Intro
Fear is universal and humans are the only species that seek fear.
I was never into horror movies. I watched some when I was younger and I even saw some classics in the movie theater like Scream and Blair Witch Project, but horror movies didn't really interest me.
On December 14, 2019, I had an astrology reading, mainly to hear someone talk about me for an hour. During the reading, Eugenia told me that during my lung transplant I faced my death to really be awoken to my mortality, and that people view me as a poster child of mortality, which reminds people of the dark side of life.
Nobody talks about the dark side or death and dying, and she said it's my job to remind people that there is a dark side to life. That's not a bad thing. The point is to make the uncomfortable comfortable and the unseen seen in order to live more purposefully and richly.
I thought about what she said. That was one way to look at things.
During the pandemic, I binged all nine seasons of American Horror Story. It got me hooked on horror, so this summer vacation I decided to watch horror movies. The goal is to watch one a day. Sometimes Amanda watches with me and I know when she gets scared because she starts groaning and playing on her phone. Part of what I've enjoyed so far is pushing and forcing myself to sit through the fear and discomfort. It's a cathartic experience.
I had never seen any of the movies that I watched. No, I had never seen The Shining or A Nightmare on Elm Street. I've also never seen The Titanic or The Lion King either. Sue me. I rated all the movies right after I watched them. I watched A Quiet Place parts I and II before I started the writing the blog, so I did not include them because memory can be unreliable.
Highlights:
Movie I enjoyed the most: Midsommar
Scariest movie: Hereditary or Sinister
Movie that I unexpectedly really enjoyed: The Purge: Election Year
Most unnerving movie: Hereditary
Scoring System
Like at school, the rubric is designed for success. I included six categories:
Menace - horror movies need a good villain, monster, or menace of some sort.
Sense of dread - a good horror movie creates the feeling that something bad is going to happen. You want to get the feeling that something fucked up is going to happen or that things are about to come undone.
Atmosphere - the setting, sound, effects, and general vibe all contribute to the atmosphere. Directors' choices can either enhance the atmosphere or take away from it. For example, high-itched shreiking can be effective, but used too much it can become super irritating.
Relatability - quite simply - can I connect to the characters or story in some way? Is it compelling? Relatable? Do I really care?
Fear Factor - how scary is the movie?
Ending - does the ending make sense?
Platform: Netflix
Menace - 👻👻
Dread - 👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻
Ending - 👻
Total Score:10
(spoiler) A young man purified as his head is held by a vice as the top of his skull removed, and his torturer is his lover's father who has just murdered the the daughter and framed him.
Memorable line:
The promise of the divine is an illusion. Nothing in this world is pure.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Platform: HBO
Menace - 👻👻👻
Dread - 👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻
Ending - 👻👻
Total Score: 13
Memorable scene:
When Nancy traps Freddy but her father ignores her screams and tells her to get some sleep while her and Freddy are trapped in the house.
Memorable line:
What is seen is not always what is real.
Hush (2016)
Platform: Netflix
Menace - 👻👻
Dread - 👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻👻
Ending - 👻👻
Total Score: 14
Memorable scene:
The deaf mute main character's neighbor/friend is murdered right behind her, but she is unaware because she doesn't hear the knocking or screams.
Memorable line:
I can get you anytime I want to.
Midsommar (2019)
Platform: Amazon
Menace - 👻👻👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻
Ending - 👻👻👻
Total Score: 16
Memorable scene:
(spoiler) When the elders come to the end of their life cycle and they dive onto the rocks below the cliff sacrificing themselves while the other cult members look on, and then family members take turns smashing their faces with a giant mallet.
Memorable line:
It does no good, lashing back at the inevitable, it corrupts the spirit.
Hereditary (2018)
Platform: Showtime
Menace - 👻👻👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻👻👻
Ending - 👻👻👻
Total Score: 18
Memorable scene:
(spoiler) Peter gets into a car accident and his sister's head gets ripped off by a utility pole when he swerves and then he drives home with her headless body in the backseat and goes to bed.
Memorable line:
I never wanted to be your mother.
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Platform: Netflix
Menace - 👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻👻
Ending - 👻👻
Total Score: 13
Memorable scene:
Despite being tied to the bed with her jumprope in her mother's bedroom, Janet wakes up, seemingly teleported, in her old bedroom, which was locked with a massive chain from the outside, levitated against the ceiling and begins to scream as all the crucifixes that cover the walls are inverted by some demonic force, which we later get a glimpse of as the mother and Ed attempt to break into the room.
Memorable line:
Sometimes you need to make a leap of faith and believe when nobody else will.
Unfriended (2014)
Platform: Netflix
Menace - 👻👻
Dread - 👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻👻
Ending - 👻👻
Total Score: 12
Memorable scene:
(spoiler)The entire movie takes place on a girl's computer screen and the intruder trolling their Skype video call shows a sex tape to her boyfriend of her with his best friend.
Memorable line:
I wish I could forgive you
Green Inferno (2013)
Platform: Netflix
Menace - 👻👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻
Fear Factor - 👻
Ending - 👻
Total Score: 11
Memorable scene:
A Peruvian tribe of cannibals capture the idealistic students and then the students watch as one of their companions is dismembered, beheaded, and eaten.
