Ahh, the good old scare factor. Nowadays it seems to be that all Hollywood seem to do in horror movies is show us gore and teens in distress. Maybe a jump or two but nothing downright scary. There are the exceptions – Paranormal Activity being the recent low budget horror to give us chills but nothing else American really springs to mind, unless you count the underrated and not bad Stephen King adaptation of Pet Sematary. I recently watched it again and the Zelda scene still give me nightmares.
No, for me my scariest moment comes from The Grudge. Japanese always seem to do horror and utter dread much better than America – they don’t even need to show piles of blood. The original Ring was a shocker because the terror actually came OUT of the TV and was coming for you. But The Grudge (the original by the way, not the Sarah Michelle Gellar remake) seemed to do this tenfold. The scenes in there – and I will try not to spoil it for you too much but seek it out if you want a really good scare – are some of the most harrowing and unsettling horror I have ever seen. Especially the bit in the bedroom where the woman is pulled under… It haunts you for days after and the sequel is pretty good too. Even if you hate subtitled films – I don’t and have many such as REC, The Orphanage, Let The Right One In and many Japanese horrors – this is the one to seek out first and you can get it quite cheaply online now.
I will never forget it and still brave it on Halloween and stick this on before any Freddys and Jasons. But remember and get the original Japanese one. You might just be sleeping with the light on…
