This article comes fromDen of Geek UK.
Are scary movies as scary as they used to be?
Did the movies that scared you as a child still scare you when you watched them as an adult?
It was like being trapped in a PG version ofSaw: Want to play a game?
You have thirty minutes.
Most of the time, fears fade with age.
its fair to say that we were less than terrified.
It would be fair to say thatThe Exorcist, for whatever reason (context?
Having see it spoofed and referenced so many times elsewhere?
), didnt get its claws into us.
Thats not to suggest that the 70s wasnt a scary decade.
It was (and not just because of its light-entertainment stars).
For evidence of that, look no further thanThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and its iconic chainsaw-wielding posterboy.
Gunnar, my friend.
You scared me well, and you scare me still.
Your legacy despite the usual blight of sequels, prequels and remakes will endure.
After Ive done that, Ill probably have a go at trying to cure my annoying addiction to alliteration.
I first sawThe Shiningwhen I was around nine years old.
Come play with us, Danny.
Come play with us forever.
And ever sinceThe Shining, I still havent found the courage to get back on a tricycle.
Lets talk about Room 237, the contents of which played havoc with my psychosexual development.
Exposure toThe Shiningat such an impressionable age forced me to equate lust and arousal with fear and revulsion.
Maybe those two Christian friends of my parents knew what they were doing all along, the crafty puritans.
I recently re-watchedThe Shiningand found that the movie now acts more upon my intellect than my adrenal gland.
Stephen Kings later stab at adapting his own source material was… hmmmm.
How can I put this?
I wont even try, because I love Stephen King and I dont want to hurt his feelings.
Youre still the King!
I first came across the originalDawn Of The Deadwhen I was about seven or eight.
Years later, I discovered that the movie wasnt really all that scary at all.
Or perhaps by that point Id been desensitised by a steady diet of Freddy Krueger and Pinhead.
I do, however, recall being absolutely terrified of him as a child.
And, were back.
I first watchedThe Texas Chainsaw Massacreas a teenager.
I remember watching the first five-or-so minutes and being distinctly underwhelmed by its home-movie-esque production values and ropey dialogue.
Oh great, I thought to myself.
A bunch of mildly irritating teens in a camper van.
This ones going to go FullTime Team.
And then the gang picked up a disturbed and unpredictable hitch-hiker, and things started to get interesting.
I shouldve known better.
This movie is the granddaddy of most modern slasher horror, after all.
When I say thatThe Texas Chainsaw Massacreis horrible, I mean that as a compliment.
Its horrible in all the right ways: not gratuitously, nihilistically horrible like theHostelfilms.
Theres next to no blood, and most of the terror is psychological.
PS: The movie is loosely based on the exploits of real-life, serial-killing cannibal Ed Gein.
Can we bring back Danny Torrance again?
Come on, Danny, get your lipstick out son.
Rule of three: weve reached Time Teamreference saturation point.
Henceforth there will be no further nods to that gentle, Tony Robinson-helmed Saturday tea-time larkabout.
And Danny Torrance is out, too.
No, no, stop whinging, Danny.
Were sick of you and your finger-based shenanigans, son.
I had my feet planted very firmly in the former camp.
I imagined, I empathised, I shat myself.
The movie ended, I left the house, got in my car and drove off into the night.
Gooseflesh claimed every inch of skin.
I couldnt outrun my fear.
It followed me home.
A 2am trip to the bathroom was undertaken at Usain Bolt speeds.
I was a thirty-year-old man who didnt believe in ghosts.
I havent re-watchedParanormal Activitysince, although I have seenParanormal Activity 2.
And it was a steaming pile of scareless shit.
Which films are you ashamed to be afraid of?
And which films never scared you in the first place the films that failed Greigs crucial Time TeamTest?
