This month, I’m attempting to watch all the scary movies listed under “horror” in “1001 Movies to See Before You Die.” Here’s week 1’s terrors!
In truth, I believe that this list looks outside the typical horror genre than your run-of-the-mill monsters and haunted houses. However, I see this as a positive! It’s a chance to broaden my horizons and look outside the box for the real spooks. Perhaps the real horror were the monsters that lived inside us all along.
I joke. Mostly. Let’s get to the goods! HARK. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Scary Movies – The Old
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) – One of the first big horror movies ever made, with some of the most remarkable stage makeup for the time! Based on the book, “The Phantom of the Opera” takes place in the Paris Opera House. Longtime diva Carlotta is shelved to make way for the young ingenue, Christine Daae, at the demand of the Opera Ghost who terrorizes the theatre. When his warnings go unheeded, chaos occurs. It is a tale of love, tragedy, and the music of the night.
Because the musical version of this story (specifically the film adaptation that I think is super underrated) shaped and redefined my love of music as a kid, I kept a specific ear open for themes and motifs in the score of the movie that fed into the musical. While I came up mostly fruitless, I found one specific moment that had me at full Leo.
The Phantom takes Christine to see his underground lair, where he confesses his love and wish to make her his bride. Overwhelmed, she passes out, and he lays her to rest in his bed. As he carries her and places her body onto the bed, a distinct five note theme plays. Now APPARENTLY this is from something else, but rock and roll fans will hear Echoes by Pink Floyd, and fans of the musical will here the main theme of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera.” I heard it!
Being a silent film from the twenties, I did notice some similarities in the stage makeup that I saw in “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.” For the most part, it wasn’t AS creepy, but the principal detective in the film looked disturbing. Obviously, the main props go to Lon Chaney, who created the grotesque look of the Phantom, Erik. I will say that the mask he chose was FAR creepier than the minimalist look used in the Broadway show. I thought this movie was rightfully creepy, though not nightmare-inducing (that comes later, though, don’t worry). However, I liked the Broadway show ending more than the movie’s ending. It’s too final.
Freaks (1932) – To quote John Mulaney, “Ever been to the God damned zoo?” This movie details the life of a circus freak show, for all the horror and heartbreak that comes with being an “other.” The film hired actual “circus freaks” to participate in the film. A bearded lady, little people, and sword swallowers abound in a movie that portrays a compassionate, if grotesque, look at what it means to be considered a monster.
This movie was, in a word, unsettling. The film inspired a great deal of the fourth season of “American Horror Story;” being a fan of that series, I. had some semblance of an idea of what I’d see. However, what are truly genetic maladies are paraded as monstrosity. In this movie, freaks can be as simple as a perfectly normal person in a three foot tall body. I just think of paralympians crushing personal records, doing more with no hands than I can do with two, and I cannot believe that this “point and laugh at the disfigured” horrorshow took place less than a hundred years ago. Humans can be the cruelest.
Nevertheless, the film shows the “freaks” during happy times. They get along, even celebrate, and love each other. When you look past the tragic figures of the film, the truly horrible thing comes at the end, to the one “non-freak” who conjures a scheme to marry one of the little people for his money. When her plot is revealed, the slighted folk take their revenge. One of us, indeed.
Scary Movies – The Game Changers
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) – The moral of the story is, never ever for never ever never ever EVER pitch up a hitchhiker. This film is another cult classic that defines modern horror films. Five teenagers travel out to a graveyard, where a local team is investigating several desecrated graves. They decide to then venture out to an old family homestead. Along the way, they pick up a disturbed hitchhiker. Little do they know that after dropping the hitchhiker off, they become the victims of a hunt… for flesh.
