Everyone has a childhood fear, a childhood movie, perhaps a fear instilled by a movie. Sometimes when looking back we may wonder: Was it really that scary? What was it about that movie that made me scared for a while? Maybe we even still fear it as an adult.
It was certainly my case with a few horror films. I am a horror fanatic, but it’s hard to genuinely frighten me. Jump scares and the like, are not what I consider “scary” to me.
To scare me, it has to be an excellent plot and execution of a horror story. However, that is my mindset today.
It was different as a child. The idea of something scary was enough to scare me, but not all the time.
For instance, the idea of the horror plots in the movies I will list were scary to me. The very idea is what was infused in my mind for so long that I never wanted to look at those movies again. Specifically, like a pale ghost girl with long hair crawling in an unsettling way or the idea of something referred to as the “boogeyman” hiding in our closets.
With that said, the movies I have rewatched and am going to shortly discuss are as follows:
- Ju-On (2002)
- The Ring (2002)
- The Grudge (2004)
- Boogeyman (2005)
- Dead Silence (2007)
Ju-On
Ju-On is the Japanese original film which translates to “The Grudge”, hence why the American remake goes by the english name.
I don’t recall whether I watched the Japanese or American version first. However, I do remember I was terrified by Kayako — the ghost — because of her terrifying visuals and the way she crawled.
Not to mention, the gnarly sounds she made in her throat. Rewatching Ju-On, I found myself not scared of this one considering the makeup and fx weren’t totally realistic.
The throaty sounds still got to me, but other than that I just simply enjoyed the story and aesthetics without being as scared as I was as a child. Moreover, Japanese horror is on another level.
The Ring
I do not recall if I watched the original, but the version I remember watching as a kid was the American remake. Might I say, even without knowing if I watched the original, American remakes are usually not the best.
I personally did not like this movie, but I can see why I was scared of it as a child. The makeup fx on the people that died was horrific.
The idea of a girl crawling out of a tv was further horrific. I recall being afraid of TV’s for a long time growing up. Though, to give it some credit, I kind of liked the film aesthetic.
The Grudge
As I mentioned, this version is the American remake from 2002. There is also a 2020 remake, but I heard it is not that great. In fact, I am going to outright say that the 2002 remake was not great either.
In general, it’s a scene-by-scene re-shot just with some American actors, and then the other stuff is a lot of cut out storytelling that was in the original.
The scenes of Kayako and other horror shots were shown only for a second or two seconds on-screen, so it was sort of deprived of the horror-esque. However, the makeup fx on Kayako genuinely scared me.
Even though she is not seen a ton throughout the film, she still scared me. This is the version of Kayako that I could never get away from growing up, and I am still somewhat scared of her as a horror character.
I have even mentioned, it takes a lot to genuinely scare me. Though, I am glad to say I’m not scared of this film like I was as a child. I grew up never able to look at the DVD, hear the DVD, think of the “grudge”, nor ever think about watching it again.
Now here I am with mustered courage to face my film fears.
Boogeyman
For the longest time, I was also afraid of closets. I always had to have them closed. But rewatching this film this week, I can’t believe I was scared of this movie.
Well, I can, because the idea of it is certainly scary to a child’s imagination. It’s clearly not the same for me today, as well as the other films on my list.
I honestly do not even like this movie after rewatching it, because it was kind of confusing and a little dumb to me. The only thing I liked about it was the film aesthetic.
Dead Silence
This film was the reason I had been afraid of puppets and dolls. Others were afraid of Chucky, I was afraid of Billy and the old freaky woman whose corpse was carved into a puppet after she died.
If you have read some of my previous articles, you may remember I am a huge Saw fanatic. It wasn’t until lately that I found out actor/director/screenwriter Leigh Whannell and director James Wan wrote Dead Silence.
The original composer for Saw — Charlie Clouser — also composed the soundtracks for this film. I suspected it when I first heard the beginning of the film, the music was very, what you might say, Saw-esque.
Fun fact, Leigh Whannell loved the idea of a puppet in a horror movie that he basically came up with Dead Silence. Hence why the puppet is named Billy just like Billy from Saw.
On terms as to how scary this film was, I can see why I was scared. I’m not particularly scared like I was, but the idea is scary.
Especially since the main character’s name is Jamie. Even though Jamie is male, I remember my heart dropping hearing my name.
One of the other scary elements that clung to me was you would know when the old woman’s ghost was present. Everything would be dead silent, literally. It wasn’t about time slowing, everything was just completely dead silence, and my pun is very-well intended this time.
Moreover, I absolutely loved the aesthetic of this film as well as the storyline.
Dead Silence might have earned a place in my list of top favorite horror films.
Overall, while these films do not scare me today like it did when I was a child, I feel I have accomplished overcoming my childhood movie fears. I believe I had the idea of fear instilled in me as a child — that fear being what frightened me about these films — that it was why I held off ever watching them again.
I truly never imagined that I would find myself rewatching any of these films, especially not The Grudge but I felt I needed to push myself to do so knowing that it must be different. A relief it was to realize that the fear only lived on in little me.
Plus, I feel I can’t be my true “horror queen self” if I don’t get groovy with all the horror movies.
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