MONSTROUS QUESTION OF THE MONTH – JULY 2010
THE MONSTROUS QUESTION OF THE MONTH – JULY
(Questions by Michael Arruda)
In the summer of 1975, JAWS hit the theaters and created such a sensation that many people would not go swimming anymore, or at least not that summer anyway. This was a tremendous accomplishment, when you think about it, since most horror movies deal with darkness and shadows, not bright sandy beaches and bright blue oceans.
So here’s this month’s question: excluding JAWS, what is your pick for the ultimate summer horror movie?
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DAN KEOHANE RESPONDS!
For me, though it’s not necessarily a “summer” movie, THE CAR (1977) is one of the movies I think of as my favorite summer movie (besides JAWS). And it takes place in a desert, so it’s kind of “beachy,” just less water.
It was a constant viewing staple the first time we got cable in town when I was a teenager in the early 80s, and we watched it over and over… and over. I suppose it must have been a pretty hot summer because even now, I still remember sweating in my non-air-conditioned house along with the characters (and man, did they sweat a lot. It was obviously shot on location).
Even today, THE CAR is still one of the best B Horror movies ever made (note the “B” caveat). I have air conditioning now, but I still start sweating when I put it in the DVD player.
July 23, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Friday the 13th. You know, summer camp.
July 24, 2010 at 2:41 am
My favorite summer scare of all time was Jurassic Park. I saw it in June at the then-brand-new General Cinemas in Braintree, which boasted some of the first ever digital sound. When that T- Rex hit the screen in that first extended scene, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was like I was watching a real, giant animal lumber across the road. I was so tense and yet fascinated by the thought that I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how Spielberg & Co. were doing it. I nearly crapped a brick when that thing later ate a guy, and then of course they went a step further with the swift, killer Raptors. As a former dinosaur-revering kid, I couldn’t get enough of seeing that movie over and over on the big screen that summer.