at their working places.

4. The Hand that Rocks the Craddle – 1992, Curtis Hanson
In my opinion, a master-piece thriller. The possibility of unknowingly having the enemy inside your own home and how little nuisances can end up ruining family relationships.

5. Las Momias de Guanajuato – 1972, Federico Curiel.
I have mentioned this one a thousand times before. Enough said.

6. El Ataúd del Vampiro – 1958, Fernando Mendez.
Same as above.

6. The Exorcist – 1973, William Friedkin.
This is a very curious case, since I never got to see it when I was a child, but several of my former elementary school classmates did, and they said it was so frightening and evil I spent years fearing it, until my ex-boyfriend (now my husband) literally dragged me to see it on the anniversary theater release. And indeed I got disturbed enough to almost pee in my pants, until the last climatic scenes where Linda Blair’s head rotates and then the priest suicides (sorry for the spoiler). It was the ultimate incongruence of this sequence of events which broke the absence of incredulity, thus making me impervious to further influence, finally curing me of an unfounded fear, although I bet that, had I seen it at a younger age, I wouldn’t have been able to stand it.

If you ever get to see them, I do hope you enjoy getting scared as much as I did. Enjoy!

PS: Sorry there were no pics, but I haven't learned yet how to crop and paste them from other websites.