Horrifying Hump Day:The Scariest Movie(s) Ever.

Since it's October, the most wonderful and frightening month of the year, I thought it'd be fun to spend some time on scary things each week. So for the rest of the month, Weekend Fat will use Wednesdays to explore the creepy, the suspenseful, and the terrifying! Now let's begin.

It's hard to name exactly which movie is the scariest since we all have different things that trigger our frights. For example, some people can't handle children in scary movies. Others don't want their horror and religion or horror and sex mixed up. Some don't like monsters. Many people can't handle torture. Gosh, this category is gruesome!

At any rate, I am going to attempt to outline a few of what I consider to be the scariest movies I've ever seen. Warning, there will be spoilers.

Because you were home.

The Strangers:
This might be the absolute scariest movie I've ever seen. A happy couple goes into the woods to have a nice little romantic get-away and end up being stalked/haunted by three strangers. It has all the right elements. The three stalkers wear terrifying masks. A creepy song played on a record. A murdered friend who is trying to come to the rescue. And the most terrifying reason any killer has ever given for killing, "Because you were home." The best thing about this movie is that it kind of happens in "real time." The scary stuff starts happening around 4am, and the sun comes up before the movie ends. Leaving the most tragic part happening in the daylight. Shudder.

The voice is coming from inside the house.

When A Stranger Calls Back:
Maybe I have a thing for strangers. This is a sequel to an old movie called When a Stranger Calls. Both movies star Carol Kane. The first one is meh....but sets the stage for the second one. The story is basically of a babysitter who is terrorized one night. Before the night is up, the kids have been kidnapped, and the babysitter is traumatized. In the sequel, the pajamas of the kids show back up years later in the closet of the babysitter, making it obvious that the man has found her. The stalking continues until this one pivotal and terrifying moment at the end. Major spoiler here: The killer has painted himself so that he blends in with a brick wall in the woman's apartment. You don't even see him until his eyes open. My friend Jill and I have seen this movie probably 200 times and it's scary every time. The voice of the guy is deep and scary, the cinematography focuses on objects like door handles and phones, and there's a puppet. Ew.

What's your favorite scary movie?

Scream:
Maybe it's because I was a teenager when it came out, but I will always say that the first 10 minutes of Scream rate among the scariest scenes ever. To kill off Drew Barrymore after she was billed as the star of the movie was ballsy, but it's the way it happens that is crazy. You barely have time to acclimate to the fact that the rules are different in this movie. When Barrymore is being dragged across her lawn as her parents pull into the driveway, and finally her mom sees her hanging, guts out, in the tree and lets loose a blood-curling scream, you realize you're dealing with a whole new genre of scary movies. The mask is scary, and the lighthearted tone plays against the impending doom. I remember my first time babysitting after seeing this movie. The people had big sliding glass doors that led to a patio with a pool, and I thought I would just die.

I think we'll be okay now.

Paranormal Activity:
Laugh all you want, but I saw this movie on opening night in a packed theater and it was terrifying. The above scene, when Katie stands and watches her boyfriend sleep for like 3 hours and the clock changes rapidly...um...the entire audience audibly gasped and freaked out. This movie took the Blair Witch filming stuff and brought it back while playing on our love for "reality" TV. The mystery of what's happening is one thing, but it really just relies on old school tactics. The loud noises, doors creaking, and sudden scares make this movie a classic.

They're Here.

Poltergeist:
It might the many spooky stories surrounding this movie (like the fact that the little girl who played Carol Ann died at a very early age, among other creepy tales) or it might be the fact that there was a house that looked just like the house in this movie on my cousin's street. Or maybe because I saw it at a really young age. Whatever the reason, this movie remains one of the most terrifying "ghost" movies ever made. I can't even pick a scariest moment. It has everything...a kid, a TV that makes that scary static sound, clowns, raw meat, flying toys, a little lady with a strange voice, a mud pit with skeletons, and Craig T. Nelson. I'm sure I left something out. If you notice this is my only "ghost" movie on the list. The rest of them are somewhat rooted in the idea this could really happen.

I've just killed an intruder.

Sleeping With The Enemy:
There is something about that title, about the way this movie plays out that is cinematically brilliant. First of all there are several "guns" to look for in the film. The booming classical music, the perfectly lined up towels, and the Martha Stewart style cabinets give us the immediate feeling that this man is controlling and dark. Contrast that with Julia Robert's adorableness and it's the perfect stalker movie. The way it's filmed with open windows, neighbors popping up, and lots of natural noises, it's as if any second something could go wrong. It lets you participate in the feeling that the runaway wife must feel; never trusting that she is really safe. 

Evil.

Halloween:
It wouldn't be right not to include this one. First of all, Halloween was the game changer that ushered us from literal monsters or unlikely scenarios in scary movies to "oh wow this could happen in our neighborhood." And the fact that it takes place on and around Halloween night, kind of a kid's night, made it even scarier. The opening scene where the killer is found to be a 6 year old boy rocked the world of the genre and set the new precedence for shocking the hell out of people in the first 10 minutes of a movie. In fact this movie set the precedence for most of the "horror rules" that our films follow today. Anyway, I could go on and on about how the movie impacted future scary movies, and why it's important, but let's just get to the real issue. Halloween has THE scariest musical score of any movie ever made. And for that reason alone, this movie is one of the scariest ever.

I could go on and on about this topic, and for the next few Wednesdays I will. As you can see, I have  a certain preference when it comes to scary movies. I like them somewhat rooted in reality...they seem scarier that way. Here are just a few honorable mentions that I could make a case for: 
Melancholia
Jaws
Silence of the Lambs
Dawn of the Dead
IT
Wait Until Dark
Carrie

I need to stop. Self-control has never been my strength. Gonna drop this here and just move on...

What's your FAVORITE Scary Movie? 
And What is the Scariest Movie You've Ever Seen?