What Cemented You As a Fan?
Kids are scared of monsters, but somewhere along the way some of them turn a corner and become massive horror fans. We're those kids. We turned that corner.
Our question of the week is: What cemented you as a horror fan?
For me it was the bonding formed in late night living room sleeping bag slumber parties in middle school. We would watch a show called Night Flight and rent slasher flicks in order. It was super helpful of the Friday the 13th series to number them for us.
So, I come to it from a position of the movies reminding me of companionship. I see a machete slicing into someone's scream, and I think. "Aww, my bros. Those were good times."
Some folks come to it from the opposite. My best fiend was picked on in school, so he took the Richard the III route and was like, "if I am to be branded a villain, then I shall embrace villainy!" and got all horrored up.
What's your secret origin, goatlings?
"Bram Stoker's Dracula"...which explains why I like elegant horror...
NIGHT FLIGHT! That is where I saw Evil Dead II for the very first time! Which maybe what started me on the path I'm on now but I actually think it goes back just a hair further to An American Werewolf in London. I remember watching this with my parents and just being terrified by the Nazi Werewolves. TERRIFIED! After that I swore off horror films until I saw H.P. Lovecrafts The Unnamable http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096344/. Something about that movie connected for me and then I began my regular trips to the local mom and pop video store and watching Night Flight. I will never forget Rhonda Shear's voice and the tag line "USA UP all night". Man what a trip down memory lane.
That show meant so much to me that if I saw it in a bar or something and it was like, "Hey Todd, man, I'm really down on my luck right now," I would be like, "Shhh, you don't have to say anything, Night Flight. My place is yours." I would take the couch! That's how much I care. I would give up my own sleeping silks and bedfurs for a week on the couch while Night Flight got his act back together!
Ahhh, Night Flight. I think I have Night Flight to thank for those exciting nights of sneaking to the TV room to watch softcore porn films, like Andy Warhol's Dracula and Frankenstein, hoping my parents would not catch me.
However, I would have to agree with Microwaved. Seeing movies like An American Werewolf in London and Phantasm totally titillated my curiosity of the horror genre in my prepubescent years. Those two movies are the earliest movies I can remember completely scaring the Sugar Smacks out of me.
My dad cemented me as a horror fan! He was a huuuuge horror fan growing up--he collected 'Famous Monsters of Filmland'--had tons of them, and comic books, until his mom THREW THEM OUT (grrr), and lots of the old Universal model kits and stuff (she got rid of all those too). I was weaned on Universal and Hammer horror films. He read to us too--all the old classics like Dracula and Frankenstein, plus Lord of the Rings (he kinda always looked like a hippie Gandalf--and now the beard's grey too, haha), and Sherlock Holmes stories. I wasn't allowed to watch any of the REALLY scary movies until much later, but the old classics were fine. The Monster Squad was a big hit in our house, and the Lost Boys was the first "really scary" movie I ever saw.
I was 21, I know, a little late to the party. I was having horrible dreams that zombies were breaking into my house and eating my family. I got fed up and started reading about their symbolism and stuff. Then I started slowly exposing myself to horror movies, just so I wouldn't be scared anymore. Evil Dead was my first. I started laughing about halfway through it, and it's been a smooth ride ever since. Terror turned into passion. Now, I'm off to grad school to study horror.
I was born into a family of horror fans. My older brothers used to sneak them into the house (horror had to be OKed first, so the slashers were smuggled) and my parents (especially Mom) used to regale us with stories of seeing The Exorcist, Last House on the Left, and When a Stranger Calls during their theater runs. Mind you, we couldn't actually watch those movies, but it still made an impact.
I started out with the classics: Universal, Hammer, etc. It was a compromise, I loved horror movies, but I was the type who always got nightmares. The rule was, "If it comes on TCM, you can watch it."
I moved on to the more psychological movies of the '60s. Cape Fear scared me so bad it was years before I could watch Robert Mitchum again. And I wish everyone could see Psycho without knowing the ending or having expectations.
The "cement" was my fourteenth birthday. All horror restrictions were lifted, and my sis in-law (a hardcore fan) gave me free reign of her collection. There was no going back.
So even if they terrify me, horror movies = family.
ahhhhh, where to start. i was alawys scared of horror moies as a kid, i couldnt even watch em on tv. until i was about 10, 11, 12, ect. i saw alfred hitchcock's psycho. which is still to this day my no. 1 favorite movie. the only thing i dont like is the fact that i was already told about the movie before i saw it so the hitchcock touch had no effect on me, i wish i could've seen it without knowing anything about it, just to compare the effects of then to how i watch the film now.
i dont know where i went on from there, i saw karloff's frankenstein, lugosi's dracula, halloween, night of the living dead, friday the 13th, all the way to where i am now. i guess i owe a lot to hitchcock. great entry todd, the raven is the best!
This was the first time I saw Steve Mc. it was fast cars, and high schools kids who saved the day, made me feel good and made me think, is there something out there??