FINAL GIRL explores the slasher flicks of the '70s and '80s...and all the other horror movies I feel like talking about, too. This is life on the EDGE, so beware yon spoilers!

Oct 2, 2013

SHOCKtober: 309-291



Day Two brings us some good, good stuff so I'll shut my yap and get to it. Each of these movies received one vote.

309. Confessions -- 2010, Tetsuya Nakashima
308. The Crazies -- 2010, Breck Eisner
307. The Eye -- 2002, Oxide Pang Chun & Danny Pang
306. Invaders from Mars -- 1953, William Cameron Menzies
305. Scanners -- 1981, David Cronenberg
304. Double Indemnity -- 1944, Billy Wilder
303. Lady in White -- 1988, Frank LaLoggia
302. Terror Train -- 1980, Roger Spottiswoode
301. La residencia (The House That Screamed) -- 1969, Narciso Ibanez Serrador
300. Psycho II -- 1983, Richard Franklin
299. Trick 'r Treat -- 2007, Michael Dougherty
298. The Tunnel -- 2011, Carlo Ledesma
297. Eraserhead -- 1977, David Lynch
296. Mute Witness -- 1994, Anthony Waller
295. Prom Night -- 1980, Paul Lynch
294. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" -- 1983, John Landis
293. The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting -- 1979, Raoul Ruiz
292. Demons -- 1985, Lamberto Bava
291. Cape Fear -- 1962, J. Lee Thompson

In case you're thinking to yourself "Thriller whaaaaaat!", let me just say "Thriller yesssssss!" because as far as I'm concerned, that video is a short film. It is also awesome. AND it provides the basis for one of my famous "I am old" stories, that goes as follows:

When Thriller hit, it was such a big deal, you guys. As it was the days before everyone had instant access to every piece of entertainment in the history of ever, MTV would actually schedule showings of it throughout the day. We neighborhood kids would stop whatever we were doing, run indoors, watch Thriller, and then go back outside to play 20 minutes later. Life was filled with zombified dance numbers, and it was good.


fuck you, Thriller is the best

Anyway, what else? I really, really need to see The House That Screamed. I was first made aware of it when it ended up at #229 during SHOCKtober 2010, but I've yet to track down a copy.

I love Demons! I love it so much, it's so stupid and gross. I wish I loved Trick 'r Treat more than I did...maybe it deserves another viewing? And I'll tell you right now: for someone not usually considered a "horror" director, David Lynch figures into SHOCKtober 2013 (and 2010!) pretty damn prominently.

13 comments:

Chris Otto said...

I am officially intrigued by "The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting."

Verdant Earl said...

The remake of The Crazies and Trick 'r Treat are two of my favorite recent horror flicks, even if they weren't particularly scary. Good choices. Confessions, The Tunnel and The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting have never been on my radar before. Cool.

vampy said...

People who don't think David Lynch is a horror director must not have seen a lot of his stuff.

"Oh Blue Velvet, that's not a horror movie. Mulholland Drive, not horror. Twin Peaks, not horror..."

David Robson, Proprietor, House of Sparrows said...

The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting is beauuuuutiful, and not a bad intro to the oeuvre of Raoul Ruiz. Meanwhile, I'm psyched that I get to see Demons for the first time ever in a coupla weeks.

Thriller was every bit the event that Stacie describes, y'all.

Diandra said...

aw yay I was the one who mentioned The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting, and I'm glad people are responding to it, even via title alone.

Confessions wouldn't have made my top list of scary movies, but it's definitely a shocking ride.

Ryan Clark said...

I recently watched The House That Screamed for the first time, and it was INCREDIBLE. Definitely a new favorite. You can watch it on YouTube!

Nathan West said...

Let me share my Thriller story ('cause, yeah, I'm old too): Back when I was 4 years old, my parents both worked at this bicycle factory (Roadmaster) during the daytime, which left me at this daycare facility in the mornings/afternoons. I don't recall a lot about the place, except the playground and nap time. This one day though, I'll never forget... the people who were in charge of watching all of us little kids decided that they were going to gather us around a TV and show us the Michael Jackson Thriller video (it might've been October or fall time of 1984, I think they queued it up on VHS..). I'm sure they were just thinking, "oh hey, it's October, let's watch this fun Michael Jackson video. Everyone loves MJ! It's the 80s! Pepsi!" ...I guess they didn't consider that it might freak some of the kids out, and by "some of the kids" I mean "me" and by "freak out" I mean "start uncontrollably wailing and crying for my momma." Yup. MJ's Thriller video scared the holyjeezus out of me, especially when MJ turned into the cat-wolf creature. I don't think I even made it to the part with the song and dance, that's how much it scared me. They (the people who ran the daycare) had to call my mother and she had to leave work to come get me and console me and take me home. So yeah, Thriller counts as scary.

Unknown said...

Believe it or not, the 'Thriller' video actually used to scare me when I was little. The bit where he has all yellow eyes and says "Go away!!" in a scary, modulated voice used to freak me out, because clearly I was a delicate little primrose. The bizarre Snarf-looking werecat, however, failed to have the same effect.

Pokemon Postmon said...

A couple of points. Firstly, apologies for not getting around to submitting my Shocktober top scares. Sorry!! XD
Secondly, although I wouldn't class Lynch as a Horror director, his films do contain many shocking, frightening and disturbing stuff. I would have included him for sure!
Finally, getting onto the main point, 'Thriller' was 1st aired in the UK at sometime after midnight during an evening of music on Channel 4. Yes, that's right, we only had four channels! I remember stopping up for it even tho' I was an avid metalhead and had no interest in Mr. Jackson. I was sold on the fact that it was directed by Landis, had zombies and, more importantly, Vincent Price 'rapping'!!
Now for the final word, have you ever seen the horror spoof, 'Hysterical'? I only saw the US version a few years back which included a scene which was editted out of the UK version. Dancing, singing zombies!!! And, yes, it predates Michael's video by a few months!!! :o

matango said...

Maybe you've seen this (Key & Peele):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgtizhlbIOQ

Yeah, I remember renting Thriller on VHS. It was and is super awesome. My sister and I rented that one numerous times.

The VHS also had the awesome video for "Can You Feel It" with golden Jackson 5 and the random Star Wars noises.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW1fXL3s7bk

Billy Farquhar said...

Stacie, you can watch The House That Screamed (under the alternate title Finishing School) here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEekJEm2lu8

Enjoy the twisted creepiness!!!!!

Unknown said...

I voted for The House That Screamed and Thriller. Both traumas of my childhood. In Spain, they released Thriller as a part of a New Year's eve special, and the hosts were two comedians who presented it as a very funny video especially for the children. I wasn't familiar with irony and believed them, only to watch pure horror unfold in front of me. That night I had a nightmare that all of my family turned into zombies and wanted to kill me (without dance routines). I wet my bed.

Unknown said...

I voted for The House That Screamed and Thriller. Both Traumas of my childhood. In Spain Thriller premiered as part of a New Year's eve TV special and the hosts, two spanish comedians presented it as a very funny video especially made for children. Back then I didn't get they were being ironic, so I prepared myself for something like Sesame Street, and then the horror unfolded in front of my eyes. That night I had the nightmare that all of my family turned into zombies and wanted to eat me (no dance routines included). I wet my bed. Talk about an embarrasing way to start a new year. Happy 1984 to me!