Horror movies just don't do it anymore. When was the last time a movie scared you - I mean REALLY scared you? Movies just don't give me that "Oh my god I'm going to have an accident" kind of feeling anymore. Maybe I'm just desensitized - but I doubt it.
So thank god for video games, where I can still get my viscera stirred. Resident Evil did it first, despite its cheesy B-movie plot and dreadful voice acting. The monsters were mostly shambling zombies but a combination of spooky music, clever camera angles and the possibility that A ZOMBIE MIGHT JUMP OUT AT ANY MOMENT made this one good and scary for me - and I gather outright unbearably terrifying for some.
Then along came Silent Hill. The voice acting still wasn't up to much, but the visuals were more atmospheric, the music was scarier, the monsters were downright disturbing, and the fear wasn't so much that something might go "BOO!" as it was an unsettling feeling that you shouldn't open that door in front of you... The plot made no sense but delved into disturbing sibject matter with great relish.
Several sequels (some superior) and a few ripoffs (mostly worthless - Evil Dead: Hail To the King, anyone?) later, we have Project Zero, aka Fatal Frame.
You play a psychic Japanese girl looking for her brother in a mansion haunted by some truly terrifying spirirts. You're armed only with a camera, which works on a neat twist of the old "stealing souls in a photo" ruse.
Quite frankly, this game is almost too scary to play. The sound FX and particularly the music are brilliantly creepy, the relatively slow walking & running speed of your character as well as her near-defenceless status, and evocative camera angles are all pluses. I think the thing that gets me the most is when you're near a ghost, you can feel your character's heartbeat through the dual shok controls - this is far more effective than I expected.
When I'm straightening up after play, I find myself listening to Check Your Head by the Beastie Boys. Very calming.
Posted by pearce at January 21, 2004 3:38 PMI get that 'oh god I'm gonna die' feeling from almost every horror film Morgue has made me watch. But the best was the Exorcist, at the embassy a few years back. I really let lose a scream in that movie, and leapt avfew inches in the air (I hadn't seen it before. I will never get used to seeing stuff like that.
Posted by: cal at January 21, 2004 9:17 PMComputer games? I still get freaked out by Thief: the Dark Project. There's one mission where you have to rob a tomb... which is full of zombies... which breath and gasp and groan loudly and freakily. It's especially disconcerting when you're playing it in the dark for better visibility (since the game is all about shadows, dammit).
Posted by: Idiot/Savant at January 22, 2004 11:10 PMI long for a film to make me feel the same way that bit in in "Aliens" did when the aliens should be in the room, but they aren't.
Posted by: davidr at January 27, 2004 12:00 PM