Obviously, horror movies are all about scaring people. It's not much of a stretch to think people will be afraid of a knofe wielding maniac, or a horde of cannibalistic zombies, or whatever. But some things, and the movies about them, scare people more than maybe they should. A lot of us have them: phobias. Unreasoning fear of something. Maybe even something innocuous. Snakes. Heights. Rats. Bugs. Germs. Enclosed places. There's lots of 'em to choose from.
And, knowing that so many of us have them, moviemakers have been quick to exploit them. There's lots of movies that have effectively used the things we're (unreasonably) afraid of. While not a horror movie, "Phone Booth" gives you a claustrophobic feeling. As does "The Descent". "Cabin Fever" and "Outbreak" probably hit germophobes where they live. And there have been more movies about the creepy crawly critters that give some of us the willies more than others, than you can shake a stick at: "Eight Legged Freaks", "Anaconda", "Kingdom of the Spiders", "Squirm", just to name a few.
Personally, it's spiders that do it for me. Can't stand the little buggers. And as enjoyably creepy as "8LF" or KotS were, made even more so by the addition of my pet phobia to the mix, the movie that made my spider sense tingle the most was "Arachnaphobia". It's an effort of varying levels of difficulty for me to sit thru any movie centered around our friendly neighborhood arachnids. But for some reason, "Arachnaphobia" was especially tough. Not even sure why really; I've only ever had the stomach to sit thru it once. Can't even remember it all that well. But I know it had me brushing off my shoulders and checking the corners of the ceiling all night after I watched the DVD. The image that stays with me the most is the part where the big, leader type rears up on its 4 back legs. Big, hairy, mandibled motherfucker. . . .Brrrrr! I shudder as I write this.
Are there any films that struck a nerve for any of you in this way? What phobia did they tap into? And does that add to your enjoyment of the movie, or make it something painful to endure watching?
And, knowing that so many of us have them, moviemakers have been quick to exploit them. There's lots of movies that have effectively used the things we're (unreasonably) afraid of. While not a horror movie, "Phone Booth" gives you a claustrophobic feeling. As does "The Descent". "Cabin Fever" and "Outbreak" probably hit germophobes where they live. And there have been more movies about the creepy crawly critters that give some of us the willies more than others, than you can shake a stick at: "Eight Legged Freaks", "Anaconda", "Kingdom of the Spiders", "Squirm", just to name a few.
Personally, it's spiders that do it for me. Can't stand the little buggers. And as enjoyably creepy as "8LF" or KotS were, made even more so by the addition of my pet phobia to the mix, the movie that made my spider sense tingle the most was "Arachnaphobia". It's an effort of varying levels of difficulty for me to sit thru any movie centered around our friendly neighborhood arachnids. But for some reason, "Arachnaphobia" was especially tough. Not even sure why really; I've only ever had the stomach to sit thru it once. Can't even remember it all that well. But I know it had me brushing off my shoulders and checking the corners of the ceiling all night after I watched the DVD. The image that stays with me the most is the part where the big, leader type rears up on its 4 back legs. Big, hairy, mandibled motherfucker. . . .Brrrrr! I shudder as I write this.
Are there any films that struck a nerve for any of you in this way? What phobia did they tap into? And does that add to your enjoyment of the movie, or make it something painful to endure watching?
