Halloween Countdown (Day 18: Falling Behind)

Ahem, so much for having blog posts done in advance, to help with the scheduling. I didn't take into account the combination of insomnia, gigs, birthdays and meeting old friends, not to mention working up my hours in work, in order to have next Friday off for the Horrorthon, which I'll most likely be writing about.....well, if I get the chance. I can see the blog posts waning down during this period, but I'll do my best regardless.

Taking into account that I'm falling behind in these blog entries, I will be taking a shortcut yet again. I got to thinking what scared the crap out of me when I was at a young age, movie wise. I was struggling with that, so I expanded on not only scares, but what I found disturbing also, not to mention finding other sources such as video games and television.

Oh yes, there will be spoilers.

1. Werewolf transformations in "Thriller" and "An American Werewolf In London"

I already talked about this in the "Day 1" blog post, but at the time I had planned to write about the film in a future blog post. I also planned to cover the films of Rob Zombie, but it was only through writing the actual blog posts that it does take a lot of the spare time that I rarely have these days. So if I don't get a chance to watch the movie, I may as well add it here. Like I said in the aforementioned blog entry, these scenes scared the crap out of me as a kid, and I still don't know how I ended up watching "An American Werewolf.....". I guess it was because of the "Thriller" connection that I was introduced to this by my parents.

And now.....

I am still impressed with the effort that was put into the effects for the transformation scenes, especially when you compare it to the shoddy CGI effects that are commonplace in Hollywood films today. Hell, just compare the change sequences of this movie to its sequel, "An American Werewolf In Paris".

2. Giant Animal in "The Muppet Movie"

I have been a fan of the Muppets ever since I was a child, but even back then I was a little disturbed by the character Animal. So that was the main reason why I found the scene where he drinks the growth serum in Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's lab scary to watch, even if he was scaring the bad guys away. It was only through watching "The Muppet Babies" cartoon where I started to warm up to Animal, as he wasn't so extreme in his characteristics, so when I did see the "grown up" Animal, I understood him better.

And now.....

Animal is one of my favourite Muppets, and is involved in one of my favourite scenes from "A Muppet Christmas Carol", where he had to play the drums slowly. The facial expression alone cracks me up, even to this day.

3. The ending of "Time Bandits"

I haven't seen this film in years, so I don't remember what it's about. All I know is that the ending was not only weird, but very disturbing. I think it was one of the first times where I saw an ending where nothing was resolved, and nobody lived "happily ever after". I'm only typing from memory, as I remember the feelings and the visuals, but I can't remember the how or why.

And now.....

I have the free DVD from The Daily Mail somewhere in the house. I've been meaning to dig it out and watch it, just to see if brings back any memories.

4. The killer rabbits of "Watership Down"

Again this was another film I watched as a kid, but don't remember much of it, other than the song "Bright Eyes", which I thought was a very sad sounding tune, and the violent, bloodthirsty rabbits. Now that I think about it, it's rare these days to find a "children's" film that's so dark and violent.

And now.....

Still have no memory what the film was about, and is on my "to-watch" list, if it ever comes on television.....but then again, I don't watch TV these days.

5. Freddy Krueger

I think I mentioned in one of the SAW blog posts that I never watched the "Elm St." series when I was young. I have heard of Freddie Krueger from the likes of my cousins and other kids at school, so I was intrigued by the character, even a little reluctant to watch the movies if I ever got the chance. The only time I ever seen the character onscreen was when Sky One showed the "Freddy's Nightmares" series, where if I remember correctly, he introduced the stories, much like "Tales From The Crypt". Freaky as he was, he wasn't exactly scary.

And now.....

I finally did watch the "Elm St." movies during my teens. I particularly enjoyed the first and third movies, as for the others, well, they vary in quality.

6. The ending of "Candyman"

Unlike the "Elm St." movies, this was one where I did watch it at a young age, and around the time the film came out. I remember watching this late at night, so it made the viewing experience that much eerie. As for the ending, it stayed in my memory for a long time as one of the creepiest finales of any movie I watched.

And now.....

This was another movie I was thinking of reviewing, because of the impact it had on me in the past. But in case I don't write about it this month: I find the ending, while a decent one, a little bit corny. And it didn't help that after all these years, the film hasn't aged well, and found it a bit rubbish, to be honest. Although I did like the actor who played Candyman, especially his voice, and some of the effects were pretty good for its time.

7. Gargoyle story from "Tales From The Darkside: The Movie"

I didn't know the actual title of this movie until today, but the final story with the gargoyles had a big impact with me when I watched it, and I always remembered how it ended.

And now.....

Because it's been many years since I've seen it, not to mention that I've only found out the title today, I would like to watch it again, to see if it was a decent gothic tale, or just a naff short story.

8. "Spider robots" from "Zero Tolerance" on the Sega Mega Drive

It's funny that nowadays I'm not a huge fan of first person shooters, and find a hard time to be immersed in them. Yet I played one of the earliest ones from the 16 bit era, and got into it so much, that when I turned around only to come face to face with a robotic spider-type enemy, I had a panic attack. Even my brother, who was in the room at the same time, had to comfort me.

And now.....

The dog in the first Resident Evil game not only surpassed the scare factor in a computer game, but still remains one of the scariest things I've ever experienced.

9. The "dead bodies" in "Ulysses 31"

This cartoon from my childhood has always left me wondering why the main characters were on a spaceship where the rest of the crew members float lifelessly above them, only to come back to life every so often. It was even more confusing by the fact that it was rarely explained whenever I watched it.

And now.....

You gotta love the invention of the internet.

10. The custard pies from "Bugsy Malone"

This one confused me as a child, as stupid as it may seem. And yes, I did figure out that the pies were meant to be like bullets, in the way that they killed people. But there was a period where I didn't understand how a custard pie could actually kill people. And it confused me even more when after the final battle scene, everyone starts singing while covered in custard cream. In a way, this could be viewed as the first zombie film I've ever seen.

And now.....

It's one of those funny icebreakers I have when talking to people.

And on a final note.....

I saw this posted on a friend's page on Facebook. It's from James Rolfe, the guy behind the Angry Video Game Nerd, and is from the Cinemassacre site, which does have a few interesting videos based on horror films. Not only did I find this funny, but it made me think about why I never questioned the origins of some of the vampire myths mentioned here.