HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Mar 27, 2003 Watching a scary movie can be a great prelude to insomnia. I discovered this after I watched the new flick The Ring. The eerie music and a few spooky scenes really stayed with me for a couple of nights. While it wasnt the scariest movie I have seen, the way it was done was very involving, suspenseful, and kept my pulse rate going. This wasnt your average teen horror film, it held a lot of elements that you had to string together to get to the ending, something I feel needs to continue in the genre of horror and thrillers. Typically I dont watch too many horror movies. Too many of them have been the same content, typical teen characters, and just a different name to the same kind of boogieman. For a scary movie to really haunt me, I look for a somewhat complex plot, engaging characters, realistic imagery, and the ability to draw me in, keep my attention, and make me jump. If my adrenaline is going or I need to turn a light on to go down the hallway, then I know the movie worked for me. I dont associate gore with horrors. I want to be scared not grossed out. Special effects dont really interest me very much if they try to overshadow the plot, overall I want the storyline to carry the movie, as it should, and not rely on other things to try to make you watch. A sense of eerie or a creaky sound after a long pause and silence, has the greater ability to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up before any hockey mask wearing weirdo. The movies that have stayed in my mind the most have been The Changeling, Poltergeist, The Sixth Sense, Exorcist, Signs, Nightmare on Elm St I, Silence of the Lambs, and of course now The Ring. There have been others but I am not recalling them at this time. A few of these movies I have yet to see all the way through because I have covered my eyes in the same scenes and still get a chill up my spine. For some of these movies it wasnt necessarily the whole movie but a part or two, the music, the set, a phrase, or an image that remains strongly in my mind. Some movies that scared me when I was younger I have viewed again and was saddened to see it didnt affect me the same. There were even some movies that I remember getting up in the middle of the night to sneak into the family room and simply listen to what my parents were watching. The screams and sounds that came from the television intrigued and scared me terribly. Needless to say I had many nightmares growing up. I have given many horror movies a chance. Unfortunately I watch the movie and wish that I could have my money back, they were just too stupid to instill any amount of fear. While I have a great sense of humor, I am way past tired of watching people stay in their homes, closing every door behind them, always having the lights out, never looking where they should, and not getting seriously upset when a door or window is carelessly left open. Im sorry, if I left the house and knew I locked it, came home to find it slightly open, am I going to go in, lock it tight behind me, not turn on lights, go upstairs to one tiny room, and think I am going to be okie dokie? That would be a little ridiculous and so watching people do this in a movie is a great example of when I yell at the television. Constantly I am shouting for these dim-witted characters to turn around, look up, look down, get out of the house, run, dont look back, dont fall, dont trip, move to a neighborhood where people actually do live around you, and most of all, dont go alone. It can be maddening to watch the actors be so blind and unintelligent! Regardless though, I am game to watch a horror movie that I hear raves and great comments about. I want to hear that people were terrified, they jumped, it stayed in their mind for days, and most of all, that it was a new twist or completely new concept. I want to plunk that money down and know that I am in for a real treat and a scary ride. When I want to be a little freaked out, get the adrenaline pumping, cuddle with my sweetheart, turn out the lights, and let my imagination run away with me, then I reach for a scary movie and sit back, hoping it does its job. There is nothing more upsetting to me than renting a movie to be scared and falling asleep halfway through it or laughing so much I am crying. Where is the fun in that? About the author: Nancy Jackson is a full time author and poet with works in Literati, Twilight Times, Anotherealm, Sonny World, and various anthologies. Her pasttimes include spending time with her loved ones, drinking wine, and lots of writing! Email Nancy Jackson: coryann93@yahoo.com ------------ Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