Of all the scary movies I watched, this one had me with the least amount of sympathy. Look, I’m not saying they all DESERVED to die, okay? I’m not. However, they were unrealistically stupid. With all due respect, I would have never picked up a hitchhiker. Even if I had, if the hitchhiker then immediately assaulted my brother, I would immediately go home. And THEN, even if I had picked up a hitchhiker who assaulted my brother and I decided to keep going on my destination, I would have ABIDED BY THE RULE OF THREES and turned around after going to the creepy gas station!
Knowing that this movie is based on somewhat true events (mostly by way of grave desecration, not by kidnapping teenagers and eating them) is quite eerie. I was most impressed by the acting. The actors who portray the Sawyer family certainly act like a family who have been slicin’ and dicin’ for years. Marilyn Burns as poor Sally Hardesty perfectly captured that terror, that bleakness, that fear… and that fight. Homegirl jumped from the second floor TWICE. She refused to die! Good on her.
I also appreciated the choice to never really show any of the gory violence, but rather let the audience imagine the monstrous acts. I thought the movie was truly grotesque, and worthy of its place in horror movie history. However, the movie practically begins with Sally’s brother, Franklin, rolling down a hill in his wheelchair. I couldn’t help but think of the cinematic masterpiece, Mac and Me.
Alien (1979) – Scary monster movie… in space! In a distant future, a commercial spacecraft on its way to Earth intercepts a distress signal. Stopping to assist the rescue, they discover a mysterious ship with a disturbing creature inside it. Warrant Officer Ripley, along with her crew, are left nearly defenseless in the fight of their lives against a seemingly indestructible monster… that lays eggs.
I was not expecting a sci-fi classic to be my kickoff on this list of scary movies! I only knew the movie from the “one scene.” Well, that and Sigourney Weaver’s iconic representation of “the final girl.” It was filled with a lot of twists and turns. I did not expect the reveal of Ash! I had dismissed it as typical misogyny and arrogance against a woman. Oh, the seventies (and the eighties. Also the nineties. And today). I was on the edge of my seat, wanting to know who among the crew would survive! Based on the ending, I don’t know how they’ve managed to make several more. “Aliens,” the sequel, is also on the list for this week!
An American Werewolf in London (1981) – Wow, this movie was British. It was also very Jewish. Now THAT’s a plot twist! David Kessler and Jack Goodman, two backpackers from New York, stumble across an unfriendly village on the English moors. Attacked by a beast on the outskirts of the village, David wakes up in a London hospital, with only vivid nightmares and horrific visions to fill in the blanks on the attack. A kind nurse befriends him (to put it lightly), and listens to him as he reveals his worst nightmare: he was attacked by a werewolf, and will become one if he doesn’t kill himself.
“An American Werewolf in London” won the first Academy Award for “Best Makeup.” While watching the film, I found this tidbit amusing. After doing a handful of theatre classes, for the first seventy percent of the film, I thought to myself, “How funny! This was considered award-winning makeup, but I’m pretty sure with a little bit of practice I could do these wounds myself.”
Then the “transformation” happened and I sat down. Nope. I couldn’t do that. Granted, in the forty years since this movie, we’ve made incredible strides in what stage makeup can do. However, for that time, they certainly earned that award.
The movie is considered a horror comedy, rather than just straight up horror. I can see why: the final ten minutes of the movie take place inside of an, ahem, adult movie theatre. Ecstatic moans fill the background as the decrepit body of David’s friend and victims give him ideas on how to best kill himself. Despite the scariness, the film had me missing when I lived in England. However, more than anything, combined with the main premise of the film and the use of “Bad Moon Rising,” it really just had me missing “Supernatural.”
Scary Movies – The Modern Monsters
Aileen Wuornos: The Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2002) – The real monsters do walk among us, don’t they? This film isn’t only ripped from the headlines, the monster is real. This film is a documentary detailing the final days of Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who killed seven of her “Johns.” She has claimed seven, though police only recovered six bodies. The documentary is a follow up to a documentary made by the same filmmaker ten years prior, which detailed her court cases and death sentencing.
