My love of the horror genre is well known. What I don't think is as well known is that most horror films,tv shows,books or comics do not scare me. Films like the Exorcist are considered one of the scariest films ever. But even seeing it as a young kid it didn't scare me. So here is a quick list of the top 5 horror films that scared me.
05.Candyman-Since the first time I saw this,the film has scared me. I already have a weird phobia. Where I can't be in a dark room,turn on the lights and be facing a mirror. Yeah I know I am strange. And Candyman hasn't lost its ability to scare me. I can not pinpoint exactly what it is in the film that frightens me so much. It might be the over all mood. Who knows.
04.Red State-The newest film on my list. I think what scares me the most about this film is there is plenty of people like the family in the movie. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the many churches in my area is similar to the church in the film. Believe me or not,but I have no real issue with anyone that is religious. It is when they try to force their views on me. Or want to pick and choose what parts of the Bible they want to follow.
03.Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974-The first movie and first horror movie I ever saw. And the young age of 3 at a drive in on the MS Gulf Coast. Almost 40 years later and this film still shocks me. I got a friend that ever since she saw this movie as a child she can't even hear the sound of a chainsaw with out tensing up. What makes the film so scary to me is it could really happen. The bit at the beginning about it being based on a real incident is bullshit. But the entire 10 years I lived in Southeast Texas I ran into so many people that not only claimed it was real. But that at a prison rodeo they got to see the person Leatherface is based on. Tobe Hooper did use small bits from a real life cannibal to inspire Texas Chainsaw. But that was Ed Gein and it happened in Wisconsin. Doesn't matter this movie still scares me even now after having had seen it at least 100 times.
02.Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer-Based loosely on Henry Lee Lucas and his killing spree with Otis Towe,Henry is a hard film to watch. It's bleak vision of what Lucas' life was like is so sleazy that after watching this film you feel unclean. Like it has left a black mark on you unconsciousness.Like with Texas Chainsaw this movie is scary because it could happen. We will never really know how many people Lucas killed. But even with the film being a fictionalized accounting of the events,it doesn't lose any of it's shock value. There has been quite a few times I was showing this movie to someone and they had me turn it off before the end. The mood and overall feel of the film was too intense for them to handle.
01.Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door-Based on the Sylvia Likens case,this story of madness in the 60s era suburbs is one brutal gut wrenching film.I saw the film without reading up on the true crime case it is based on. And before I read the Ketchum novel. Right near the end there is a scene involving a blowtorch that caused me to turn the film off. I was so shaken by what I had seen that I ended up going out for a walk to clear my mind. During the walk I kept thinking about the movie and wondering if I was going to finish it. I did finish it and since then I have watched it 3 or 4 times. One of those times I showed it to my father. Who after watching it had nightmares for over a week. Then I read up on the Likens case. After seeing how Jack Ketchum toned down the real events I figured nothing about this film or the novel would get to me. I was so wrong. I finally got the novel. Once I was home I settled down in my bed to read it. I read lots of horror fiction. From the common mainstream horror stuff like Stephen King and Dean Koontz to the more underground stuff like Ed Lee's Header or Wrath James White's Succulent Prey. But so far only one novel has gotten under my skin and caused me to put book down. While reading The Girl Next Door I ended up sitting it down 3 times. Each time I just couldn't handle how graphic the book was. And would wait a day or so before starting to read it again.
Well I hope yall enjoyed this list. Unless I calculate it wrong,when this appears by magic on my blog I should be out enjoying a fun Halloween. Have a safe and happy holiday everyone.
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