Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Shock Full o' Fear

On my way to and from my car, I had a lovely, dreadful idea.  Maybe it was walking through one too many spiderwebs, the light rain, or the red hair dye stains I still sport under my clothes, or the uncharacteristically pitch black street, or the fact I did this all barefoot and very much so uncomfortable, but I'd like to try something here.

What is it that scares you?  You don't even need to like horror movies to get in on this one: you're already overly qualified to respond, unless you don't feel fear.  But don't be a jerk, this isn't an online display of masculinity, okay?  In particular, I suppose I'd just like to get a collection going, of various fears that would truly make you uncomfortable on-screen. 




So to start, I'm scared (or my nerves get tangled)... 

  • ... of people, more-so than any of that supernatural crap.  
  • ... when the director deploys that shot that allows the audience to see that the pale face, or mask, or silhouette, of that monster/killer you've been avoiding all along has actually been watching and waiting patiently from the corner of the screen, shrouded in the darkness of your doorway all along--oh my God! how long have they been there?  That gets me every time.
  • ... for our Survivor, only when they aren't some lame stereotype and you start to feel for them; Paris Hilton, no matter how many horror movies she experiments with, will never garner my helpless voyeur-protection from over here in the audience.
  • ... when the Prey-character has to endure physical traumas, but not necessarily in a Knife-to-the-Face sense; when she's running around barefoot and accidently stomps on glass, or in Planet Terror, when Dr. Dakota Block, partially paralyzed, breaks her wrist trying to open the car door... those bone-crunching/blood-inducing gross-outs that are rooted from everyday nuisances make me feel terrible for our Underdog Hero, as their struggle becomes increasingly apparent. 
  • ... when, in zombie flicks, you realize: Oh my God, look at all those zombies!  And our heroes are certainly screwed.

17 comments:

<3katie said...

I gotta tell you dear, shots of injections (hahahaha! i didn't mean to!) get me every time. I am forced to look away whenever there's a needle. And they always throw them in there, especially in zombie films. They do it just for me I think. Hmm what else. Well I have a natural fear of zombies, too. The protagonists are always in tight spot after tight spot with the hungry horde after them and they have to keep coming up with resourceful and innovative ways to escape, usually losing a few of their number each time... that particular survivalist scenario scares me because I inevitably put myself in their place and quickly realize that I do not have enough ingenuity or will to survive to go through all that shit. Plus, I mean, can you imagine being eaten alive by another human-sorta-thing? Worst death ever. Outside the zombie movie genre... psychological twists get me way more than BOO! jumpy type stuff. I can't think of any examples right now though. Can you? Oh, and I totally second that whole wrist-breaking thing... those things freak me out. I guess freak accidents. Freak accidents freak me out. Freak!

Anonymous said...

I know not this fear!

seriously though thats a good question. i guess when it comes to film my biggest fear is seeing my favorite character die. i know it seems lame but i always get this awful feeling when they do die. but hey...serves me right for favoring secondary characters

-atom

Lulu said...

Hmm...on screen? Yeah freak accidents are really the worst to see. Also close ups of wounds. Especially people messing with them.

Or hair being pulled out. Scares the bejesus out of me.

AlZiv said...

Horror movies overall don't make me cringe- but the ones that do stick in my mind are the ones that have elements of reality in them. The Strangers, for example, was memorable to me because it's such a simple concept, to be stuck in your own home while unknown strangers try to get inside. It follows a pattern of thought: Who are they? What do they want from me? Why are they doing this? How will I get them to leave me alone? There is a mystery to it, and this to me, is something I am actually fearful of. The idea of having no escape from someone who is trying to pursue you. I guess this goes for all types of horror movies. Any ghosts, demons, phobias, murderers, that are able to haunt you and are willing to do what it takes to destroy you- that's the stuff that makes me uncomfortable.

oreyyy said...

what scaress mee..... besides the idea of having to go through labor again sometime in the distant future??? lol no, but on screen, i get totally freaked out when its quiet and the main character is just wandering around scared shitless. this is because even if it doesnt happen, i always expect something super creepy to just pop out at me. otherwise i dont really get scared by movie stuff... real life stuff scares me more cause i have a overreactive imagination. and btw i too am writting a book. but of a much more tame nature. its basically a slightly exaggerated autobiography. your in it :)

same as above said...

that was me by the way, apparently i forgot how to spell my name :( -Corey

Pearl said...

So I am such a wimp when it comes to horror movies. But when it comes to horror movies I hate anything with needles or anything with people jumping out at random times with distorted features ex: mirrors scared the shit out of me and couldn't sleep. I also hate anything that also deals with children being possessed of evil ex: amity ville horror
-Pearl

Anonymous said...

heyyy so here it goes-what scares me...

i dont get scared by a movie unless i can relate or feel for the characters...if im walking to my car after the movie and something that happened in the movie can possibly happen to me...thats when im running to my car for safety.

if i get to know the characters and really like them-it may be shallow but if theyre really attractive, young people trying to have a fun time and their time is ruined an their young lives cut short it makes me sad.

so in general if some young kids are on the typical road trip type thing and accidently come upon some normal looking people that end up taking thier friends one by one and torturing them i really feel for them and get scared b/c that could be me and my friends

also lets say its in a normal setting...a suburban block and the lead star sees some maniac in a mask watching them and they know its coming...that scares me

if i can physically put myself in a situation it scares me...

thats why i get so scared at school in pa when im driving...i imagine breaking down and having some crazy man come out of the woods and there is no one there to hear my screams...scary stuff! lol

i usually like when the killer is human but is maybe in a mask or is just really scary looking...like lets say the texas chainsaw ppl or i was even scared by the man in no country for old men...and of course the white mask of michael in halloween.

