It's a Horror to Know You: Spooky Sean of Spooky Bloggery!
1. What is the first film that ever scared you?
The first film that ever scared me? Hmm. This is going to be tough to answer, as I was always one of those twitchy kids, who was perpetually jumpy. Real life scared me so much, that for many years I actively avoided horror movies. I've got a few, can't remember which came first.
I've had a Traumafession about one of the earliest films I can remember that scared me. Believe it or not The Christmas Toy, a 1986 made for TV movie by Jim Henson. I had a VHS copy of it. I loved the film, but the concept of toys coming to life creeped me out. The Peanut Butter Solution scared me too, which came out in 1985. Now, much like The Christmas Toy, most of the film is not very frightening. However, there is one scene I remember, where the main character is walking into a house, which is what causes him to get scared and lose all his hair. (Just google it, don't have time for a synopsis.) Also, what kid isn't afraid of going bald, haha. Lastly, near the beginning of Flight of the Navigator, when the main character (again, too lazy to imdb this) is transported forward in time and goes to his house and finds a new family there. That terrified me. Imagine it, being like 9 or 10, and you go outside to play, trip and fall, hit your head, and wake up. You go back to your house, and your family is gone, and a new family is there. A new family that yells at you, and calls the cops on you, I might add.
2. What is the last film that scared you?
I haven't been scared by a film in a while. Gross out, yes, but scared, not really. I think the last film that scared me was The Innkeepers, but only parts near the middle. I'd say Marble Hornets and good old Slender Man have been scaring me far more than any film I've watched recently. It's so amateurish at times, what with all the text during each short, but you have to hand it to those dudes, they know how to drag something out, and keep it scary. Lake Mungo really creeped me out, but I saw that a year or more ago.
3. Name three Horror movies that you believe are underrated.
Lake Mungo
The Mist (this borders on being a science fiction film as well)
Stir of Echoes
I'm not sure if Stir of Echoes is underrated, I just don't hear many people talking about it. I can watch Stir of Echoes over and over, and somehow, I never get tired of it. I hear all sorts of people talk shit about The Mist, and I don't get it, I thought it was really great, and the monsters were superb (save for the tentacle). Not many people have heard of Lake Mungo, so that's probably why it's underrated. Honorable mention for The Ninth Gate, but I'd say it's more of a drama/ horror film.
4. Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.
Deep Blue Sea (my hat is like a shark's fin!)
A Serbian Film
The Human Centipede 2
I have a soft spot for excessive nastiness sheerly for its own sake. I have no excuse for Deep Blue Sea. I love shark films, and shark books. Anything to do with monsters in water, I'm there.
5. Send us to five places on the Internet!
The Horror Digest. I love the layout. Sites with black backgrounds and white font just do it for me. Also, she always gets great screenshots, and keeps me entertained. She funny. And she has a crazy amount of horror films reviewed. I haven't been brave enough to try to read even half the reviews she has posted. She must have a caffeine drip IV or something.
Warning Signs. He's reading through every Stephen King book for the interest of his site. People read his fucking site, that's so many pages this man is reading, all for you!
Can I link to your site, or is that kind of stupid? I mean, they are already here. Eh, why not.
All Things Horror. We reppin' fah Bahston harrah! I may or may not contribute to the site on occasion. Shameless, i know, but I read them even before I wrote for them, so suck it.
PositivelyBLEAK. If you're interested in heavy metal, or fashion, this site will rip your face off, and wear it with a lovely ensemble to match the dripping bloody skin mask. And my name might pop up on here from time to time. Now it's like a guessing game! Why does his name pop up. Read and find out!
For some reason I tend to mix up details from The Peanut Butter Solution and Roland Emmerich's Making Contact (aka Joey). I sure I saw them at around the same time…Both creeped me out to a certain degree as a kid. I've seen Making Contact again as an adult (holy hell, does it NOT hold up)…I'll need to revisit The Peanut Butter Solution.
There are some real gems among the Marble Hornets videos…It started getting a little too convoluted for me with the storyline and I haven't seen much past the first fifteen or so, but a few of those I've gone back to a few times just for the chill factor.
I've watched all 50 plus of them. Though, I am an X-Files nerd (hate the term X-phile, ugh!) so convoluted storylines have never bothered me, huhu.
I haven't even watched The Peanut Butter Solution since I was young, I just remembered while I was writing about Flight of the Navigator that it creeped me out. I'll see if I can find a screen cap of the scene in question, and I'll post it to me Bloggery.
I'm with you on THE MIST Sean, excellent movie!
And so glad you made me remember that LL Cool J song. I had completely blocked it out of my head.
I have a deep soft spot for Deep Blue Sea. The Samuel L Jackson speech scene alone is worth the price of admission.