My residents are the best. Some would expect people in a nursing home to watch Andy Griffith, the Golden Girls, Gunsmoke or Lawrence Welk, and they do, but mine also like horror films. Before Covid restrictions came into play, every Tuesday night was horror night. Anything was fair game. We watched the downright gory and horror that made us laugh. We rooted for the bad guys, shouted at the “heroes” stupidity and hoped they really did get eaten by the freakishly large crocodile. Sometimes I was a little scared walking to my car in the dark because I just KNEW that something was waiting.
I love watching scary movies. Well, some scary movies. I
don’t really like the slashy nasty kind. I don’t like stuff about possession
and I refuse to watch Saw. Other than that, if you have a clever premise or a
mildly clever premise I am game. Horror films can really be quite intellectual.
Truly. I mean some are really pointless drivel, but some, wome scare you for a
totally different reason. Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The fear of the
“other” when your body isn’t your own. How about Stepford Wives or the Day the
Earth Stood Still.
Why do we fear these things? Seriously, look into the reason
those films were made. Horror is horror because something is scaring us and we
might not be able to put our finger on why. Vampires, werewolves and zombies
are there because we fear losing control of ourselves. Or if you want to get
all eco about it, zombies are a fear of over consumption. Why is Steven King so
successful or why did Orson Welles radio broadcast of War of the Worlds cause
such a panic? Deep in our lizard brains we have things we fear and if we open
up to that we can scare ourselves silly.
My favorite story, Frankenstein is about the cost of man
trying to be like God. What will we unleash if we start playing with the very
building blocks of life? And you know what; it’s still a scary topic even
today.
Scary movies are a way to combat our fears in a safe
environment. We KNOW that the monster won’t/can’t reach out and get us. At the
end of an hour and a half we will be the final girl, the victor left standing
and the mighty monster will be vanquished. I HATE snakes, and yet, that did not stop me from watching Anaconda or
Snakes on a Plane. Sometimes I covered my eyes and swiftly moved my feet up
under me, but I laughed and screamed and enjoyed myself.
There is nothing better than watching a horror film with an engaged audience be
it in a theater or with another person. The squeals of fright, the nervous
laughter, the indrawn breath help draw you in even more. Because of It I won’t
go near storm drains. Because of the movie Silver Bullet I have an unreasonable
fear of werewolves. Thanks to too many movies to count I have a fear of bathtubs
and sink drains along with locker room showers. Due to horror films I know not
to say Candyman or Bloody Mary 3 times, though I will say Beetlejuice. Because
of Urban Legend I won’t flash my lights at people who don’t have theirs on and
I am still morbidly curious to see if my head will explode if I eat pop rocks
and drink cola. Because of Psycho I will always check my hotel rooms for
peepholes in the wall and I always check behind the shower curtain. Thanks to
the Twilight Zone I always check the wings of an airplane for beasties and
thanks to Bram Stoker and Ann Rice I have an unreasonable love of vampires.
Horror is such a broad category. Before October my friend
messaged me asking “I need your short list of Halloween and Fall movies.” Boy
howdy did I jump on that. I had to have some clarification though. What kind of
movies are you looking for, that covers a lot of ground. They said, “horror,
scary, psychological, thriller, and family.” I did not keep the list short, and
I keep adding to it as the days went by. There are so many good options. My To
Watch list gets bigger every year. But like Christmas I have certain October
films I have to watch. The season isn’t complete without them. I HAVE to see
Hocus Pocus, Beetlejuice, the Frighteners, the Addams Family, It’s the Great
Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie), and the cartoon
version of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow before the month is out. Sometimes
Ghostbusters, Scream (and sometimes it’s spawn) Brotherhood of the Wolf and
Wrong Turn make it on there too.
Everything else is fair game and I watch as the mood strikes me. This
year I will finally watch the Halloween series. I can’t believe that I have
gone all this time without seeing it. No time like the present. After all,
Jamie Lee is the original scream queen.
What are your October viewing favorites?
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