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In Reply to: What movie scared you the most? posted by Hepcat on May 21, 2004 at 16:26:45:
Hepcat,This is an easy one for me. I went to the big Avco cinema in Westwood, CA (Los Angeles , Westside) and saw the original Ridley Scott "Alien" 80' wide. I had not heard any of the details of that one, so the chest popping scene and others were completely out of the blue, though the tension never abated and I expected the unexpected. I am not usually such a sucker for guys in rubber suits that pop out of dark corners movies, but that one took me in completely- definitely an all day sucker there. I think too how amazing the depth of "realism" the sets and action had and this was 1979, only three years after the brilliant but more cartoon-like original "Star Wars." Amazing work and Scott with "Blade Runner" (1982)- another frightening film psychologically- sealed his rating with me as the best science fiction fantasy directors.
As a little kid, I think I would have to say "War of the Worlds" and then not long later for years, my top would be Hitchcock's "The Birds". as a psychological dramam, I was really on the edge of my seat with the origianal "Diabolique"- the thought of that scummy school swimming pool gived me shudders today.
Cheers,
Bambi B
Follow Ups:
I remember almost calling out, "Don't go in there!!" as they entered the alien ship.
rico,"Alien" - like Scott's "Blade Runer" certainly had more going than the usual science fiction deal. A big part of the movies success was the production design- and a kind of reticience. Scott was extremely smart to never show Giger's monster whole or clearly and I thought the way both the crashed ship and the 'Nostromo' were brilliant wonderful in the way the interiors of the ships were related in forms to the alien- the little ribbed ductwork anf pipes of the ship made the alien fit to the background almost camoflage it. Remember the giant pilot of the crashed ship "like he's growing out of the chair". The scene where they climb up and look at him, "he exploded from inside" made such a great premonition of things to come. Marvelous photography.
When Hurt goes into the eggs chamber and describes the eggs as "leathery eggs or something", I also agreed with you and Veronica Cartwright when she said - a couple of times "Let's get the hell out of here".
Even though the movie in all was a bit predictable- we know that a horror movie called 'Alien' is going to have certain elements, and through typical sci fi inattention, "Hey gang, let's all mosey over into that dark room with only one small door in a completely relaxed way"- there will be nasty casualties, the creature, the production style, the twist of Ash (Holms) being an "artificial person" and the ominous priority rule of bringing back an alien- the crew is expendable kept it all together. I would also mention the symphonic, classically-based music and the overall kind of quietness of most of the movie that made the self-destruct/escape scenes at the end so much more dramatic. Then it returns to quiet in the escape ship and we see Weaver at her most vulnerable in her underwear- false ending - until we see how devious and intelligent the alien is- blending into the equipment.
More:
I would also add another strong contender for me, "Silence of the Lambs" which also just has everything in order. Not a foot wrong anywhere for it's genre, intelligent as can be.
It is always difficult to recreate the sensations of seing something for the first time, but "Silence" is forever fresh and I'm sure I've seen it three or four times.
But, there are almost always sequel problems and none of the successors to "Alien" or "Silence" intrigued me as much as the originals. I have always liked the extreme quirkiness of Jeunet and Caro "Delicatessen" has some scary atmosphere and some brilliant film-making, but I thought their Alien never held together.
I would add to my list the original "Nosferatu" -the scene in which the vampyre is rotated from lying in the coffin to the vertical and those rat-like teeth was amazing and a permanent movie image. I like Herzog a lot but his remake with the mad Kinski did not measure up.*** I would use these two movies to demonstrate the difference created by colour as compared to black and white. See also the old and new "Diaboliques"..
***I had high hopes for the related Malkovich film, "Shadow of the Vampire" as the behind the scenes making of the original, but I'm sorry it didn't hold my attention.
Finally, it had enough of a stage-like dream quality that perhaps it was not as overtly frightening, but the "Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1919) is just wonderful looking and the revelation at the end makes the surreal quality- caused by the shortage of set materials and even lights just after WWI, was extraordinary. The contrrast of the old-fashioned clothes to the German Expressionist sets was fantastic and indelible. Say, hasn't Frank Gehrey modelled his entire work on the "Cabinet" sets?
Cheers,
Bambi B
.
on the way to the alien ship Ash says, "We must keep going, we've got to keep going".
rico,I'm not entirely certain, but I've always thought it's John Hurt's voice we hear saying, "We must keep going, we've got to keep going."
Cheers,
Bambi B
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