It's a Horror to Know You: Taylor!
1. What is the first film that ever scared you?
Looking way way way back in my subconscious, I think that my earliest memory of being scared by something on TV was the opening live-action portion of The Water Babies. My most memorable childhood movie/TV scares are all Stephen King-related, I'm realizing now: The "Gramma" episode of The Twilight Zone, The Shining, and the funeral scene from Silver Bullet all spring to mind.
2. What is the last film that scared you?
Lake Mungo gave me a chill like I hadn't experienced since I was little.
3. Name three Horror movies that you believe are underrated.
1.Messiah of Evil.
2.Let's Scare Jessica to Death.
3.Race with the Devil.
Honorable mentions go to Alone in the Dark, and Jeff Lieberman's entire catalogue.
4. Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.
I watch The Creature from Black Lake once every couple of years…I can't even blame childhood nostalgia, since I first saw it only about 10 years ago.
Dead Silence. Everyone tells me it sucks, so I must be the crazy one.
Prophecy (the Robert Foxworth/Talia Shire one). Another biennial one for me. Maybe it's the scenery?
5. Send us to five places on the Internet!
Oh, the sleeping bag kill in The Prophecy – so heinous, so hilarious…..
Thanks Taylor! Glad we're calling out some directors today! I absolutely agree about Jeff Lieberman being underrated! Squirm looks so great on Netflix Streaming and don't get me started on Just Before Dawn! Plus Blue Sunshine and Satan's Little Helper!
Messiah of Evil is brilliant. I'd love to show it in a double feature with Dead & Buried. I'm very fond of The Prophecy also. I saw it in the theater as a kid and even before they get to the woods there is a scene in the city where they talk about a baby being bitten by a rat that really disturbed young Unk.
Race with the Devil is another great one. The ending of The Last Exorcist, which was mentioned in Apocalypsejunkie's IAHTKY reminded me of it! Good call on Alone in the Dark too!
Huh, Lake Mungo seems to have driven a lotta people nuts. I should get around to watching it. And I recently got ahold of Race with the Devil.
And I love you so much for mentioning Prophecy. I may never have laughed as hard as I did when the sleeping bag scene came up – especially since the movie plays itself so straight otherwise. Why is it that all the funniest horror scenes have to do with sleeping bags? Jason X, Friday Part VIII, Prophecy, Night of the Demon…
Ooooh Unk…Thanks for pointing out that Squirm looks good on Netflix Instant! They've made available some things I never thought I'd see; the other week I watched The Evictors in widescreen!
The sleeping bag kill in Prophecy is one of the biggest treats anyone could ask for in a bad horror movie. John "The Manchurian Candidate" Frankenheimer…I didn't know you had it in you! How drunk you must have been…
(The hilarious jump scare in the final shot is great cinema too!)
Taylor, I'm another lone Dead Silence fan. I actually have it listed as my most recent scare on my IAHTKY – which will be coming eventually – so I'll high 5 you on that.
These things are so much fun! I'm seriously digging reading them!
I first saw "Prophecy" on cable at my uncle's house (My parents "upgraded" to cable a year later just in time for "The Shining"). Scary for me as a tween though now as a middle aged "geezer" I find that sleeping bag scene hilarious! Also, thanks to "South Park" I've seen that mutant bear referred to as "ManBearPig".
"Messiah of Evil" is good though the version I have has an awful song, who's name I can't recall right now, tagged on in the beginning. I have it in a DVD two pack with "The Devil's Nightmare". "Messiah" also has a classic scene with 1970's "Price is Right" model Anitra Ford. She goes into a supermarket only to find it's inhabited by zombies……and suddenly she becomes the main course:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gWNl9dueGQ
Didn't Mr Barker tell her NEVER to accept rides from strangers!
Hooray for Messiah of Evil! I love the house in that movie; I want those wall murals and the swinging bed.
Oh Man! I love Race With the Devil! It is terrific!
I have seen Lake Mungo mentioned several times lately, so I must see it soon!
Taylor and cmcmcmcm, you are not alone! I also loved DEAD SILENCE, and named it as one of my three underrated on my IAHTKY! I thought it was so much fun, and creepy! Taylor, it's also nice to hear somebody mention the '80s TWILIGHT ZONE. One of my beloved Kindertraumatizers (the theme is one of my favorite pieces of moving imagery). I will also express my enthusiasm for IAHTKY–I hope that they never end.
Dead Silence group hug.
Btw, here's an edit of Messiah of Evil that I put together as a music video for my friend's band Imperial China: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaCc92CYu8Y
Prophecy is probably gonna stand as the single best movie-going experience of my (obviously pathetic) life. A theater full of kids alternately scared and howling with laughter.
My favorite gag is the poor wounded guy strapped to the roof of the truck during the mutant-bear attack.
I guess I'll have to have a look at Dead Silence. Up till now I'd heard nothing good… and my contempt for the Saw movies wasn't encouraging me to doubt those rumors.
@taylor I also love Race With The Devil…great ending, I have a thing for road movies. I can understand Unk saying he was reminded of the ending in The Last Exorcist because I felt the same way.
knobgobbler: Dead Silence does have some hallmarks of a bad movie, to be sure: an unengaging lead actor, some obnoxious performances elsewhere in the cast, a pretty ridiculous twist…But its heart is in the right place for me, with a great over-the-top Gothic atmosphere and a really frightening villain (see the first image on this post). I feel like its the kind of thing that horror fans 20 years from now will discover and appreciate as a goofy but effective relic of the roarin' 00s (after they sift through all of the remakes).
Unk and Matt Sunshine: I LOVE The Last Exorcism, and definitely see a parallel with the ending of Race With The Devil…RWTD is such a blast! Rural Texas is so Satanic…