Just saw the scariest 20 minutes in cinema history.

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Amasov, Jul 29, 2009.

  1. Amasov

    Amasov Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2001
    I watched the ORIGINAL 1979 film, When A Stranger Calls, with Carol Kane. I heard a lot about this movie and always wanted to see it. So, I watched it for the first time the other night.

    Horror/Suspense films never leave much of an impact on me. I'm not normally scared by them, but I have to say, this one is an exception. I sat home, alone, the other night and started to watch it. The opening scene of this move was just utterly terrifying.

    Carol Kane plays a teenager who is asked to babysit to children - who are never seen as they are in their bedroom fast asleep. Later into the evening, she begins to receive phone calls from, a stranger no less, who is consistently asking her if she has gone upstairs to check on the children. At first she shrugs off the calls, thinking it is some kind of prank, but as the night goes on, the calls become more frequent. Now terrified, she calls the police, but they tell her there is nothing they can do. They tell her if this stalker calls again to keep him on the line so they may trace the call.

    Moments later, he calls. She keeps him on the phone for about a minute or two, even asking him what he wants. His response is a simple, "I want your blood..... ALL OVER ME!", which by the way, has to be the creepiest voice I have ever heard. After she hangs up, the police call back and inform her the call is coming from inside the house and warn her to get out immediately. Her reaction is followed by several quickshots of different areas of the house played to a very scary soundtrack.

    As she slowly makes her way to the door, she looks up toward the staircase and sees a light come on from the upstairs hallway followed by the shadowy figure of the stalker slowly coming for her.

    My description isn't even doing the entire sequence justice, but I'm sure you guys have seen it.

    Either way, I found it very chilling and terrifying. This marks the first time I was truly scared watching a movie, I must say.
     
  2. The Fatman

    The Fatman Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2001
    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Classic movie, great scene. Makes you wonder why Horror has become such a lost art since the 70's.
     
  3. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2002
    ^ Two words: torture porn.

    When The Exorcist was re-released into theaters, the younger people in the audience laughed at it.
     
  4. Gepard

    Gepard Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2007
    Phew. I saw the title and thought you meant Rolland Emmerich had started filming Asimov's Foundation trilogy. Crisis averted!
     
  5. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 25, 2002
    Location:
    United States
    Bingo.

    I love classic horror films. The new stuff isn't horror, it's torture porn. It's an attempt to see just how bloody and graphic as they can. Story isn't important, just bring on the severed chests with the heart hanging out, with dogs eating it. That's what passes for horror films these days.


    J.
     
  6. Aurian

    Aurian Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2001
    Location:
    Stockholm, Sweden

    I agree. I blame that scene for all the sleepless nights and my refusal to watch horror movies again :D
     
  7. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2005
    I thought he'd just seen the first twenty minutes of Twilight.
     
  8. byron lomax

    byron lomax Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2009
    Location:
    Ireland
    I hate the torture-porn films as well, but not all of the "new stuff" can really be classified as such. Take The Descent for example.
     
  9. Lonemagpie

    Lonemagpie Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2007
    Location:
    Yorkshire
    That 20 minutes is actually the original movie as a whole - it was intended as a short film called The Sitter, and that's it in total. It's only after Haloween became a hit that they went back and expanded it to feature length by adding the "7 years later" hour.
     
  10. Amasov

    Amasov Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2001

    You're absolutely right. I went and saw Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween and was offended. How dare he take a classic such as that and have the nerve to try to update it, while at the same time shedding more on what made Michael Myers a psychopath.

    I don't know about everyone else, but the whole reason why Michael was terrifying was because you did not know WHY he murdered - he just did it. To me, that's much more horrifying. I also appreciate Halloween for its lack of bloodshed. The new version has too much of it.

    To me, a successful horror movie is all about being psychological, not about how much blood you can spill or how many cheap (or fake) scares you can shell out. A great horror film is one that gets your imagination to torture you. In fact, Carol Kane had said that at the screening of When A Stranger Calls, the audience stood up screaming and yelling at the screen at the scene when the shadowy figure is coming for her from the upstairs bedroom. That is success right there.

    To shift the subject a tad; I'm sure this will make you all VERY happy. I read in a magazine recently that MGM is remaking Poltergeist.

    Will these brainless retreading of Hollywood classics ever end?
     
  11. Spot's Meow

    Spot's Meow Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2004
    Location:
    Hotel California
    I can't remember if I've seen this or not. I might have seen it when I was very young. Or read a book version or something. I remember taking in this story somehow and being very scared. I need to watch this soon.

    Like you I am usually not at all phased by horror movies. The only one that has ever scared me was Halloween. And possibly this one, if I did in fact see the movie...
     
  12. Amasov

    Amasov Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2001
    Here, check this - From Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Olc-lYnak
     
  13. ManOnTheWave

    ManOnTheWave Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2005
    Location:
    ManOnTheWave
    That makes a lot of sense. I remember watching the beginning on tv and was glued to the set. I lost interest after that segment.
     
  14. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2001
    Location:
    Birmingham, AL
    DON'T watch the remake unless you're a masochist.
     
  15. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2005
    That's because The Exorcist isn't really scary. It's got a great sense of style, but I wasn't scared by it. For that, you'd have to see Alien or the original Halloween.

    I'll agree that "torture porn" (a label that is totally wrong, but I won't go there) isn't anything close to 1970s horror, though.
     
  16. Mistral

    Mistral Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2007
    Location:
    Between the candle and the flame
    A good horror story doesn't need any blood-just a ratcheting up of the tension to the point where your head feels like its going to explode. This was a good example, IMO. Another that got to me was Ghost Story with Fred Astaire. By the last scene I was crawling out of my skin. I don't even bother watching Saw or the Jason movies, etc. It's not really horror, IMO, just some graphic killing. Where's the entertainment in that?
     
  17. Gary Mitchell

    Gary Mitchell Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 16, 2001
    Location:
    ¯\_(°·O)_/¯ Florida
    Is "When a Stranger Calls" scarier or more suspenseful than "The Haunting"('63). Someone here recommended that one to me but it bored me to tears.
     
  18. Davros

    Davros Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    Location:
    Kaled bunker, Skaro
    Part of what make this movie scarier than the likes of Freddy Kruger or Friday the 13th parts 2+ is that the antagonist is believable.
     
  19. Amasov

    Amasov Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2001
    Someone once told me they found the original Carrie to be very scary. That doesn't even seem to qualify as a horror film, in my opinion. It's more like a revenge story.
     
  20. Emher

    Emher Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2003
    Location:
    Sweden, where the chefs roam
    I agree. There where two genuinly creepy moments in "The Exorcist" and it's the two quick flashes of the white face. That shit's creepy, the other stuff is not. I honestly found "Poltergeist" to be a scarier film.