Scary Movies Aren't Scary

I'm not a fan of most horror movies because they're predictable: take a group of people, usually teenagers (why is that?), have them enter a supposedly haunted location, and one by one each is killed by what the screenwriters believe are creative ways. Boring. Most of the time, you can tell who's going to die first and who the hero(ine) is going to be.

But I love watching movies that really spook me, long after the credits finish rolling. There are few films that have done this for me. The first is Candyman, which I saw when it came out 20 years ago. At the time I lived not too far from the Cabrini Green area where the movie takes place and in fact, some of the scenes were set in my neighborhood. I was afraid to look into a mirror for weeks, and I was looking over my shoulder for a long time. Each time I've viewed the film since, I'm still left with that paranoid feeling that I hate and love simultaneously. I'm planning on watching it again for Halloween.

Another one is The Blair Witch Project, which I saw on opening day, knowing nothing about the film's background. I have not entered an unfinished basement alone ever since. That was 13 years ago. Though I don't plan to watch this movie again, I also don't plan to go into any basements any time soon.

Although those movies scared me, they didn't make me scream. The 2 movies that did and still do that for me no matter how many times I've watched them are Alien and John Carpenter's The Thing. They aren't even horror movies; they're sci-fi. On the other hand, I don't expect to be impregnated by an alien, and I'm certain my husband is who he is. As are the cats.

This past Friday my husband and I watched Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist, neither of which I've seen from beginning to end. I felt cheated at the end of Rosemary. I liked The Exorcist better, but it wasn't particularly scary because it was so over the top.

What movies have scared you the most? Did they make you scream, or just feel paranoid for the next few days?