Change Your Image
vicentepm
Reviews
Salem's Lot (1979)
This is literally the scariest movie I've ever seen
There is no romance to these vampires--they're not sexy, they're not cool. They're small-town neighbors and they are the embodiment of evil. And nobody believes you.
This is, by far, the scariest thing I've ever seen. This is so scary that when I first saw it on cable with my dad and older sister, he had to remind me it was only a movie--and I was a freshman in high school. A few scenes later, he had to remind me to breathe--I didn't realize I had been holding my breath. I can still remember scenes--they're burned onto my brain.
A few years later, I was driving home from school and saw a tractor-trailer rig at the same 4-way stop with "Barlow" (the head vampire)emblazoned on the side. I almost wanted to cry. The speed limit in the rural area I was in was probably 35-40 mph at the most. I know I was going about 60-70 all the way home after that.
Stephen King is the master at describing small-town America, but in his version of small-town life, things just aren't quite right. The atmosphere in "'Salem's Lot" is almost another character in itself. Yes, it's a miniseries (at least, the original, uncut version is,) but it's worth it. Besides, you'll watch it in one sitting. I don't want to give too much away, but the mention of "Danny Glick" still upsets my sister--and we're now both in our 40s. Me, I try to avoid basements--you never know what's in them.
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)
It was just a movie
ABC used to have the best movies of the week when I was a little kid in the 70s,like the original "Night Stalker" and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark." I think I was about 7 when I saw "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" with my sister (where my parents were, I don't know...)and we still talk about scary little urchins that live in people's houses (no, not their children.)Can't find something that you just had? The urchins moved it.Floors creaking in the middle of the night? It's the urchins. All I really remember about the movie was Kim Darby and that it scared the heck out of me. This could be a cool movie to remake, if done right.
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
It still gives me the creeps
I haven't seen "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" in about 30 years or so, but it still just creeps me out. This is a SCARY movie, as opposed to "horror" movies that are just gore and blood. There's so much that isn't known--things that could be happening, or might not be. Maybe Jessica's really crazy and it's all in her head, or maybe this is reality--which makes it even scarier. Maybe her husband is trying to humor her--or maybe he's in on it. Creepy all the way around. What's worse is, even as a little kid, I always felt sorry for "Jessica," as portrayed by Zohra Lampert, which made everything that happens that much more intense. We still talk about "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" at work, which tells you the impact it had, and has even today.