It's a Horror to Know You: Akesandra of Halloween Costumes.com!
1. What is the first film that ever scared you?
Apparently the late 1980s were a traumatizing time for my young imagination, since both of the films that come to mind were released within a year of one another! First, The Blob, the 1988 version. Watching a grown adult be sucked in his entirety into a kitchen sink by gelatinous pink ooze has stuck with me over the years.
To this very day I feel vulnerable washing my face- who KNOWS what is coming out of the faucet in those tense soapy-eyed minutes! Secondly, the 1989 film Little Monsters. How did this scoot by with a PG rating?? As if Howie Mandel's liver-spotted, devil-horned, mentally unstable character Maurice wasn't bad enough, there is the hunchbacked, snaggle-toothed, sickly blue terror that is Snik. Running and jumping into bed has become a nightly ritual so as best to avoid ankle- grabbage.

2. What is the last film that scared you?

Little did I know what Netflix had in store for me a few weeks ago while innocently perusing their horror selection. A little film called The Girl Next Door caught my eye and 91 minutes later I was hunched in a fetal ball on the couch. This film triggers the same "they wouldn't possibly…oh man they just did" reflex as reading the book A Child Called "It" did. I have the most loving and supportive family anyone could hope for, so the idea of rotting basement cots and unspeakable abuse being committed by the ones who should love you most is one of the most foreign and disturbing concepts to me. Give it a watch if you're feeling brave, but get ready to turn on some SpongeBob afterwards to clear your head. (SpongeBob is to the over-stimulated mind, what coffee beans are to the over-stimulated nostrils.)

3. Name three Horror movies that you believe are underrated.
The Mist (2007). I love Stephen King but have been burned by some of the film interpretations of his literature that were CG laden, low-budget let-downs like The Langoliers. I was shocked and pleasantly impressed with The Mist! The last few minutes of the film will rattle you. I'm not sure that everyone will end up soaked in tears shouting "it's not fair," like I always do, but you will certainly be unsettled.
Quarantine (2008). I am a huge supporter of Jennifer Carpenter's work, and a sucker for found footage film. Combine those elements with the jump out of your seat delights and peek through your fingers moments liberally peppered throughout Quarantine, and this cinematic adventure is one I'll always recommend taking!
High Tension (2003). Okay. I saw the rated R version with English dubbing. But apparently in its original French release as Haute Tension, the rating was NC-17 and it included some additional gore. I'd like to say that the rated R version is plenty grisly for my part. Choose either version, but DO choose one. This film is excellent and delivers exactly what the title promises.
Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.
Trilogy of Terror (1975). I'm so excited to mention this! Hopes are never high when the words "made for TV horror film" are involved, but it's so great! It's a three part series, each one starring Karen Black. The creepiest and most memorable is part three, "Amelia." It features a possessed Aboriginal warrior doll with sharp teeth and a miniature spear. Although the doll is no more than a few inches tall, the horror impact is anything but little! The sound of the doll's feet paddling across the carpet is such great foreshadowing, and the noises he emits when he attacks (which is often), are primal and chilling.
13 Ghosts (1960). Gimmicks and camp aren't generally attributes that I seek in a horror movie, but this William Castle classic gets a free pass. The communal experience and camaraderie fostered by the reoccurrence of flashing text that says "use viewer" or "remove viewer" leads to an utterly unique viewing experience. Audience members may use special red/blue glasses (aka hold a piece of cellophane up to your face) and look through the red filter at specified intervals to see ghosts. Alternately, if the scare is too intense you can look through the blue filter and erase the ghouls from site. Red all the way baby!!
Wolf Creek (2005). Someone tried to pitch me on watching this based on the villain being a murderous reincarnation of Crocodile Dundee. I was hesitant, not wanting to ruin the memory of one of my favorite film characters. Turns out, it's awesome!! Gritty, arresting cinematography, and wrought with creepy tension… Mick Taylor could definitely give Mick Dundee a run for his money!


5. Send us to five places on the Internet!
Live For Films.
Great, high-energy film site that will leave you lost in an internet rabbit hole for hours! They're constantly adding horror movie trailers and reviews, quirky film shorts, nerdy artwork, and great content to their video game and comic section.
Video World Made Flesh. The site title itself is a Videodrome reference, so you know you're in good hands. A high brow film blog that mostly focuses on indie films, classic films, and cult films. If you need something intelligent to share at your next film buff soiree, search no further.
Halloween Costumes.com . Well of course I'm biased towards thinking our blog is worth checking out, but feel free to explore and see for yourselves! We post movie reviews, costume how-to's, and makeup tutorials, as well as fun-spirited fare like a listing of this summer's hottest Comic Cons and geeky contests with great prizes.
Dude I Want That. Thanks to this site, I will never run out of gift ideas for anyone, for any occasion. No hyperbole. Their assortment of off-beat zombie themed paraphernalia is especially enjoyable.
HorrorMovies.ca. It's like someone possesses my fingers and makes me visit this site on a daily basis. Great industry news, great reviews, and witty horror lists. I've always wanted to be a scream queen, so their grouping of the hottest horror movie victims is one of my favorites!
I'm a huge fan of High Tension. The first time I saw it it totally blew me away. Plus I absolutely love the kitchen in the house.
High Tension and The Mist are both amazingly made films. I love them both. The Mist, in particular, is almost verbatim of the original short story, except for the ending, which even Stephen King said something along the lines of it was better than his ending. I really have a soft spot for the 1988 Blob. The effects are so damn gross while also being really fun and effective for scares. Up until now, I hadn't noticed how much the sink scene was an obvious hand-in-glove effect. lol
"The Blob" remake is filled with so many horrifying deaths, but the one that still gets me most is the second, early in the film. The boyfriend, who I thought was going to be the hero, is graphically devoured by the blob when it drops onto him from the ceiling.
The blob creature in the remake is a hundred times more terrifying than the original jello-monster because it displays this fiendish animal/predator intelligence. All around a truly scary alien monster.
Great picks Aleksandra! I'm so with you on THE BLOB. I think that has to be the most underrated horror movie of the eighties. I am so happy seeing so many people singing its praises these days. When it came out it could not get arrested. I didn't even check it out in the theater because I heard so much bad stuff and then when I caught it on VHS I was shocked by how great it was. It's like a teen friendly mash up of ALIENS and THE THING. It's got great comedy in it too and I love Shawnee Smith and her snow globe and how the snow plays a part in the end. Such a good movie!
I knew nothing about The Girl Next Door when I sat down to watch it. Five minutes into the film I thought it was going to be a poor man’s Hearts in Atlantis. Wrong. TGND is a cinematic sucker punch and much more successful than An American Crime, which was inspired by the same case.