Great Scenes #5 - Psycho

For Great Scenes #5, we head back to 1960

and Alfred Hitchcock's classic Psycho.

What do I love? Well, everything.

First off, the acting, writing and directing in this scene is just superb.

All brought their best, and it shows. The dialogue between Norman and Marion is so polite, but also so subtle in its hidden meaning. Norman pretty much spills the truth right here about mother, that she is just like one of his stuffed birds. And he gets riled up at the mention of putting mother in a madhouse. We truly get to see just how unhinged he is. Too bad Marion didn't take the hint and hit the road!

Thanks to -- Movieclips.com

Re-Ranking HMV's Top 50 Horror Films

Okay, so this has been bouncing around many of the horror blogs out there. HMV released their ranking of the Top 50 Horror Films. It is not surprising to me that no one has agreed on it. Horror fans are bemoaning the lack of older films and the inclusion of some newer ones.

50 films are a lot of films to rank, and I don't think you can find two fans who can agree on such a list. What scares one person enough to send them cowering under the covers may only generate a yawn in someone else. But, maybe that is the fun of these lists. They can start a debate (hopefully friendly and fun) of what belongs and what doesn't, of what should rank higher or lower.

Anyway, I took the top 50 films from their rank and RE-ranked them in the order I would put them, from #50 on down to my #1. Of course, there are movies I wouldn't include in the list (The House on Haunted Hill remake? really?) And there movies I would include that aren't listed (I personally think the original Black Christmas is damn creepy!)

But, just taking the list given, here is my RE-ranking of their Top 50:

(first number is my rank, second number is the film's HMV rank)

50) 41. House on Haunted Hill. William Malone (2000)
49) 35. Rosemary's Baby. Roman Polanski (1968)
48) 13. Lost Boys. Joel Schumacher (1987)
47) 4. The Silence of the Lambs. Jonathan Demme (1991)
46) 18. An American Werewolf in London. John Landis (1981)
45) 46. The Mist. Frank Darabont (2008)
44) 30. Salem's Lot. Mikael Salomon (2004)
43) 14. Dawn of the Dead. George A Romero (1978)
42) 45. The Changeling. Peter Medak (1980)
41) 27. The Evil Dead. Sam Raimi (1981)
40) 38. The Entity. Sidney J Furie (1981)
39) 22. Candyman. Bernard Rose (1992)
38) 43. It. Tommy Lee Wallace (1990)
37) 9. The Wicker Man. Robin Hardy (1973)
36) 8. Ring (Ringu). Hideo Nakata (1998)
35) 37. The Orphanage. Juan Antonio Bayona (2008)
34) 44. Audition. Takashi Miike (1999)
33) 49. Shutter. Masayuki Ochiai (2008)
32) 48. The Vanishing. George Sluizer (1993)
31) 50. Planet Terror. Robert Rodriguez (2007)
30) 24. Carrie. Brian De Palma (1976)
29) 36. Child's Play. Tom Holland (1989)
28) 47. Suspiria. Dario Argento (1977)
27) 28. Hellraiser. Clive Barker (1987)
26) 34. Misery. Rob Reiner (1991)
25) 17. The Blair Witch Project. Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez (1999)
24) 7. A Nightmare on Elm Street. Wes Craven (1984)
23)11. The Birds. Alfred Hitchcock (1963)
22) 5. Saw. James Wan (2004)
21) 2. The Shining. Stanley Kubrick (1980)
20) 3. Alien. Ridley Scott (1979)
19) 10. The Omen. Richard Donner (1976)
18) 1. The Exorcist. William Friedkin (1973)
17) 20. Poltergeist. Tobe Hooper (1982)
16) 23. Scream. Wes Craven (1996)
15) 26. Final Destination. James Wong (2000)
14) 33. Wolf Creek. Greg McLean (2005)
13) 19. Se7en. David Fincher (1995)
12) 12. The Thing. John Carpenter (1982)
11) 39. Nosferatu. FW Murnau (1922)
10) 29. Hostel. Eli Roth (2005)
9) 42. The Haunting. Robert Wise (1963)
8) 40. Night of the Living Dead. George A. Romero (1968)
7) 16. Jaws. Steven Spielberg (1975)
6) 25. Friday the 13th. Sean S Cunningham (1980)
5) 31. The Descent. Neil Marshall (2005)
4) 21. The Amityville Horror. Stuart Rosenberg (1979)
3) 32. The Hills Have Eyes. Wes Craven (1977)
2) 15. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Tobe Hooper (1974)
1) 6. Halloween. John Carpenter (1978)

So, there you go. Like I said, not my ideal choice for the top 50, but I worked with the films from the HMV list.

