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From: hankb@teklds.UUCP (Hank Buurman)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Scariest Movies
Message-ID: <1214@teklds.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 31-Oct-85 21:17:11 EST
Article-I.D.: teklds.1214
Posted: Thu Oct 31 21:17:11 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Nov-85 06:25:29 EST
Reply-To: hankb@teklds.UUCP (Hank Buurman)
Distribution: na
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 160
Keywords: Halloween

The following are excerpts, rewritten without permission from the October
30th edition of the Portland Oregonian, Robert Lindstrom, author:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	"What follows is a list of 13 of the spookiest movies available on
videocassette. After the candy bowl is empty on Halloween, try one.
With the lights off. With the doors locked.


		BEST STALK-AND-SLASH-FILM
	Don't people turn on lights when they enter a dark room? Won't
people lock their doors anymore? Why do teenage girls go for midnight
strolls in their underwear? These were the questions we never bothered
to ask while caught up in the fears of director John Carpenters `HALLOWEEN'.
....hundreds of movies tried to cash in on the idea of a brutal killer
stalking teenagers on the make.
	Forget them. The first is still the best.


			BEST BIG SCARE
	You've decided the movie is just about over. The popcorn box is
empty and on the floor. You've put on your coat. Just then, director
Brian de Palma slugs you across the room with one of the biggest shocks
in horror films. ...`CARRIE' is a slick, exciting picture from beginning
to end. But watch out for that last drop.


		BEST BIG-BUDGET GROSS-OUT
	Stay away from those big macs before watching John Carpenter's
1982 remake of `THE THING' or the only attack you'll have will be in-
digestion. ...this thing can turn itself into any shape, sometimes in
full, fascinating and disgusting view of the camera.
	This remake doesn't have the surprises of the 1951 Christian
Nyby original, but when the husky dog's head splits apart to reveal it's
drooling contents, you'll know you're not in the '50's anymore.


		MOST OUTRAGEOUS USE OF GORE
	The performances are crude, and it looks as if the entire budget
was around $793.38. But rest assured most of that money was spent on
stage blood to make `THE EVIL DEAD' the ultimate in stomach-churning,
blood-letting, horrific nonsense.
	Every human body part that can possibly be punched, bruised,
cut, slashed, chopped or shattered gets a workout...
	...Both a shocker and a satire, `THE EVIL DEAD' takes the gore
film to amusing but gross limits.


			SCARIEST CREATURE
	`The Thing' was obnoxious, but the `ALIEN' is obnoxious and
indestructible. With incredible visuals designed by H.R. Giger and Ridley
Scott's TV-commercial slick direction, `ALIEN' is one of the most 
frightening horror films of all time.
	Yes, it does have the look of science fiction, but `ALIEN' is
horror all the way. A spaceship crew unknowingly allows aboard an alien
being with a genius for survival. ...At any minute this constantly
changing being can leap out of the shadows to claim it's victim....
	Scriptwriter Dan O'Bannon and pals borrowed heavily from "The
Thing' and `It! The Terror From Beyond Space.' Still, though it has
been seen before, the formula has never been done with more style or
more eye-popping scares.


		BEST REAL-LIFE HORRORS
	Man's inhumanity to man is part and parcel of horror cinema,
and that inhumanity has seldom seemed more cruel or disturbing than in
`THE HONEYMOON KILLERS.' Shot in newsreellike black and white, the film is
based on the true crime story of a couple who romantically involve `lonly-
hearts' women and kill them for their money.
	The semi-documentary style and low budget give `THE HONEYMOON
KILLERS' a sweaty authenticity that only adds to the outrage of the story.
As the killers, Tony Lo Bianco and the incredible Shirley Stoler couldn't
be better. Their performances drip sleaze.


		BEST PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
	A young woman, alone in an apartment for a weekend, gradually
comes to grips with her sexual terrors and disintegrating sanity. It's
mind against man in `REPULSION,' director Roman Polanski's first english
language film.
	...The beautiful Catherine Deneuve endures the wolf whistles of
construction workers. She is repelled by her sister's promiscuity. But
social tension turns to abberation and Deneuve can no longer distinguish
between real and imagined terrors.
	...This is one of the few involving, thought-provoking horror
films and was made with a first rate cast and director. Use this to
scare the wits out of your intellectual friends.


		BEST SHOWER SCENE
	...-`PSYCHO' has it all. If you haven't seen it recently, you
owe yourself another chance to be scared. Just be sure you clean up
before you turn on the VCR. You won't want to shower later.


			WIERDEST IMAGERY
	Is it a horror film or just a friendly warning how not to
live life? `ERASERHEAD' will have viewers shifting and shuddering
without being quite sure why.
	...bizarre visuals...unsettling situations...A cult film...
	`ERASERHEAD' may be artsy and incomprehensible, but it also
clings to the mind like mold.


		BEST ZOMBIE CANNIBALS
	The competition is fierce here. Films such as `I Dismember
Mama' and `Please Don't Eat My Mother' are fierce contenders, but
George Romero's influential `THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD' takes the
award.
	Corpses are rising from the grave to attack and consume the
living. A troop of innocents are trapped in an old house that is 
surrounded by the shuffling, munching dead ones.
	In the tradition of great horror, Romero went one step beyond
1960's good taste and made movie history. He also opened a Pandora's
Box of terrible gore films.


		WITTIEST HORROR FILM
	Vincent Price has devoted a lifetime of broad acting to the
horror genre but never more effectivly than in `THE ABOMINABLE DR.
PHIBES.' The film tells of a crazed entertainer who returns from
near death to murder the doctors who lost his wife on the operating
table. And just to show he's a guy with style, he models his revenge
on the biblical plagues of Egypt.
	Set in London during the early 30's, `Dr. Phibes' never stops
laughing up it's sleeve, beginning with the gaudy art deco sets and
continuing to the incredibly invoved murder scenes. Vincent and a steller
cast of british character actors are, well, priceless.


		GOTHIC HORROR CLASSIC
	Universal Studio's original `Dracula' and `Frankenstein' have
their charm, but `THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN' is a gothic phantasmagoria.
	Director James Whale packed this masterpiece with sly chuckles
and breathtaking expressionistic sets. The creation of the bride remains
the best mad laboratory scene ever filmed. Whale combined the towering
proportions of the set, eccentricly flashing lab equipment, Boris Karloff's
and Colin Clive's compelling performances and composer Franz Waxman's
eerie music, into a poetry of horror. See it, cherish it, enjoy it.


			BEST HORROR FILM
	Some people have refused to see `THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE' on
the basis of the title alone. Yet, Tobe Hooper's first and best movie
has relatively little gore. What it does have is incredibly visceral
violence, mind-warping situations and a pace that makes roller coasters
feel like a rest cure.
	A visit to grandpa's old house descends into total, illogical
horror as a group of young people encounter a family of sickies on the
Texas plains.
	Hooper creates a world where all the pieces are familiar and
nothing seems to fit. One nightmare follows another until the viewer
loses all contact with rational reality. Whether straight shocker or
black comedy, `THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE' steps solidly past the
bounds of reason and straight to the scare centers."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Halloween net.people.            Hank