Friday is Halloween, so it's the perfect time to discuss the films that actually scare us.
For me, the flying monkeys from "The Wizard of Oz" might have been the first thing to give me nightmares, followed by the Morlocks in "The Time Machine" (1960). For Midday Edition host Jade Hindmon, it was "Poltergeist," and for Moviewallas' Yazdi Pithavala it was "Ghost Story" (1981).
Those films reflect some common fears we have as children or young adults — monsters, the supernatural and evil. Here are some of the films that scare us.
But the film that scarred me at a young age was "The Collector" (1965). Terence Stamp kidnaps Samantha Eggar and keeps her a prisoner until she returns the love he has for her. Spoiler alert: She dies, and he gets in his van to kidnap another woman … so that was terrifying.
Yazdi and I both share a fear of losing identity in films. For him, a drama about Alzheimer's, "Still Alice" is terrifying. For me that fear is at the core of zombie films such as "Pontypool" or possession films such as "The Tenant" and "Fallen."
Yazdi also has a particular fear of evil as represented in supernatural films such as "The Woman in Black."
Our final category of films that scare us includes movies we feel are so badly made, that they're terrifying. These are not the low-budget films made with charm, like "Plan 9 From Outer Space," but rather movies backed by major studios with massive funds and talent. My "circle of hell" films are "Forrest Gump," "Barbie" and "Joker 2." For Yazdi, it is "Battlefield Earth" and "Cats."
So whatever terrifies you, maybe one of these films will strike your fancy and provide a spooky viewing option for Halloween.
