Excerpt from MancavePlaybabes.com

There was a time when a horror movie could provide true night terrors and not just aim to gross out or require the viewer to take “the leap” of believing.  What changed?  First there was ‘The Blair Witch Project’, released in 1999, the beginning of the take a leap with me and believe in this documentary pseudo reality.  Having the movie act as “real” provided the fright for the viewer.  As is often the case (being the first of its type) ‘Blair Witch’ was the best.  Today we are treated to the annual release of ‘Paranormal Activity’ that quite honestly, is more effective as a trailer than an actual movie (NOTE: box office numbers tell me I’m wrong).  The other recent genre of horror movies started in 2004 with the release of ‘Saw’ and followed in 2005 with ‘Hostel’, both movies in the space known as “torture porn”.  For me, the back story of ‘Saw’ was always too simple; however, ‘Hostel’ has contributed to my overseas travel focus on “major” cities and limiting my exploration.

So what about the classics?  Let’s revisit some of the classic movies that led to nightmares, looking over your shoulder as you walked out of the theatre, and of course Halloween costumes (SEE: hockey masks) still worn today.

HALLOWEEN

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The score is the sound of a panic attack.  What ‘Halloween’ accomplished better than maybe any movie was the subtle lurking and knowing/not knowing where Michael Myers was.  Is he in the backseat?  What was that sound?  The shadow?  The image of Myers was always blurred, never a clear image.  There was an element of surprise and there was brutal murder and gore.  Still, this movie was the opposite of torture porn.  HONORABLE MENTION: ‘The Omen’

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

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The first two installments of ‘The Nightmare On Elm Street’ franchise should be studied by film students for many years to come (you can even talk me into ‘The Final Nightmare’).  The back story (Freddy Krueger comes back to haunt the children of the parents that killed him via dream) is impeccable.  The dream sequences always have you on the edge of your seat, and MY GOD, THE HEAT!  That’s the heat of the boiler room and that’s where you will find the metal/knife claw of Freddy Krueger.  Also, who can forget “One, Two Freddy’s coming for you…Three, Four , Better lock your door…Five, Six, Crucifix…” BONUS: The first movie features a very young Johnny Depp – watch him as he is dragged all over his room, ending up as a pool of blood.  After the first two movies Freddy was more interested in standup comedy than scaring the viewer, unfortunately this tends to happens which is why there should be a two-sequel rule.  HONORABLE MENTION: ‘Hellraiser’

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David S. Grant is the author of "Blood: the new red" and writer for Mancave Playbabes.  Follow David at .david_s_grant