It's a Horror to Know You: Jose Cruz of Mephisto's Castle and The Grim Reader!
1. What is the first film that ever scared you?
My mind's a whirring snow globe of various traumatizing images, but the Wicked Witch's emerald sneer and the Cryptkeeper's casket-dry cackle come to mind as being the very first instances when I realized that having the TV to myself was not always a good idea.
2. What is the last film that scared you?
Hmm, good question. I watch a good deal of Internet shorts that give me the heebie jeebies (it's a masochistic complex), but I think the last feature film that really unsettled me was LAKE MUNGO. I am such a baby when it comes to ghostly footage-type movies, and the cell phone camera scene was enough to nearly send me into cardiac arrest.
3. Name three Horror movies that you believe are underrated.
1. THE NINTH GATE (1999) Polanski's second Satanic outing deserves more worshipers.
2. THE COMPANY OF WOLVES (1984) Beautiful fairy tale landscape rife with great lycanthrope moments.
3. RAVENOUS (1999) Black comedy that misses the mark a little but is delicious nonetheless.
Special Easter Egg: The Night Stalker (1972)! Darren McGavin at his snarkiest, vampire-hunting best.
4. Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.
1. HORROR EXPRESS (1972) Wonderfully hokey but insanely watchable scifi creature feature romp.
2. AFTERMATH (1994) Hyper-real, icky corpse sex that I can't help but be fascinated by. (Are you sure I shouldn't feel guilty about THAT?)
3. THE MUMMY (1999) A film for my brain to go on auto-pilot and do this: Pew! Pew! Pew! Mummies! Pew! Pew! Flesh-eating bugs! Pew-pew! Stephen Sommers! Aaagh!
5. Send us to five places on the Internet!
1. Heart In A Jar. Senski is a golden horror god.
2. Radiation-Scarred Reviews. B-movie blogging badassery.
3. Behind the Couch. Checking out the genre with exquisite taste and refined writing.
4. The Horrors of it All. Karswell has a never-ending attic of gruesome Pre-code goodies.
5. Zombos' Closet. Eccentric, kooky, ooky, and weirdly wonderful.
I don't know what it is about The Ninth Gate, but even though on the surface it's a pretty conventional Satanic horror-mystery…I must have seen it about 15 times and I love it every time. Somehow it snuck up and became of my favorite fun horror movies.
BTW, Jose wrote a fantastic piece on Ninth Gate over at Classic- Horror.com. Check it out!
http://classic-horror.com/reviews/ninth_gate_1999
"…and the cell phone camera scene was enough to nearly send me into cardiac arrest."
My God yes.
Awww, thanks, Jose. Now remind me again where I send the check?
I actually forgot about the wicked witch face in the crystal ball in The Wizard of OZ. That part consistently scared the crap out of me every time it came on TV for many, many years. It just so creepily, but suddenly turns from the lady on the bike into her face (if it's even possible for something to be creepy and sudden simultaneously).
I don't know which was worse, the witch or those damn flying monkeys! Every time the Wizard of Oz got trotted out on TV, the next day I was watching the skies while waiting at the bus stop.
Taylor: Completely sympathize with that statement! I first saw it in middle school, didn't get it, and promptly erased it from my mind. But now I can't stop telling people it's the Beez knees! (See what I did there?)
Unk: Thanks so much for hosting this awesome feature and for the C-H shout-out!
Will: All I can say is I watched that shit alone. On my computer. At night. NOT GOOD.
Steven: After I get done writing my check to Lance, I'll give ya my address! 😉
cmcmcmcm: That was a horrifying scene. Dorothy goes from crying to her old, worried Aunt Em to looking straight into the face of Hell when the Witch's face replaces it. It is so messed up.
Apocalypsejunkie: The monkeys never seemed to bother me… I don't know why. Now the Witch's guards… that's a WHOLE 'nother story. All it took was one recitation of OH-WE-OH and I was sleepless for days.