Trick R Treat
Boris Karloff, Bella Lugosi, Claude Raines, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, all great’s in the Horror genre and all will be ignored for the purpose of my list. I’m so sorry Dr. Phibes fans. I’m sorry Dracula devotees. I’m sure the dramatically lit over arched eyebrows and the “I got somethin in my eyes” stare of ol Bella was scary to early movie goers. But take this movie and Lugosi it’s iconic star, both known as horror classics, take the same themes, the same lame dialogue, arched eyebrows and “evil glare” eyes and apply them to the movie Billy the Kid Vs Dracula with the actor John Carradine in this campy classic.
Ooo-wee-ooo!
Alright so that was a little harsh but, well, this is my list and these are suppose to be movies that scare me.
11: The Mist
Lemme Ax you a question!
Well okay where to begin with this one. Like all my picks this movie does scare me, but it takes a higher place on the list due to some flaws. The Mist, despite being a good film suffers from what many Stephen King films do, it’s based on a story by Stephen King.
Now, now…..Okay I’ll let the noise die down…. Look The Shining, Dead Zone, Carrie, Christine, Cujo, Pet Cemetery, All scary as hell books. But only a few of his books have ended up making quality films, and that’s not always simply the directors or studios fault.
The only Horror here is if you were forced to watch it.
One of the issues is that Mr. King has has an obsession with (slipping it into almost every story) wack-a-doo Christians.
Sometimes it works very well. The actors, director, script writers what have you come together to pull off a good transition from book (where this obsession is less laughably noticeable) to film. Carrie, is a good example of where this worked.
In The Mist, however, the crazy christian lady becomes a pointless and maybe even distracting sub story line. Okay granted the actress is no Meryl Streep, and yes the character is in the original novella, and okay probably some humans trapped in this store, in this situation would believe it was the end of the world, but did the dialogue have to be so embarrassingly, painfully, stilted and cliche’? I almost felt sorry for that poor actress, or would have if her character wasn’t threatening to ruin the movie for me.
Okay besides all that this movie is scary. But it made my list for a very specific moment in the movie, which I believe might be one of the all time great horrific moments in American cinema.
I don’t want to ruin the movie for you so I won’t mention which specific scene it is (at the very end of the movie) but okay well there I just did so uh…yea…
Still gives me chills jes thinkin bout it.
Anyway Director Frank Darabont re-envisioned the story with a new far more unsettling end. Mr. King himself approved of this rewrite saying “The ending is such a jolt—wham! It’s frightening…” (source Wikipedia, The Mist)
I loved this story when I read it, but was blown away by the film. It didn’t hurt that I have a man crush on Tom Jane who, as always, brings a down to earth “every guy” quality to his role.
The Mist
Paramount Pictures 2007
If you like your monsters movies with a dash of “King-ism” and would like to see a movie where the horror clings to you like a dark cobweb long after the movie ends, definitely check out 2007’s The Mist from Paramount Pictures
Improvisational Horror and minimalist production struck gold.
This was a tough one to call. When I first saw it, it scared the bejebus out of me. I’ve watched it a number of times since and still find I get scares and chills galore.
The problem lies in it being over hyped and over mimicked so that it’s power has been defused over the past few years. Another issue for me placing it on my list is that so much has been made of it’s groundbreaking web based marketing campaign and it’s independent status. I’ll ackowlegde all that. But I want to make clear that’s not why it’s on the list.
Creepy Arts & Crafts!
This is a scary film. For anyone who has spent time aimlessly hiking in the woods, the odd night sounds of cracking rocks or snapping sticks are at once both familiar and creepy (as they are from inside a tent as well).
The ending of this film, while not as devastating as my first film in this post, still leaves you haunted well after the film ends.
It would be amazing if you hadn’t seen this film yet. But even if you have, a “BWP” themed party with group viewing could be a great way to spend this Halloween.
Okay there ya go everyone a couple more great picks for Halloween night. Leave a comment and lemme know what ya think. the next picks might be.
Random Writes & Rongs 