Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!

What's your favorite scary movie? I'm no good at "favorites" myself - just too indecisive, I suppose. But "Wait Until Dark" would certainly make any list of my, say, Best Ten. I have long heard of - but never seen - this interview with Alan Arkin in which he described how distressing it was for him to be mean to Audrey Hepburn, so it was fun to find a clip of it on YouTube and I decided to go with it instead of an actual clip from the movie. Bwaaaahahahahahah!

Well, for some reason, yesterday and today I have been unable to upload YouTube videos to my blog. So, in lieu of the video, here is the link.

UPDATE: This year's installation of the saga of The Headless Bikeman is not to be missed!

9 comments:

Mike Thomas said...

Invasion of the Body Snathers, the 1978 remake.
I was in junior high and my parents gave me a treat of going to the movies with my friends. I wanted to see "Force 10 From Navarone" with Harrison Ford fresh off of playing Han Solo, but I let my friends talk me into seeing Body Snatchers. BIG MISTAKE!
The scene where the homeless man goes to sleep with his dog next to an egg, the egg gets busted and the next day there is a dog with a man's head on it - that creeped me out for years. And the ending with Donald Sutherland screeching at the women was terrifying. Brrrrrr.

A few years later some friends dragged me to see Alien, but after the creature popped out of the guy's stomach I spent the rest of the movie averting my eyes from the screen. I've not actually "seen" the whole film to this day. I pretty much avoid horror movies now.

AnnPW said...

AVOID horror movies!? Oh no! I have always loved everything scary - it seems to be in my DNA: My mother loved to tell the story of the first time I laughed as a baby when my older brother sneaked up on my crib and shouted "Boo!"

Your two suggestions are great ones, too. I remember seeing The Time Machine in the theater and being terrified by the monsters with light-up eyes! But I always recovered quickly and was ready for the next scary thrill.

gypsy said...

I'm with AnnPW, "wait until..."is the most terryfying-on-the-edge throughout scary film I've ever seen. every single time she and I watch it together, I'm spooked all over again.
I am a light weight, fragile and sensitive; the monkeys in Wizard of Oz", and the birds in "The Birds" and the unknown man after Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird" all make me doubt my safety.

gypsy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gypsy said...

wait until dark. just you wait Ann! ...brahahahahahahahahah..
I LOVE HALLOWEEN and watching miniature goblins at the door. but it makes me miss you Ann. All I want to do is come over eat popcorn and scare ourselves to death all night long. The french are too well behaved to throw themselves into stupid costumes. Unless it's Marie-Antoinette or the Pope at a formal Mascarade Ball, which I wasn't invited to. Some of my best costumes; Carmen Miranda, the Beast of "Beauty and..." Jean d'Arc, the Wiz of Oz Scarecrow.

AnnPW said...

I miss you too Nettie, my best movie-watching pal! Scary movies have never been Jeannette's favorite but no one could be more wonderfully game than she as I have foisted my preferences upon her over the years!

And speaking of your great costumes, I was just telling my co-worker Alice yesterday about your Joan of Arc, with the battery-powered "flames" around the hem! Your mother's incredible sewing skills and the history of your Halloween costumes is stuff of legend - probably deserving of a post all its own!

We must do some movie catching up when you get home in a couple of weeks!

capmconnundrum said...

OOH! scary movies! So many to choose from. I've always loved them even though I scare easily. This has to be divided up into categories.

Psychological thrillers:
"Night of the Hunter" Robert Mitchum is really creepy as a serial killer preacher, hunting down two children. Lillian Gish is just great as the head of an orphanage, who takes the kids in. She is sweet and strong as steel!

Classics:
The 1925 F.W. Murnau directed "Nosferatu"
These three from James Whale and Universal
"Frankenstein"
"Bride of Frankenstein"
and perhaps especially "The Old Dark House"

Ghostly:
Robert Wise"s "THe Haunting"
Jack Clayton"s "The Innocents"

Monsters:
"The Thing" the original one
"Alien" Pretty good for a modern one ;^)

Also:
"Curse of the Demon"
"I walked with a zombie"

As you can tell, I'm lukewarm about the newer stuff

AnnPW said...

GREAT list cap! I couldn't agree with you more, except I must speak up for a couple of "modern" films: "The Shining" and "Cape Fear" (which, I think, rivals the original), along with all the films of Brian DePalma.

And, of course, Alfred Hitchcock deserves a category all to himself.

Freewheel said...

I can always watch a Hitchcock movie even if I've seen it several times before. I like "Dial M for Murder" for the intensity.

Thanks for your link! Unfortunately, Joe the Plumber is still milking his 15 minutes of fame.