Monday, July 5, 2010

Top 10 Willy Inducing Moments



Well, I figured that I would do what I said that I would do and make my own Top 10 Willy Inducing Moments. The post was originally created over at The Horror Digest and I commented with my response but it was so quick and I never really thought of the concept. So I figured that I would sit down and go through a list of all my favorite horror movies and pick out which scenes gave me the willies. As most of you already know that The Thing and The Blob easily take my top 2 places so I decided, for this exercise, to leave them out and see what I get. So, I present to you my top 10 willy inducing moments.

Note: I couldn’t find some of the clips on YouTube so they are just paragraphs. Second, for one of the moments I could only find the Spanish dub of the scene so pardon the dub.

10: Halloween – Michael stares down Laurie
In this scene, Laurie gets the feeling that somebody is watching her so she cautiously approaches the window and sees Michael Meyers staring at her from the ground. I guess what gave me the willies in this scene is the fact that Michael is standing between clothes lines as the white linen is blowing in the wind. Michael as that dead, cold, lifeless mask and he’s just staring at Laurie contemplating. It makes him look less human and I got chills. I didn’t want to stare out my window for a while.

9: The Omen – Digging up Damien’s mom
Here, Robert and Keith travel to a cemetery to uncover Damien’s alleged real mom since the prophecy states that his mother was a Jackal. When they dig up the coffin and open it, they find the skeleton of a jackal. It freaked me out. The mere thought, and now tangible proof, that the boy’s mother was that of a wild animal. It scared me. If you, given the circumstances, had to dig up somebody’s mother and found out she was an animal… it would make you sick to your stomach and that’s what it did. It was probably one of the most psychologically disturbing points in the film.

8: It – The photo album
This series always scared me and I had to pick the right scene that really affected me. The reason why this scene was so scary and surreal because as a kid, when I looked at an old photo, I would always imagine looking at the picture while it’s in motion. It was sort of like flashback for myself. Well, I hated to see a monstrous clown roar at me from afar then lunge his hand right into my face. It made me jump back and it was almost like the film tapped into my subconscious.



7: The Shining: - The bedroom ghosts
A lot of people were confused by this scene but if you didn’t read the book, you’d never know who or what those people were doing. Well, knowing the story behind the characters and to see them just flash in one jump-out moment felt random and even more surreal. The scene also taps into a deeper meaning; it goes into latent homosexual feelings and I think with all these elements at work and that drastic zoom, it just made me feel so uncomfortable.



6: The Fog – The captain’s ghost story
I’ve always loved ghost stories and I was always the one to tell ghost stories as a kid and I think this scene really hit home. Accompanied with the score and the way the captain told the story kept me captivated but it sent chills down my spine. I’ve always been one for the kinds of stories in which a tragedy happened in the past but it never had closure. The score really makes the chills because it adds to the mystic legend that is being told, and with that somber lighting… it makes me feel like I really am in that scene listening to the story and smelling the firewood.



5: Jaws – Quint’s story
Much like the captain’s story in The Fog, this is a chilling tale of survival. It’s a real life story of horror and the idea that you waited there, waiting to see who gets picked off in a deadly game of Russian roulette. What made the scene even more chilling was Shaw’s performance and the way he delivers it. There is no music and it makes the scene even more realistic but the way Shaw smiles throughout the story, you can tell that you’re looking into his psyche… what’s he’s thinking. It was just as scary as a ghost story.



4: Signs – Aliens in the cornfield
It was hard for me to pick the scenes in this film because every scene was very Hitchcockian and there were a lot of scenes that scared me. I wanted to use the birthday party scene but I think this scene is a perfect example of the less you see the better. There is no music until the end and you know something is out there in the field but when light finally touches the alien… all you see is the foot. It made me jump back in my seat.



