Halloween Movies

     All right, I think we're late enough into October that this post is now pretty relevant.
     I really like Halloween, but only up to a point.  I like fun Halloween, not disturbing Halloween.  Dancing skeleton decorations in the window?  Wonderful.  Skeletons with bloody teeth and horrifying grimaces?  Not wonderful.  Little kids dressed as characters from action movies?  Love it.  Little kids with fake gash wounds?  Not so much.
     That being said, that doesn't mean that I don't like scary things.  I just don't like murder being glamorized is all.
     By far, my favorite part of Halloween is watching scary movies.  Unfortunately, I also have a very low tolerance for scary movies.
     A year and a half ago, my parents, my sister, and I watched The Visit.  None of us had ever seen it before, but we're fans of M. Night Shyamalan movies, so we figured it was worth a shot.
     By the end, I think I would've liked to have been shot.
     If you're really into horror movies, you're probably thinking, "The Visit is nothing!  That's hardly scary at all!"
     Well, for me, it was the most traumatic experience of my life.  At one point in the climax, it pans over to a crazy woman looking straight into the camera.  It wasn't a jump scare or anything, but I screamed and then proceeded to cry for pretty much the rest of the movie.
     I don't know, I just could not handle watching it.
     I should probably tell you now that if you're absolutely in love with horror movies and are completely unfazed by the content in them, you should probably stop reading now because my repertoire of scary movies is significantly less than that, and I can already feel your judgment emanating through the computer screen.
     So, what scary movies do I like?
     Just a bit of backstory: In my family, there are certain Halloween movies that we watch every year, and you get introduced to one more each year.  At some point around age twelve (or earlier), it starts with Something Wicked This Way Comes.  I know, I know, it's not that scary of a movie.  But it's preparation.  There are creepy people who like to do creepy things, and there are often some disturbing circumstances.
     Then, it really starts at age thirteen, when we're shown The Sixth Sense.  And if you don't think that's a scary movie, there is something seriously wrong with you.  Yeah, it's not as scary as other movies, but it's definitely not a movie you can just laugh off.
     I remember the first time I watched it--little thirteen-year-old Odessa, sitting on the floor of my parents' room, watching this movie that was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.  And I liked it.  I really, really liked it.  I still do to this day.  When I was fourteen, we didn't watch it for some reason or another.  When I was fifteen, I ended up watching it three times (once with my parents and sister for her first time, once with the same sister and her friend, and then once at my friend's house).  And then last year, I watched it once with my sister.  Now, my brother is thirteen, so we'll probably be watching it with him either this weekend or next.
     So, yeah...The Sixth Sense.  I highly recommend it.  It doesn't scare me as much now, but there's still that suspense that I love.
     When I was fourteen, my parents showed me Signs.  Again, it's probably not considered that scary of a movie, but the first time I watched it, the suspense was almost overwhelming.
     Again, the first time I watched it, I was sitting on the floor of my parents' bedroom, and I was a little more freaked out (I really don't know why).  At one point, during a very quiet part of the film, the suspense was kind of building, but not too badly.  I looked down at my popcorn bowl for a moment, and as soon as I looked up, there was a jump scare.  It wasn't even that bad of one, but just the timing of it made me jump about a mile high.
     We didn't watch it when I was fifteen, and then last year, we watched it for my sister's first time (but we watched it in July for some weird reason).  In case you were worried, the jump scare didn't get me the second time around.  I love Signs even more than The Sixth Sense.
     Like I said, we watched it in July last year, which I was kind of confused about, but I ended up not minding too much when I realized that the date on the plaque of Merrill's baseball bat was the date we were watching it.
     Coincidence?  Probably.
     When I was fifteen, my parents showed me The Village, which did not freak me out as much as I was expecting.  Oh, it had its moments for sure, I will not deny that.  We didn't watch it last year.  (Are you sensing a trend here?)  My parents, my sister, and I watched this one a couple weeks ago for my sister's first time.
     I absolutely love The Village.  Love it, love it, love it.  I love the story, and I absolutely adore the characters.  I don't know, it just really strikes a chord with me.
     Last April was when we watched The Visit, but I don't count that because I try to forget that that movie exists.  So, the new Halloween movie that I watched last year was Poltergeist, which I watched at a friend's house for a Halloween party.  My parents have seen it previously, but they've kind of distanced themselves from it since having kids because it kind of hits a little too close to home.
     Poltergeist was not my favorite, mostly because the little girl reminds me too much of my youngest sister.  Overall, I liked it.  There was one scene, though, that really disturbed me, and has kind of ruined me from ever wanting to watch it again.  (If you have seen it, it's the scene at the bathroom sink.)  While watching it, I wanted to look away, but I was completely frozen in terror, and once it ended, I don't think I could form coherent sentences.  It is probably the most disturbing movie scene I've ever watched before in my life.
     Then, last night we watched Shaun of the Dead.  I actually rather enjoyed it, and I think I laughed harder than I should have.  (If you're terribly concerned, we watched it edited.  If the fact that it was edited concerns you, sucks to suck.)  I don't know, I think it was too funny for me to take seriously, which is probably a good thing, as we've seen from my experiences with movies.
     Well, there you go.  I hope that was enlightening.
     "So count your blessings every day.  It makes the monsters go away.  And everything will be okay.
     "You are not alone.  You are right at home.  Goodnight."