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Kat suggested I write a post about my favourite movie
monsters. This is a difficult one for me because I like monsters in general.
All of them. It’s worth mentioning that I don’t watch scary movies for the
plot. Give me a good fright, something that’ll make my heart race, and I’m
sold. So I decided to focus on the ones that stood the best chance of scaring
me, from movies and television, and why.
1. There is
honestly no monster scarier than man. What scares me the most when it comes
to human monsters is that they can be anybody. It can be the colleague sitting
behind me as I type this. It can be my neighbour. The guy running my closest
grocery store. It can be my sister. Do we really know what these people do when
we don’t see them? And when they do whatever evil, horrendous, unspeakable
things they are driven to do, they know exactly what’s happening most of the
time. A character like Dexter is fictional, but when you look at the show
itself, he did a damn fine job at living an apparently normal life. When people
got suspicious, he took care of it without implicating himself to a certain
extent. That takes some thinking power, and that’s damn scary. I’m not deluding
myself on this subject. There are people like that out there, we just don’t
know who or where they are. I’m binge watching Criminal Minds at the moment and
the stuff I’m seeing is fear-inducing and fascinating at the same time. I’ll
never be able to wrap my head around people being able to do things like that
to other human beings, and I don’t think I want to. But it makes for
fascinating writing, reading, and TV. What people are capable of is scary and
seeing what you can only imagine come to life on screen... It’s frightening.
When I think of human movie
monster I immediately think about The Strangers. The movie freaks me out for
the same reasons as mentioned above. After I finished watching that movie for
the first time, my very first thought was that it could totally happen. My
grandparents were farmers and we visited a lot. How’s that for messing with
your head when you’re home alone and all the lights are off? It’s wonderful,
that’s what. I haven’t watched The Purge yet but just from the trailer I know
it’ll bring the scares. I recently had the pleasure of watching Cabin in the
Woods and loved the display of how inhuman humans can be as a group of friends were
steered toward their death.
A few other human monsters that
can get somewhat creepy. KIDS. Good grief, kids are so damn creepy sometimes(If
you’re reading this and have children, I’m sure they’re fine. Really). A good
example is Orphan. Deformed killers covering their faces. I’m looking at you,
Texas Chainsaw. Scientists and their clinical, unfeeling approach to what
they’re doing, my example American Horror Story(season 2 was terrible, don’t
watch it).
2. The second kind of monster
I like is the kind you can’t do anything about or against. Stephen King’s The Mist is a good example. How killer was that
ending!?! *minor spoiler alert* Yes, we see the military moving in at the end
of the movie, but we don’t actually see what they do or what happens to them. I
haven’t read the book so if the end isn’t as open as the movie’s, please drop
me a comment. Like a good reader/watcher of stories, I like seeing characters
struggle against all odds. If they can’t do anything about what’s happening,
that’s even better. Add some angst and you’ll spend a heart-pounding hour or
two clutching you pillow, unable to look away. Because now you get to watch an
entire scary movie where people die but they’re still fighting for survival,
something we know they won’t be getting.
3. Anything you find in a Silent Hill movie or game. Seriously. I’m not scared of it, but it’s fascinating to watch, and
there are moments where I just can’t help being so engrossed that I jump when
somebody’s sudden happens.
When it comes to scary, I like insurmountable odds
because it shows us what people are capable of. It shows us character and
reactions. The will to live. How can you not love that? This genre is so
underrated and swept aside for lacking in certain areas. I say those who
criticize scary haven’t looked hard enough at what it really is and what it can
give you.
So put your not-creepy-at-all kids to bed and watch
something that’ll keep you up for the rest of the night. You can always spend
the extra hours plotting a novel or attempting something scary of your own.
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Got any questions for the incomparable Jani Grey? Comment at will!
And Happy Halloween!
