Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

Sorry, Mike, I never had to sneak.

I remember seeing Murder on the Orient Express with a girlfriend and liking it well enough. Not my favorite, but not the worst, either.

My mother was never a person who would "forbid" me to see or read anything. Her attitude was, go ahead, read it, view it, and then, let's talk about it. I remember, when we went to NYC when I was 10, we attended Radio City Music Hall. My mother wanted me to see the Rockettes, but after the Rockettes performed, there was a movie. It was The Sandpiper, with Liz Taylor and Richard Burton. It was not considered a "bad" movie, but it was an adult movie, not intended for 10-yr-olds. (Burton plays an Episcopal priest who has an extra-marital affair with Liz Taylor, a Bohemian artist). When we got back home, one of my aunts was disapproving that I had seen this film. She said she would never have allowed my cousin, who was my age, to see it. My mother said that she wanted me to know things like that happened in real life. She said she didn't want me to grow up so innocent that I would be blindsided if something like that happened to me or to someone in my social circle.

I can see how that would have concerned your mom. In Jackson, MS, we didn't have those concerns during my teenage years. I went to lots of movies with my friends.

I never saw The Exorcist in its first release (didn't see it until years later on HBO or something). I think I was old enough and could have gone, but I was squeamish about seeing some of those very scenes you are talking about, the foul language and all. That stuff was still pretty new in movies in those days. I remember that there was a big debate in the media about whether or not it was appropriate for a girl Linda Blair's age to be put into a role like that. Years later, viewing it as a mother, I can say that I don't think I would have wanted my daughter in that kind of role. It's a good movie of its type, though.

Yesterday I viewed The Haunting on DVD (Julie Harris version) with my 19-yr-old son. Interestingly, he told me that he enjoys scary movies but does not want to see movies about exorcism. He said that, to him, movies about exorcism are using something deadly serious as an entertainment. I guess he thinks the demonic realm is too dangerous to use for fun. I do have about three movies like that in my collection, though--The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and The Last Exorcism. Emily Rose is my favorite.

Yeah, I think those visceral reactions are unique to the era, though. I have heard that women fainted when they first saw Lon Chaney's make-up for the silent version of Phantom of the Opera. Granted, that is pretty gruesome, but almost everyone has seen it now, so no one would faint today. And then there was Psycho, everyone's pick for scariest movie ever, before The Exorcist. I heard tell of people who would never shower again after that first murder! But when I saw Psycho for the first time in adulthood, it was so intensively Freudian that it seemed a little funny to me. So much of its impact depended on people's not knowing who the murderer was until the end. Sort of like, if you know the trick of The Sixth Sense, it doesn't work as well.

The Exorcist is well made, but it doesn't really scare me that much. I think I had heard too much about it before I ever saw it.

I wonder how much of those stories weren't part of the marketing. You know, to increase interest in the film.

I guess those of us who hit our teen years back in the 70s looked at things a bit different than y'all. We snuck into movies alright, but NOT the scary kind. Porno movie theaters were still around, and there was one that was notorious for letting underage kids in. Law said you had to be 18, but they figured if you were 16, that was close enough.

Of course I just went because of the fine acting and musical score that accompanied such great acting.

I never realized how many lonely women wanted pizza during all hours of the day and night.

Especially pepperoni.

I would have thought it would be sausage pizza....

On Oct. 30 I impulsively bought a DVD called The Rite, with Anthony Hopkins, and watched it. It is about exorcism, supposedly based on an actual event (of course, they always say that). It has some good scares but ends well, which makes it unique in my experience of movies about exorcism. Has anyone else seen this one?

Boogeyman wrote:I would have thought it would be sausage pizza....

I've been told the ladies prefer "pepperoni" because it stays harder longer......And leaves no bitter aftertaste.