I know you disagree, and that is okay with me!

Scariest Movie Monsters/Killers

In honor of the ongoing Halloween week horror movie-fest, and since another site decided to do their own Top 28 Horror Movie Villains, here are My Top 10 Horror Movie Monsters/Killers.

Notice I said MY, as in this list is totally my point of view. But, feel free to tell me who scares the beejeezus out of you!


10. 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville (The Amityville Horror)

This house scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. I haven't watched the film in years, that shows you the fear etched into my brain. I remember seeing it at a drive-in one night and being freaked out by the scene where the stairs break and there is blood oozing. Gives me shivers still.


9. Norman Bates (Psycho)

Bates is one that lingers in my mind, because even a quiet mama's boy can be a nut-job, as insane a killer as the flesh-wearing maniac with a chainsaw. Anyone can be the lunatic.


8. The Miner (My Bloody Valentine)

This movie and it's killer had more to do with mystery and atmosphere, to me anyway. Something always seems dark and hidden, waiting to jump out and get you. Just unnerved me enough once to leave a lasting impression in the dark shafts of my mind.


7. Dracula (Dracula)

Even though he has been played by seemingly hundreds of actors over the years, there is still something evil about the Count. I like different takes on the character, for different reasons. Bela Lugosi's Dracula has that "Old World" mystery about him, but Christopher Lee's Dracula has a strange aloofness that can unsettle you. And don't forget Max Schreck's Nosferatu, so bizarre and creepy and weird. Was he playing himself?!?


6. Curt Duncan (When a Stranger Calls)

Not a typical pick, but this guy is so nuts that he stalks the babysitter so he can enjoy the torment he causes. The second half of the film shows more of his insanity. An uncomfortable experience, but I say that in a good way. Really.


5. The Creeper (Jeepers Creepers)

The first film is the better one, showing a really strange creature who is not human, but yet does such human things (driving like an ass, for one). The single scene that clinched this monster as a goosebump inducer is when the siblings drive past him as he dumps the bodies down the pipe. They see him and are justifiably creeped out, but he stops, looks and WATCHES THEM TOO! ack...


4. Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)

I can feel some sympathy for ol' Leatherface, due to his obvious mental problems stemming from whatever the hell happened with his face. But all pity goes out the window when he whacks the kid on the head, drags him into the kitchen and shuts the door. What the hell just happened???


3. Billy/The Prowler (Black Christmas)

I never saw this one as a kid, and that may be a good thing. When I did watch it a few years ago, I realized that Billy is one creepy, scary freak! Not only is he bat-shit insane, he is hiding in the attic! I would never have gotten our Christmas ornaments down from our attic again had I seen this when I was younger. I guess that would have made for 2 "black Christmases."


2. Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)

Jason, Jason, Jason. Some films in the series are seriously lacking in real scares (A New Beginning and Jason Takes Manhattan the worst, in my opinion), but Jason is so hell-bent determined to just kill, kill, kill that you have to be afraid of ever crossing his path. Relentless, ruthless, patient. How DO people sleep at campgrounds?


1. Michael Myers (Halloween)

The blank white face, the dark eyes, the tilt of his head. The original film does it best, of course. Michael Myers is a human void filled with the need to kill. Is he insane? Immoral? Just plain evil? Who knows and who cares. He is out there, and he wants to stalk and kill. To this day, I still feel uneasy, unsettled when I watch Halloween. It has the power to make me do double-takes at shadows and jump at slight noises. At age 37.


So, there you go, the ten movie monsters and killers that make my heart beat a little faster. But in a good way, as any horror movie fan knows.

Watch one of these flicks this week since "It's Halloween, everyone's entitled to one good scare."