3: Poltergeist – The tree attack
Much like Spielberg’s experience, I used to have this really creepy tree in our backyard that casted a huge shadow in my room. I always pictured that tree coming to life and grabbing me and after I got done watching Poltergeist, it terrified me. I was yelling at the screen while closing my eyes. Accompanied with that tree attack was a tornado so it was like my worst nightmare rolled into one scene. I could remember the strobe lights flickering as I saw the tree carry away the boy and I ended up staying awake for a while just to make sure the tree in our yard didn’t attack me.



2: The Fly – The maggot birth
Talk about one of the most disgusting, disturbing and grotesque scenes imaginable. I saw this film for the first time after I had to see a live birth in our health class, and even then I was a little disgusted by it. So you can imagine how I felt seeing one of the slimiest living things in entomology force it’s way out of somebody’s birth canal. It was vile, it was ghastly and it made me scream ‘Oh!!” Looking back at it, I would argue that it was an homage to It’s Alive and thank God it was all a dream cause I could not imagine if that thing was alive.

1: Arachnophobia – Spiders in the shower
As light as this may be and as funny as the scene was, I remember screaming like a girl when I saw the spider glide down her body and then pulling my legs up from the ground and shaking. But why does this scene give me the shakes of death? It’s because I have arachnophobia and I am literally scared to death of spiders. Its very plausible for a spider to be in your shower since I saw an earwig in my bathtub at one point. I could not stand this scene it made me double look before I got into the shower. As funny as the movie is, it’s the only movie that still scares me.



So, I ask you my horror friends (that haven’t already participated in this) to give me your top 10 willy inducing moments.

Also, I gotta thank Andre for making me almost piss my pants for the title she gave to her post banner. The piece name is simply named "Willies!"

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I completely feel you with the Jaws scene. A couple of others too. Thinking in the line of newer films, though, reading this post immediately made me think of the movie The Orphanage. 1) The sea shell path home. 2) The moment the main character, desperate to contact her ghostly child peers, starts plaything that game they used to play as kids. When she turns around to face the wall and starts playing the game, you just KNOW whats coming...

Mr. Johnny Sandman said...

I never got around to seeing The Orphanage. I came so close but I think I had other things to do. :-(

Andre Dumas said...

Hahah awesome! I agree with all of these 100% and was actually just talking with someone about that photo album scene from IT. I have never seen IT all the way through but luckily that was one scene that I did see and it definitely stuck with me for a long long time!

Also, that Arachnophobia scene is a really good choice. While I came to love that movie much like you, isn't it odd that the spider doesn't bite her in the scene? What luck, as it seems like the spiders bite everyone else within 2.5 seconds. To this day I still get nervous that I will look down and see a spider on me. And outdoor showers? So prevalent in my home town on The Cape? FUUUCK THAT.

Mr. Johnny Sandman said...

I think the fact that it doesn't bite her kinda ads up to the suspense and ultimate cop out. You're expecting her to get bitten but it never happens, thought it keeps you on edge.

Wings1295 said...

All good choices. Love the Michael Myers one, the mere fact that he didn't even care to hide himself from Laurie was scary stuff.

Also, in Friday the 13th Part 2, there are two scene. One, when Jason runs quickly across the road and the sheriff just sees a glimpse. Scared the crap out of me.

And two, when Ginny and Paul are in the dark cabin and Ginny just KNOWS someone else is there and she yells: "Paul, there's someone in the room. There's someone in the god-damn room!"

Scared the wits out of me.

Andrei said...

Awesome list, some very interesting choices you got there. I guess I'll probably understand that eerie scene in "The Shining" once I get around to read the book. Anyways, good stuff, good stuff.

Erin said...

Oh gosh, I agree with the bedroom people in The Shining but it's the woman in the bathtub in room 237 that has had me checking behind shower curtains for the last 20 years. Every time a movie features a ghost who looks like a regular person and then turns into a nasty corpse I die a little. Great list you got here!

Fred [The Wolf] said...

All these moments work for me. Especially the HALLOWEEN one. I love how he just stares at Laurie and then in a flash, he's not even there anymore. Great piece of editing there.

Here's my list: http://www.fullmoonreviews.net/2010/07/fmrs-top-10-willy-inducing-moments.html

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