Ode to Scary Movies

I don't really get the genre of scary movies, for the most part.  I don't enjoy being scared, and I try to avoid hobbies that are stressful, it seems a bit counter-intuitive to me.

So, I've always had a principle that's worked for me.  I only see horror movies that seem to have some kind of unique angle to them, something that gets reviewed as being particularly ingenious or thought provoking, something that sets it apart from the pack.

Because of this narrow and highly subjective view, I have seen very few horror movies - but I love practically everything I've seen and have a lot of affection for my favorites list.

In the spirit of all this, and the coincidental timing of Halloween, I thought I would mention that I just rented The Cabin In The Woods, a recent horror movie that got the kind of reviews I notice.  It made me squirm, but I was still thinking about it for quite a while afterwards, so it must deserve a spot on my short list.

Here are the horror movies for people who avoid ordinary horror movies:

• 1408.  Probably my favorite of all.  Made more of a haunted house concept that I could have possibly imagined.
• Let Me In / Let The Right One In.  Vampire movie.  WOW.
• The Ring.
• Signs.  I actually screamed out loud!  I don't recommend watching during a lightning storm.
• The Blair Witch Project.
• Poltergeist.
• Jaws.
• Silence of the Lambs.  Almost suspense, but I'll include it.
• Seven.  Ditto.  One of my favorite movies of any kind.
• Aliens.
• Melancholia.  I wrote about this a few months ago.  Most of the movie is absolutely incomprehensible and useless, but a few minutes of it are some of the most mind-boggling of anything I've ever seen, and I'm kind of obsessed with it.

 I've heard that the movie Saw fits into this category of mine, but I really don't think I have the constitution for it, I'll take your word.