Recently I dropped a post about An American Werewolf in London, a 1981 horror movie that was one of the few movies to scare me when I was younger. What gave me the frights as a kid, is now one of my favorite horror films, a traditional October treat for Halloween. It wasn’t alone, though. Three there were that properly scared me when I was in my single digits growing up, all are now favorites and these are they:
- An American Werewolf in London
- The Evil Dead
- Poltergeist
Worth noting, I was around 5 years old when I saw all three of these. Halloween is the most celebrated holidays in the house with decorations staying up year round and acquiring Christmas decorations on top in December. The foot tall, multi-pound Bella Lugosi Dracula candle was a permanent fixture, one that acquired a Santa hat when the time was right. A long way of saying that this was, for me, normal. Scary movies. Scary stories. Scary makeup. Scary magic. Still, considering that, these three got me, pressure at just the right point to illicit some long lasting scares that eventually gave way to appreciation and fond sense of the season.
An American Werewolf in London
What is now considered a “comedy, horror” flick, this 1981 flick is a tight story that doesn’t stray from its point. Americans backpacking through Europe, attacked by werewolf, killing one and infecting the other. Love interest, an amazing transformation scene, all practical along with the murder of various Londoners along the way. But none of that was what actually scared me. It was one particular murder. Not even the murder, really, it was the lead up to it.
A London gent, business man I am guessing from the dress and briefcase, exits the train in the Tube alone and late in the evening. Not long after he starts on his way to the streets above, the stalking starts, sound only coupled with the expression of our victim. It all ends with an amazing reveal of the werewolf as the flight comes to an end on an escalator.
That was it. That was the scene that got me. It wasn’t gruesome by any means. It wasn’t even that violent. It was the helplessness of that man, running with no where to go and no hope of escape. It was knowing, given the nature of the movie, it was game over for that dude.
It was that sense of loneliness, flight without hope culminating in surrender.
The Evil Dead
A 1983 cult classic starring the pre-iconic Bruce Campbell. Quite possibly the birth of the “cabin in the woods” genre of horror. Over the top gruesome in every way. I mean, the dude legit chainsaws off his own hand when it becomes possessed by a demon.
But what got me was when one of the characters decides she has had enough, bolts from the cabin in flight through the forrest. The forrest has different plans and fights back in gruesome and fucked up ways.
It was the forest, not people getting possessed by demons and murdering each other, that got me. My family lived (still does, actually) in a home backed right up to a small forest. Outside my window, no more than ten feet away, were trees. That’s right, the things that just came to life and did some downright terrifying stuff were right there.
While An American Werewolf in London was more of an emotional terror, this one was based more on relative proximity, tapping into that deep seated fear of the unknown lurking in the depths of the forest.
Poltergeist
The little blonde girl, hands pressed to the static display of the family TV uttering the now iconic words “they’re here”. Yup, that one. Suburban America, growing neighborhood built squarely on top of a cemetery. This movie is a prime example of why you don’t cut corners to save a buck (moving the headstones but not the bodies).
This was more of a traditional fright for me than the other two, playing on more common fears and executing flawlessly. Kids are scared of clowns? Got it. Kids are scared of monsters under the bed? Tie that to the fucking clown doll. Backing up to The Evil Dead bit, the little boy also gets partially eaten by, you guessed it, a tree outside his window. You could almost make the argument that while the sister was pulled into the afterlife via the closet, yet another common childhood fear, the brother had it worse.
So, let’s run down the list: scared of things under the bed, check. Creepy clowns, check. Trees up to no good, check. Closet portals to the spirit world, check.
Seriously, this movie should never be watched by children.
