Last week I received a $15 credit from Amazon Canada. It was from folks clicking through Surf Report links and buying stuff. And I’m always appreciative, of that. Thanks, guys! Sincerely.
But the Canada credits are sometimes a challenge. It seems like 75% of the stuff I’m interested in buying will not ship the United States, for some unknown reason. Like ballpoint pens, for instance. Or flashlights. Also, they bend you over a couch with their international shipping fees. You can’t use the credit at Amazon dotcom, you have to use it at Amazon dotca. So, the shipping on a CD, or whatever, is sometimes ten bucks or more. Then, when it arrives, you can see that it originated from a place like Binghamton, New York. WTF??
I was enjoying a few adult beverages last night, and decided to figure out a way to spend that credit, which was burning a hole in my virtual pocket. I love nice ink pens, and found one that was priced right. And it didn’t have the DOES NOT SHIP TO YOUR LOCATION disclaimer, which made me optimistic. So, I put it in the shopping cart, took it all the way to the end, and guess how much the shipping was? On a single ballpoint pen? That’s correct, $21. Sweet sainted mother of Jonas Grumby!
I messed around for an hour, without any luck, and was about to throw in the towel. Then I got an idea… How about one of those early HBO movies, on DVD? There are a handful from that era that I absolutely love. Two specifically: Black Christmas and Over the Edge. I’ve been meaning to buy those DVDs for years, and haven’t gotten around to it. They’ll be out of print, before I get off my riffled ass and procure ’em. So: great idea!
Over the Edge, which is a FANTASTIC movie, was priced too high. I could get it cheaper at dotcom, without a $15 credit. But I scored on Black Christmas! It ended up costing me just four bucks and some change. And it’s a new version with all sorts of bonus material, which I’ll watch. Hell yeah. I think I might’ve actually pumped my fist in a douchey manner, right here in the heart of our dining room.
That movie scared the living crap out of me, when I was 13 or 14. It appeared on HBO under the name Stranger In The House. I think they realized, a little too late, that the original title turns it into a Christmas movie. It takes place during the week of Christmas, but it’s not really a Christmas movie. So, it was a tactical error which they attempted to correct, after the fact.
Anyway, I’ve seen it many times and it’s still creepy and highly entertaining. It doesn’t scare me as much as it did in the 1970s, but it scares me a little. And I just love watching it, for some reason. There’s some kind of crazy magic in that flick, that I can’t put my finger on. Beyond nostalgia, which is part of it, of course.
So, I’m pretty excited. I should have it later in the week, and I can watch it around Halloween. It’s the movie that immediately jumps to mind, when somebody asks for the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. I realize it’s not on the same level as The Exorcist, or things like that. But, I can tell you this much… it almost caused a tiny pooplet to make an unscheduled appearance, the first time I saw it.
What movies have scared you the most? Not necessarily the BEST horror movies, but the ones that managed to push some kind of personal button with you? Please tell us about it in the comments.
And I’m going to work now. Another week of opportunities awaits!
I’ll see you guys again on Thursday.
Now playing in the bunker
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The Fog
(I probably saw that on Cinemax or HBO originally. It still scares me. )
Communion
(This one also scared me pretty good. It’s the movie with Christopher Walken in it.)
The original Friday the 13th movie was the first scary movie I saw at a theatre. I was 13 or 14 at the time. I was frightened out of my skull so much that to this day I avoid the entire horror genre.
I have $100 worth of gift cards that I found in my wallet an hour ago that are now burning a hole in my pocket. I went to Amazon but I also don’t want to spend them on junk I don’t need. Surplus money, such a hardship!
https://www.amazon.com/Hunters-Specialties-4-Ounce-Prime-Coyote/dp/B004QWRE3Y/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1392136837&sr=8-10&keywords=wolf+urine
SFW
love,
jtb
“The Shining” got to me. Nicholson is just sooo creepy.
Nicholson is a great actor. Kubrick is a great director. To this day, I’m surprised when an elevator door opens and blood doesn’t come pouring out.
I saw a movie called “It’s Alive” when I was nine or ten. Details are fuzzy now but it was about a mutant murder baby and I was afraid to put my feet down near my bed for a couple of months.
I do remember the milkman scene *shudders*.
I was going to post about this same movie. Saw it when I was about that age as well.
The delivery scene with the claws and the milkman scene are visuals I will never forget.
“It’s Alive” is a B-Movie gem. And the soundtrack is by Bernard Herrmann who did so much great work for Hitchcock.
“The Exorcist”, of course. I saw it opening weekend. My GF had to leave about 3/4 of the way through. While sitting around in the lobby I saw a young woman carried out in hysterics. At the time it was like no other movie ever made.
When I was about 10 or so, I caught “Rear Window” on TV – scared the bejesus our of me. Perry Mason was so creepy.
“Poltergeist.” The shaving scene where the guy tears his face off after finding a small razor nick really creeps me out, even more than a styptic pencil.
I was about 8 or 9 when I saw the first Terminator on HBO in or around 1985 . The idea of a unkillable robot from a war torn future scared me to death. And now it seems like Skynet is not to far away from happening in real life.
Bad Ronald, a cheesy 1974 TV movie. It just has the creepiest premise. A somewhat slow teenage boy gets agitated by the neighborhood kids on the way home from school. He pushes a girl, who falls and cracks her head on a street curb and dies. The boy’s parents hide him in a secret passageway behind the walls of their kitchen, where he spends all his time, and starts drawing on the walls and going insane. His parents sell the house and move, but leave the now crazy kid behind, inside the secret room. I’m Jeff’s age; I was 12 when I saw it, so it left an impression.
