Tuesday, August 23, 2011

40 Days of Night(mares) Day 1: Your first Horror Movie

I'm participating in the 40 Day Horror Movie Challenge, a 40 question survey of the best of all horror movies. Here's how it works. Each day, you answer a question, watch the selected movie, and put down your thoughts. Day 1 wants to know who came first. The great challenge of all these questions is that many films can fill more than one category, but in the interest of not repeating, I will try to adjust some things. two of my earliest memories revolve around horror films. I distinctly remember begging my parents to please let me watch Kingdom of the Spiders, but I'm saving that discussion for later. My other memory was watching Jaws from under the couch, because I wasn't supposed to be up and I wasn't supposed to watch it. From the opening moments with the skinny dipper to ther obtuse mayor who refuses to see anything other than the bottom line, to the many memorable quotes, like "you're gonna need a bigger boat" Jaws ratchets up the tension and supplies true scares, often without revealing the shark itself. Kevin Smith readily admits his fear of the ocean comes as a direct result of seeing this movie as a child.
What stands out for me was the performance of Roy Scheider as the noble sheriff who does the job noone else is willing to do, other than the drunken vet captain played alarmingly true to life by Robert Shaw. Scheider's intensity and fear for his townspeople and family sells the tension in a big way and makes the film something that, although dated in its wardrobe, still holds up. And the infamous score is just as recognizable to today's youth as it ever was. My kids, who haven't seen it yet, know it immediately.
My rating, a solid 9 out of 10.
So, what movie broke your horror cherry? Let me know below.

No comments:

Post a Comment