I have had a lifelong love affair with the Horror Movie. What scares you?
I like Science Fiction, Movie monsters of all shapes and sizes, even invisible ones, zombies, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Werewolf.
I enjoy watching all things that scare you, eat you, torture you in some unspeakable way.
Throughout my life, I’ve made it my quest to read all the horror fiction I can get my hands on.
Perhaps Grimms FairyTales primed me for this obsession.
When I was old enough to read for myself, my mother let me choose whatever I wanted to read at the library.
Yes, she had the power of the veto, but she rarely used it.
Of course, I began with Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Werewolf.
I am usually on the side of the Monster.
Think of it.
Frankenstein the Monster was not the real monster. His creator, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, was a serious villain. Frankenstein didn’t know he would kill the little girl at the pond when he tried to hug her.
The Werewolf was definitely a sad, empathic character. A Werewolf bit him.
He was innocent. He did not want to kill. He could not help himself. He tried to lock himself up. It was no use. He was doomed.
And then there is Dracula. What a mess. He was cursed by fate
No, I did not like what he did to Renfield or Johathan Harker, but Dracula was himself a victim of sorts. Damned for all eternity without the woman he loved.
A Good Monster Always Has At Least One Admirable Trait
Movie Monsters usually have something in them that sometimes makes them more human than the humans they target and kill.
There is this line from Aliens, the second installment of the Alien movie series, “I don’t know which species is worse, you don’t see them trying to screw each other over for money.”
That is Ripley, our gun-toting Heroin, talking to Burke, the real-evil “company-man.”
Burke ordered the colonists on the planet LV-486 to check out the wrecked spacecraft where the Alien eggs were sleeping, waiting for human hosts.
And when they followed his orders, BAM! Not just an Alien but Aliens became the focus of the movie.
My Love of Movie Monsters began in 1960
My love of horror movies began at the Crest Theatre when I was eight years old in Fresno, California.
My mom forced my sister to take me with her and her friend. I don’t think. Mom knew what movie we were seeing.
There was a lot my brother and sister kept from my working mom.
Hitchcock’s Psycho is a Movie Classic
The movie was “Psycho.”
Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates. A perfect performance. The Hitchcock classic is based on a real-life serial killer Ed Gein. American writer Robert Block based his character, Norman Bates, on Gein.
Janet Lee, the mother of iconic Halloween actress Jamie Lee Curtis, was slashed to death in Room One of the Bates Motel. It wasn’t a run-of-the-mill slashing. Janet Lee was in the shower when Norman Bates’ mother allegedly crept in, pulled the shower curtain aside, and began slashing away. To terrifying music.
And so the first, perhaps the most famous slasher film was born.
And I became a die-hard Horror fan.
In this edition of Gloria Moraga – One-On-One, my Movie Buddy, Joseph Garcia, joins me to share our favorite Scary Movies.
What Scares You
What scares you? Are you afraid of the dark? Are you sure that a monster is lurking in the shadows, waiting to devour you?
What about Swimming in the ocean? Some creatures live in the sea, predators with razor-sharp teeth. What about Showers, In sleazy Motels?
In this edition of One-On-One, one of my movie-buddies, Joseph Garcia, joins me as we talk about our favorite horror movies.
One-On-One with Joseph Garcia – Our Favorite Horror Movies
Tis’ the season, my friends. Don’t just watch the same old scary movies this Halloween Season; search for the ones we love.
You won’t be bored. But be prepared to be scared!!!
The List
I read a Tweet recently in response to something author Stephen King Tweeted.
The critic said, how can anybody like horror movies or books. Life is horrible enough; we don’t need to spend our free time being scared.
I disagree.
We need horror movies to escape real-life horror.
I was turning 8 in the 1960s
In elementary school, we were all afraid of the Russians bombing us to kingdom come. So we had practice drills just in case. What did we do? We hit under our desks. Ya. Like that was going to protect us.
Kennedy, Kennedy, and King – Survive That!
Then we watched President John Kennedy’s assassination on television for days and days, our hearts filled with sorrow.
Later, late one night, I was in my bedroom sobbing and sobbing when my mom got home from her late shift at work. She asked what was wrong. I said Bobby Kennedy had been shot in the head. There is no way he can survive. I had been so happy that it looked like Robert Kennedy would be the Democratic Presidential Nominee. And now I was telling my mother he was dead.
I listened and watched and loved hearing and seeing Dr. Martin Luther King. What great speeches. What a speaker. Why can’t he be president, I wondered. Then later, I asked, why did he go out on that balcony? Why? Why didn’t somebody protect him?
Are all the good men going to be assassinated?
We Grew Up Fast in the 60s and 70s
There was more, of course. Vietnam. Riots. Kent State.
I fell in love with a young man from Kent State. I met him one summer when he was traveling around with country with his friends. He was scarred. I loved him anyway. He left me. I’ll always love him.
We also worried about the Manson’s, Serial killers like Ted Bundy. A guy named Charles Whitman, a student, an ex-Marine who killed 14 people and wounded 31 others after he climbed up into the University of Texas clock tower and began shooting.
These were the real-life horror I grew up with in America. No wonder I loved sitting quietly in the dark, eating popcorn, drinking pop and suspending my disbelief, and watching an actress named Sigourney Weaver kick ass and blow the fucker into outer space.
Why I love being Scared at the Movies
I love happy endings. Yes, I rooted for the Werewolf; I admired the Alien. But I am satisfied when good triumphs over evil.
I am so happy when the music swells, the credits roll, and the lights come on. And we can tell ourselves that it’s just a MOVIE.
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