Challenge Accepted

I was patrolling the blogosphere when I checked out the newest post on Freddy in Space, a blogger I definitely want to be friends with. Some girl on Twitter created this challenge, and I'm gonna follow in his footsteps and fill it out too! Ten questions at a time, now, this ain't a Tolstoy novel.

My only rule for myself was that I couldn't use the same movie twice, and I mostly managed to avoid using multiple movies from the same franchise. Here we go!

1. Scariest Kid Character: Santi (Junio Valverde)

Horror is full of kids that scare the living bajaysus out of us, but the one that most frequently sticks in my mind is the ghost Santi from Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone. Santi isn't necessarily an evil character - he's the ghost of an orphaned boy who was killed by the caretaker of a Spanish war shelter - but for the first half of the movie, before we learn his intentions, he is a truly terrifying specter. In life, Santi was shot in the head and drowned in a pool, so his ghost is doomed to spend eternity surrounded by a haze of water, blood swirling up out of his wound. It's... unreal. Del Toro's second tier visual effects masterpiece, right behind Backbone's sister film - Pan's Labyrinth.

2. Best Sex Scene Murder: Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)

A classic is a classic. This is the scene that inspired many a Friday the 13th. Two randy teens sneak into an empty house and get it on in a stranger's bed, only to be speared mid-coitus, forever locked in an embrace of death. Or, you know, boning.

3. Creepiest Dead Body: Creepshow (1982)

After Upson Pratt's apartment is overrun by vermin, leading the villainous businessman to an untimely death, we get a skin-crawling close-up of cockroaches pouring out of his mouth, then bursting out of his skin. I just... I can't. Moving on.

4. A Horror Musical You Enjoy: Evil Dead the Musical

With slapstick comedy, gory zombie mayhem, and peppy musical numbers all rolled into one, Evil Dead The Musical is right up my alley. In fact, I don't think anything in the world is more up my alley than this show. I had the privilege of getting to see this show with some friends of mine in Las Vegas last October, and it was akin to a religious experience (much like when I went to see The Exorcist at the Geffen Playhouse with Cassidy). We sat in the VIP Splatter Zone and got covered in sickly red Kool Aid blood during one of the most fun nights of my life.

5. Funniest Horror Movie Character: Reg Morgan (Damon Herriman)

As the snivelly little brother of the Morgan Organic duo in Australia's 100 Bloody Acres, Damon Herriman creates a character that is simultaneously unwittingly dangerous and uncommonly adorable. Somebody buy me a DVD of this movie.

6. Favorite Woman in the World of Horror: Jamie Lee Curtis

I refuse to believe that anybody out there put any other actress as an answer to this question. Jamie Lee Curtis is the scream queen. The daughter of Psycho's Janet Leigh, she found her first movie role as the virginal Laurie Strode in John Carpenter's Halloween. She made mistakes (don't drop the knife, Jamie!), but she clawed, stabbed, and fought her way through the film and two more sequels. She found success in the horror genre and made her way through Prom Night, Terror Train, The Fog, Halloween II, and Halloween H20, becoming a massive star along the way, both within the genre and without.

7. A Horror You'd Be In: Scream franchise

Ask any of my friends, they'd say the same thing. With my knowledge of horror movie trivia, my keen awareness that my life is a slasher film, and my infinite supply of sarcasm, I'd be a perfect fit for this franchise. I could get in on the next sequel as Randy's counterpart, and I'd definitely live to see Scream 6. No promises beyond that though.

8. Favorite Alien-Related Horror Movie: The Thing (1982)

John Carpenter's film is scary for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which are some utterly grotesque practical effects. A team at an arctic facility discover an alien space ship buried in the ice, and soon realize that they're not alone. A shape-shifting alien creature has taken up with them, masquerading as various members of the crew as it slowly devours them one by one. Who is the Thing? Who isn't the Thing? A classic paranoia thriller that I'm sure is a metaphor for the Cold War or something smart like that.

9. Best Horror TV Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 - 2003)

Possibly the gayest thing horror has to offer. Buffy is tough, she's spunky, she's fabulous. With a crew of wisecracking friends (God, I'm making this sound terrible), Buffy battles vampires, demons, and even the manifestation of Evil itself. Featuring one of TV's first lesbian couples and a bevy of strong female characters, Joss Whedon launched a new wave on onscreen feminism. Hush, The Body, and Once More With Feeling are three of the best hours television would ever see.

10. A Serial Killer You Hate: Jigsaw

The one subgenre I have absolutely no patience for is torture porn and Saw is responsible for the worst of it.

Word Count: 901
Reviews in This Series
Horror Lover Challenge Part 1 (August 16, 2013)
Horror Lover Challenge Part 2 (August 25, 2013)
Horror Lover Challenge Part 3 (August 28, 2013)