The Fog of War
jtb
I was a small kid all alone in the house when I watched a movie called Mr. Sardonicus. I’ve never been so terrified by a movie, before or since. I had missed the beginning, and it wasn’t until many years later that I found out the name. I ordered it and watched it again, and of course, it wasn’t all that.
As an adult, Jacob’s Ladder is the scariest, because it makes you feel almost as if you are suffering from some terrible mental illness. Skillfully made movie, but not a lot of fun.
I thought The Others was very effectively creepy when i first saw it; I wonder if it would still hold up?
A film called Grizzly (1976, I just IMDBed it) scared the crap out of me as a child. I remember being apprehensive about opening doors after watching it, because the bear hid behind them. I have not watched it as an adult – what if it scared the crap out of me again?!
I thought the Blair Witch Project was scary. Given the age I might have been tripping. Modern consensus seems to be that it’s hokey shite.
Jacob’s Ladder is a good call. I definitely watched that one high and that was heavy.
I don’t really remember being scared at the standard movie fair. I do remember two shows that disturbed my dream state which may be the same. The first was an X Files episode set in WV featuring an inbreed hillbilly family. The second was just a couple nights ago when I watched a Netflix affair “The Hateful Eight”. Somehow my mind needed to reprocess those two in the dream sleep mode.
I have to agree with Jeff – Black Christmas scared the bejesus out of me.
Halloween and Friday the 13th were disturbing. Psycho and The Birds gave me the willies as a young girl.
I just saw some weird movie called The Boy. All they had to do was show me a disturbing doll to creep me out.
I’m sure there are others! I used to watch a lot of scary movies.
The Evil Dead. I watched it in my early teens and the tree rape scene was traumatizing.
My father was a big time scary movie buff, so I grew up seeing movies, most parents today, would never allow their kids to see. Then again, movies back in the day weren’t nearly as graphic, but for spine tingling thrills they were very effective…
The Tingler = 1959 ( I was 4 yrs old when I saw this and though super campy today, it has some very scary scenes, even to this day )
Psycho = 1960
The Innocents = 1961 ( Probably my all time favorite )
The Haunting = 1963 version ( Next best )
Pretty much any movie by Mario Bava, particularly; Black Sabbath, Black Sunday and Castle of Blood
For modern times, in no particular order, I’ll go with:
The Exorcist
Rosemary’s Baby
Halloween
The Babadook
It Follows
Paranormal Activity
The Ring
The Woman in Black
Let the Right One In = 2008
Blair Witch Project ( Opinions are very divisive of this film. I thought it was great.)
The Witch ( Another film people either loved or hated. More creepy than scary and debatable as to supernatural goings on or the breakdown of an extremely religious dysfunctional family in dire circumstances in 1620 New England. )
This is a great list. “The Innocents” is one of the most frightening movies from that time period. It still holds up. “The Turn of the Screw” (Henry James story on which it was based) is also really scary.
“It Follows” was such a great concept. The inexorable relentlessness of the “badness” is stomach churningly upsetting. “Let the Right One In” was so bleak and despairing, it was a tough one. I think my stomach fell out of my ass during the ending, as I realized what exactly was happening.
“The Witch” was especially good. Black Phillip has his own Twitter account, and it’s hilarious.
“Sinister” messed me up, even though it has it’s cheeseball moments, and Ethan Hawke is such an annoying bastard generally. Anything with creepy super 8 film always gets me. Netflix has been releasing some great movies lately, in particular one called “I am the Pretty Thing That Lives in This House.” The music alone allows this movie to surpass many others.
Saw the original Night of the Living Dead when I was about 9 – terrified me. Ditto for some of the subsequent slasher flicks…Prom Night, Friday the 13th, Halloween. More recently, The Blair Witch Project, Final Destination, The Ring. Not a huge fan of the over-the-top gratuitous blood (i.e. I Spit on Your Grave).
Speaking of Kubrick: A Clockwork Orange disturbed me greatly when I first saw it, for the obvious reasons. Later, I realized how disturbing it was from an offhand comment from one of the minor characters: the reason they were using the Ludovico Technique was to free up jail cell space because it was needed for incoming political prisoners.
Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” scared the bejesus out of me as a little kid.
Carrie. When the hand came out of the ground at the end, I freaked out. It’s a one time thing, but it’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think about being scared at a movie. An overall fun watch still. Dirty pillows.
Night of the Living Dead. Filmed in my back yard. Evans City Pa.
I don’t think it really qualifies as a “horror” movie, but I honestly don’t ever recall being able to watch the original “Alien” movie in one complete sitting. I don’t know why it creeps me out so much, but it totally does! Same goes for Spielberg’s TV movie “Duel” with Dennis Weaver. No explanation was ever given as to why the truck driver went completely bonkers on him! That really bothered me somehow.
Almost any movie involving clowns, talking dolls and ventriloquists’ dummies also typically warrant a “code brown” rating for me!
Ever see “Killer Klowns From Outer Space”?
Agree with The Fog. And the original Amityville. And The Funhouse from 1981.
2 more I thought of:
An episode of Night Gallery with Roddy McDowell and Ossie Davis. Rody’s uncle dies under mysterious conditions, and Ossie, as the butler, messes with him with a painting of the family graveyard.
The other one we saw in school – Incident at Owl Creek – written by Ambrose Bierce about a confederate (? Civil War?) officer fleeing from the enemy to escape the gallows.
Both were very freaky.
Jaws really slowed down this water-rat.
I just spent the last hour trying to find the name of this movie that strikes a chord with me – The Prince of Darkness. 1987 John Carpenter. “A research team finds a mysterious cylinder in a deserted church. If opened, it could mean the end of the world. ” There is a scene with static radio transmission sounds that, I don’t know why, creeped me way out. still does.
Showgirls … sorry I had to do it. Its a quote from one of the Scream or Scary movies
I think the scariest movie I ever saw was the Exorcist.