This film takes an almost sympathetic look at what the media deemed “the first female serial killer in America.” Aileen disdained the title, and more often than not dismissed it as inaccurate. Aileen admits to killing the men in question, but claims it in self defense. Early in her trials, she describes the night of the first victims: a customer assaulted her and nearly killed her, but she got to her gun first. Turns out, the man had previously served time for rape. Initially, Aileen claimed self defense for all her crimes. After a point, she changed her story to say that she did it to steal their money and cars to support herself and her girlfriend.
Throughout both this movie and it’s precedent, we see the inside look of a deeply disturbed woman. She was born into a family that abused her emotionally, physically, and sexually. After being arrested, she was “adopted” by a Christian woman who seemed to care more about selling Aileen’s story for a quick buck. As well, her delusional lawyer smoked pot on his way to visit her, and regularly sang like he hoped this documentary could make him ar rock star. No one seemed truly interested in hearing Aileen’s story.
Ted Bundy, who killed upwards of ten women (and assaulted countless others), received an offer for life imprisonment. He turned down the offer, opting instead to represent himself in a trial that would determine if he deserved the death penalty. He lost, and received the death penalty.
Aileen, however, never had the chance to receive life in prison. She received six death sentences, a move that she claimed political. In her eyes, the taxpayers of Florida paid for her to go to trial six times, when she really only needed the one death sentence. She felt paraded about in front of the Florida judicial system, just in time for local elections.
When she believed she was off-camera, she confided in the documentarian that she had in fact killed in self-defense. She changed story in the hopes that the cops would stop throwing her into trials. She wanted to die, and end her misery.
The same day I watched Aileen’s story, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp went down after a whistleblower at the company blew the lid on countless incidents of corruption. It felt like salt in the wound: corruption is everywhere. I fully support that Aileen never received a chance to defend herself, both in court and in life. She absolutely killed those people and deserved jail time, but people took advantage of her from her first day through to her last. This was a woman who had no chance.
The documentarian, Nick Broomfield, seemed to be one of three people who cared about her as a human person, rather than a paycheck. His footage from his first documentary proved that her lawyer made for poor representation. As a result, he received a subpoena to her final appeal.
After his testimony, he briefly walks over to shake Aileen’s hand. A prosecution assistant rips his hand away from hers, but for the brief moment that the two shook hands, you could see Aileen’s face light up to see him. The first person, probably ever, to believe her. The closest thing she ever had to a friend.
It’s a harrowing documentary, especially after the watershed #MeToo movement and exposed industrialized corruption. Aileen should be in jail somewhere, not dead almost twenty years. What a waste. Oh, the humanity.
Hereditary (2018) – I’ve still got a long ways to go with my scary movies. However, on this journey, I think this one will be my favorite! The most recent addition to this list, “Hereditary,” details a grief stricken family. Things take a turn for the supernatural when signs of the occult appear, changing this family forever.
I had never seen “Hereditary,” but I knew each major plotpoint going into it. So, explain to me how, despite knowing what was going to happen, I still felt terrified? I couldn’t believe how much this movie scared me. In the final twenty minutes, I found myself whimpering into a pillow. Goosebumps and chills sent shivers down my spine. Toni Collette was the definition of a FORCE in this movie. She showed up in my dream that evening.
I love a good cult movie (and clearly, considering the masterpiece that followed, so does director Ari Aster). I was left with a few questions, but mostly I got answers. However, Ari, my love: I hold no fear of my body not being perfect after fifty years of trials, tribulations, and probably childbirth. STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME SCARED BY OLD NAKED LADIES.
“Hereditary” accomplishes what “The Shining” does, beautifully: it’s more than scary. It’s creepy. It’s unsettling. IT sits with you. It follows you… with a strange clicking noise in their mouth.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the scary movies I watched this week! I can see why each of these films is considered “essential” in their genre. Specifically, I love that they all seem to have one recurring theme. Whether disfigured, abused, selfish, or disturbed, all monsters are human.