What's really funny about scary movies is that the first movie I remember scaring my pants off was Jaws...the original. My students and I were categorizing scary movies the other day and I mentioned this fun fact about myself to them...they thought I was nuts. To them, Jaws is the mechanical shark movie they watch and make fun of from time to time. To me, as a middle schooler, it was the scariest thing I had ever seen...I slept with the lights on, and every time I closed my eyes, I thought I was in a boat surrounded by bloody water...yeah, yeah, I know it was Rated R...that's why my mom said no, so I asked my dad...who said yes. Guess who got in trouble?
For the next few years my friends and I did what kids do best...we scared each other to death and called it fun.
The original Halloween movie was included in our annual scare fests...as late as possible in the night on Halloween night and with as many friends as possible.
This "fun" with scary movies lasted through others such as Amityville Horror and even the Nightmare on Elm Street series.
A few years later though, one particular series ended that fun for me, and I haven't been a scary movie person since.
I somehow managed to skip the first 3 installments of Friday the 13th but was anxious for Jason to get his and get off my tv screen. The trailers for 1, 2, and 3 scared the bejeebies out of me, so I'm not sure what I was expecting when I actually found myself with a group of friends at the movie theatre.
To this day someone in a hockey mask can send me running in the other direction. Nevermind the fact that the final chapter was certainly NOT the final chapter...there were 8 more Jason movies after this one before the nightmare finally ended.
Fast forward to 2011, and the newest scary stuff out is the Paranormal Activity franchise.
My firstborn and her boyfriend watched the first installment of this freaky movie series at our house on DVD about a year ago. As is common for parents, I walked in and out of the den just making sure my presence was known...I realized quickly that I didn't have anything to worry about, however, bc the two of them were scared to death. My firstborn doesn't scare easily so I knew this was a doozy of a movie. The third installment of this series opened this past weekend.
Uh-uh, nope, not me.
I grew up at the beach, so found Jaws to be incredibly terrifying. I avoid scary movies, but a couple I saw that left me petrified are Halloween and The Amityville Horror. I think we're showing our age! lol
ReplyDeleteYes, I've seen all of these and was somehow...formed by all of them. I avoided the water. I hated 4H camp. I didn't want to fall asleep and dream myself to death. But I loved it. We also love the Paranormal Activity movies, but still need to go see the 3rd. The ones I mentioned today, however, are ones that really scarred me permanently. Scary movies are supposed to be fun. Two of the three were definitely NOT. If I were able to stay home tonight, I might just watch Halloween. (BTW my kids say it is boring.)
ReplyDeleteI used to love scary movies, but then they started to get to real and gory for me. I remember throwing in the towel after watching the first half hour of Hostel, and haven't gone back since. I still will watch a few semi-scary movies, but they leave me feeling terrified for days, so it's just not worth it anymore. Despite the fact that I am a scary movie wuss, I hope that you have a Happy Halloween!
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