so what scares me?-all in all...real situations-real people. if i can relate to them and imagine-if my friends and i went for a drive, broke down, and got tortured and there was no one around to help us...scary.

when no one can help u-even lets say the law isnt on ur side thats scary...so being alone, being followed and just imagining running and not knowing where this person is and u stop to hide and all u can hear is his footsteps and ur own breathing-scaryy.

i hope this helps a little...if u have anymore questions id like to help <3

-Christinaaa :]

Anonymous said...

scary thingies:
having all your teeth fall out, the jamming of sharp object in between your finger nails, cruel government experiments on average people's lives, torture of innocent things(animals etc..), corrupt authority(like court systems, police, etc...) fucking with people, dieting by eating tapeworms, beauty pageants for children, receiving a video of yourself being murdered while your still alive, warfare, amusement park ride disasters, big industrial fans that chop things up easily, and Dorothy from Golden Girls

Anonymous said...

So, I actually have a lot of opinions about scary/horror movies. I don't know if you remember, but when we saw the ring together, I was freaked out of my mind- i actually couldn't sleep for a month or so.

What scares me? I think, movies that imply that a supernatural force of some sort can somehow "get" you no matter what you do or who you are. Like, movies about people that are psychos and stuff aren't as scary, because like there's psychiatry, and there are prisons, and policeman and stuff, so I can be like "well at least society has SOME mechanisms in place so I can feel protected even with this crazy people existing." but when it comes to The Ring, or movies about satanic rituals, or whatever, or people being hypnotized by sceptors (i'm ashamed to say that I'm referring to Jafar from Aladdin, hre), that really scares me. That's also why I'm afraid of movies about narcotics... like when drugs get portrayed as a sort of supernatural force of control. I don't know, anything that makes me feel like society can't protect me from.

But I'm also super squeamish, so guts, blood, clawed out eyes, physical abuse, all that grosses me out.

:)

I hope that helps!

Love always,
Parry

ashley said...

hello pretty lady =D

What scare's me most is movies like saw i can't see people pulling teeth sawing off ther legs or anything like that.

i feel so corny for saying this too but the worst thing i hate in horror movies is someone hurts a kid or an old person cuz i'm a sap like that.

Ah and i really cannot see someone getting jumped beat up or anything like that. That's probably the worst thing for me.

Ashley<3

Anonymous said...

Hi there, I'll tell you some things that scare me:

I think what scares me the most are sociopaths. And I mean the sociopaths who seem like normal people on the outside, ones who you could easily see being friends with. But in the end, they only care about themselves and try to hurt/kill you by any means necessary to further their own goals. That's pretty terrifying.

And dead bodies. Those scare the hell out of me. Especially when they suddenly appear out of nowhere, like at the end of Halloween. Actually, any sudden shock in a movie scares me.

Also, spiders. Especially Daddy long-legs. I know they're good bugs, but the still scare the shit out of me.

And ghosts, transparent figures going down hallways usually make my heart stop.

Well, I hope that helped, this is what's at the top of my mind at the moment. If I think of anything else, I'll add it!

Rory said...

I have to say one of the scariest things to me is when there is soothing or happy music, everything is nice, the sun is shining and the "bad guy" is torturing someone. also when the "good guy" escapes and runs out in public screaming bloody murder and everyone just ignores them. that is probably so scary because that would totally happen in the area i live. torture in general makes me all squirmy on the inside. really attractive sociopaths scare the life out of me as well

Maxwell said...

I am not really into jump scenes or overly bloody scenes, this is not to say I do not appreciate them, I would much rather see a very intricate way to see someone killed or fucked with. As far as things that right out scare me go, I would say it mostly lies in the relm of mind control and things you cannot see or reason with. Such as bugs and animals and the living dead and the like. So far i have actualy only encountered character that has haunted me and it was freddy Kruger. Nightmare on Elm st. is one of my favorite series of all time (especially I, III, IIII) and has always had a way of scaring me shitless. This is mostly because of the way Freddy controls your dreams, I like to control them myself (or atleast imagine i do).
The funny thing about horror movies, though, is that they are the only things that keep the nightmares away for me. If I watch a horror movie before bed I know I wont have a nightmare.
Other things that get me in horror movies are not so much scary as they are disturbing, i can deal with anything until it has to do with eyes, if anything is done to someones eyes I tend to freak out. My favorite horror films tend to be zombie movies though.

Anonymous said...

Horror movies don't scare me; they usually make me crack up or fall asleep. But I will tell you this: when the horror character is a human, then the movie is much scarier because it seems more real to me.

Especially now that I have taken a film class, I know all about anticipatory setups, so I know that something is going to happen when the music changes or if the main character says something ironic...so the thrill of the scariness isn't as prominent anymore. However, a good scary movie is one that will know how to time things right when something or someone pops out of the darkness to scare or to kill someone else.

~C.D.

Hadass said...

Well, what scares me and what makes me uncomfortable on screen are two different things.
What scares me is usually what I look for in movies: freaky movies that don't make any sense (like Lost Highway), people twitching after they die, people possessed by some demon, people getting drilled (like with an electric drill, as in Hostel), bloody boils popping with a ton of blood and pus coming out, somebody's face being grated off...
Absolutely love all that stuff, especically if the horror movie is based on a true story (i.e. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Exorcism of Emily Rose, etc.)

What makes me uncomfortable or rather turn the channel or fast forward the part is rape in a movie. Just can't bring myself to watch movies that involve rape - Monster and Boys Don't Cry are the worst.

Hadass said...

Oh, and how can I forget?
Bugs and cockroaches.
They scare me to death in real life and they scare me to death in movies.
Ewwwww!!!