I have decided to write my traditional Halloween-themed blog. However, before I do, here are some mini-mini-mini-unbelievably mini reviews to catch you up on what I've seen since my last post.
Devil: A moderately scary B-
Easy A: An easy B (with reservations. If you ever want to know what they are, feel free to ask)
Legend of the Guardians: B
The Social Network: A thought provoking A-
Secretariat: A crowd-pleasing B+
OK, now with the Halloween stuff. In the past, I've shared what my favorite movies to watch at Halloween time are and I think we all have our own list of movies that need to be enjoyed to fully acknowledge the arrival of All Hallow's Eve. However, this year I've been in a little bit of a funk. For one, I've been way too busy to just sit down and watch movies, so if I want a quick Halloween fix, I've been leaning on installments of The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" episodes.
Secondly, for some reason I've been thinking about a different type of scary movie. One that wasn't meant to be scary at all, or rather scary scenes in non-scary movies. I think we all have a mental list of those too. Scenes that show up in the middle of a Disney cartoon or a family film that make us go, "What was that?!?" So that's the focus of my blog this year. The ten scariest scenes in movies that are not known as being scary.
NOTE: Obviously I'll be discussing specific scenes and plot points, so avoid reading if you haven't seen the movies. There'll be spoilers a plenty.
Honorable Mention: "The Care Bears Movie"
Yes, I'm serious. The reason I don't include this with the rest of the list is that it's not a particular scene that's at issue. It's the whole central premise of the movie. If you've never seen this film and think I'm off my rocker, let me explain the plot to you. A child, who is the assistant to a circus magician, encounters a book of evil magic and, after opening it becomes possessed by a dark spirit. Yes, it's the Care Bears vs. the necronomicon! Of course, they defeat the darkness with an extra powerful Care Bear Stare, but still, who in their right mind thought "Ah, the kids'll love this caring story of demonic possession"?
10. King Kong (2005): The Pit - Yes, I know that some people may balk at my inclusion of this, a remake of the original monster movie, but I argue that it's better known as a tragic and unconventional take on "Beauty and the Beast" than a horror movie. That having been said, when the hapless explorers fall into a giant pit only to be devoured by giant bugs, it's pretty shocking. You can feel Peter Jackson reliving a little bit of his horror movie past in this scene. Genuinely disturbing.
9. Princess and the Frog - "Friends On the Other Side" - Uncle Walt loved scaring little kids, as is evidenced by the inclusion of a few more Disney movies on this list. Perhaps that's why last years "The Princess and the Frog" was considered a return to Disney-style story telling. Much like the aforementioned "Care Bears Movie" dark magic, voodoo to be specific, plays a key part in the plot. In the song "Friends on the Other Side", the villainous Shadow Man calls upon evil spirits to transform the debonair Prince Naveen into the titular frog. The ceremony comes complete with a prick of the Prince's finger and the storing of his blood in a voodoo idol. Just good old-fashioned family fun.
8. The Black Hole - Maximilian's Cuisine-art - In the early 80's, Disney was doing everything they could to imitate the success of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg (much like they've tried to imitate the success of Pixar and DreamWorks in recent years). So it was only a matter of time before they tried to make their own space adventure as an answer to "Star Wars". Well, "The Black Hole" ended up being a fascinating failure. Instead of sticking to the action like Lucas did, the writers tried to go the "2001" route and confuse the audience at every turn. However, there's one scene that was forever scarred into my 12-year-old cerebellum. When the evil robot Maximilian turns on Anthony Perkins and dices him up with his hands/spinning blades. Granted, there's a certain amount of irony in Norman Bates meeting a grisly end at the end of a blade, but it was still pretty shocking to a kid.
7. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) - "Hellfire" - Don't get me wrong, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is actually one of my favorite Disney films. The music is soaring and the central theme of tolerance is timeless. However, I know many people that hate it just because of this scene. In the musical number "Hellfire", the antagonist, Judge Claude Frollo begins praying that his temptation towards the gypsy Esmerelda will be diminished. However, as the song progresses it's clear that he has no intention of trying to control his own desires. He comes to the conclusion that either she will be his or he will kill her, burning down all of Paris if he has to. At that point a chorus of ghostly monks rise from the floor, surrounding him menacingly. It truly is a terrifying scene and it does indeed deal with subject matter much more adult than one would expect from a Disney film. However, I would argue that it's far better for a mature child to be shown the dangers of hypocrisy as opposed to the dangers of multi-tentacled sea witches or power-hungry lions.
