Bravo's Scariest Movie Moments
I wasn't really intending to
post a review of Bravo's '100 Scariest Movie Moments,' because as a clips
special, there wasn't much meat for the stew there. Oh I watched it last year
and took notes, but why comment on something that was done with and wasn't even
going to air again?
Well, Bravo's rerunning it this year, even made a follow-up '30 Even Scarier
Movie Moments', so it might just be cropping up on your horizon in the future.
If so I've just posted this as a warning to you. If
you haven't seen every horror film made in the past 50 years, (Noob!) be ready
to have a bushelfull of climaxes ruined for you. (Uh, film climaxes. Only clergy
and parents can ruin the other kind.)
It would be difficult I'll grant to discuss historical horror films without
giving away some elements of plot but there's a difference between a tactful
examination of frights and just showing the bloody endings to little known films
like 'Don't Look Now.' (Kaiser Soze sees dead people.)
To be fair, 'Scariest' does feature commentary by
folks who know their beans and can give some perspective to even a classic film.
(Romero, Savini, John Carpenter and Bruce Campbell to name a few.)
Unfortunately, infotainment channels like Bravo have an irritating fetish when
it comes to "celebrities", and for every talented filmmaker we are
also given the thoughts of some screaming imbecile.
I don't give a damn what a hack like Eli Roth thinks about the classics, never
mind the silicon injected Barbie dolls and braying frat boy comedians whose
opinions (I believe they are along the lines of "Dude!") are given
air. Exactly how much insight into the psychological subtext or even actual
filming of say, 'Halloween' does it give me to know the telephone scene almost
made Lil' Kim pee her pants, yo?
The follow up 'Even Scarier'… manages to be a little better simply because it tends to tip the scales towards actual actors and such rather than fifth string "celebrities". However, the biggest problem with the first special-spoilers galore-while toned down significantly is still an issue.
I'm not going to rate 'Scariest'; it's a clip show for corn's sake. For light basic cable seasonal filler, it's not even that poorly done. We get to hear from some very talented people, and the criteria for selecting a scary movie is broad and open-minded. (It's not just 'Scream' clones, there are scenes from some real oldies, foreign films, and even stuff like 'The Wizard of Oz'!) But for those like me who prefer to discover the shocks of a great film on their own, do yourself a favor and stay the hell away.
October 28, 2007