With Halloween just a couple of days away, most TV movie channels have been playing a steady rotation of horror/thriller movies.

As E and I are both movie fans, this got us thinking as to what we would include in our top 10.  As an aside, I think this is an interesting exercise that everyone should go through because it may give some insight about yourself.

The bigger question is what scares us, and why?  Are there any common themes (supernatural, evil monsters, evil people, nature, aliens with fangs or worse)?  Another thing to look at is when the movie was made.  For our list, most of the movies were from our childhood, when I think our imaginations are most vivid.  Later in adult life, it takes an exceptional movie to give us a good scare.

The horror movies I most dislike is where the protagonist does something really stupid (trips while running in the forest, floods the car while trying to start it, goes into the basement to investigate “the noise”, etc).  To me, it’s just a cheap way to generate suspense. 

Anyways, onto our list!

1. The Exorcist-  The perfect horror movie, especially if you come from a religious background, and are 8 years old.  It made me sleep with a flashlight and cross under my pillow… It has a great story, freakishly scary music and sound effects, horrifying visual effects, perfect casting, and there’s not a single dull moment.   
2. The Omen- I remember watching this in grade 6, and going to school and asking my friends to look for 666 under my hair.  More sinister than the Exorcist, but just as fun!  The Omen II was a pretty good follow-up, but the rest are forgettable.
3. Alien- I couldn’t eat crab for weeks after watching the face hugger do its work.  Honorable mention to Aliens, which I personally liked as much as the original.  The rest were just a travesty.
4. The Shining- Remember the river of blood coming out of the stairwell?  Remember the wallpaper?  Everytime I walk into an old apt building with that wallpaper, I think “RedRUM!”
5. Jaws- Wow, we talked about this movie for weeks at school.  In my mind, another perfect movie because it’s right on the line of plausibility. 
6. The Sixth Sense- Yep, even as an adult, this one got me.  There’s no evil bad guy here, but it’s more about our fear of death and the unknown.
7. The Silence of the Lambs- Outstanding story, casting, and acting.  Scary on many levels, mostly because the evil here is a very sinister and depraved serial killer.  I’m sure Chianti sales went way up after this movie.
8. Salem’s Lot- Gotta have a movie about Vampires here… Again, I remember this from my childhood, and man did it ever creep me out.  Crucifix around the neck and everything.  I think the creepiest scene was having the boy vampire tapping on his friends second floor bedroom window in the dead of night asking to be let in.  EEeeyaaarrgh get away!!
9. The Thing- Cool visual effects (for the time), fiendish alien… 
10. Texas Chainsaw Massacre- Freaky, freaky, freaky…

Honorable mention- Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dawn of the Dead (and most Zombie flicks), Arachnophobia, Dead Calm, Dead Again, Psycho.

These days, there’s a lot of so-so, formula horror flicks that rely on special effects for thrills.  For me, it seems like the 70’s and 80’s produced the most chilling horror movies.  In any case, it’s a genre that’s great fun to watch with friends and family.  Everybody loves a good scare!   

For those who knew lester since childhood, I encourage you to compare the photos in the previous post.  One day I’ll figure out how to implement a polling feature.

We’re starting to get around a bit more these days.  e’s sleep/eat patterns are predictable, so we usually time our trips that way.  Sunday was a nice day, so we went out to N Van, and back to Costco/Safeway in Burnaby.  On the way back, we stopped by Forest Lawn to visit our Grandmothers and Goo Bak. 

I can’t describe how it was to introduce my daughter to her great-grandmothers, and great-great grandaunt.  Somehow I felt that introductions weren’t really needed… that in some way, our grandmothers live on through her.  Kinda like the Disney movie Mulan where all the family Ancestors know their decendants and look out for them. 

But there was a tinge of sadness in that we know how beyond happy they would have been to meet her and hold her.  Imagine, seeing 4 generations of your family!   

As e grows older, one day we will begin to tell her stories about her great-grandmothers and the rest of the family.  One thing for sure, she’s got quite the heritage.     

So we’re doing our errands at Brentwood, and I get a strong sense of Deja vu when looking at this photo.  The pigtails threw me off a bit, but then it hit me- omigosh, it’s Lester.  Am I right or am I right?  Simply Uncanny…