Memorable line:
I hate to break it to you but this is how the real world works, everything is connected, good guys and bad guys.
It (1990)
Platform: HBO
Menace - 👻👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻
Fear Factor - 👻👻
Ending - 👻👻
Total Score: 13
Memorable scene:
The Losers Club reunites at a Chinese restaurant and when they open the fortune cookies they are shocked by what comes out - blood platter, tarantula, eyeball, and other disgusting surprises.
The Memorable line:
Everybody was afraid but nobody did anything.
The Conjuring 3:The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Platform: Cinema World (Fitchburg)
Menace - 👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻
Relatability - 👻
Fear Factor - 👻👻
Ending - 👻👻
Total Score: 11
Memorable scene:
A boy hears knocking and runs in to the bathtub, after the knocking and rattling has stopped, he looks up sand sees demonic claws on top of the shower curtain then the shower faucets turn by themselves, and he is covered with blood then he stabs his father in the leg with a shard of broken mirror glass.
Memorable line:
The court accepts the existence of God every time a witness swears to tell the truth. I think it's about time they accept the existence of the devil.
Sinister (2012)
Platform:Showtime
Menace - 👻👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻👻👻
Ending - 👻👻👻
Total Score: 16
Memorable scene:
Elliot awakens at 3:22 am to a noise in the house and searches the house with his baseball bat as dead/missing children taunt him and hide.
Memorable line:
Don't worry daddy, I'll make you famous again.
Green Room (2015)
Platform:Showtime
Menace - 👻👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻
Ending - 👻👻
Total Score: 11
Memorable scene:
The band foolishly opens the door to give up their gun and quickly realize it's a trap, but not before the Neo-nazis grab the bandmates's arm and nearly saw his hand with the gun off.
Memorable line:
We can't just go missing, they need us found.
It Comes at Night (2017)
Platform:Netflix
Menace - 👻👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻👻
Ending - 👻👻👻
Total Score: 14
Memorable scene:
Travis finds Andrew having a nightmare in grandpa's room, leads him back to his bedroom, then finds the house door open where he spots the family dog who has become sick.
Memorable line:
I'm sure everything's gonna be fine.
The Ring (2002)
Platform:Netflix
Menace - 👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻
Fear Factor - 👻👻👻
Ending - 👻
Total Score: 12
Memorable scene:
On the ferry, Rachel pets a horse, which immediately goes berserk, escapes from it's carrier, and then runs through the ferry and leaps off the front, then Rachel watches from the back of the ferry as the water turns from clear to blood red.
Memorable line:
It won't stop. Everyone will suffer.
The Shining (1980)
Platform:HBO
Menace - 👻👻👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻
Ending - 👻👻
Total Score: 14
Memorable scene:
After Danny shows up with bruises on his neck, Jack goes to inspect room 237 at Wendy's behest, and once there he imagines a naked woman in the bathtub who he begins kissing but she turns into a corpse and laughs manically as he freaks.
Memorable line:
You've had your whole life to think things over. What's a few more minutes gonna do now?
28 Days Later (2002)
Platform:Hulu
Menace - 👻👻👻
Dread - 👻👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻👻
Ending - 👻👻
Total Score: 16
Memorable scene:
Frank sees a crow pecking at a corpse, he shoots it and a drop of blood falls in his eye so he is immediately infected then Selena holds back his daughter as she screams for Jim to kill him.
Memorable line:
If the infection wipes us all out, that is a return to normality.
The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
Platform:Peacock
Menace - 👻👻👻
Dread - 👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻
Ending - 👻👻👻
Total Score: 15
Memorable scene:
The main group is captured and presented on stage - up for auction to aristocrats who bid on their lives.
Memorable line:
Profit-making is not the essence of democracy.
The Purge: Election Year (2016)
Platform:xFinity
Menace - 👻👻👻
Dread - 👻👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻
Ending - 👻👻👻
Total Score: 15
Memorable scene:
In the cathedral, a chosen drug addict is wheeled on the altar to be purged, and an ambitious man stabs him repeatedly, in order to really feel the cleanse, while onlookers chant, bewitched by the violence.
Memorable line:
I lost my faith in the system a long time ago.
The First Purge (2018)
Platform:xFinity
Menace - 👻👻👻
Dread - 👻
Atmosphere - 👻👻
Relatability - 👻👻
Fear Factor - 👻
Ending - 👻👻
Total Score: 10
Memorable scene:
D confronts his rival and mastermind of of the assassination plot against him and shoots him in the forehead at point blank range as his would-be assassins are splattered with blood.
Memorable line:
The benefit of acting violently without the worry of consequence, that's a freeing violence.
The Fourth Kind (2009)
Platform:Netflix
Menace - 👻
Dread - 👻
Atmosphere - 👻
Relatability - 👻
Fear Factor - 👻
Ending - 👻👻
Total Score: 7
Memorable scene:
After freaking out in DSr. Tyler's office, a patient holds his family hostage and when Dr. Tyler shows up she cannot prevent him from killing his family and himself.
Memorable line:
You can't just stop being insane whenever you want to.
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