6. Pinocchio - Pleasure Island - Hedonism never pays. It will get you drunk or high, but you will invariably turn into a jackass. That's the central premise of this scene in the 1940 classic "Pinocchio". As the kidnapped children partake of cigarettes and gambling and alcohol, they all turn, graphically and horrifically, into donkeys. They are then sold as beasts of burden to the highest bidder. It's interesting that the jarring nature of the transformation, not to mention the wanton use of the word jackass, was less of an issue in the 40's than it is now, but it definitely showed that Walt Disney loved to use fear as a teaching tool. Speaking of which.....
5. Dumbo - "Pink Elephants on Parade" - Drinking will make you see horrific mutant elephants who can turn from comical to nightmarish with the blink of an eye and the rip of an elephant's ear. What's even worse is that Dumbo didn't even mean to get drunk. He just fell in an open barrel or alcohol. Poor kid.
4. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - Shelob's lair - As I mentioned earlier, director Peter Jackson got his start in low-budget horror movies. His films "Bad Taste", "Meet the Feebles" and "Dead Alive" are notoriously dark and gruesome. He holds his horror roots back for much of The Lord of the Rings films (with just the occasional specter or nightmare), but he let's it all out for this scene, in which the heroic Frodo is stalked by a giant man-eating spider named Shelob. Keeping the scene shrouded in silence, Jackson ratchets up the tension until the moment that (GASP!) Shelob injects her poison into Frodo and wraps him up for later. We've spent the whole film series watching Frodo escape one inescapable predicament after another, but in this dark, terrifying moment, Jackson lets the spider win. If only for a little while.
3. Spider-Man 2 - Doc Ock's surgery - Much like Peter Jackson, the director of the Spider-Man trilogy, Sam Raimi, got his start in horror. However, we really don't see an inkling of it until this shockingly brutal scene early in the second film. While he is still unconscious on an operating table, Doc Ock's arms spring to life murdering every doctor and nurse in a particularly grisly fashion. After seeing this movie in the theater, I was surprised that the studio let Raimi keep the scene in, so jarring is the tone shift from the rest of the movie. However, it was still fun seeing Raimi romp in his old macabre playground.
2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - The Kidnapping - It may be hard to remember, but "Close Encounters" was actually marketed almost like a horror movie. Of course, now we know the aliens were benign and all they wanted to do was a musical jam with Kodaly hand-signals, but Spielberg originally wanted the motives of the aliens to be more obscured. No where is that better seen than in the scene when little Barry Guiler is kidnapped by the aliens. If one watches this scene and then watches "Poltergeist" it's very easy to believe that Spielberg was far more involved in the latter's filming than his executive producer credit would indicate. The lights go out, the toys and vacuum turn on independent of the power and the house is shrouded in light as the aliens try to get Barry through the chimney, the vent and, finally, ripping him from his mother's arms through the doggy door. If I were to show you this scene alone, you would be absolutely convinced that Close Encounters was a horror film.
1. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - The Boat Ride - When my nephew was younger, he had a habit of walking into a room, looking at everyone and saying, "What the?!?". He would then pause for effect and leave. This is truly the only response I can think of for this scene from the 1971 children's classic, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". What the?!? For those of you unfamiliar, Mr. Wonka invites his guests on a delightful boat ride on a chocolate river. Fanciful, no? As the boat enters a tunnel, he entertains his guests with flashing strobe lights, nightmarish visions of worms, eyeballs and chicken decapitations, all the while droning in a psychotic voice "There's no earthly way of knowing which direction they are going...." To those of my friends who believe Tim Burton's 2005 remake is far more dark and inappropriate for children than the original, I point to this scene and say...What the?!?
Well, that's my list. In the comments below, let me know what scenes from otherwise benign movies give you the heebie-jeebies. It's fun!
Plus, if you're looking for a fun Halloween activity tonight, attend Resonance Choral Ensemble's concert, "The Witching Hour". You can get your tickets here, http://www.resonancechoral.org/thewitchinghouroctober2010.cfm or at the door. Mention my last name (Elison) as a promo code at the door and you get a discount. Woo-hoo!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
