Horror Movies (Yes, Vivi, I am doing this)

Hello all. Or nobody. Haha, not sure. Anyway, it's Anna today. To sort of continue Vivi's topic of movies, I'll start with horror movies. First off, let me just say that it is almost impossible to find a good "horror movie" anymore. If you want one that is well done (not necessarily scary as it is hard to get past the awful quality of the effects; though the blood may have actually been better in some of the older movies– sorry, getting off track. . .) you had better go with one before the 21st century. Movies like The Unborn (unrated or no), The Ring, or remakes of classics are almost guaranteed to just be cheap thrills (such as flashes of almost unrelated, freaky images, or the female protagonist taking off her clothes) with no plot. Remakes are just going to be the same story-line (give or take a few scenes) with more sex and gore. And honestly, unless you are a giant ball of testosterone (no pun intended), I doubt many people think those are the key elements to a good story.

Now, I'm not saying to give up new horror movies. I still watch them, if only to criticize and laugh at them with my friends (*cough* VIVI *cough*). But every now and then I come across one that I really like and think is well done. For example, Stephen King's 1408 with John Cusack. Vivi and I watched it together last summer (followed by House Bunny with Anna Faris, which was undoubtedly the scarier of the two) and we both thought that it was very good. Maybe it wasn't the most disturbing, creepiest thing in the world, but it had a great psychological element to it. It was also nice to see Cusack out of the sappy, puppy-dog romantic characters he's been stereotyped into. I thought he did an awesome job.

So, to wrap this up (and copy Vivi) I will give you a list of movies put in the horror category that I think are worth seeing (at least more so than others).

• 1408 (2007)
• The Shining (1980– okay, so the effects and some aspects of the story may be laughable, but it was overall worthwhile)
• The Sixth Sense (1999)
• The Village (2004– I don't know if this is considered horror, but it was well done nonetheless)
• The Ring Two, Unrated (2005– okay, so I hated this one, but it was still too hilarious to pass up)

Oh wow, I can't think of anymore at the moment (see, doesn't this show the lack of good ones?). So here's a list of movies you MUST see (this list may be a little more modern than Vivi's). Please excuse the fact that almost every movie stars Johnny Depp.

• Benny and Joon (1993)
• Edward Scissorhands (1990)
• Pirates of the Caribbean (2003– the first one, not any of the others. They suck. And no, I don't care that no one agrees with me)
• The Invisible (2007)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993– Yes, I know)
• Star Trek (2009 Remake– And yes, I am serious. This was an awesome movie)
• Sweeney Todd (Any production will do, but I particularly like the Johnny Depp one, once you get past the fact that they use about a million gallons of hot pink blood)

Well, that's it for now. Arrividerci!

Con Amore,

Anna